The older gentleman choked on his whiskey. “A husband?” he squeaked.
Matthew’s lips fell into a harsh line. “You heard me. A husband.”
Mr. Travis shoved the whiskey bottle in Matthew’s direction. “To dampen the pain, my boy. With your father’s death and now your sister, well, I don’t envy you. A husband, by gad.” The man stared at the knife he held between two fat fingers and let it clatter to the counter. “No. Don’t envy you at all.”
Twenty-year-old Katherine Josephine Wilcox sat on her father’s wing chair, wringing her hands on her skirt and staring blankly at the plush rug beneath her. Wisps of cornsilk hair strayed from the loosely piled tresses on top of her head. A huge knot of grief formed in her throat as she shifted her gaze to the fireplace. The host of rising flames did nothing to warm the iciness that claimed her heart.
“Kate, I know these past few weeks have been hard on you...”
She looked up, barely listening to Matthew who was pacing across the study floor. Tears stung the back of her doe brown eyes, and her bottom lip began to tremble. Why was her brother talking about journeying to the Mediterranean now? Leaving Boston was out of the question.
It had been two weeks since she’d heard news of her father’s death at sea. Two weeks since she agreed to her brother’s plan.
If Father does not return in one year, we shall assume he’s dead. Is that to your satisfaction?
No, she hadn’t accepted her father’s death. One year to face the grim facts about her father’s disappearance! Matthew had known how stubborn she could be, so he had offered the compromise. She had agreed. Now, she wondered if that had been a good idea at all.
She was having a difficult time as it was, especially when Matthew tried to ignore his own feelings. He hadn’t shed a tear in front of her, but two days after he had told her about their father, she’d heard him sobbing behind the closed doors of the study. Matthew never cried. Pain for her brother had cracked her heart in two. Though he was strong and capable, he would never admit his vulnerability. She would take care of him though. She would not let him carry the burden of their father’s death alone
. Oh, Papa. What are we going to do without you?
Her head suddenly snapped back when Matthew spoke.
“London?” she asked with a sense of alarm.
“Yes, London.” Her brother cleared his throat and looked away. “I’ve, uh, added it to our voyage. Father and I decided a long time ago that it would be best for you to travel to England and stay with Aunt Georgiana and Uncle Phillip for a spell. Only a short time, mind you. The country air shall give you time to recuperate and set your mind at ease.”
An angry tremor worked its way to her lips. “And I have nothing to say about this?”
“It will be for only a short time.”
Short time? Her stomach curled into a cold, hard ball. Any time in England would be too long. Her fear of the dark was nothing compared to facing that person again.
Matthew shrugged. “This is as good a time as any.”
She chewed her bottom lip as thoughts ran through her head. She couldn’t use her father’s death as an excuse to stay in Boston because she had forced the issue of waiting a year to formally mourn. And her brother certainly wouldn’t like her saying she needed to stay because he needed her! So, she told him the truth. “I simply can’t go to London. Ever.”
But she had not told Matthew why. No, she could never tell him why.
Yet Matthew ignored her words of protest. “As niece to a duke and duchess, you shall be treated like a queen. Ridgewater Manor should be lovely this time of year.”
Lovely? This was intolerable. “If it’s up to you, next thing I know, I’ll be married to some stranger.” He raised a blond brow as if to say anything was possible. She pursed her lips.
“I’m only following Father’s wishes,” he countered. “I’ll make the decisions as I see fit.”
Grasping the arms of her chair, she dismissed the delicate thread of warning in his voice. “Fit? What kind of consolation is that? I am not ready to go to London now.”
“Oh, you will go. Make no mistake about that.”
“How could you do this to me? Especially after yesterday when you decided to play matchmaker like some old woman! If Papa does not return, I will have to marry as soon as you find the best man for the position? Good gracious, that edict of yours was ludicrous, but sending me to London is insufferable! You are becoming somewhat of a dictator, and I don’t like it!”
“Oh, you will go to England! And I will find a husband for you in the near future. Make no mistake about that.”
“You’ve lost your mind!”
Matthew’s eyes narrowed. Kate’s throat locked up. It was pointless. She knew her brother. He would not bend. She could not win this fight about going to London, at least not now. It might be best to agree to his traveling plans, if only to get him to stop thinking about a husband for her. Besides, if luck were with her, she might avoid her problem in England altogether. And maybe she could use the time to put her life back in order. “Very well. I’ll go.”
Matthew’s jaw dropped, and he slowly fell into his chair.
She managed a twisted smile, enjoying his confusion. She usually fought him at every turn. “You shall be my escort, of course. The Mediterranean shall have to wait.”
He shrugged as if to recollect his thoughts and threw his booted feet over the side of the inlaid mahogany desk. “I can drop you off in London, then carry on to the Mediterranean. It will take some extra time to navigate up the Thames, but I want you safely delivered. After my business is complete, I’ll return to England to visit with you and our relatives.”
Her brow wrinkled. “I am to make the trip to Ridgewater Manor by myself?”
Horror blanketed Matthew’s face as he whipped his feet off the desk. “No! If you’re traveling in the country, you’ll need a proper chaperone.” He smiled as if he were the devil himself. “Even if it’s only to Ridgewater Manor. Mrs. Hollingsworth will be with you. She has relatives in England as well as France.”
Kate’s eyes popped wide in shock. “Mrs. Hollingsworth as chaperone?”
“Though Captain Gaston is her step-nephew, the lady has a much nicer demeanor.”
Captain Gaston was employed by the Wilcox Shipping Line, and Kate recalled that his French mother had married Mrs. Hollingsworth’s late brother.
“Listen here, dear brother. The captain may be a bit high-handed at times, but I like him. At least he’s sane. His aunt, on the other hand, may have a gentler side, but she’s crazy!”
“Well, then, what’s the problem?”
“The captain’s sane. She’s crazy! That’s the problem!”
Matthew could hardly contain his laughter. “I admit, she is rather different.”
“Different?” Kate snapped.
Matthew laughed. “Ah, Kate, you can be a shrew. Even you must see how hilarious this is. Imagine Mrs. Hollingsworth and you confined in a carriage for almost an entire day.”
Kate groaned. She was trapped. Mrs. Hollingsworth was the least of her worries. Matthew didn’t know it, but she had good reason not to venture into the heart of England again.
That Tristan boy must have hated her for what she’d done to him ten years ago.
Why, she had almost killed him!
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