Chapter Twenty-Three

It was another long day’s journey. At least the sun was shining, which made even the rocky moors around Winstanton seem moderately welcoming. Maggie was quiet, glancing out of the coach now and again to make sure Dodds was still riding beside them. Grimsley had arranged for them to have some food packed for the journey, and Catherine was grateful for that. She had not seen Sebastian before they left—he was evidently still with his father—and now she wondered if she would ever see him again.

The thought left her shaky, but she steadied herself. Soon she would be with Jack.

When they finally reached the castle, it was well and truly dark. As the coach drew to a halt, Catherine was reminded of their arrival last night at Albury House. The torch that was usually placed in the sconce by the door hadn’t been lit, and Dodds used one of the coach lanterns to show them the way. Catherine’s body was aching from the journey despite the modern equipage. Yes, it had been a great deal quicker than her own ancient vehicle, but she would have preferred not to have spent so long inside it.

Ellinor would usually have heard them arrive and come to meet them, but there was no sign of her and no one to answer the heavy door knocker. When Catherine pushed her hands against the heavy weight of it in frustration, it opened without resistance. That was also strange and worrying. Inside, the vast entrance hall was all shadows, but there was a faint light on the table at the top of the staircase.

Dodds and Maggie hurried ahead to find the housekeeper, while Catherine took up the light and made her way to Jack’s room. To her consternation his door was locked. Anxiously, she rattled at the handle, calling his name, and a moment later he responded.

“Mama? Mama!” His voice sounded croaky, like he had a cold. Or had been crying in there all alone.

“Where is the key, Jack? Why did Ellinor lock you in?”

His answer was slightly garbled, but she made shocking sense of it. It turned out that Ellinor had fallen two days ago and hurt herself, and the elderly staff could not look after her and a young child who seemed determined to keep running out of the castle to watch for his mother. So they had locked him in.

Maggie returned, breathless, with the housekeeper, Mrs. Howard. When Catherine began to demand how she could have locked Jack in his room, the woman appeared unrepentant. Tight-lipped, she took the key from the bundle at her waist and the next moment Jack flung himself into Catherine’s arms.

“See, no harm done,” Mrs. Howard said briskly.

“I had a candle but it—it burned down, Mama! You know I don’t like the dark.”

Catherine glared at the housekeeper over her son’s head.

Mrs. Howard sniffed. “He kept running off, my lady. And then Miss Ellinor was so ill. I couldn’t be having it. I’m not as young as I used to be.”

Catherine was furious as she comforted Jack, but she restrained herself. There was no point in starting an argument now. The morning would do, when she was settled and Jack had calmed down. She knew how old the housekeeper was, but it was difficult to forgive her when presented with her little son’s damp, woebegone face.

“It was my birthday,” he wailed, “and you promised. I waited and waited but you didn’t come.”

It broke her heart as she kissed his flushed cheeks, sticky with tears, and tried to soothe him. “I’m here now,” she said, “and I have presents for you. Wait until you see them.”

That helped a little, but every now and again he would give a hiccupped sob and cling to her, while the housekeeper looked on disapprovingly. Catherine could imagine what she was thinking: Spare the rod and spoil the child. Well, too bad. She would spoil Jack as much as she liked and no one was going to stop her.

Dodds appeared behind Maggie, a frown on his face. Mrs. Howard eyed him warily, but he ignored her and said to Catherine, “Your Grace, I am told your sister-in-law is calling for you.”

“I forgot about her,” Maggie exclaimed. “That’s what I came to tell you, my lady. Miss Ellinor wants you.”

With Jack’s hand clasped firmly in hers, Catherine followed Maggie to Ellinor’s bedchamber.

The candlelight made shadows, but the room was warm and cozy in comparison to Jack’s, where there had been no light or fire. Her sister-in-law was seated in a chair by the hearth. She started to get up when Catherine entered but groaned and fell back. Catherine could see that her swollen foot was propped up on a stack of cushions.

“I fell over,” she said irritably. “I was rushing and tripped over the carpet runner, and I fell. I was lucky it was just a sprain.” Then, with a frown, “I was expecting you back days ago, Catherine.”

