Chapter Three
Lady Kathryn Sinclair frowned as her father-in-law’s magnificent coach started up the long, tree-lined drive toward Rosewood Manor. Dear God, what was he doing here?
Something was definitely wrong. The Earl of Sutcliffe never visited his country estate. His unexpected appearance didn’t bode well.
Had something happened to Daniel?
Heart racing, she let her spade drop to the freshly tilled soil of her rose garden. While she bore her husband no great love, neither did she wish him any harm.
She picked up her dusty skirts and hurried up the stone path toward the imposing gray mansion, intent upon making herself presentable. It wouldn’t do to have the earl see her in her gardening attire. He disliked impropriety of any kind.
She ran up the servant’s stairs to her suite of rooms on the second floor. Shutting the door behind her, she blocked out the commotion of the earl’s arrival below.
“Dear Lord.” A quick glance in the mirror confirmed her worst fears. She grabbed a cloth and wet it in a basin of tepid water then scrubbed her face and did her best to wash the embedded dirt from her hands.
There wasn’t time to change or ring for her maid, Betsy, so she tried to repair the damage on her own. Her hair had escaped its simple chignon to wisp about her face in unruly chestnut ringlets. She took the heavy mass down, gave the dark strands a vigorous brushing, and then arranged it in a much simpler style.
Her stomach clenched in a fierce knot as she descended the sweeping front stairs. She wished she could run out the door and across the park until she collapsed, but it wouldn’t do any good. There was no way to escape the earl or the hold he had on her life.
“Lady Katherine, Lord Sutcliffe has arrived.” The butler, Gregory, met her in the echoing front hall, his usually calm demeanor visibly rattled. “He’s waiting for you in the library, milady.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, smoothing her hair one last time. “Please announce me.”
She paused outside the library and took several deep, calming breaths, waiting while Gregory said her name in his cool, formal voice. Then she gathered her courage like a shield and walked into the room.
Her father-in-law stood behind his huge desk, staring out the window at the lake in the distance. He turned when she entered, and his impassive, ice blue gaze swept over her, taking in her unkempt appearance. “You look like a washerwoman, Kathryn. It’s not fitting for a viscountess to dirty her hands like a common peasant.”
“Gardening is a genteel pursuit,” she pointed out, clenching her dirt-stained hands behind her back. “My roses have won numerous awards.”
He frowned, obviously annoyed that his cutting comments hadn’t caused her to burst into tears as they once would have. Her marriage had taught her many things, paramount among them to never show weakness.
He glared at her for another long moment and then sat down in the leather chair behind his desk. There weren’t any chairs on her side, a ploy to give him the upper hand and make all those who stood before him feel inferior. She raised her chin a notch and waited him out, determined not to give in to the panic his arrival had precipitated.
Why is he here?
“How long has it been since Daniel paid you a visit?”
Shamed heat crept up her cheeks, but she managed to hold his steely gaze. “He came in February.”
“Four months?” His displeasure was evident. “Then I’m correct in assuming he still hasn’t managed to get you with child?”
His shockingly blunt statement managed to do what all his calculated cruelty could not. Kathryn looked away, her cheeks flaming.
Her husband didn’t desire her, and everyone seemed to know it. “This situation is intolerable,” Sutcliffe continued. “Daniel’s drunken carousing is an embarrassment to me. He refuses to do his duty and produce an heir, so I’ve decided to send the two of you to my new estate in the Carolinas. Perhaps if he has nothing else to occupy his time, we’ll see some results and I’ll allow you to come back.”
Her world shifted beneath her feet. It was an effort to remain standing when everything she knew and loved had just been snatched away.
She’d managed to live without the hope of a loving husband or a family of her own, but she couldn’t bear to have Rosewood Manor, even the land of her birth, taken from her as well.
“The Carolinas?” she breathed. “Surely you jest.”
“I never jest.”
She fought to keep her composure. “I’ll speak to Daniel. Surely he’ll spend more time with me once I explain how serious the situation has become.”
Sutcliffe shook his head. “I spoke to him months ago. He refuses to listen to reason.”
Shame overwhelmed her. Was the thought of making love to her so repugnant Daniel would risk banishment to avoid it? She’d never thought of herself as exceptionally pretty, but she wasn’t unattractive. Did she have some terrible flaw she was unaware of?
