by Meghan Sloan
Gabriel thought about denying it, but it would be pointless. His very red face was going to give him away, and Norman was not stupid. He sipped at his drink and stared at the table. Why did he feel ashamed about this?
“I shouldn’t. I need to keep focused. But then I start thinking about her, and not in a way that’s part of the plan.”
That was as much as he dared admit. Gabriel was not going to have the ins and outs of his innermost thoughts with his friend. Norman could probably fill in the gaps himself.
“I see,” Norman sat back with a slight smile. “I didn’t think you would be immune to her. You’re nothing special, and Cassie is very special.”
“Charming.”
“Although I am surprised that you didn’t try to seduce her yourself. You’ve had success with it before.”
Gabriel shifted in his chair. Now his trousers were feeling very tight. He was glad Norman couldn’t really see the state he was in.
“I did consider it.” He cleared his throat, “But she’s too clever. She would see straight through me. Cassandra Seton is very suspicious and anything out of the norm is going to have her guardup. But to set her up with my brother…” he shrugged, “he’s in need of a wife, so I considered that a safer option.”
At least, Gabriel thought that had been the safer option. It was a gamble to say to both Cassandra and Percy that the other found them attractive and that they should meet, but it looked like it was paying off. For now. Gabriel couldn’t just only hope that neither of them found out until after the wedding, or not at all.
Wedding. Gabriel’s gut tightened even more. For some reason, thinking about his brother marrying Cassandra didn’t sit well with him at all. It just made him feel nauseous. He pushed that to one side, but how could he ignore it? That was his plan, after all, to have Cassandra married and then she would be distracted enough that she wouldn’t put as much, if any, energy into Seton’s. Percy probably wouldn’t appreciate what his new wife was doing, so Cassandra would be restricted. Then again, Cassandra was a force to be reckoned with.
Now Gabriel was beginning to wonder what he had been drinking when he had come up with this plan. But it was too late to back out now. That and Gabriel would have to swallow his pride and admit the reason why. He couldn’t do that.
“Don’t you think you’re doing a little too much for something that could be so simple?” Norman asked. “You could simply just take over Montgomery’s and work to get the money to pay me back. It might take a while, but at least you won’t have to interfere with anyone’s business but your own.”
“But if I do that and do not take care of the rivals who have been in the business for much longer, I’ll be a step behind and I’ll never be able to catch up again. Even if it gets them on the back foot for a short period of time until I’m in a position to be ahead, so be it.”
That had sounded reasonable at the beginning. Now it made Gabriel sound like a cad.
“When Cassie finds out what you’re up to, she’s going to bring all kinds of fire and brimstone down on top of you.”
“You’re not going to tell her about this, are you?”
“I won’t. I’m curious to see how this plays out.” Norman smirked, “You’ve got a lot of gall to do this, Gabe. I’m curious to see how it ends.”
That didn’t make Gabriel feel any better.
#
“Cassie?”
Cassandra looked up. Alice was sitting across the table from her with a concerned frown. It took a moment for Cassandra to remember where she was. In Red’s Cafe around the corner from Seton’s, attempting to have tea and cake with her aunt. Aware that she was blushing, Cassandra managed a small smile and sat back, gently pushing away her plate.
“Forgive me, Aunt Alice. I guess I wasn’t that hungry, after all.”
“I can tell.” Her aunt frowned, “We can take it home for later, if you like. I’m sure Mrs. Redfield will allow it.”
Cassandra hoped so. Mrs. Redfield made delicious cakes. Her daughters ran the cafe while their mother worked hard to bring out the gorgeous delicacies that everyone praised over and over again. Cassandra certainly loved the caramel cake, and she always looked out for it whenever she came in. Mrs. Redfield had even made a caramel cake for Cassandra’s last birthday, much to Cassandra’s surprise and delight.
Now she felt ashamed for not being able to eat it.
“She should allow it. I just…” Cassandra pressed a hand to her churning belly, “my stomach doesn’t want to have anything at the moment.”
“It’s perfectly fine. We’re allowed to change our minds.” Alice looked concerned, “Are you sure you’re all right? You’ve looked very peaky all day. I am getting worried that you haven’t completely recovered from your illness.”
She wasn’t ill in that sense, but Cassandra wasn’t about to confess that to her aunt. She meant well and Cassandra loved her dearly, but Alice would go straight to Ernest and tell him. Cassandra didn’t want her father to know about her feelings for a man who was most unsuitable for her.
