“Come, come, Kat, that’s not true. I am honour-bound to the woman. It’s just that I do not love her,” he said at last, the words small and tight. “I’m a fool to want love.”
“You aren’t a fool. Oh, Will, I had no idea.”
He swallowed thickly. “You can’t tell anyone. Not yet.”
“I won’t, Will, you know I won’t. I must tell Timothy, though – have I your permission to that? He’s the soul of discretion.”
He nodded, and Katherine crossed the space between them and folded her arms around him. William closed his eyes, resting his chin on his sister’s shoulder, and letting himself sink into the embrace.
Just for a moment, though.
He cleared his throat, straightening up and gently pushing Katherine away. Disappointment crossed her face, quickly erased, but he still saw it.
“You can’t marry her, Will,” she said, voice quiet. “Miss Bainbridge, I mean. I know that you have a bargain with her, but can’t you consider your happiness at all? Miss Brookford is…”
“Enough about Miss Brookford,” he said shortly. “She won’t make a good duchess. I can’t consider her as a wife, even if she were interested in me. Which, by the way, I assume that she is not. As for my happiness, I must be the best judge of that, mustn’t I? Please don’t talk about it, Katherine.”
Katherine gave a tight, annoyed sigh. “Very well, very well. You always did do as you liked, William. I shall let you manage your own happiness, then, but remember this – it is very important to all of us that youarehappy, do you understand?”
William pressed his lips together. “I shall be happy if I can do my duty.”
There was a brief pause after this. He knew at once that he’d made a mistake.”
“Father used to say that, didn’t he?” Katherine said, her tone off-handed and deceptively light. “I hope you aren’t letting his lessons and rules shape your choice of wife, William.”
“Of course not. But… well, he wasn’talwayswrong, was he?”
Katherine only stared at him, holding his gaze until he looked away.
“That man,” she said at last, “has overshadowed our lives for years. He drove Henry out of the country, nearly broke Alexander, nearly broke me, and you… well, William, you are unrecognizable from the boy I knew and loved when we were children.”
“I’m sorry I am such a disappointment to you,” he snapped, but Katherine darted towards him, gripping his shoulders and turning him to face her.
“You are a not adisappointment, I just know that if you’d been raised by kind, good parents, you would be a different man now. A happier one, less anxious, more carefree. I want you to behappy, Will! Why is it hard for you to believe me?”
Avoiding her eye, William carefully brushed away her hands and stepped past her towards the door.
“As I said, Katherine. I will be happy when I can do my duty. Dukes are not destined for happiness. The sooner you accept that, the easier life will become. I have accepted it myself.” He paused at the door, finally glancing back at her. “You should go back to the ladies in the drawing room. We gentlemen will join you presently.”
He didn’t wait for a response, simply slipped out into the cool, dark hallway.
Katherine did not follow him.
***
In the dining room, the seating arrangement had been abandoned. The gentlemen had mostly moved up to one end of the table, now that the ladies between them had gone, and were leaning towards each other in clusters. The air was heavy with cigar smoke, the table sticky with spilled brandy.
When William slipped into the room, he noticed several footmen shifting from foot to foot, stifling yawns and waiting for the opportunity to clear the table.
Most of the guests were deep in conversation, and did not notice William entering the room again.
With a few exceptions, of course.
Henry, who was still sitting opposite his brother, glanced sharply up, eyes narrowed.
“Where did you go?” he asked, as William lowered himself into his seat. “Are you alright?”
“Quite well, thank you,” William lied smoothly. Henry did not seem convinced, but did not press further, thankfully.
