Chapter 29

Chapter 29

It had been a nice trip out with her mother, a great way to get her outside in public once more without feeling self-conscious all over again. Even if people had been whispering about her behind her back with regard to her upcoming marriage, it did not matter. Kate was not affected by it at all. She did not even notice, which her mother helped her with.

She was more numb to it than anything else. She simply did not care anymore. Perhaps this was because the whole idea of the marriage left her numb, or maybe it had more to do with her mother's motivational speech about not worrying about other people since they simply did not matter.

She even used her walking cane, out in public, among the ton. That was how little the opinions of others could affect her today, a complete turnaround from how she normally felt. While that was a little bit of a struggle, she certainly felt so much better as she returned. Normally, after a walk like that, she had to rest for the entirety of the afternoon, but today, she felt just fine.

While they had not really discussed Kate's current problem with her messy love life, she felt good knowing that she was with someone who understood her. Someone who knew that she was struggling with everything and understood her point of view. If Kate had known that her mother was not going to judge her, she might have opened up to her sooner, just to have someone on her side.

As the carriage dropped them off at home, Kate was already mentally planning some activities for the afternoon, something to keep the good mood going. Perhaps she would spend some time out in the gardens. Or maybe she would read more, do some embroidery even. The hours stretched out in front of her endlessly, but in a very pleasant way.

"What is that noise?" the duchess asked as soon as she walked through the door. The color drained from her face; Kate was concerned to see her mother so upset. "Can you hear it? Something is going on. Someone is here."

Without even shaking off her coat, the duchess moved rapidly through the building with Kate not far behind her. The closer they got to the sound, which Kate had to admit was very worrying, the more frightened she became. She might not have been able to make out anything being yelled, but the fact that there was any shouting in the manor was bad enough.

This was not the sort of house where shouting was considered acceptable, which made the noise even louder on the ears.

"...I have told you to leave her alone." It was Jonathan, and he did not sound happy. Kate could not think of a time when she had heard her brother this upset. "I cannot believe that you are here. I cannot believe that you would dare show your face anywhere near me again. How can I make you understand?"

The duchess paused first, causing Kate to bump into her. Kate peered around her shoulder just to see a sight that twisted her stomach up in knots. Jonathan was not only yelling with a bright red face and his veins nearly popping out, but he also had his hand wrapped around a man's throat. And not just any man. William. Her heart wanted to stop beating forever.

What was he even doing here? And why was her brother so wound up? He did not like Lord Moore; he had made that much very obvious, but that did not mean it was acceptable to resort to violence.

Kate froze in ice, then burned in fire. She could not panic, she could not lose herself. She had to be the one to stop it. She did not need anyone to tell her that, for some reason, she was the cause of all of this.

"No, Jonathan. You cannot." She pushed past her mother and stepped closer to the two men. "Let William go."

Jonathan did not intend to do anything that Kate asked of him, but she clawed with her nails at his fingers until he had no choice but to let go of William. The pair burst apart, and William staggered backward, gasping to get air into his lungs. He slammed back against the wall and slid to the floor with a thump. Kate stared at her brother in absolute horror. She did not recognize this monstrous version of him. How on earth was she supposed to react to him behaving like this? This was not how he was raised. His father had always made sure that Jonathan was a gentleman. Yet today, all of that had vanished. He might as well have been an animal.

And that was not to even mention William. Why on earth was he here fighting with her brother? What had she missed? If she really was at the center of it all then why was that? It did not make sense.

"What is happening?" the duke's strong voice boomed through the hallway, shocking everyone. Kate's father did not sound impressed by whatever commotion had just dragged him from his office. "What is all this noise?"

Everyone turned to Jonathan expectantly, but much to their surprise, he did not have a thing to say. His still red face angled downward, and his eyes fixed firmly on the floor while panting desperately, each ragged breath sounding more painful than the last. Kate had never seen her brother look so embarrassed.

So, he knew that he was acting out of character and not how he was raised to be. Yet that had not stopped him sooner.

"I am in love with Lady Katherine." In the end, it was William who spoke in a sharp and ragged tone. He was clearly still finding it hard to get his breath back after having the life choked out of him, but this was something he needed to say. "I have been in love with her for a very long time now. I know she is engaged to the Marquess of Fairbridge, but that is a sham. You cannot allow that to go ahead. He will never be able to make Lady Katherine happy. Not like I can."

