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Only Lady Adele did not go about teaching dry subjects, such as Latin to the children, in the usual manner that Kate and Sarah knew from their own childhood. Never had their tutors made them laugh or even attempted to do so. Everything had always been strict and serious, for, clearly, thetonbelieved that learning had to be grueling and painful in order to be effective.
Lady Adele, though, proved them wrong.
Instead of boring old texts, she made up almost nonsensical sentences devised as riddles and encouraged the children to decode the message.
Even now, a smile came to Kate’s face as she remembered standing in the doorway earlier today. She had watched the boys and girls as they flitted through the room, sticking their heads together and discussing how they would best go about solving this riddle. They fetched books to aid them, took notes, and in the end all came together to exchange their ideas.
The chamber had been filled with their voices, their laughter, their excitement, and in the end, they had done it.
They had succeeded.
“This is a wonderful place,” Kate whispered to the night, to her sleeping children. “Had I been allowed to grow up in such a place…” She left the thought unfinished, knowing that it would do her no good. Still, it lingered.
And Kate felt a shadow pass over her. After all, they had been through, why did this have to happen?
Turning back to the window, Kate hung her head, a desperate ache growing in her heart. This place was the perfect place for her children, and they deserved it more than anyone. They deserved to be happy and carefree and see each day as an adventure, never knowing the cold censure and disparaging comments life could hold. Indeed, this was it. This was where they were meant to be.
And yet…
Try as she might, Kate could not seem to banish the sight of Keir and Sarah together, of their embrace on the beach, of their joyous proclamation of marriage, of the way Keir had stood in Sarah’s bedchamber earlier this morning. She knew her thoughts to be wrong, traitorous even. Yet she could not rid herself of them. She could only bury them, keep them to herself. But if she did, what sort of life did that mean for her?
‘You’re married,’ her mother’s voice snapped in her head, and Kate flinched. ‘How despicable of you! You are a disgrace!’
Kate hung her head, knowing her mother’s words to be true. After all, within a matter of weeks, Kate had committed numerous affronts, betrayed her husband and stolen away his children, robbing him of any chance for an heir. And now? Now, she had lost her heart to…
Burying her face in her hands, Kate sank down onto the edge of the bed. Tears stung her eyes, and her heart felt so heavy, all she wanted was to curl up into a tight ball and weep.
As though Frederica could sense her mother’s turmoil, a slight whimper fell from her lips, her little fists once more waving through the air.
Grateful for this distraction, Kate rose to her feet and picked up her youngest daughter, settling her comfortably into her arms, softly cooing under her breath. Still, tears persisted. She could feel them lingering, waiting for her guard to come down. And so, Kate flung a cloak over her shoulders and stepped from the chamber.
Rocking Frederica gently in her arms, she walked up and down the corridor before turning down another and then another. She had done so with all her daughters, walking the halls of Birchwell at night to sooth them, and in doing so, Kate had found that it also soothed her own nerves.
And so she walked.
Along darkened corridors.
Across barely lit halls.
And past firmly closed doors until…
Lost in thought, Kate only noted the young woman standing a little ways down the corridor when she was near enough to hear her voice. Her feet instantly drew to a halt, her eyes wide as she stared at Kenna.
Also wrapped in a cloak, Eoghan’s sister stood pacing outside a door, her feet carrying her away and then back toward it, occasionally rooting her to the spot and making her seem almost like an ancient column, immobile and lifeless. Yet there was fury upon her face, and Kate could see raw emotions bubbling close beneath the surface. “He isna even here,” Kenna spat, casting another hateful glare at the door. “He’s with her, is he not?” Her hands balled into fists, and she shook them at the door, then suddenly rushed toward it, her right fist raised as though to knock. Only a hair’s breadth away from the wood, Kenna managed to still her movements, her eyes closing and her forehead coming to rest against the door.
In that moment, Kate realized—perhaps belatedly—that this must be the door to Keir’s chamber. Only he wasn’t inside, was he?
He’s with her, is he not?That was what Kenna had said, and Kate felt drawn back to that morning when she had come to her sister’s chamber and found Keir there. Neither one of them had offered any sort of explanation, and yet Kate had known that he had not merely stopped by for a visit. No, he had spent the night, had he not?
A part of Kate felt appalled, knowing her mother would have been outraged at such scandalous behavior, as would have theton. Fiancé or not, Sarah ought never to have allowed a man into her bedchamber. Another part of Kate, though, understood. She knew the love Sarah felt for Keir, and in her sister’s place, Kate knew she would not have been able to send him away, either.
“They’re not even married yet,” Kenna growled at the closed door, her feet once more carrying her away, “and he already canna stay away from her.” She shook her head then spun around, a look of utter disgust on her face… until her gaze fell on Kate.
Finding Kenna’s eyes upon her, Kate flinched, and Frederica mewed disapprovingly in her sleep.
“What are ye doing here?” Kenna demanded as she stormed toward her, fury lighting up her eyes. Then, however, her gaze dipped lower and found Frederica, and almost instinctively, the young woman lowered her voice. “Did ye follow me?”
“No,” Kate rushed to assure her. “Of course not.” Almost mesmerized, her gaze lingered upon the closed door to Keir’s chamber, and her heart almost paused in her chest when she realized that if Keir truly was with Sarah, he had not been far away. Before Kate had left her chamber, the only thing separating them had been a thick stone wall.
