“Still?” asked Katherine with a frown. “Is there anything I can do?”
Rosanna’s brows rose, and Katherine straightened, her heart clamping shut at the look of surprise. Did she truly think Prudence’s discomfort meant nothing to the heartless Katherine?
“I apologize,” said Rosanna with a grimace. “I didn’t mean to imply you wouldn’t wish to help. Of course you would. I just cannot recall—”
Rosanna snapped her mouth shut, and Katherine could well imagine how she would’ve finished the sentence, for it was true.
“No one ever accepted my assistance, so I gave up offering,” said Katherine.
Clearing her throat, Rosanna nodded, her eyes full of another apology. “I fear there is nothing any of us can do. Hopefully, the sickness will fade as she draws nearer to her confinement, but I fear she often struggles to the very end. Thankfully, this new addition to the family should arrive in a few weeks.”
Straightening, Rosanna offered the roll of papers again. “And I am determined to forget this all over again. Prudence couldn’t come, but she asked me to deliver some music she thought you might enjoy. She is sorry she couldn’t bring it herself.”
Katherine blinked at the offering, her sewing lying forgotten in her lap. Music. Tentatively, she took the roll and tugged open the twine to unfurl the sheets. John Fields was a bit beyond her ability, and she wasn’t good enough at sight-reading to discern the melody simply by looking at the notes, but her heart warmed all the same.
“I—”
But she jerked when the parlor door swung open.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” said Benjamin, striding through and coming over to buss his sisters on the cheek, not even pausing as he bestowed the affection on Katherine, as though it was a commonplace thing to do. She couldn’t say whether her ribs grew too tight or her heart expanded within her chest, but pressure built there, threatening to burst forth in some ridiculous display. Drawing in a breath, she nudged her spectacles up her nose and turned her attention back to her sewing.
And that was when Benjamin swept into a bow and brought his hand around to the front to show Katherine the nosegay he’d hidden behind his back. As the growing season was long over, there weren’t many flowers available even for purchase, but the bundle of chrysanthemums was lovely with their riot of pinks, offset by delicate streaks of white, and wrapped up with a deep purple ribbon.
Her gaze drifted from the flowers, and she met her brother’s eyes with an arched brow.
“Another?” she asked.
“David begged me, and I couldn’t say no,” he said with a wince.
A slip of paper was nestled amongst the blossoms, and despite her best judgment, Katherine unfolded it and stared at Mr. Archer’s short note.
I love you. — D.A.
Apparently, he’d forgone subtlety and lyricism in favor of a direct approach. Katherine’s pulse quickened at the words, but the twinge in her heart dulled the joyful beat. She’d longed to hear someone—most especially Mr. Archer—say such a thing. But then, she’d imagined it being said by someone who truly believed it.
“He is beside himself,” said Benjamin.
Katherine nodded. “It is difficult when friendships end.”
He scoffed. “That is not it, and you know it.”
Folding the missive up and tucking it back into its hiding place, Katherine laid the bouquet on the side table. “He’s had weeks, months, and even years to decide he feels something for me. This hunt for the Mystery Lady ignited his feelings for matrimony, and now I am leaving. He is conflating his friendly affection with true love.”
“Katherine—” he began, but Rosanna interrupted.
“Let her be, Benjamin. Besides, it will do Mr. Archer some good to pine for a bit. A little penitence is in order.”
Turning her attention back to her sewing, Katherine ignored the pair and their scheming. Despite appreciating her sister’s support, it was clear from Rosanna’s tone and wording that she believed this rift was temporary. But then, her sister had never known rejection before. No man had ever treated Rosanna as second best, so it was impossible for her to truly understand the heartbreak of having a man settle for her.
Second best. Surely Katherine had enough self-respect to avoid such a future. Forever being compared to another—even if that other was herself in a mask.
Her traitorous heart once more chimed in, begging her to tell Mr. Archer the truth. She and his first choice were one and the same; all that was needed was a bit of honesty, and she would have everything her heart desired.
Katherine paused in moving her needle and stared at the uneven stitches. With a sigh, she pulled the needle free of the threads and unpicked the work she’d done.
Surely, it wasn’t wrong for her to want her beau to desire her, and Mr. Archer’s disappointment in their embrace was proof enough that he viewed the Mystery Lady as the preferred option. Besides, he’d never seen Katherine in a romantic light until she put on that silly mask. That said enough of his attraction to her. His silly heart was fixated on that wretched Mystery Lady, and Katherine couldn’t compete.
Sighing, she rethreaded the needle and began to stitch the edge of the posy once more.
