An Artful Deception

by Karen Cogan

  She drew a deep breath to steady her, and then turned to ask, “What have you done to Lady Charlesworth? I did not see her.”

  He gripped her tighter about the waist, making Katharine squirm.

  “I did nothing to no lady.”

  “She was supposed to meet me at the greenhouse.”

  “Well, she weren’t there when I got there.”

  He sounded so matter of fact that she decided he must be telling the truth. She could only be grateful that something had delayed the lady and kept her from becoming involved in this foul deed of her uncle.

  They rode so long without respite that Katharine began to feel weak from hunger and thirst. At last, he allowed her a stop at a small brook, but only for a few brief moments before resuming the tiresome ride.

  They rode into twilight. The birds began choosing their cozy rests in the boughs of the trees, singing their sweet night songs. Katharine wished that, like the birds, she was free to fly. She would rescue Philip instead of being forced to plod ahead, riding where she did not want to go.

  But she did not have wings. Her head began to sag, lolling to the side as she fought her fatigue. She recognized the cypress grove that bordered her uncle’s estate, the estate that had once been her home. The fond memories she possessed of returning home after a visit to neighbors, resting snug in the crook of her father’s arm as their carriage crunched along their graveled drive seemed oddly out of place with her present situation.

  Her heart pounded as her home came into view. The porch lantern was lit in a welcoming glow that mocked the dread she felt at entering the house. She had to know, yet feared to ask what had become of Philip.

  They clattered to a stop near the front door. The big man swung her off his horse. The door opened and her uncle peered into the descending darkness. When she reached the door, he stepped aside to allow her to enter.

  “My dear Katharine, I am so relieved that you have agreed to return to us.”

  She faced him hotly. Her green eyes flashed with outrage at his statement. “I have agreed to no such thing. You know very well that I was forced to agree.”

  He stared at her in mock surprise as her glare pierced him. “What have you done with Philip?”

  “Philip? Why would I have anything to do with Philip?”

  “Your man told me that you had brought him here, that you would harm him if I refused to come.”

  Lord Graynor clicked his tongue. “Yes. It was a persuasive story, was it not? Rather brilliant, I believe. And yet, I must confess that it was merely a ruse, a small white lie, designed to ensure your cooperation.” His raised eyebrow challenged her to deny this final victory.

  Katharine slumped against the wall, feeling both relief and a profound sense of being left all alone to face the evil in this house. Neither Philip nor Lady Charlesworth knew that she had been abducted. How long would it take for them to discover where she had been taken?

  Her uncle’s eyes trailed up the stairs to where a young man was descending. He was dressed as a dandy with a fancy jacket and polished boots. “Ah, Cedric. Come and greet your soon-to-be bride.”

  Cedric descended the stairs rapidly, a smirking grin stretching his thin lips in an unappealing line. He paused before Katharine and bowed an exaggerated bow. “My lady, I cannot tell you how I have longed for your return, pined for you, in fact.”

  His triumphant expression galled her. It took all of her self-control to keep from slapping the confident leer from his pallid face. Yet, under the circumstances, she knew that she must curb her impulses and think before she acted.

  She raised her chin. “I shall not be here long. Mrs. Parker witnessed my abduction. It will not be long before you are discovered.”

  Cedric aped his father’s haughty snigger. Lord Graynor looked at her with what might have been pity had he been a kind man. “Your hopes are in vain, my dear. You see, Mrs. Parker will do whatever I tell her. She is to tell Lord Philip that your captor took you in quite the opposite direction, toward London. Then she is to plant the idea that you were kidnapped for ransom by some odious friend of the woman with whom you stayed. Lord Philip will go galloping off to your rescue. By the time he returns, it will be too late.”

  Too late. The words made her shiver. “Why would she do that?”

  Cedric nudged his father. “Some women are not so opposed to the idea of marriage, aye.”

  Lord Graynor scowled. “You should be more concerned about your own marriage. Escort your lovely cousin to her chamber and bind her carefully.”

  He turned to Katharine. “I have hired a clergyman to come tomorrow to perform the ceremony.”

  Katharine’s heart felt as though it might pound through her ribs. “I shall not cooperate.”

  Lord Graynor raised a dismissive hand. “No need. I have this man soundly in my pockets. He will attest that you agreed willingly to the marriage. And since no one knows you are here, there will be no one to care.”

  Cedric took up a candle and then turned gripping Katharine’s elbow in a grasp that was designed to bruise her tender flesh. She pulled away, but he only tightened his grip. He glared down at her with cold eyes that froze her heart. “You are too headstrong and defiant for your own good. I detest that in a woman. Your little maid, Ginny, knew how to get what she wanted from me. You should have taken a lesson from her. But no matter, if you resist, I shall take pleasure in taming you.”

