Page 54 of Against the Wind

Kit was surprised. Everyone in Pentridge knew her as Mrs. Donet. “Sir, how do you know me?”

“Oh, I have known of you for years, my lady. You see, I represented your late husband, Lord Egerton.”

“The baron?” No one had mentioned her first husband since she and Mary discussed him briefly in London.

The older man nodded and leaned down to open his case.

“How did you know to find me here?”

“Ah…that, too, is a Canterbury story,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “After several inquiries that led nowhere, and remembering the baron once remarked you and your sister had a nanny named Abigail Darkin, I searched for her. That took some time. When I finally found her, she was quite guarded. When I managed to convince her I only meant you good, she sent me to Lady Ormond. Now, there’s a smart one. Lady Ormond demanded to see all the records. Fearing I would not find you without her assistance but being assured of your friendship with the marchioness, I complied. She was the one who told me I could find the former Lady Egerton at the White Horse Inn under the name Katherine Donet. Mrs. Donet to be precise.”

Kit was amazed at the journey this man had taken to find her. “And why would you be looking for me? The baron’s estate was settled long ago. As you must know, I took very little from him, which soon dwindled to nothing at all.”

“I represented Lord Egerton in matters of his country estates, my dear. He wished to keep them separate.”

“You are not the London solicitor who spoke with me upon the baron’s death.” Kit spoke her recollection aloud. That man, dour-faced and unpleasant, had told her in no uncertain terms she would be receiving only a pittance from the baron’s holdings. He did not have the kind demeanor of this one.

“No. That was by the baron’s design. You see, my lady, the baron was quite fond of you, even before your marriage. He would have offered for you even if the circumstances—your father’s death—had been different. He wanted to provide for you. Being aware of his advanced age and knowing of his sons’…proclivities, he thought it best his provision be accomplished outside the normal channels. Before you’d even married, he settled a fund upon you and asked me to handle it. His instructions were to see that you had the money upon his death. The sum has grown quite large, I am happy to say.”

“But it has been so long since he died. How can this be?”

“Well, it took a while for me to become aware the baron died. My home is some counties away from London, and he and I were not always in regular contact. Then I had to deal with the business of tying up his affairs. By the time I traveled to London to find you, the trail was quite cold.”

Kit was shocked. She’d had no idea the old baron, who in many ways was like a grandfather, had felt so strongly. But hadn’t he always told her not to worry, that he would take care of her? He must have realized the perfidy of his sons and how ungenerous they would be. He had not violated her trust after all.

“How large is the fund, sir?”

“Twenty thousand pounds.”

Kit’s hand went to her throat and she took a deep breath. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of the generosity of the man she first called husband. “Oh, my.” She drew her lips together, fighting tears. If she had not been sitting down she might have fainted. “Twenty thousand? I had no idea.”

“No, I was certain you did not. Before I spoke with Miss Darkin and found Lady Ormond, I tried to reach you at the home of your brother-in-law, Lord Rutledge.”

Alarmed, Kit blurted out, “You didn’t tell him I am here, did you?”

“Oh, no, my lady. I did not tell him the nature of my business at all. And he told me nothing either. It was Lady Ormond who kindly explained your new marriage and where I could find you.”

Relieved, Kit listened as the man continued.

“The funds are on deposit in your name with the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street in London. Originally I placed it in the name of Katherine, Lady Egerton, but I have had that changed to Lady Katherine Powell in light of your subsequent marriage to Sir Martin.”

“Sir Martin?”

“Why, yes,” the older man said, looking puzzled. “Your husband.”

“Of course.” Kit feigned a calm exterior but her heart was jumping in her chest. The title for her husband shocked her. How did she not know he’d been knighted? This changed everything. A knight would not rise against the very crown that had bestowed such an honor upon him, would he?

Oh, Martin, have I misjudged you? Her eyes grew moist.

Mr. Highmore reached down to his case and pulled from it a folder containing a sheaf of papers that he handed to her. “These documents provide evidence of all I have told you, my lady: the instructions of the baron, the original sum, the accounting for its growth under my management and the new deposit with the bank in London. I trust all is to your satisfaction?”

Kit hurriedly skimmed the papers. “Yes, it’s all here, just as you say.” Looking up, she added, “I cannot tell you how much this means to me! It gives me great joy to know that the baron did not forget me.”

“I thought it might, my lady. Even though the money is now your husband’s, from what I know of the Powell family, Sir Martin needs none of your money. I would like to believe he will give it to you freely so that you may do as you please, which was what the baron intended. By the by, may I congratulate you upon your new marriage?”

“You may,” Kit replied. The reality of the money and the baron’s kindness had begun to sink in, and a broad smile spread across her face. She finally had the means to be independent. Just what she’d always wanted! But what should have been a moment of triumph was not. Did she truly want to be alone? Martin was now her husband in truth, and she didn’t want to be free of him. The man she had chosen in a moment of weakness was a man she wanted in an hour of strength. She only wished the money had come sooner. Perhaps she could have given Anne a better life and taken her away from the cruel Rutledge.

“Mr. Highmore, thank you for traveling so far to give me this wonderful news.”

“My pleasure, my lady. It is only what my friend the baron wanted for you.” Eyeing her with benevolence he added, “Sometimes when a man takes a wife late in life, especially one much younger than he, there is a special fondness for that woman, an appreciation for her character that would see beyond her youth or his age. Such was the love the baron had for you.”

She’d never realized. Whisking away the few tears that had stolen down her cheeks, Kit smiled at the solicitor and grasped his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Highmore. Thank you.”

The solicitor stayed for tea. He seemed pleased to be at journey’s end and to have discharged his last obligation to the man he had served for so long. Kit shared with him the few stories she had to tell of the baron, all the while wondering what this latest development would mean for her marriage.

Her marriage to a knight.