Katherine’s mouth dropped open. She blinked, took a moment to collect herself, and then said, “I don’t believe I can wait for this story until after the children have had their tea.” She perched herself on the edge of a stool. “Can you give me a quick summary?”
Cassandra did – or rather, she related what the details were to the best of her knowledge. Her friend said nothing until Cassandra finished with, “So there you have it.”
“Well, in that case we should probably start preparing the cottage.” Katherine added tea leaves to the tea pot and went to fetch the kettle.
Cassandra frowned. “Whatever for?”
She was met by a do-I-seriously-need-to-explain-it-to-you sort of look that ended with a sigh. “Because if Devlin Crawford is half as persistent as you have described him to be, then I’ll wager he’s on his way here right now.”
Cassandra insisted this wasn’t the case. She told herself repeatedly that only a man in love would behave so rashly. Yes, Devlin might have mistakenly said they would marry, but once he recovered from his blunder and realized she had no intention of going through with an actual wedding, she was sure he’d let the matter go. Of course, it might take a while for people to stop talking about what would now be labeled a broken engagement, but with Devlin away as much as he was, she doubted he’d be troubled by any additional gossip. As a man, it was far more likely he would go on as if none of this foolishness had happened.
It was an uplifting notion, though sadly one she was forced to dismiss the very next morning when she entered the kitchen and found him there, slouched in one of the chairs while his feet rested on another.
Too stunned to think or to deliberate over him being asleep, she blurted the first words to enter her heard with zero finesse. “What do you think you’re doing in my kitchen?”
Devlin started. Uttering a series of short half-finished snores, he opened his eyes and scrambled out of the chair so fast he almost knocked it over. He cleared his throat and shook his head. His hair, Cassandra noted, was mussed while his eyes conveyed the bewilderment of someone who’d woken to unfamiliar surroundings. To her annoyance, there was a sheepishness about him that made him look rather adorable.
She placed both hands on her hips and glared.
“I…um…er…” He pushed a lock of hair away from his forehead. “I came to find you.”
“Well, you’ve done so.” Moving farther into the room, she began collecting the items she needed to start breakfast. “If you’re hungry, I can give you something to eat before you leave.”
“But…” He was silent a moment while she lit the fire and added water to the kettle. “Cass, I came here to talk to you.”
“You needn’t have,” she said, her irritation with him increasing until it began transforming to anger. “My departure from London should have made clear my position on this idiotic scheme of yours.”
“It isn’t exactly a scheme,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.
Lord, how she wanted to wring his neck, although upon further inspection, she wasn’t quite sure she’d be able to get her hands all the way around it. She sighed with frustration and told him plainly, “If you put your boot in your mouth then that’s your problem. Not mine.” Doing her best to pretend he wasn’t standing right there staring at her as ifshewere the one who’d lost half her brain, Cassandra cracked some eggs into a bowl and proceeded to whisk them with great ferocity.
“I’m sorry,” he said once the eggs were cooking on a pan alongside some bacon. “I shouldn’t have said what I did, but Lady DeVries made me so bloody furious.” He blew out a heavy breath. “She insulted you, Cass, and I couldn’t let it pass.”
It was difficult not to sympathize a little when his intensions had been so noble, but it didn’t make his actions any less damning. “So,” she said, waving a spatula in his direction, “rather than simply arguing her point or offering a clever retort, you decided to head for the altar?”
“Offering my protection seemed like the best way to make the horrid woman shut up.” His eyes bore into hers with the intensity of a man who’d ridden into battle for her and lived to tell about it. “I respect you too much to let anyone tarnish your name, Cass, and…now that I’ve had a few days to think matters through, I’ve concluded that getting married might not be so terrible.”
A half strangled choking sound escaped her. Just when she thought he was starting to sound sensible, he went and ruined it with more foolish words. “Then I wish you luck finding a bride, Devlin, because—”
“I know it’s a big decision.” He took a step closer to where she stood, causing her to turn away and start slicing a loaf of bread. “Getting married was never part of my plan either, but the thing of it is, I like you and…I hope you don’t take offense to me saying this, but I do consider you a friend and as such, I’d like to help.”
The knife came down a hair’s breadth away from her finger. “Help? How is springing a surprise engagement on me helping? How is having my name emblazoned on the front page ofThe Mayfair Chroniclewith words like ‘spinster’ and ‘scandal’ immediately beneath it helpful? How is—”
“It’s not just about you, Cass,” Devlin murmured.
His voice was whisper quiet – frighteningly so – for it made her feel like an axe was about to come crashing down over her head. “What are you saying?”
“There’s also Penelope to consider.”
Cassandra gripped the breadknife while the blood flowing through her veins turned to ice. She was half tempted to go for Devlin’s throat. Instead she held herself utterly still and forced back the tears now pricking her eyes. “Get out.”
“Ca—”
“I said,” she told him more firmly while taking a step in his direction. “Get. Out!”
“Cassandra, is everything all right?” Katherine’s gentle voice was a stark contrast to Cassandra’s trembling nerves.
Swallowing, she glanced toward the doorway where her friend stood and shook her head. “We have an uninvited guest,” she gritted.