  Katharine’s blood ran cold as she took in his warning. She quelled her instinct to fight, to scream and run. He was too much like his father to risk defiance. And against the two of them, she stood little chance of accomplishing anything except injury to her person. She forced her unwilling body to accompany him. Perhaps a show of meekness would lure Cedric into a false sense of security and he would leave her in peace until tomorrow.

  Cedric smiled down at her quiet compliance as he led her to her chamber. “We shall get on well if you are always this sensible. If you are good and obedient, you shall see that I can be a benevolent mate.”

  He gave her a shove into the familiar chamber where she had spent her girlhood, reading poetry and dreaming up romantic fantasies about the man who would steal her heart. She blinked back tears as she wondered what Philip would do when he heard Mrs. Parker’s account of the abduction. Would he go running to London, leaving her to endure a forced marriage?

  She roused herself from her thoughts as Cedric took up a strip of linen binding that lay across her dressing table.

  “Come here,” he ordered.

  She stood stubbornly in place, instinct making it impossible to move towards him.

  His eyes glinted with an angry warning. “Will you defy me?”

  Katharine forced herself to obey. He sat her upon her bed and bound her wrists. He wound the cloth around her fingers so they would not be free to untie the linen that he wrapped around her ankles.

  He smiled in satisfaction at his workmanship. “I shall leave you until tomorrow, fair cousin to dream happy dreams of our wedding night.”

  He blew out the candle and left her in the inky darkness that a quarter moon could not improve. She listened as he locked the door and took away the key. Then his footsteps faded down the hall.

  Katharine huddled miserably upon her bed. No one came that night to give her supper. She had not seen any of the old servants. No doubt her uncle had let them all go in order to bring in others who would be loyal to his orders.

  When she finally fell into an exhausted sleep, she dreamed of her rides with Philip. The flowers bloomed in the meadows, scenting the air with sweet perfume as he smiled at her from upon his mount. They walked their horses side by side. Philip leaned to kiss her, his lips firm and moist.

  She awoke to find her own lips parched and her body stiff from the long ride and the restriction of the bindings. She hobbled to her washbowl and leaned down to sip the water as a cat might sip her milk. As distasteful as she found the action, she was overcome by the need to quench her thirst. The cool liquid soothed
her throat and brought her fully to her senses.

  In the daylight, she could search for a way to unbind herself and find a means of escape. Before she could begin her search, she heard the key rattle in the lock. She bit down hard on her lip. Her heart pounded. Were they coming for her already?

  She was surprised to see a woman slip boldly into her room. At first, she did not recognize her with her dark hair elaborately coiled rather than contained in a proper bun. Instead of her simple gray housedresses, she wore a pale blue dress with lace bodice that gave shape to her aging figure.

  “Mrs. Parker?”

  The woman appraised Katharine much as she would a stick of furniture and said, “I knew it would come to this one day. Now I shall be your better and you will do as I say.”

  Katharine backed toward the window and said, “I do not understand. Why have you agreed to help Lord Graynor?”

  Mrs. Parker pulled a smile that did not reach her eyes. “He cheated me out of marriage once, long ago, after my husband died and left me on my own. Your uncle dallied with me, promising to make me his wife. And then he left me whilst he went to London to gamble and have his fun. But he needs me now, you see. He needs my help and the only way he could get it was to invite me here to marry him on the same day that you marry his son.”

  Katharine held out her bound wrists. “Will you not change your mind? Surely your woman’s heart could not allow you to sentence me to a loveless marriage with so worthless a mate as Cedric.”

  Mrs. Parker stared at her coldly. “You are greatly mistaken. I have disliked you ever since I saw you flirting shamelessly with Lord Philip, as though you were better than the rest of us, though I pitied you some, thinking that you were as foolish as I, believing you could make one of them marry you. And now that I know the truth, I pity you none at all.”

  Tears blurred Katharine’s eyes. “He does love me and I love him.”

  She had no doubt that Philip would eventually come for her. But what if it were too late? If she were forced to endure a forced marriage to Cedric for several months or even a year, what could be done? Perhaps by that time, she might even carry his child. The thought made her stomach churn with distaste.

  Mrs. Parker fixed her with a hard stare. “What a misfortune that you are parted from your love. You have grown up wealthy and spoiled. You deserve your misery as much as I deserve happiness.”

  She faced her reflection in Katharine’s mirror. “Do I not look lovely in this blue organdy? I intend to think only of my own good fortune. By the end of this day, I will be mistress of this manor.”

  Katharine shuddered to think of Mrs. Parker taking the place of her own mother. She felt suddenly too weary to stand and sunk into the chair beside her dressing table. She felt as though she were suffocating as her unwelcome fate pressed close around her, demanding her to acquiesce. Yet she could not, would not resign herself to be Cedric’s wife. Yet what was she to do?

