I tipped forward to see his papers better. “May I read your letters? Is that one from the palace at Hyderabad? I have seen that seal before.”
His chair scraped back. “Your entire family most certainly died of diphtheria, Katherine. Why must I keep explaining how I saved you and Edward from the same fate?” His gaze hardened, the words struck like daggers. “Trouble me no further. I have work to do.”
The desk drawer shut with a decisive thud, swallowing the letters whole.
But the seal...
The wax bore an oval impression with strokes sweeping upward and around in patterns I half remembered, flowing like vines across stone. Though I could not read the words, the shape of them stirred a buried memory from my past, as if I had once heard those syllables whispered in prayer.
I lowered in an awkward curtsy, my throat tight with questions unasked, and then withdrew from the study. Yet the vision of those foreign seals haunted me as I crossed the corridor.
If my mother and family were truly gone, why did he guard those letters as though they held the breath of the dead?
Breakfast at Seven Oakes had never tasted so bitter.
I ignored the plate of cold toast in front of me as my two guardians plotted out my future with nary a thought for my opinion. If anything, my request to go to London seemed to ignite Grandfather’s opposition to my studies and my volunteering at the local girls’ school run by Miss Tippens, where I assisted occasionally, offering what I could of astronomy.
“A season has its place,” he said, folding his napkin with brisk precision. “But the time has come for my grandchildren to step into their proper roles.”
“I agree,” Aunt Clarice replied from her end of the table. “Your studies are far too consuming as of late, Katherine. It is most unladylike.”
I winced at the poke against my fascination for astronomy. Nor did I wish to remind Aunt and Grandfather that the stars remained my only link to my mother, who had often stood on the terrace in the evening, pointing out constellations to me.
How ironic that I was kept secluded within this country manor, forced to fill my days reading every book I could find, while my beloved Edward frittered away his studies at Cambridge, going so far as to earn a formal written rebuke from the university.
I hadn’t the stamina to argue with Aunt this morning, especially about my desperate need to leave Seven Oakes.
She had always hated books of any nature, cringing at the stash of romantic literature stacked under my bed.
“An heiress has no need to teach or gallivant with children of an inferior station,” Grandfather added.
“I cannot stay within this manor for the rest of my life,” I answered. “I am old enough for more beyond the countryside.”
Perhaps even a return to India...
He studied me for a long moment before clearing his throat. “With regard to a London visit, I have very good news that arrived this morning.”
Ah, I would learn of the two letters Grandfather had shoved into his desk!
“You will marry before the summer ends.”
I froze. Aunt Clarice gasped, while Grandfather removed a slip of paper from his coat. After nudging the letter in my direction, he waited as I picked it up with shaking fingers and unfolded the paper.
It was not the note I had hoped to read. No evidence of Hyderabad marked its surface.
His smile stretched tight when my gaze met his, yet the faint warmth did nothing to ease my nervousness.
“I want only the best for my family. I am most pleased with this development. So it would stand that you need not fret over experiencing a season after all.”
The precise handwriting brought a well of acid bubbling up inside me.Impending marriage ... Sebastian Sinclair ... to arrive in London within six weeks...Perhaps longer, depending on the ship and the weather.
Numb, I set the paper down.
“No need to look so concerned,” Grandfather said as he stabbed at his poached egg, sending it into quivers. “Lord Sinclair and I have planned this marriage for you since the day you were born. I had hoped for Hugh, the eldest Sinclair, but he married another and then died in a most unfortunate incident. Now it is Sebastian who brings two indigo plantations and all the vast estates tied to the Sinclair name. We cannot refuse such an alliance between our two distinguished families.”
Sebastian Sinclair.
Not him. Anyone but him.
