Page 2 of A Daring Desire

“I have not had the chance to tell you, darling, but you look quite stunning today,” she said, looking Cat over with admiration. “Such a beautiful gown, and those diamonds! Goodness. You put me quite in the shade, just as you should,” she added with a wink.

“Nonsense,” Papa said, frowning. “You are both quite as lovely as each other, and I am the luckiest fellow here, or anywhere,” he added as an afterthought.

Mama laughed at this, shaking her head. “Flatterer, but all the same, Catherine, as lovely are you are, you look a little pale. Are you getting enough sleep? Perhaps you should come home for a while and let me fuss over you. You know how much I enjoy that.”

“I have just invited her,” Papa said, turning back to Cat with an expectant expression.

“I was coming to you on Christmas Eve anyway,” Cat said with a smile. “It’s only a week away.”

But she thought perhaps it might be nice to go home early and allow her parents to spoil her. At Dern she could pretend the rest of the world did not exist, that she was still young and unmarried, and the future stretched before her, filled with promise. Not that at two and twenty she was exactly old, but she felt it, and the future was an unwelcome landscape that stretched on for empty decades.

“Then all the more reason,” Mama returned with a bright smile.

“But Rose is staying with me,” she reminded them.

“I think perhaps we can accommodate Rose too,” Papa said dryly.

Cat snorted, for Dern was cavernous. One could lose an army among its many bedrooms and still have room for more. “I know that, but I’ve accepted so many invitations and Rose might be disappointed, but I’ll think about it,” she promised. “Let me see if I can cry off any of my engagements, and I shall let you know.”

With this, her parents had to be satisfied.

Cat did not linger at Beverwyck. Though her spirits were not so depressed as they might have been, she had not the stomach for remaining among so many people celebrating and enjoying themselves, so she ordered her carriage, leaving her parents to escort Rose home later in the evening.

Her butler, Jefferies, greeted her warmly on her return to Connaught Place.

“Good afternoon, my lady. Did the ceremony go well?” he asked, for he had taken quite a shine to Aggie despite being a little shocked by some of her antics.

“Wonderfully well,” Cat said, handing him her cloak. “I’ve never seen two people so perfectly suited and entirely besotted with each other. It was quite nauseating.”

Jefferies chuckled, knowing she didn’t mean it. “I’m glad to hear it. Shall I ring for tea?”

“Yes, if you would. I’ll take it in my rooms, I think.”

Jefferies nodded his acceptance of this command, and Cat made her way across the vast entrance hall. She was almost at the top of the grand staircase when she heard the front door open again and paused. Jefferies came back in, hurrying up the stairs towards her.

“An express, my lady,” he said, as Cat accepted the letter he offered her. “I took the liberty of sending the fellow around to the kitchens. He looked rather travel-worn.”

Cat nodded absently and looked at the letter. With a little start, she recognised the handwriting as belonging to Mr Berrycloth, her husband’s private secretary. Whyever would he be sending her a letter by express? Had something happened to Lord Kilbane? Her heart slammed against her ribs, her fingers suddenly all thumbs and she tore the paper in her haste to break the seal. She held her breath while she scanned the letter and gave a little cry of dismay as she read the intelligence within. Whilst her heart rejoiced at the knowledge Kilbane was on his way here, after so many years apart, the words gravely ill sent a chill of terror thrilling down her spine.

“Jefferies,” she said, for her loyal retainer had withdrawn to a discreet distance but stood awaiting her instruction. “Send Mrs Mortimer to me. I need his lordship’s rooms made ready at once, and as soon as the express rider is ready, tell him I shall pay him double if he can get himself to Dern before dark.”

“Yes, my lady,” the butler said, unable to hide his shock at the revelation their wicked master was coming home at last.

Cat hurried up to her rooms and sat herself down at the small escritoire, snatching up paper and pen with trembling hands.

My dearest Pippin,

I am about to ask you the very greatest favour. I have just this instant received an express letter from my lord’s private secretary. He and Lord Kilbane are on their way to Connaught Place as we speak, but Lord Kilbane is gravely ill. Mr Berrycloth says it is the influenza, but from his description, the fever is dangerously high. I hate to ask it of you, but there is no doctor in the world I would trust better than you. I believe you have taught me well, but I should feel so much happier knowing your skills were at hand.

You may, of course, command my father’s travelling carriage and whatever supplies you deem necessary upon my authority, for I know he would not refuse me this. I believe I should expect Lord Kilbane’s arrival sometime tomorrow in the early afternoon. I must also beg you not to tell my parents where it is you are gone to. Please, my dearest, for Papa will come and I have not the energy to fight him and help Lord Kilbane. I shall tell him as soon as my husband is out of danger, I promise you.

I am so afraid, Pippin. I have longed for so many years for my chance to see him, to spend time with him, yet your warnings ring in my head. One should always be careful what it is you wish for. I would not have wanted his return under these conditions in any circumstances and I cannot help but fear he would not come to me, of all people, if he did not believe himself past help. Yet, I believe in you. If anyone can save my husband, I know you can.

Your own,

Cat x

Somehow, she shook sand over the paper and returned it to the pounce pot without spilling it all over the desk and sealed her missive with a wafer. Cat stood and then swayed as her breath caught. She sat heavily again as a little sob escaped her, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Steady, she commanded herself. You must be strong now. There is much to be done. You are not only a Barrington by blood, but Lady Kilbane. Now straighten your spine and get the job done.