Bethany arched a brow. “And when you return? What then? You will break off the affair?”
Katherine worried her lip. “Well, it is…more than an affair now. You see, a few days ago Robert declared that he would like to court me. Officially.”
Bethany’s eyes went wide. “The Duke of Roseford asked to court you?”
Katherine couldn’t help but laugh at the incredulity. “Yes. I was as shocked as anyone.”
“And you accepted?” Bethany sputtered.
Now some of Katherine’s pleasure was tempered. “You do not approve?”
Bethany pushed from her chair and paced the room. “It is just that the man has such a reputation! A courtship implies he would offer marriage. Would you want to be trapped in a life with a person like him? So driven by his baser desires?”
Katherine hesitated. What her aunt said was true, certainly, at least to the public perception. But she also felt protective. She knew Robert better, she loved him.
“Since his request to court me, I have felt a change in him,” she said softly. “He is…well, he’s not entirely proper, but there is something there that goes far deeper than mere desire. He makes me laugh. He makes me smile. He comforts me and has faith in parts of me that I hardly knew existed.”
Bethany blinked at her in shock. “You are in love with him?”
Katherine ducked her head as she squeaked out, “I am.”
Bethany was silent long enough that Katherine finally looked up at her to see if she had expired from shock. But it was concern on her aunt’s face, nothing more.
“I have seen the connection between you two. And his friends certainly think highly of him. But I cannot help but worry. Your entire life has been tied to men who left you no choice for so long. I fear that you’ll tie yourself to one who could break your heart. Before you do anything that will be permanent, please promise me that you will explore any concerns you have with the man. Promise me you will not be hasty just because he is handsome and charismatic and fabulous in bed.”
Katherine sucked in her breath. “Aunt Bethany!”
Her aunt shrugged. “We must call a spade a spade, my dear.”
Katherine laughed, but in her heart she knew her aunt was right. After all, there were three things that she had kept from Robert. Three secrets that she held close, at first so that she could use them against him. And now?
Well, she hadn’t talked to him because she feared the damage they could do. But perhaps Bethany was correct. The time had come to open all the doors, to tell Robert why she had hated him for so long. To demand an explanation for what he’d done.
And to ask him if he could ever truly give her the future she desired.
“You’ve given me much to think about,” Katherine whispered. “I know you’re right.”
Bethany linked arms with her. “I always am. Now, let’s go down. You claim there is some young man who might be interested in me. I’d best find him before it’s too late. And you have a gentleman of your own to see.”
Katherine couldn’t help but smile at her aunt’s teasing, and yet deep within her anxiety bloomed. There were reasons she had hidden the truth from Robert. And there were stakes to telling the truth.
Like losing his love before she’d even determined if she could have it.
The last ball of the country party was in full swing, with what seemed to be every person in Abernathe and the surrounding counties in attendance. Robert found his foot tapping to the music as he watched the couples on the dancefloor. He’d always been good at dancing, of course. A gentleman was meant to be so, and he’d always felt that a dance gave him a good idea of a lady’s behavior in bed. It was all part of the seduction.
Yet tonight, he wasn’t playing a game. He watched those in attendance as they buzzed around each other, laughing and chatting, and he felt something…different.
Everything had been different, really, since three days before, when he’d confessed his darkest truth to Katherine and then asked to court her. It had not been easy. There had been times since then when he’d wanted to do nothing more than run as far as he could from her and all she represented. But she always drew him back. Gently, sweetly, and he could not resist her.
He would marry her. He knew that. And for the first time in his life, when he thought of that eventuality, it did not grip him in abject terror.
He was drawn from his thoughts as he watched Katherine spin around the dancefloor with James once more. She had been dancing with his friends and the other guests all night, and Robert couldn’t help but puff with pride when he watched her.
She was something to behold, truly beautiful and graceful. Other men wanted her, but that didn’t make him burn with jealousy. It was pride.Shewantedhim. She came to him. The others could rot, for all they would ever get was a dance.
And when she danced with his friends? That was even better. He loved how easily she fit into their ranks. She was a friend to the duchesses, and she was comfortable with the dukes. She belonged and that meant more to him than he could ever explain, no matter how long he had to write a treatise on the subject.
It was like nothing he’d ever felt before. And he never wanted to lose it. He never wanted to lose her. He didn’t know what to call that feeling. He had an idea what some of his friends would label it, but he wasn’t ready to do that yet. Not yet.
