“Jack!”
“What? She just confessed! We should probably summon Lord Bradley to take her in,” Jack said, looking around. Kate kicked him in the shin. “Ow!”
The Duchess rose gracefully. “I’ll leave you two to defend peace and justice, shall I?”
They stayed for the entire length of the ball. Kate got the sense that Jack would have left hours ago, but he bowed to her knowledge of society and stayed, dancing with his cousins and more wallflowers as well as his wife. By the time they left, Kate was able to exchange satisfied glances with the Duchess, knowing that Lord and Lady Rothwell had presented themselves successfully in society. There might still be questions about the haste of their marriage, but nobody would dare to ask them in the face of the general goodwill they’d garnered and the Edgebourne mantle of approval.
Jack handed her into the carriage and she leaned back against the seat, letting her eyes droop as he settled himself opposite her.
“You did well tonight,” he said.
“Mm. So did you,” she said without opening her eyes. “Captain Jack Boone has a little Lord Rothwell in him, it seems.”
“I suppose all those lessons from the Duke did have an effect,” he said. “Even when I tried to skip them.”
“He’s a good teacher.”
He picked up her hand and caressed her fingers, one by one. “Want to know the best lesson he taught me?”
“What’s that?”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “Marry well.”
~ ~ ~
Miss Ashe is unwell and would prefer her sister’s company. The note was brief, and left unsaid far more than it said. The footman who’d handed it to Jack when they’d entered the house had no further details.
“What sort of unwell? What about the baby? Has something exploded?” Kate’s tone was frantic as she threw a random assortment of dresses into the valise on the bed. “How could they say so little?” She turned to the armoire, grabbing another gown and swinging wildly back toward the bed.
“Kate.” Jack stepped forward and took the dress—one of her elegant, expensive ball gowns, wildly unsuitable for Duncan’s country keep—out of her hands, gazing down into her wide eyes. “Calm down.” He slid his arms carefully around her body, which was practically vibrating with urgency. It felt like trying to hold a panicked bird.
“I should never have left her there.” Her hands, without anything in them anymore, fisted in the satiny depths of her skirts, crushing the delicate fabric.
“If she were injured, or the situation was dire, they would have sent a different sort of message,” Jack said. “I promise.” He didn’t reveal the insight his own familiarity with Duncan’s handwriting gave. The formality of ‘Miss Ashe’ wasn’t a particularly good sign. Alicia, it seemed, was having trouble. Again. “It’s three in the morning, Kate. Get a few hours of sleep, and we’ll leave as soon as the carriage can be made ready.”
She took a few deep breaths, then stared down at her skirts and blinked. “Oh. Yes.” She went suddenly limp, resting her head on his chest.
He tightened his grip on her waist and drew her closer into his embrace. “All right?”
She nodded and sniffled against his jacket. “It would be terribly uncomfortable to ride all the way to Scotland in our evening finery.”
He smiled against her hair. “That’s my girl.”
“What about the Delphine?”
“Well, given what their Graces said, it’s not really an option, is it?”
“No, I mean—”
“We already talked about this, remember? I said back at Rothwell that if necessary, the ship can go without me.”
“Is it necessary?” She picked the note up from the bed and smoothed it between her fingers, paper crackling softly.
“Seems to be.”
She peered up at him, and he couldn’t decipher her expression. “You could leave from Scotland, couldn’t you?”
He nodded, not sure where she was going with this line of questioning. She heaved a deep breath and stepped away from him, suddenly back to herself. “All right. You make a plan for the Delphine to meet you in Scotland, so you can get back to it. I’ll make the arrangements for us to get there.” She nodded briskly.
“Kate.”
“What?”
“First, we need to sleep.”
“Oh.”
He pointed a finger at her, nearly touching her temple. “You can write down whatever list is in that brain of yours in the morning. For now, please, just turn around so I can help you out of this ridiculous dress.”
She turned around obediently. “It’s not ridiculous.”
“The fact that you’re still in it is,” he said. She huffed an amused breath, and then he felt her body relaxing under his hands as he unfastened the row of tiny buttons along her spine.
“Thank you.” She turned as he finished, and reached up to return the favor, easing his tightly-fitted jacket off of his shoulders.
“You’re better than a valet,” he said.
“And you’re much more interesting than my last maid,” she said over her shoulder as she laid his jacket on the chair next to the bed.
“Clearly, you need more interesting maids.”
“I’ll add it to my list,” she said. “Come to bed.”
Chapter 18
Normally, the trip to Kilgoran took two days and an overnight stay at an inn midway. Kate managed to arrange so many transfers that their carriage drew up to the gates of Kilgoran Keep in the middle of the next night, with horses still so fresh they capered in their leads.
A sleepy Duncan met them. “You didn’t stay at the inn?”
Jack glanced at Kate. “We were concerned.”
Duncan scrubbed his eyes. “You’d better have brought Mrs. Husby a present,” he said. “She had to roust the girls out of bed to prepare your room.”
