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“Four long years, and I have thought of her every single minute.”
His father was silent for a moment, his blue eyes sharp in the haggard flesh surrounding them. He finally cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow. “But has she thought only of you?”
He pushed from the table, upsetting his chair. “What the hell do you mean by that…sir?”
Unperturbed, his father made a great show of ruminating.
Nicholas’s patience quickly came to an end. “I asked—”
“I know what you asked. It’s difficult to find the right words to tell your son he has been betrayed. That the woman hethinkshe loves was betrothed to another.”
Betrothed to another? His Catherine? With no word from her mouth? He shook his head at such nonsense. “You lie, sir!”
His father reddened, and his knuckles whitened as he gripped the table. “How dare you doubt my integrity. If you were not newly home, not unaware of the happenings here, I would have you horsewhipped for your effrontery!”
Nicholas was not impressed by the show of indignation, yet his pulse accelerated nonetheless. Something was definitely afoot.
“Your little childhood friend was set to be married to someone else. Do not let her innocent face convince you otherwise. Clearly she is most anxious to better herself. Otherwise, she would have waited for you. Instead, she agreed to marry for an earldom.”
Nicholas swallowed the bile of anger lodged in his throat and tried to digest his father’s words. Surely he was misinformed? What had just occurred at the folly, the love that had cocooned him in its warmth, could not be a mirage? No, this bitter, old man had a hidden agenda. He always did. “You are mistaken.”
His father’s features sank further into a hound-dog sag. “I know it for a certainty, son.”
Son? Bloody hell. When was the last time Nicholas had been called that? The familial sobriquet, so quietly spoken, somehow gave credence to his father’s words. Disbelief warred with the dread of certainty, fogging his brain. “Who?” he finally managed to choke out.
The old man pushed from the table and slowly stood. Then he took a step toward Nicholas, lifting his hand as if to touch his shoulder, but he dropped it to his side. “Have you not figured it out yet?”
Nicholas waited, a cold statue.
His father shook his head as if in disbelief. Then he calmly shattered Nicholas’s world. “Your brother. The girl wanted a title. So she wanted Daniel.” He shuffled from the breakfast room.
Daniel? Catherine had been betrothed to Daniel? No! She would not do that to him. To them. His stomach clenched, and he fought the urge to vomit. He knew from the imperious surety of his father’s countenance that it was the truth. Catherine had been betrothed to Daniel. How could she betray him so? He stormed from the room, determined to find the answer.
