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Hattie’s hand flew to her mouth as she watched Kit stalk off. He had cut her and Mrs Reynaud with absolute aplomb.
She heard several shocked gasps and knew the encounter had not gone unremarked.
She had made a grave error. She had never considered Mrs Reynaud would actually encounter Kit face to face, as it were, in the lobby before everyone. The final look he gave her before he turned away had damned her for all eternity, but he seemed in control, greeting any number of people with perfect politeness as if the meeting meant nothing to him.
She went over to where Mrs Reynaud stood, clutching her reticule to her chest with a distressed look on her face. ‘This is all my fault.’
‘He knows?’ Mrs Reynaud choked out.
‘Yes, I believe he does...now.’ She put an arm about Mrs Reynaud’s shoulders. ‘It will have been a shock for him and for you. If there is anything I can do for you...just ask.’
‘I should go. It was wrong of me to come. I should have waited for him to contact me as John suggested. He looked so like his father then. It quite unnerved me.’ She moved out of Hattie’s embrace. ‘You must allow me to depart, Mrs Wilkinson.’
‘What, and miss this lecture? You can sit next to me and we shall hear this lecture. See, Livvy is signalling to us.’
Mrs Reynaud fumbled in her reticule and withdrew a battered lady jumping-jack. ‘No, I won’t enjoy it. Give Kit this jumping-jack from me. It is up to him then. You may tell him where to find me. Please do this for me, Mrs Wilkinson.’
Hattie closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to have a confrontation with Kit, but how could she refuse? She had to do something to make amends...to both of them.
Chapter Thirteen
Hattie walked into her darkened drawing room and struck a match so she could put the lamp on. She was far too keyed up to sleep. Somehow she had to find a way to deliver the jumping-jack to Kit in person. She had thought about it all during Mr Hook’s lecture, but was no closer to an answer.
Despite the incident with Kit at the beginning, the lecture had been a huge success. Stephanie beamed afterwards, loudly declaring that she knew Rupert Hook had not been lying when he proclaimed he was an expert on newts. Hattie had answered vaguely, made her excuses and left.
‘Don’t bother to light the lamp.’
She nearly dropped the match in surprise. Kit stood in the middle of the drawing room, lit from the back by the small fire. Tall and forbidding. Her mouth went dry. ‘Kit! What are you doing here?’
He indicated the French doors. ‘It is easy to get into a house when you want, and your guard dog is a friend of mine.’
Moth turned on her back and wriggled.
Hattie put a hand to her head. ‘Oh, Moth.’
‘I have one question for you and then I will leave you in peace.’ There was no mistaking the finality to his tone. ‘Why did you do it, Harriet?’
‘Why did I do what?’ she asked cautiously. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation.
‘When did you find out? How long have you known where my mother was? Why did you set me up like that?’
Hattie’s heart thudded in her ears. She knew precisely what he was speaking about. The day of reckoning had arrived, much sooner than she thought it would.
‘Earlier today.’ Hattie blew out the match before it burnt her fingers. She struck another one, moved over to the small table and lit a candle. ‘There wasn’t time to tell you.’
‘You convinced her to come to the lecture expressly to see me, without consulting my feelings on the subject. Don’t deny it. My mother had all summer to contact me if she desired.’ Kit gave a fierce scowl. ‘What did you think would happen—a joyful reunion of two people long separated? Did you even consider how I might feel about the matter? About seeing my mother suddenly after so many years?’
Hattie gave a tiny shrug as Kit’s scowl increased. When he put it like that, she could see there was no defence. She should have let him know, but if she had, the situation would have remained unresolved. She bit her lip. It wasn’t exactly resolved now.
‘Mrs Reynaud only wanted to see you.’ Hattie held out her hands, palms upwards, willing him to understand. ‘I didn’t plan you two meeting like that. It was supposed to be different.’
He lifted a disbelieving eyebrow. ‘Was she hard to convince?’
‘It only took the slightest bit of encouragement. She wanted to go. She wanted to see you, but feared something bad would happen.’ Hattie willed him to understand why she had done it. ‘She is unwell, Kit. It might have been her last chance to make amends. She has a stack of letters which she wrote for you. She wants you to read them. She made a promise to your uncle not to contact you.’