“I’m sorry,” Kate said. She should have thought of the inconvenience to Duncan’s staff. She would have been annoyed if anybody had done the same thing to hers. And Brand would have had words with her about allowing it.
“It’s fine,” Duncan said. “Family is a bit of a mantra around here.” He yawned. “And speaking of family, I’m going to get back to mine.” He waved them through the door. “You know the way, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Jack said. “Go to bed.”
Duncan closed the door behind them. “Don’t have to tell me twice.” He sauntered away.
Jack held up the bag he’d carried in. “Essentials. The rest can wait until tomorrow so we don’t have to wake anybody else up.”
Kate winced. “I feel terrible. I was so worried about Alicia I just barged in here in the middle of the night.”
“They understand,” Jack said.
“That almost makes it worse.” She found a smile, somewhere. “At least if they were angry I could feel self-righteous about it.”
He laughed loudly, and she hushed him. “Sorry. Don’t want to wake anybody. Right. Should we find our room?”
“Where do you suppose Alicia is?” She glanced around, as if Alicia might suddenly appear out of the shadowed walls.
“Sleeping, if she has any sense. Then again, it is your sister, so who knows.”
She elbowed him in the ribs. “Be nice.”
“I’m too sleepy to be nice. Come on. You are absolutely not going to hunt Alicia down in her room in the middle of the night like cornered prey, Kate.”
She avoided his gaze, as that was exactly what she’d been thinking of doing. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You need sleep. I need sleep. Alicia certainly needs sleep. And the rest of the family needs sleep too, which they won’t be getting if you two get into an argument.”
“
I wasn’t going to argue with her.”
“She’s probably going to argue with you.”
Kate sighed. “Fine. Let’s find our room.”
~ ~ ~
Mrs. Husby’s girls were deeply efficient. The room they’d shared last time was lit by a low fire and comfortably warm, as though they’d just left. Kate made a mental note to ask the woman if she had any tips for training maids. Brand would surely want to hear them. Whenever she made her way back to Rothwell, that is. She pondered the distance between the estates with a weary mental finger over an imaginary map. More travel.
“Sometimes it seems as though our marriage has been nothing but a series of disasters with carriage rides in between,” she observed as she flopped backward onto the bed they’d shared before. It felt familiar, and comfortable. She tried not to give in to the creeping exhaustion that was making its way through her body.
The bed dipped as Jack sat down beside her. He splayed a hand across her bodice, toying with the lacework that trimmed her dress, and smiled. “My dear, my entire life has been a series of scrapes punctuated by extreme travel. I never imagined marriage would be different.” He tugged at her neckline, and she swatted lazily at his hand.
“Well, I expected something different, I suppose,” she mumbled.
His hand stilled. “Did you?” His tone seemed somehow different, more distant. She opened her eyes and peered up at him. He was staring down at her with an expression she couldn’t identify.
She sat up and wrestled her tired mind into form, giving the question the thought it deserved, though she was surprised that he was taking this so seriously. “I don’t know. I suppose I expected . . . stability.”
“Is our marriage unstable?” Now his hand was gone from her breast, and she was distracted by missing the warmth of it.
“No, of course not.” She shook her head. “I think we make a good team.” Why was he worried about their marriage? They’d be living relatively separate lives soon enough. It was nice that they would remain friends, and even surprisingly effective partners in the running of the estate, but it wasn’t as though either of them had gone into this expecting more than what they had. Her unruly heart might want more, but Kate Ashe had always had a sensible head on her shoulders.
“So?” His casual tone seemed forced, but it was hard to tell. Jack Boone’s layers wore layers, and they were all cloaked in careless charm.
“So . . . I don’t know. I suppose I always thought that married people stayed in one place more.” She shrugged, emulating Jack’s favorite motion. Her grandparents had certainly rarely left their own estates. It had just been an offhand comment, hadn’t it?
“Are you unhappy that we haven’t?” He was watching her carefully.
She pulled her legs up onto the bed, scooting backward to center herself on the plush comfort of good Scottish bedclothes. Biting her lip, she gave his question due consideration. “I’m not unhappy about it,” she said, somewhat surprised to discover this about herself. “It’s been . . . invigorating.”
“But?”
“I don’t know. I suppose I’m just so used to being able to make plans. When Alicia and I went to stay with Lady Morehouse for the Season, we were in dire straits, and life seemed very chaotic, but I was still able to plan my way through it. I had a set of options that I was prepared for, and lists of actions to take.”
“And then the chaos took over?” He leaned back against the bedframe and crossed his arms behind his head.
She slid a hand onto his knee, enjoying the now-familiar warmth of him. “And then you came, and beat it back.”
His smile was wry. “Little did you know.”
She sighed. “Yes, I suppose that’s the heart of it. I’m not sure I ever took the time to regroup from the first setback before things just started . . . happening.” Having his unexpected support had gotten her through. But when he left, she would be on her own, managing chaos alone. Again.
