“No doubt you can, but that doesn’t mean I cannot help.” Lowering his brows, Benjamin looked at the trunk.
“Do not worry about me,” she said, rising to her feet and coming around to the front.
“Simply telling me not to do so won’t change a thing,” muttered Benjamin.
She straightened and turned to look at him. “Pardon?”
His cheeks flushed pink, and drawing in a deep breath, he let it out in a long sigh. “I have been meaning to speak with you, but as you’ve been avoiding me completely for the past two days, I’ve been unable to tell you something important that I ought to have said before.”
Her brother straightened and tucked his hands behind him. Looking in her direction, but not directly at her, he shifted and said, “I apologize for what I did at the Breadmores’. I truly did not mean to embarrass you.”
With a scoff, Katherine stared down at the trunk. How was she to get this thing downstairs?
“I freely admit my actions were poorly planned, but I had good intentions,” he added.
“Which were…?” she mumbled, crossing her arms to glower at the heavy item. The only solution would be to take everything out of the box and carry each item down individually. It would take time, but probably less than this monumental effort required.
Examining her options, Katherine fairly forgot that Benjamin was still there, and his voice ripped her from her thoughts.
“I think you and David are a good match, and I wanted to encourage it.”
Her mouth dried, her heart thundered in her chest, and Katherine tried to stop the frantic beating with a deep breath, though it did little. Those words were no less startling than if Benjamin had announced that he intended to become an acrobat in a circus.
Benjamin sighed. “But you know him better than most. The fellow requires time and some none-too-subtle prodding before he can make up his mind on something, and this situation is doubly difficult because he’s blinded himself with this silly search for the lady from the masquerade.”
“You believe we’re a good match?” she asked, her brows rising at how even her words sounded. “Have I given you the impression that I wish for that?”
Thank the heavens that Benjamin was standing behind her, or he would’ve known just how deeply her feelings ran on the subject. Memories flashed through her thoughts, churning up every interaction, looking for the subtle signs others might interpret. The humiliation of rejected affection was painful enough when only she knew just how much it pained her. If others suspected…
Katherine shuddered. Then, shaking her head, she turned around to face him. “Do not answer that. I do not need to know.”
Benjamin opened his mouth, but she gathered her dignity close and wrapped it around her heart.
“What does it matter, Benjamin?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Even if it were true,andyou felt you had no other recourse than to publicly mock me, why should you bestir yourself? You do not care for me in the slightest.”
“That is not true,” he said with a huff, throwing his hands wide. “Why do you keep saying that? I want to see you happily situated like all my sisters—”
“And you think a gentleman like Mr. Moody, Mr. Tryck, and the rest is what will make me happy?” she asked with raised brows and more than a bit of bite to her tone.
Benjamin held his hands up in surrender. “I fully admit those were missteps on my part, and we do not need to rehash the past. David has already raked me across the coals for it. But I was at my wit’s end.”
With a grimace, he scratched at the back of his head and glanced about the attic. Only when he stilled did Benjamin meet her gaze once more.
“Father has made it clear that if I don’t agree to break the entail, it will be you who suffers for it,” he said in a resigned tone. “I thought marriage was a better option for you.”
With a few quick words, he told her all, and Katherine’s legs grew weak beneath her. Sliding down, she dropped atop the trunk, her unfocused gaze fixing on the floorboards. It was one thing to recognize her parents cared little for her, but to be handed clear evidence of their selfish desires and apathy towards their own progeny was chilling.
Despite having thought herself immune to her parents’ barbs, it felt as though they’d scooped her heart from her chest, leaving a gaping hole behind.
Chapter 34
Coming to stand before Katherine, Benjamin shook his head. “I am sorry. Perhaps I shouldn’t have told you the truth. And I know I’ve gone about this all wrong, but I couldn’t bear to see you made to suffer for my choice. I won’t break the entail and allow the family’s legacy to be pulled apart because of their negligence, but neither will I allow you to suffer because of it—I don’t know if I could remain strong if that were to happen.”
“Pardon?” Katherine’s gaze jerked up, meeting her brother’s eyes with a furrowed brow.
But he responded with his own puzzled frown. “Is it truly so surprising that I would care what happens to you?”
As much as she wished to give him the answer he clearly wanted, she couldn’t help but say, “Yes.”
