A Question of Trust

by Angeline Fortin

  ‘Of all people’ were unspoken words, making Kitty giggle as she helped Hannah and Laurie set up a battalion of toy soldiers. Pleased to see her mother smiling, Hannah dropped the soldiers much to her cousin’s displeasure, and climbed over them into Kitty’s lap to pat her cheeks with a lop-sided smile. Kitty laughed some more and tickled her daughter until she joined in.

  “Oh, Evie!” she chuckled some more. “I don’t know why you dislike him so. He is actually fond of you, you know?”

  Eve merely wrinkled her nose.

  “He is.” Kitty raised her eyes to her sister’s, noting the gesture at the very idea that Haddington might like her. “I appreciate your concern, Evie, I really do. But I like Jack. A lot. Indeed, maybe more than I should.”

  “Why?”

  Kitty laughed aloud again and rocked Hannah back and forth in her arms like a baby, as she grinned down into the girl’s dimple-cheeked smile. “Oh, Evie! Because he makes me laugh! He’s funny, have you not noticed? And, I don’t know, he makes me feel so special. Yes, I realize that is just a particular skill of his, but I enjoy it. I enjoy everything he makes me feel.”

  “Including romantic feelings?” Eve shuddered expressively, reviving the humor still lingering on Kitty’s lips.

  “Including romantic feelings,” she confirmed with a broad grin. “I know you think I am a fool, but please understand I am walking into this with the blinders off. You and Abby have both made sure I am well aware of Jack’s faults, but I’ve decided a little romance in my life would not be amiss, however brief it might be.”

  “He could hurt you so badly, Kat, if you relent,” Eve felt compelled to warn.

  “Perhaps, but he would never hurt me, Evie.” Kitty said confidently. “And that makes a world of difference to me. I will protect my heart.”

  “Promise me you’ll be careful,” was all her sister said, for even Eve had to admit she couldn’t imagine Haddington driven to such violence that he might strike a woman. Kitty was safe with him, in that respect at least.

  “No lectures on morality?” teased Kitty.

  “Not one,” Eve laughed reluctantly. “Who am I to judge, when this little thing might send the town’s brows to their hairline if it happens to come a bit ‘early’?” She rested her hand lovingly against her still flat belly.

  “Are you really so very happy, Evie?” Kitty asked wistfully, resting her cheek against the top of Hannah’s head.

  “I am happier than I ever imagined possible.” Eve’s eyes shone with emotion. “I love him so much.”

  “He loves you so much,” she corrected her sister. “Ah, I envy you so, Evie!”

  “You will find your true love one day, Kat, I know you will. More than anyone, you deserve your chance as much as I deserved mine. You will find your love,” was Eve’s firm prediction.

  Ahh, but I might have found mine already! Kitty thought. Just the tiniest nudge or unguarded moment could find her plunging head first into love with Jack. She didn’t want to, and would certainly protect her heart from the possibility. If she didn’t, it would be so easy to do. The problem was that Jack, as charming and seductive as he might be, appeared to love no one quite so much as himself.

  Chapter 21

  “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil

  is for good men to do nothing.”

  attributed to Edmund Burke

  The Argyle Residence

  Carlton Terrace

  Edinburgh, Scotland

  It was a short walk the next evening, indeed just a few doors down from the Glenrothes townhouse on Carlton Terrace, to the ball being held by the Earl and Countess of Argyle to celebrate their daughter’s betrothal. Though most of the guests attending would take a carriage regardless of the distance, so they might make a show of disembarking in front of the residence, Eve and Kitty’s more practical American side insisted they were more than capable of walking less than one-quarter of a mile on a mild summer evening.

  Along with the Duchess of Roxburghe, the Countess of Argyle was one of the leading grande dames of Scottish society. So much power did the pair wield in their little kingdom of Edinburgh, the two had never bothered to take on the bigger fish in London. Here they ruled and their word was law. Upon learning that the Countess of Glenrothes’ sister was staying in Edinburgh, the Lady Argyle had insisted she attend her ball as well. Much like being confronted with an edict from the highest-ranking ladies of New York Society, there was no polite way for Kitty to decline, and nor could her friends.