“The storm made it impossible to travel,” Catherine responded woodenly. Then, with a glance at the listening housekeeper, “Thank you, Mrs. Howard, that will be all.”

The woman hesitated, obviously preferring to stay, and then closed the door behind her. Catherine sat down on the straight-backed chair beside Ellinor, and Jack climbed onto her lap. He was sucking his thumb, something he had not done for years, and that worried her. She put her arms around him and held him close.

“You were supposed to be back for Jack’s birthday,” Ellinor said accusingly, her eyes going from the child to its mother. “He was most upset.”

“Mrs. Howard locked him in his bedroom.”

Ellinor’s eyes widened. “I—I did not know.”

“She said she was run off her feet with looking after you and did not have time for him, which I suppose is true, but Jack does not understand that. And I do not condone it. The room was dark, and he has been weeping in there for hours. What would have happened if I hadn’t come home tonight?”

Ellinor looked pale. “I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I did not ask her to do that.”

Catherine took a breath. “Of course you didn’t, but it happened nevertheless.”

“Poor little worm,” Maggie said, patting Jack’s head.

He looked up and tried to smile at her, but instead gave another hiccup.

“Have you had any cake yet?” Maggie demanded, hands on her hips. “Well, come with me little master and I will find you something fit for a birthday boy.”

Catherine smiled, watching as Jack reached for Maggie’s hand. He loved her and trusted her, and she was more grateful than ever for her maid. And then Ellinor interrupted the tender moment.

“You should call him Your Grace.”

Catherine turned to her. The tightly pursed mouth, the narrowed eyes—in the firelight she looked very much like her brother. Ellinor, who had been giving Maggie a stern look, now seemed to sense Catherine’s anger and turned back to her.

“Jack is the duke and the people around him must learn to defer to him as is only right and proper. You do not understand these things, Catherine. You are a commoner.”

Catherine wasn’t sure which of her emotions was the strongest. Anger at her son being turned into a figurehead and denied the affection a little boy needed, or her sister-in-law’s obliviousness. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Ellinor was a product of her family. She did not understand loneliness other than as something that must be overcome, in the hope it would eventually make one stronger.

“I thought you were better than your brother,” she managed to say, her voice trembling, “but you are worse.”

Maggie, still waiting, caught her breath.

Ellinor’s gaze widened, and then narrowed. “I am Jack’s guardian,” she said, a threat against what she must see in Catherine’s eyes. “I warn you—”

“Do your worst,” Catherine said, and stood up. “Jack and I are leaving. Maggie, can you pack him a bag? And tell Dodds I am sorry but we must leave immediately.”

Maggie’s eyes shone as she led Jack to the door. “That is not soon enough.”

“And don’t let Mrs. Howard stop you,” Catherine called after her, and heard Maggie’s snort of laughter drift back.

“You don’t know what you’re doing!” Ellinor said, and there was desperation as well as anger in her voice. “Think what you are doing! Will Jack thank you when he learns what your ignorance has cost him?”

The words worked on that anxiety she had had ever since she read the will, but then Catherine remembered her son, sobbing in his cold, dark, locked room, with no one to help him.

“I am never leaving him again,” she said.

Ellinor seemed to relax. She took a breath. “Good, I am glad you see sense.”

“Because he is coming with me.”

“With you!” Ellinor screeched. “With you where?”

“Albury House,” Catherine said over her shoulder, on her way to the door. “I am going to Viscount Albury.”

She did not hear what Ellinor replied, her words were mangled with rage and thwarted desire as she tried to stand up on her injured foot. Catherine told herself she should feel at least a little sorry for the woman, but she didn’t. She felt an overwhelming relief. She was doing the right thing. She was taking her son away from this place to give him a happier life, and if he was disappointed with her in later years... well, she would face that then, but she did not think Jack would be disappointed. She would make certain he was not.

Albury would take them in. She trusted him to keep his word, and then she would travel south to London. To her mother and sisters. She would find shelter there, and when the gossip had died down, then she would think about her future. Hers and Jack’s.