Jonathan scoffed, making an indistinguishable yet obviously disparaging comment under his breath. Kate could only imagine that it was something about his reputation and the beautiful brunette woman that he had been seen with recently, but she could hardly concentrate on that. Not when William had just confessed that he was in love with her.

He really was in love with her. None of this was in her imagination. She could hardly believe it.

She met his eyes for just a moment and Kate was overwhelmed by the depth of emotion she could see in his gaze. If she thought that he had feelings for her before, that was nothing compared to now. The love drowned his eyes, she almost wanted to reach out and touch him just to check that he really was in front of her and this was not a dream but she did not dare.

Not now. Not in the middle of this mess.

The hushed silence after William's announcement was shattered by the scattering footsteps of footmen approaching to escort William out. A little too late really, if the family truly was in danger, then they would not have arrived in time. However, since Kate did not wish for William to go anywhere, the footmen's presence was not welcome at all.

"Wait!" she shouted, the panic clamping down on her. "No, wait, you cannot take him out yet..."

She caught the duke's eyes. His eyes had popped wide; he was very confused by everything going on around him. It seemed that he was the only person who had not picked up on the developing feelings between Kate and William. She tried to silently communicate everything that had happened to him, but there was no way to do that now. It was far too late.

"Please, before you send me on my way, let me have a private word with you," William begged the duke. "I have some information that I think is very important for you to learn. It is about the upcoming marriage. You need to know this."

"If it is about your love for my daughter, I think that is something we are already very much aware of..."

"It is something else," William insisted. "Please, even if you kick me out after, listen to me."

The duke paused for a moment, glancing over to Kate one more time. She might not have been able to communicate much but she could at least plead with him to give William a chance. She had no idea what the mysterious message that just had to be shared with her family was, but she did not want the time to go past without ever finding out.

"I will listen to you," the duke finally declared, albeit a little warily. "Come with me to my office, and I will hear you out."

The duchess rested her hand on Kate's shoulder as William left with her father. Much as she wanted to chase after William to hear everything with her own ears, she knew she could not. This conversation was private between the men.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" Jonathan snapped. "I cannot believe that you have let him in this house. Do you even know who he is? What he is like? He is a man who will drag the reputation of our family down..."

"I do not think that is the case," the duchess said softly. "I have never heard of his information. It cannot be that well known."

"It is in the scandal sheets." Jonathan was not calming down, not for anything. "It is easy to find out..."

"But if you have never seen it for yourself, then how can you say?" Kate was proud of her mother, she was not backing down. The duchess was saying everything that Kate would like to say for herself but was too nervous to do so. "Have you ever seen this so-called behavior of his first hand? Because the scandal sheets are not always the most reliable."

"I do not need to see it for myself," Jonathan growled. "If it is in the scandal sheets, it is happening. You cannot deny it."

"But...you did see it for yourself?" Kate spoke out, now confused enough to find her voice against her brother, despite his terrible mood. "You said you saw him with a beautiful brunette in Redfield's the other day. That is what you told me."

"You were not at Redfield's, Jonathan," the duchess insisted. "You have never been to Redfield's. I know that."

Kate could not believe it when her brother was silenced. He had nothing to say, which made it plainly obvious that he had lied about seeing William with a beautiful brunette. If this was the truth, this would be something he would fervently stick to no matter what. She had been torturing herself about whoever this woman was, and she did not exist.

"You...you lied to me. Why would you do that?"

"To protect you." Jonathan threw his hands in the air in frustration. "You would not listen to me. No matter what I said, you would not listen. But just because I did not see it, that does not make me wrong."

"No, it just makes you a terrible liar," Kate hissed. "It means you are willing to betray me."

"Not betray you..."

"But you did betray me," Kate continued, letting it all out now. "I was not ready for the Marquess of Fairbridge to come back into my life, and I tried to make that clear to you. Yet you went behind my back and told Father..."

"Because you were willing to reject him."

"Because of what he did to me, Jonathan. Because he treated me terribly. That was not your decision to make. None of this was your decision. It was my own, and you took that away from me."

Kate was horrified. Even if her brother only had her best interests at heart, there was no excuse for this. She stepped backward away from him, needing to create a chasm of distance between them before she lost her mind.

Her mother might not have stepped in this time with her short, sharp breath but she did not need to. The conversation was well and truly done.