  So, they proceeded down Carlton Terrace in a quartet of partnered pairs, with Eve and Francis leading the way, followed by Moira and James MacKintosh, Kitty and Jack, and lastly Richard and Abby. Fiona had been so gravely disappointed by her eldest brother’s refusal to allow her to attend the function before her official coming out into Society, she had insisted Connor remain at home with her. Kitty was of the mind that she wished she had a similar excuse to stay home. She was queasy with nerves over making this first appearance at a public gathering following her round of confessions…er, morning calls, three days before.

  She and Eve were understandably the targets of much curiosity and comment as they made their way through the long reception line. It seemed her visits with Abby earlier in the week only raised speculation that there was really just one of them. They hadn’t been seen together as Kitty had taken to her bed during the intermittent days while Eve had gone on with her regular social visits.

  Now they were out in public together, and the populace could see that there were indeed two of them and that the countess did indeed look radiant and much attached to her husband while Lord Haddington paid marked attention to the countess’ sister. All would be well for Eve, Kitty was certain. It was a relief since the very thought of ruining her sister’s happily ever after was abhorrent, to say the least.

  Kitty spent her first hour or more of the evening making a few rotations of the room with Eve, Moira and Abby. She was introduced to notable ladies while the gentlemen had taken themselves off to the card room. Moira’s dance card was already filled, as was Abby’s, though she left several dances open for her husband.

  Kitty and Eve, however, had not been approached for dances at all. Kitty was confused by this until Eve admitted that Francis so intimidated the young dandies present, usually only a few older gentlemen would dare to beg a dance from her. “I would assume,” Eve added with amusement, as she and Kitty lingered near the refreshment table to watch the dancing, “given our similar appearance, the gentlemen cannot work out which of us it would be alright to approach. I’m sorry I have deprived you of more opportunities to dance.”

  After assuring her sister she did not hold Eve accountable, Kitty resigned herself to simply watching the others dance until the gentlemen began to reemerge. Francis came first, obviously unable to resist the lure of his wife, followed by Richard. Both had promised her a dance later after they had partnered their wives. Kitty felt awkward as a wallflower as she waited. Eventually, James returned from the card room to pursue a young widow whom, Abby whispered, he was having an affair with.

  Moira swept by in the arms of a handsome lord, one of the dozen potential suitors who were vying for the hand of the very eligible heiress. Kitty was glad for Moira’s success, knowing her friend was eager to move forward with her life after many years of mourning the loss of Vin MacKintosh. She wanted a future, a family, and Kitty wished her luck in finding the perfect man to give her that future. She gave Moira a smile and a little wave as she whirled by.

  The next set was already in progress before Jack joined her at the edge of the dance floor. “Are you going to ask me to dance?” she asked. Kitty had never spent so much of a ball sitting on the sidelines and was eager to join the dancing.

  “I was thinking I might.” Haddington had lingered in the card room long after the others left, determined he would not make a fool of himself hastening to Kitty’s side, though it was what he had wanted to do within moments of leaving her company. Her p
roposal the previous day still tempted him from both a monetary and sexual perspective but he hadn’t been able to give her an answer yet. The reason had nothing to do with his willingness to commit to a monogamous affair and everything to do with his pride. He simply could not picture himself begging Eve for funds.

  “I was really looking forward to dancing the night away so if it helps at all, I’ll say ‘yes’ if you do.” She smiled beatifically up at him and he had the overwhelming urge to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless.

  “That does take the pressure off a bit, to be sure,” he teased, tamping down the arousal that always seemed to grip him when he looked at her. “I confess, given our erratic relationship thus far, I fear you might reject me purely for the perverse joy it might give you.”

  Jack rocked back on his heels as the current dance came to an end and smiled down at her. “Would you care to join me in the next set, lass?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “I like that you are unpredictable, my love. I do.”

