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“He questioned me deeply about his brother. I believe he thinks I have the brains of a sparrow, but even had I wanted to, I could not answer his questions.” Sophia arched her eyebrows, expectant.
“I was to be betrothed to Daniel. He died before it could be announced.” Catherine swirled the remnants of wine, waiting for the questions, the revulsion. She had made of mockery of Sophia’s championship of the love between Catherine and Nicholas.
“Ah,mia amica.” Sophia sighed, shaking her head solemnly, then grabbed Catherine’s glass and elegantly strolled back to the sideboard, her crimson skirt swaying with each step. Sophia slipped back onto the sofa and handed over the full glass, sympathy clear in her gaze. “Loneliness can make us do foolish things, no?”
Catherine shook her head as she gulped the wine. Her head spun a little. She was not used to libation, certainly not midday and with little food in her body. Sophia’s eyes darkened, her brow wrinkling with concern. It would be so easy to leave it at that. Simply a case of loneliness. But Catherine knew she must be honest if only to unburden her own soul.
“Perhaps you are right. Daniel’s love was profound. I must confess, it caught me off guard. But when he spoke of it, I felt its depth, its sincerity, and I ached for his longing. The more he talked of it, the more I knew I must surrender my dreams. He was the golden boy. He was always hard to resist and almost impossible to say no to.”
“I understand the appeal. I met him but once, and he lingers with me still. A beautiful man.”
“Yes, a beautiful man. Inside and out.” Catherine took another generous sip before continuing. “When he proposed marriage, I could not deny him. Nicholas had been gone for four years. I began to feel he might never come home. Daniel needed me. Needed me as Nicholas never had.” She choked on the remaining wine. “As Nicholas never will.”
“Amica bella!” Sophia opened her arms.
Catherine moved into Sophia’s embrace and surrendered to her warm arms, to her caring, to her own pathetic self-pity.