His hand covered hers. “Well, let me know what would help. I’ll procure stacks and stacks of paper and pens. You can make as many lists as you need.”
She smiled, ignoring the impulse to beg him to stay. She could do this. “Thank you. I just hope we can make it through this visit without something dramatic happening.”
“With your pregnant sister, the Earl of Kilgoran, several witches, and the twins all lurking about? It seems unlikely, but I do appreciate your optimism.” He yawned. “Let’s wait to start the drama until the morning, at least.”
She snuggled up against him, and he wrapped his arms around her. It felt like a safe haven. “Reprieve,” she said. “Until breakfast.”
Chapter 19
“Where’s Alicia?”
“Good morning to you, too,” Lord Kilgoran said as he entered the breakfast room and raised an eyebrow at Kate’s demand.
She blushed. “I’m sorry. I’m just . . . anxious.”
“She asked for a tray in her room quite early.” Fiona seated herself and shook out her own napkin, then reached over to hand another to one of her sons. Kate still couldn’t tell them apart. “Is there any of that plum cake left, Duncan?”
“Yes, but I’m going to eat it.”
“Not if you value your life.”
“Finish your breakfast,” Jack said as Kate pushed her chair back.
“I’m done,” she said.
He snorted, but didn’t argue with her.
She left the remaining coddled eggs and toast on her plate and hurried through the halls of the keep to Alicia’s room. She burst through the door and surprised the room’s occupant into a shriek.
“Oh! I’m so sorry. I was looking for my sister.”
The maid bobbed a curtsy. “I believe she went to the stables, my lady.”
“Thank you,” Kate said. “I am sorry for startling you, truly.”
“It’s quite all right, mum. We get all kinds of excitement here.” The maid grinned, and Kate found herself grinning back. She could only imagine the extra training that the servants at Kilgoran had to receive. She found her cheeks heating as she left the room, remembering the conversation with the Duke and Duchess of Edgebourne. Magical children, indeed.
The stables were across a cobbled courtyard from the main keep. Kate hadn’t actually entered the low, square building before. She paused in the doorway, breathing in the warm, horse-scented air. It seemed that well-tended stables everywhere were the same. She let the familiarity wash over her, remembering frequent visits to her grandfather’s stable. Alicia had always loved horses. If she was feeling uncertain, it was no surprise that she would come here, especially if she sensed the same similarities that Kate did.
Acting on half-buried memories, Kate headed down the aisle, fondly patting the occasional long equine nose that poked out at her in a hopeful search for treats. At the back of the building, she turned left, and found what she expected: a sturdily-built ladder in the corner, stretching up into the opening that led to the hayloft. She glanced around to check for watchers, then tucked her skirts briskly around her thighs and began to climb.
“Oof.” Kate tipped forward into the hay, flopping ungracefully off the ladder. “That was much harder than I remembered.”
“You haven’t done enough climbing lately.” Her sister’s voice came from behind a pile of hay toward the middle of the large space.
Kate floundered through the hay, bouncing to her knees and struggling up again as she made her way toward Alicia. “And you have?”
“Enough to be able to get to a hayloft.”
“Is that—” Kate clapped her hands over her own mouth before she could finish blurting out the thought. Alicia wasn’t going to tell her the details of the affair that had led to her pregnancy. And asking would only annoy her.
Kate finally made it to where her sister lay
, reclined on a horse blanket spread neatly over the hay. Alicia didn’t offer her a greeting, only raised an eyebrow. Kate sighed, and picked a few pieces of hay from her dress before giving up and sitting down on the edge of the blanket. Alicia’s belly was now officially rounding. She might be able to hide her pregnancy standing up, but when she laid down, the weight of her dress pulled down around the betraying shape. Kate tried not to stare at it.
“Are you all right?”
Alicia shrugged. “I suppose so.”
Kate took a moment to smooth her skirts around her feet, and considered her words. “Your hosts seemed concerned,” she said finally.
Her sister snorted inelegantly. “I’m sure they are.”
“Why?”
“They can’t imagine somebody not appreciating their cloyingly delightful happy-ever-after, I suppose.”
Now it was Kate’s turn to raise her eyebrows. “Oh?”
“I don’t see why I should have to be happy in addition to being pregnant,” Alicia said. “Isn’t one enough?”
“Having never been pregnant, I don’t know. But I would hope that you’re at least grateful to them for taking us in.”
“It’s not what I planned on.”
“It’s not what any of us planned on, but we’ve found our way to the best situation possible, haven’t we?”
“Yes,” Alicia said bitterly. “You’ve fallen on your feet. I’ve just fallen.”
Kate sighed. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Alicia.”
“I don’t want you to say anything. You don’t always have to swoop in and fix my problems.”
“You asked for my help!”
“I didn’t ask you to come back!”
“No, Lord and Lady Kilgoran did, because they were worried about you. As friends.”
“As captors, you mean.”
Kate blew out a frustrated sigh. “Nobody is forcing you to stay here.”
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