  Kitty giggled and batted her lashes up at him. “Well, my lord, I can’t have you thinking you might just have your way with me anytime you like.”

  “My love, I would gratefully have my way with you anytime you like.” He waggled his brows suggestively, sending a quiver of anticipation through Kitty that shot all the way to her toes. How long would it take before Jack accepted her offer? Before she might wrap her entire body around his and absorb him into her?

  If anticipation only made an experience more poignant, their lovemaking, when it came, would be an experience to rival the glory of the heavens.

  “Have I told you how lovely you look tonight?” Jack whispered in her ear as he led her on to the dance floor and guided her through the sweeping steps of the Racket, a popular variation of the two-step.

  “I am discovering my own wardrobe is not nearly as lovely as Evie’s,” she said evasively, though she was thrilled by the admiring warmth in his eyes. The gown was lovely, a new one Eve insisted she wear from the wardrobe she had recently ordered. Eve referred to it as her ‘widowed no more’ wardrobe, and where she had been consigned to dark colors for so long, her new gowns were all a bright reflection of her happiness. She said if she ever wore black again it would be only because she looked good it. She did, of course, as did Kitty, since black set off their fair skin and pale hair to its best advantage.

  This evening, the dress Kitty wore was a Worth gown with a simple butter cream duchesse bodice and satin overskirt, edged in a long, silken fringe with a faille underskirt, and colorfully embroidered in a spring garden motif with all the colors it offered. There was a bit of the same embroidery sparsely covering the bodice, with its deep neckline and tiny silk and Chantilly lace sleeves that hung just on the very edge of her shoulders, giving the impression that they might fall off at any moment.

  Kitty had also borrowed a lovely jade jewelry set that included a necklace, dangling earrings, and a bracelet that encircled her wrist over her long ivory gloves. Even her little slippers were the same embroidered butter cream. It was as lovely an ensemble as Kitty had ever worn, but she knew she had never felt as beautiful in her life as she did when Jack whispered in her ear how the jade brought her green eyes to life, giving him all sorts of mad thoughts.

  “That’s only because green is the color of money, you know,” she teased, to cover up the shiver of excitement that tore through her. It would never do for him to become aware of what he could do to her! The mere sight of him in his evening clothes when she had come down the stairs earlier had almost been enough to make her knees buckle.

  “Only in America, my love!” he chided, appreciating her humor, but disappointed she would dismiss his compliments with such a blasé attitude.

  After nearly thirty minutes in the set, the music came to an end and Kitty dropped a curtsey with a grin, taking Jack’s offered arm to lead her from the dance floor. Their way was blocked by an older gentleman who bowed low before her. “Ah, Lady Glenrothes,” he smiled with a touch of malicious condescension, “and Lord Haddington! Dancing together, eh? I was wondering if I might…”

  “I’m sorry, who are you?” Kitty cut in rudely, instantly disliking his snide reference to the fictional affair between Eve and Jack.

  “Of course you remember me, my lady,” he insisted with a sniveling reptilian laugh.

  “No, I don’t, because I am not Lady Glenrothes.” She poked him in the chest in a fashion that was becoming her habit when upset. “Oh, wait, I recognize you now. You’re that Wallis fellow from the park last week, aren’t you? I’ve heard about you, you know, and I have to say I don’t appreciate you trying to resurrect that silly gossip from the other night, either. I am Mrs. Hayes, the countess’ sister, from New York.”

  “Of course you are,” was the man’s spiteful response.

  Haddington attempted to step in to her rescue but Kitty put a hand on his chest to stall him. “I am Mrs. Hayes.” She glared at the little man, hands on her hips and ready to do battle. “The countess is over there,” her finger shot across the room in a manner very unbecoming of a lady, “as if you were too blind to see. See her? With her husband? Look!”

  “Well, uh, Mrs. Hayes,” Wallis shuffled his feet uneasily in the face of her unexpected rebuttal, but determined to go on, “it is very difficult for anyone to tell you apart. Even now you could be the countess playing a rouse on Glenrothes.”