It was just a shame that her common sense wasn’t working with regards to Gabriel Tattershall.
“I’m fine, Aunt Alice,” Cassandra managed a smile. “I just had a bad night’s sleep. Maybe I just need to go back home and rest.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I don’t want you to collapse because you didn’t take care of yourself.”
“I’m not going to collapse. I’m just...a bit flat, I suppose.” Cassandra leaned over and laid her hand over her aunt’s. “I’ll manage. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“That’s the thing. I do worry.” Alice turned her hand over and linked her fingers with her niece’s. “Especially when you and I seemed to be well and healthy when we were in Hunstanton. Less than two weeks later, and you seem to be going back to how you were before. I know your father’s concerned about you.”
“He barely saw me this morning.”
“But it’s been a week since you started acting differently. We’ve both noticed.”
Was it really a week since she’d changed? Cassandra hadn’t really noticed. She had been trying so hard to resist what her body was telling her to do that she had blocked everything else out. If her father had begun to notice, that was worrying.
“I’m just distracted, Aunt Alice,” she said a little too brightly. “What with a death so close to the family, so to speak. Thomas Montgomery was a nice man, even if he drove Father mad.”
Perhaps she should go over and give Norman her condolences. Cassandra had already written to him and was going to send flowers for the funeral the day after tomorrow, but maybe a face-to-face meeting would be appreciated. Cassandra was fond of Norman. He was a sweet, gentle soul. It was a shame she couldn’t accept his offer of courtship years before; he would be a good husband for someone.
But then you would be bored. You like someone who makes you feel safe, but you don’t want that as a permanent thing.
Cassandra pushed that aside. She wasn’t going to discuss it, even if it was to herself. Easing back, she rose to her feet.
“Let’s see if Mrs. Redfield will allow me to take this cake home. I will certainly want it later.”
Maybe if she got some sleep and rested enough, her appetite would improve along with her mood. Cassandra didn’t want to be in a low mood and have her relatives questioning it. They were like a dog with a bone when that happened, and Cassandra wasn’t about to divulge her secrets.
If they knew what she was feeling about a certain man, then neither her father nor her aunt would be very pleased.
Mrs. Redfield was happy to let Cassandra take a slice of cake home, putting it in a little box tied up with a bow. She did enquire after Cassandra’s health, but Cassandra assured her nothing was wrong. Nevertheless, the proprietress didn’t believe her. She was far too sharp for her own good. Cassandra had appreciated that before, but not when it was directed at her.
She wasn’t sick. She was just confused. And it
was difficult to get sorted in her head.
They left the cafe and headed in the direction of home. Now she had mentioned going home and getting some sleep, Cassandra was now quite looking forward to putting her head down for a bit. She was beginning to feel extremely tired. It wasn’t like her to sleep during the day unless she was unwell, but there wasn’t anything she needed to do today.
Visiting Seton’s tonight could wait, and Percy was taking her to the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk’s ball tomorrow night. Her dress was ready, and Cassandra was prepared. Sleeping seemed like the best thing to do.
Providing she was able to fall into a deep sleep. That hadn’t happened much lately.
Cassandra and Alice had crossed the street and were heading in the direction of the park - cutting through the park to get home was a lot quicker and certainly more enjoyable - when Cassandra heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw a dark-haired beauty her age striding towards her.
A pale-haired girl carrying a parasol that matched the beauty’s dress and her eyes downcast hurried along behind her, almost tripping over to keep up. The dark-haired woman drew up in front of Cassandra and stopped, seeming to stop herself from going any further. Cassandra tensed. From the way the woman had moved, she had thought she was going to get slapped but then the girl remembered her manners.
“You’re Cassandra Seton, aren’t you?” The woman drew herself up to her full height, almost as tall as Cassandra, and pulled her shoulders back. “Daughter of Ernest Seton?”
She looked familiar, but Cassandra couldn’t really place her. They must have nodded in passing before, but her name wasn’t materialising. She frowned.
“I am. And you are…?”
“Who I am is not important,” the woman shot back. “I want you to stay away from Gabriel Tattershall.”
She might as well have slapped her. Cassandra stared. Alice gasped, looking at Cassandra and then at the woman. Her companion, hovering a little further back, still had her eyes cast to the ground but her cheeks were reddening.
“I beg your pardon, ma’am?”
“Gabriel is not yours. He’s mine.” The woman lifted her chin and gave Cassandra a defiant glare. “I won’t have another woman encroaching herself upon him.”