Jonathan said nothing else. There was nothing left to say, no way he could defend himself and he knew it. In the end he stormed off out of the house and left Kate alone with her mother. It was probably for the best because this argument could not really go anywhere, only around in painful circles. Perhaps once everything was a little more sorted and everyone had calmed down, they could have a much better conversation about it all.

Although Kate was not sure when that would be. Right now, she was not sure that she was ever going to be able to forgive her brother for this.

"Let us wait in the drawing room," the duchess said kindly to her daughter, with her arms around her shoulders to guide her in the right direction, away from the direction her brother had stomped off toward. "It should not be too long."

Now that Jonathan had gone, she could settle deeply into the nerves now fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She clutched onto her mother's hand and walked closely to her, wondering what might be going on in the other room. As long as it was not another fight, she did not mind. How had things gotten so out of hand with her brother? It was so strange.

No sooner had Kate found a seat in the drawing room, did the butler appear with a request for her to follow. It all happened so quickly, that was almost worst. Nothing leading to good news could happen that fast, could it?

"Your father has requested you to come to the office," the butler declared with a low bow. "If you would like to follow me now."

Kate exchanged a look with her mother. The duchess nodded encouragingly and smiled at Kate. She supposed there was nothing to do now other than leave. Although she had no idea what she was walking into...

Each step was terrifying. Kate clasped her hands tightly together in front of her, twisting her fingers around in knots. Her brain attempted to come up with possible answers as to what had occurred in her father's office, but all she could imagine was the footmen dragging William out, kicking and screaming with arms. That would be horrible because she would not even get the chance to say goodbye. She would never know why he came to see her and why Jonathan thought it acceptable to fight him like that.

Let him be here, she thought desperately to herself. Please, somehow, make everything all right.

It was a big ask, but Kate was at the stage of waiting for a miracle.

Kate was relieved to see William and her father not only together, but actually smiling when she entered the office. There was a joyous atmosphere which had to spell good news. The miracle she had been hoping for. She continued to tremble though, even when she took a seat.

"Kate, thank you for coming." The duke smiled warmly, reassuring his daughter that there would be no more yelling today, thank goodness. "Now, I have been informed of some very terrible things about the Marquess of Fairbridge and his intentions with you."

"The marquess?" Kate repeated. Her father nodded gravely. "What has he done now? I can hardly keep up with him."

If it was yet another engagement announcement without her permission, she was going to scream. She had taken far too much from him already. No more. She would take no more.

"Well, it seems that he has some terrible money troubles and what he wants is the dowry to try and sort out his money problems. It is not so much a wife he wants, but the money."

"Oh," Kate replied flatly. That did not surprise her at all. "I was curious as to why he came back. It did not make much sense to me, but now I understand. If he has money problems, then he likely thinks I am his only option."

He was unbelievable, and even more cruel than Kate initially thought him to be. What a heinous man. She should have slapped him that time she was tempted to. If he was here, she might have done so, showing the manor yet another round of violence today.

"That is not acceptable to me," the duke assured her. "I want you to be taken care of. And not just financially, but I wish to know that you are with a decent man as well. Someone I can trust to love you and put you first. I will not have you with a selfish gentleman. So, with that being said, the engagement is off."

"It is?" Kate could not believe her luck. This was too terrifying and thrilling for words. She had been trapped in a relationship with a man that she did not want, but now her father was setting her free, and it was Douglas's fault. He had brought this on himself.

She was over the moon for his terrible reasoning for wanting to be with her, and even more grateful that her father had found out before the wedding had taken place. It could have become a lot more complicated if they found out afterward.

"It most certainly is, and I shall be informing him of my reasons as soon as I can. This is not something I shall let him get away with. He cannot pretend that he is a fine, up standing gentleman in my home all while he is swindling my family. I will not accept it."

She was not surprised to learn that truth about him; it made more sense for Douglas to want her for money rather than to fall in and out of love with her like he did, all because of her leg. This was actually a relief because no one was getting hurt. She never wanted that.

She wanted revenge on Douglas, but knowing what a broken heart felt like, she knew that she would never wish that pain on anyone. Even him. And anyway, this was revenge enough because he had brought it on himself.

"Lord Moore has also requested to talk alone with you," the duke announced. "Which I have granted."

Kate's eyes snapped toward William, now unsure how to behave. His eyes were not yet giving anything away, which was a little nerve-wracking. What did he want with her? Why did he want her alone? It seemed that she was about to find out...