  Mrs. Parker strode briskly over to the wardrobe that still bore a few of her frocks. “We must ready you to meet your groom. Too bad there was no time to arrange a wedding trousseau.”

  She did not sound the least sorry as she began to rummage through the few remaining gowns. She pulled out a pale pink silk and thrust it upon Katharine’s lap. Then she produced scissors from her pocket and set to work upon Katharine’s bindings. When she had freed Katharine she commanded her to hurry and don the frock. Katharine did as she was told, and then seated herself once more at her dressing table to brush out her hair.

  Mrs. Parker paced impatiently. “Hurry up. The gentlemen are expecting us to join them for breakfast.”

  Katharine had remembered what lay inside the shallow drawer of her dressing table. She slipped her hand inside and withdrew a silver letter opener. She secreted it in her handkerchief and rose to follow Mrs. Parker down to breakfast.

  The men did not bother to rise when the ladies joined them. In fact, they barely paused to offer a good morning before returning their attention to the sausage secured upon their forks. Mrs. Parker did not appear bothered by the lapse of manners, so happy was she to be seated as a proper lady at the grand table.

  Lord Graynor ran an inspecting eye over Katharine’s appearance. “You look lovely, my dear. A little pale, perhaps, but that is to be expected of a tender young bride-to-be.”

  Katharine refrained from reply as she forced herself to eat a bit of sweet bread and sausage. After a few bites, she abandoned the effort, for her stomach felt as unsettled as her nerves.

  The announcement that a young gentleman had arrived brought conspiratorial smiles to the faces of Lord Graynor and his son. “Ah, our clergyman. Show him to the parlor and we shall assemble there,” said the elder.

  Katharine clutched the letter opener that lay in her lap. How she would use it, she was not sure. Yet she felt comforted by the cold metal that lay at her touch.

  Cedric came to her chair and, with a hand under her arm, urged her to her feet. Her uncle had gone ahead with Mrs. Parker. Katharine was just prepared to put the sharp opener to Cedric’s ribs and demand her freedom when her uncle reappeared. His confident smile was replaced by a nervous frown. He wiped his hands against his trousers and said, “It is that meddlesome Philip, demanding to see our fair cousin.”

  Katharine rose to her feet, only to be blocked in her flight by her uncle. He clapped his hand over her mouth and muttered viciously. “Cedric is to get his gun and stand where he can get a clear shot of your young man. You will tell Lord Philip that you are here of your free will and that you wish for him to go away. If you do not do exactly as I say, he will not leave here alive. Do you understand?”

  Katharine nodded, watching as Cedric sprinted to get his weapon.

  Lord Graynor released Katharine and motioned for her to precede him. “Remember what I have told you.”

  Katharine thought that her knees would buckle when she saw Philip waiting for them in the parlor. She longed to flee to his arms, to beg him to take her away. Yet she was mindfully aware of Cedric, crouched behind the door frame, gun pointed at Philip’s chest.

  “Do have a seat, Lord Philip,” Lord Graynor invited. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”

  Philip scowled. He cast an anxious glance at Katharine and said, “You know perfectly well why I am here. You have kidnapped Katharine and I demand that you release her.”

  Lord Graynor raised his brow. “I have done no such thing. Lady Katharine has returned of her own volition. It seems that, in the end, she could not bear to be parted from her home. She is to be married to my son this very morning.”

  Philip stared at Lord Graynor as though the man had struck him a blow. He averted his gaze to Katharine. “This cannot be so. You were forced to come, I know it.”

  Katharine felt the blood pounding in her temple. She swayed and then steadied herself as she felt her uncle’s hard gaze drill into her. “I am here of my own will. Please, Philip, you must go,” she whispered.

  He shook his head and glared at Mrs. Parker. “You are part of this. You told me she was taken to London, yet when I would have ridden to London this morning, I was told by one of my grooms that he had seen a young lady riding away in the opposite direction.”

  Mrs. Parker stepped behind her protector as though daring Philip to threaten her.

  Katharine could not forget the pistol aimed at her beloved Philip. She knew that she would rather spend a thousand years with Cedric than to see Philip fall in agony at her feet.

  “Please Philip, you must leave,” she begged.

  He studied her, searching her face, and seemed to come to a decision. “If that is how you feel, then I shall go. And I shall wish you happiness in your decision.”

  He bowed curtly.

  Lord Graynor stepped forward. “I shall have my man show you to the door.”

  He summoned a dour faced man who looked more like a drinking companion than a servant. Katharine wondered inanely where he had found the man.

  “See that Lo
rd Philip is escorted safely off my property,” he ordered.

  Philip glanced back at her one last time. She thought she read a promise in his gaze, for he surely knew she was not capable of this change of affection. Yet, what could he do?

  She watched Philip leave, then sank to the settee and shook with anguish and relief. She was vastly relieved that he was safe. Yet, she wished with all of her heart that she might have gone with him.