Cassandra was aware that her aunt was staring at her. Of course she would know who Gabriel was. Now she would be under the impression that her niece was carrying out an affair with a rake. Along with several other people; it was a busy afternoon, and everyone was going about their business. But those who were close by slowed to stare at them, a lot of them with blatant curiosity. This would certainly get tongues wagging, and the woman didn’t seem to care she was making a scene.
Cassandra just wanted to sink through the ground. Instead, she straightened herself up and fixed the other woman with a cool glare.
“You seem to be under the impression that I am actually in a courtship of some sort with Mr. Tattershall, or something more nefarious. We’ve barely made an acquaintance, so I don’t know why you’re assuming that we’ve had anything beyond a few passing words.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” the woman snapped. “You were up at his family estate last week. Why else would a woman like you go there?”
“Because I was a friend’s companion. And I saw the family, not Mr. Tattershall.”
The other woman snorted.
“Like I’m going to believe that!”
Cassandra could be brash and obnoxious when she needed to be, but she never did it in public. Patrons at Seton’s encountered the sharp side of her tongue if something happened that required a scolding, but Cassandra was self-aware and she would never do it in public. This woman seemed to be cut from an entirely different cloth.
“Who are you, exactly? Because I believe when someone comes up to me with salacious claims I should be permitted to know their name.”
“My name is Jessica Gibson,” she said very proudly. “I’m going to be Gabriel’s wife.”
So this was Jessica Gibson. Now Cassandra recognised her. Beautiful as she was, the young woman was very forgettable. And because of her attitude, Cassandra would have put her out of her mind if they had been in the same room.
This was the woman who Gabriel had taken to bed? While she couldn’t fault him for choosing beauty, Cassandra could fault him for selecting a woman who didn’t seem to think the same way as him about an affair.
Why are you faulting him about anything at all? It’s not your place.
“Oh, I see.” Cassandra folded her arms. “You’re going to be Mr. Tattershall’s wife.”
“I am.”
“Does Mr. Tattershall know about this arrangement? Because from what I’ve heard, he would happily never see you again.”
Jessica snorted and patted her carefully arranged curls.
“That’s what he says to everyone to make them think about something else. We were going to get engaged before he was disowned. We’re still talking about it, but lately he’s been pulling away from me. Now I know why.” She turned her angry, blazing eyes onto Cassandra. “He had another woman waiting for him.”
“And you think it’s me?”
Cassandra couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing. It was either that or burst into tears. She was so emotionally and physically worn out that the tears had been threatening for most of the day. Now she was in the middle of the street with complete strangers openly staring at her, thinking that she had started having a salacious affair with a known rake. The false allegations wouldn’t make a difference; people would still think that she was a fallen woman.
Laughing felt a better option than crying. Especially with such ludicrous accusations.
From the outraged look on her face, Jessica didn’t appreciate it. She bared her teeth.
“Don’t you dare laugh at me!” she cried, making her companion flinch.
“I can and I will.” Cassandra stopped laughing enough to take a step towards the other woman, noting how Jessica shuffled back. “You think I would encroach on a man who is already promised to someone else? Who is known for seducing a woman just by a crook of his finger? I didn’t know Mr. Tattershall at all before two weeks ago, and I am merely a nodding acquaintance.”
She stepped towards Jessica again, noting that Jessica was still moving away, a look of uncertainty flashing across her face. Good, she was understanding now.
“Someone has been winding you up. I don’t know who’s been telling you these things, but you need to stop before you make more of an embarrassment of yourself.”
As it was, more people were stopping to stare at them. It wasn’t often something like this happened in public view, and they were like a hungry gallery at the theatre. Cassandra just wanted to get away as quickly as possible; this was just humiliating.
Jessica recovered quickly and squared her shoulders.
“I don’t care what it looks like. I know what I was told,” she jabbed a finger at Cassandra, almost hitting her in the face. “I want you to back away and leave Gabriel alone.”
Cassandra grabbed her hand, which had Jessica falter. Then Cassandra pushed the offending hand away.
“Don’t you wave your finger in my face thinking you have a right for anything,” Cassandra hissed. She could feel herself shaking in her anger. “I think you’ve been misled. A lot. You can tell whoever told you this that they need to check things before telling anyone else about it. Also, if you want Gabriel Tattershall, you can have him. I’m not interested in becoming another woman he’s seduced into bed because he was bored.”
