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Chapter Twenty-Seven
When sorrows come, they come not single spies but inbattalions.
—Shakespeare,Hamlet
Nicholas fought hisrising temper. It was not what Catherine needed. He’d had no idea she had been pressured so. From everyone. His father the coarsest of all, but the others had applied their own, he had no doubt. He now knew why Stratton had allowed the betrothal. It had been too great a gamble to bet on any leniency from Lord Woodfield.
“Catherine,” he began but was quickly cut off.
“No. Let me tell you all. I fear my courage will fail if I do not persevere now.” Her eyes glistened. “Please.”
He swiped his thumbs, wiping away the drops that pooled, then trickled off her eyelashes. He wanted to pull her close and make it all go away, but her eyes begged him to let her continue. Willing his strength to fortify her, he pressed his forehead against hers and then let her go.
She took a steadying breath and continued. “I agreed to marry Daniel. There seemed no other choice, for any of us.”
He concurred. It had been an untenable situation. He reached for her hands, holding them tightly. “I understand.”
She pulled away a hand and wiped at the tears that sprung anew. “Thank you,” she whispered. “But there’s more. Oh, Nicholas, there is so much more.”
What more could there be that could be any worse than the transgressions already committed against her? His family had compromised his and Catherine’s relationship, not Catherine. She hadn’t stood a chance against their powerful influence.
“More,” she repeated, the blood leaching from her cheeks, her moss eyes wide.
“Hush, my sweet.” He pushed back a stray lock of her hair, caressing the silken strands, luxuriating in the touch he longed for. “I understand.”
She straightened, pushing away his hands. He recognized the determination. This was Catherine when she knew what she wanted. This was the strength in her, the woman who could stand by his side in good times and bad. Lord, he loved her. How could he ever have doubted it? He fisted his hands at his side and sat back, resisting reaching out. Letting her speak. It was so hard when he all he wanted to do was hold her close until the last four years disappeared.
“It was no accident.” The words hung, suspended, a mist that hovered, then slowly condensed, dripping down his spine. He shivered. It had been deliberate?
“Are you implying murder?” He could not wrap his mind around the idea.
“No, no.” She shook her head vehemently. “Laurence didn’t kill Daniel. Accidently or otherwise.”
He shifted until he could look directly into her eyes and saw only truth. “But? What? How?”
“I’m still not sure what truly happened that day.” She touched his hands with hers, and he grasped them. “Laurence was decided. We had talked late into the night, and he refused to allow me to be a pawn in your father’s games. I tried to talk him from it, tried to convince him he need not deny his love, just live discreetly, but he was determined to leave for the colonies. He loved Daniel but knew it could not be. He thought time and distance might ease the pain. He sent a message in the wee hours of the morn to Daniel, saying to meet Laurence in the woods.”
Her voice caught, and he squeezed her hands, little comfort for the pain that stormed her eyes.
“Shortly after he left, a message arrived from Daniel for Laurence. Edwards was reticent to give it to me, but when I pleaded, indicating Laurence’s well-being was at stake, he relinquished the missive. It requested Laurence meet Daniel, that he could not go through with present plans and wished to discuss the future. It was obvious Daniel was not going to pursue the path of matrimony.” Guilt darkened her eyes. “Perhaps if I had readily agreed…”
“No!” He squashed the anger that rumbled like thunder in his chest. Catherine had been a victim of men. With the exception of his father, men she’d known and loved. Family. Friends. “No,” he repeated more quietly, sick that he had been a party to the persecution.
She smiled, its small shine dissolving quickly, darkened by the cloud of emotion that swept her face. “I knew where they would meet. The same place we found love. Somehow I just knew I needed to get to them.”
A visible tremor rushed her body, but he did not intervene, did not stop the tale.
“I heard a shot. It seemed odd, but it was not the first time poachers had been in these woods.” She pulled her hands from his and wrapped her arms around her waist, rubbing up and down. It was a warm day, and she could not possibly be cold. Still, he resisted the urge to warm her and, instead, nodded in encouragement. A shot. She’d heard the final moment of Daniel’s life.
“I was approaching the folly when another shot rang out. My skin hummed with warning.” Her hands moved more quickly on her arms, and she looked past him, over his shoulder, witnessing something he could not see.
“I ran toward it, knowing in my heart something was wrong.” She started to rock. “Laurence was cradling Daniel, crying.” Her voice caught, and she paused, breathing deeply, while the portrait she painted became vivid in his mind.
“I watched as Daniel’s lifeblood seeped into the ground. I watched my brother’s twisted torment. His despair as he kissed his dearest love goodbye for the last time.” She stopped rocking and stared at him. “They loved, Nicholas. They loved. I do not care what judgment is passed in this world. Their love was as honest and true as, well, as…” Her voice wavered, and she drifted, seeming lost.
“Nothing you have told me explains what happened.” He rubbed his forehead, trying to make sense of what she was saying, trying to erase the image of Laurence and Daniel. “I don’t understand.”
If possible, her look saddened further. “Nor did I.” She reached out and touched his arm. “When Daniel had…passed—” She swallowed the sorrow. “—Laurence became frantic. He picked up a pistol and tucked it into his shirt coat. Then he took Daniel’s rifle, pointed it to the sky, and shot. He was crying as he said, ‘Please, Catherine. For love of us. Do not tell the truth. I could not bear for him to lie at some crossroads, denied by all. Let him leave this world with dignity.’”