  “Believe me, you little toad, Glenrothes can easily tell us apart. Even if he couldn’t, who are you to come over here and make your nasty little insinuations? You think others might think you know which of us is the countess? Does it give you a thrill to raise doubt? To raise a little scandal to hurt my sister and her reputation?” Kitty poked him hard in the chest again, not caring that a crowd of onlookers was gathering about to witness the spectacle she was creating. “You know what I have no doubt about, toad? I have no doubt if a woman were lucky enough to have a husband at home who looked like that,” her finger drove across the room again, “who cared for her like that, she would never be idiot enough to risk losing him! Would any lady here disagree, do you think?” she practically shouted in his face. She glanced around and the sea of startled faces around her seeing, to her satisfaction, a number of female heads shaking in the negative.

  Jack was at her shoulder nearly choking on his own laughter.

  The man was simply too flabbergasted to respond, but if there was one thing in the world Kitty hated, it was those people who felt that they had to ruin the lives of others with their petty words. Who enjoyed bringing pain down upon others. Did this man not realize what damage he could do to her sister? Most likely he didn’t care, but Kitty did and it raised every bit of temper she’d ever felt in her life to meet anyone who so openly thrilled in spouting such bile. She couldn’t remember ever being so angry.

  “Kitty,” Jack said gently, pulling on her arm though his grin gave no doubt of his enjoyment of her scene. What a brash beauty she was! “Come away now.”

  Kitty shook her head. “No, Jack, don’t you see what this man is trying to do? And he enjoys it!”

  “Kitty, eh? And you call Haddington by his given name, Mrs. Hayes?” the unrelenting little toad made the mistake of asking, with a bit of a lecherous sneer and a suggestive waggle of his brows. “Just how close are you two anyway?”

  And Kitty doubled up her fist and socked him in the nose.

  “Kitty Preston, what were you thinking?” Eve couldn’t help but ask, when the two couples were back on the sidewalk, heading home a few moments later. They had left Moira under Abby’s chaperonage in their haste to depart the scene of Kitty’s social faux pas. Eve and Kitty walked briskly, with their arms linked, while the two men flanked them. “You struck Lord Wallis square in the nose!”

  “Is he someone important?” she asked with sudden concern, thinking she might have just struck the Lord Mayor himself or another equally important person. “Jack said the other day he was not.”

  “Only
to himself,” Francis assured her. “Wallis is the biggest gossip in town and I’m sure it was he who made such a fuss with the rumors a few days ago. Odious gent. My guess, he hadn’t seen Eve and I were in attendance when he stopped you and Jack.”

  “I can’t believe you hit him!” Eve stared in awe at her sister. “I’ve always wanted to, you know. He is a toad, just as you said.”

  “Well, he deserved it, trying to brew up trouble like that!” Kitty insisted, then gave Eve a shaky smile. “I can’t believe that I did it either. We’ve come a long way, eh Evie?”

  “We have.” Eve shot her a smile and squeezed her arm affectionately. “Ten years ago that would have been me, while you watched, completely appalled.” She leaned across her sister to inform Jack, “Kitty was always the proper one, did you know?”

  “She’s told me the same before but, no, I have a hard time believing it, given what I’ve just witnessed.” In truth, he couldn’t picture it at all.

  “Kitty was mother’s little protégé, on her way to becoming the next grande dame of New York. She was meticulously well-behaved and proper.” The corner of Eve’s mouth rose in a half grin as she cocked her head, considering her sister. “She knew exactly what to say and how to behave in any situation. The Kitty of those days would never even think of saying what was said tonight, much less express those thoughts so vocally…and with such physical punctuation. She was flawless.”

  “She still is,” Jack put in, and smiled down at Kitty’s surprised face. “I’m proud of you, lass. Wallis has needed to be taken down a notch for years and you did that to perfection tonight. I am privileged to have had such an excellent seat to watch his carnage from.” He raised her hand and kissed it affectionately.

  “Really?” Kitty asked with a shaky smile. “Because, now that it’s all over, I am completely appalled by my behavior!”