by Evie North
“You saw me?”
He gave a half smile. “You were arranging flowers. Roses and iris and calendulas.” His smile vanished. “It was Edward who gave me up to the Bow Street Runners. Afterwards, my father tried to find him, to force him to share my fate, but it was as if he’d vanished into thin air.”
“He punished us both,” said Katherine. “You to hang, and me to go to prison for his debts.” She spoke with quiet bitterness. Her blue eyes were cold as they met his. “I thought in Newgate that you had chosen me because you...you liked me, and then Anila said the earl wanted you to have a woman with you, any woman, but...you did choose me, didn’t you? Except it was to punish Edward. Everything you did that night, it was all about Edward.”
“I need to tell you—” He tried to stroke her face, but she pulled violently away.
“You used me and then you abandoned me. You allowed me to think you were dead. You’re worse than Edward.”
She tried to run, but he caught her arm, and there was a struggle. “Stop it!” he growled. “We have to leave. Now. Before Edward can send the authorities after me. As far as I know he’s done so already, and this little visit was for his own warped gratification. My father—”
Katherine stared at him defiantly. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
But Gervais pulled her in against him, holding her despite her efforts to be free. “Yes, you are. If I have to tie you up, you’re coming with me. Or would you prefer to stay here and wait for Edward? After the life he forced you to lead? From what I remember you didn’t think much of his lovemaking.”
To throw her words back at her was cruel, and crueller still were her memories of Edward’s fists bruising her soft flesh. Tears stung her eyes but she was too angry to give in to him. “I hate you,” she whispered, “and I’d rather stay and wait for Edward than go with you.”
Gervais snorted. “I see.”
For a moment Katherine thought he was going to leave her and her heart quailed as she thought of what Edward would do to her. But then she understood his meaning as he tightened his grip on her and said, close to her ear, “I’m going to lock you in your room, Katherine. Just to be on the safe side. And then we are leaving.”
Gervais didn’t have time to worry about Katherine escaping from her room upstairs. The thought of her fury when she was set free didn’t bear thinking of— she’d slapped his face before he pushed her in and turned the key. But it couldn’t be helped. He’d just have to tease her out of it. Or try.
He returned to the letter on his desk and read it again with a frown. He’d tried to tell Katherine but she wouldn’t listen. His father had been watching the house in London for Edward Prime ever since Katherine went to live there, and his vigilance had paid off. Edward had been seen lurking about, and then he’d questioned one of Anila’s servants. The servant had given Edward the prearranged information, and next thing he was riding north, for the Scottish border.
“We are following as quickly as we can,” his father had written, “but he will reach you first. Take care, my son! He is a dangerous man. Remember the plan and follow it through. It is the best way of luring him into our trap. Do not tell Katherine. Men like Prime are able to secure loyalty through fear and she may give us up before we have him in our grasp.”
Gervais was prepared to put their plan into action, whether Katherine liked it or not—and she wouldn’t like this deception anymore than his previous one. But he was taking no chances with his son. The boy would stay here at the castle with Susan and Mrs MacNee. There were also several of Mrs MacNee’s sons being called in to guard the child with their lives. He stared thoughtfully out of the window at the silver sweep of the loch. Who would have imagined he would be a father? But he was, and enjoying it more every day. His son was precious to him. He loved him in a way he had never expected, and he wanted to watch him grow into a fine young man. Katherine and Anthony, they’d both changed him, and for the better.
Now he just had to hang on to them and keep them safe.
Katherine was furious. She’d tried hammering on the door, she’d thrown things, she’d stared down from the window at the ground far below, but there was no way out unless she sprouted wings and flew.
Some food had been left for her and she forced herself to nibble on it, thinking that whatever Gervais was planning, she would need her strength. She couldn’t help but picture Edward waiting in the shadows, watching and dreaming of his revenge.
Her days with Edward came from a different time, a different life, but he still had the power to paralyse her with fear. He had made her miserable, in comparison even the bad days here at the castle were a pleasure. And if she were to fall into his clutches now, after being with Gervais...
She shook her head, wrapping her arms about herself as a chill ran through her. Gervais had betrayed her in more ways than she had ever imagined, he had used her to revenge himself on Edward Prime. Their night in Newgate had never been about love. She’d been an innocent fool but she would be so no longer.
A moment later Mrs MacNee and two burly young men she introduced as her sons came to collect her, with a small bag of clothing, and take her downstairs.
“You mustn’t worry about the baby,” Mrs MacNee said, her expression heartfelt. “The master has seen to his safety.”
Katherine’s voice was sharp with fear. “What do you mean? I don’t want to leave my baby!”
“I know, lass, but Master Jerome knows what he’s doing. He wouldna let anything happen to the bairn. He’s besotted with the child.”
Katherine knew that was so. Whatever else Gervais might have done he would never let any harm come to Anthony. “Where are we going?” she asked in a more reasonable tone.
Mrs MacNee shrugged. “The master will tell you in good time, I suspect.”
Katherine was not inclined to do more than glare at “the master” when she was delivered to him in the hall. But he seemed not to notice. He looked grim himself, as he slipped something that glinted into a saddle bag. Apart from her bag and a few provisions, they were not taking much with them. Wherever they were off to, they were travelling lightly.
“Never ye fret, I’ll mind the bairn,” Mrs MacNee said.
Gervais nodded, and then taking Katherine’s arm in a firm grip, led her to the door. His horse was waiting outside and the bags were tied to the saddle. In a moment he’d swung her up and then himself behind her.
It was almost dark now. The moon was a mere sliver in the night sky and the loch a pale sweep in the gloom. Katherine felt a momentary regret as the place that had been home to her was left behind, and with it all her hopes and dreams of a new life.
Foolish hopes and dreams, she told herself now. How could she love a man who had used her as Gervais had? She was right when she’d said he was worse than Edward. At least Edward had never pretended to be other than he was, and at least when Edward hurt her you could see the marks. Yet no injury had been as painful as the ache she felt in her heart at this moment.
She glanced up at the hills about them and imagined Edward Prime waiting in the darkness, watching from a high vantage point above the castle. He would be delighted they had been driven out, and no doubt he had evil plans for them. Katherine knew Edward too well to imagine he would allow them to escape unchallenged.
At first Katherine tried to remain stiff and removed from the warm, strong body behind her. But rocked by the horse’s movements, tired and frightened, she found herself leaning backward against him until she dozed off. The next moment she jolted awake to find herself clasped in his arms.
“Let me go at once,” she said icily, and felt him laugh.
“If I did, my sweet, you’d fall off.”
Katherine pretended to ignore his humour, asking in a stiff voice, “Where are we going? Will you tell me that at least?”
“Not far. There’s a bothy on the borders of the estate. We’re going there to wait.”
“To wait for what?”
“For matters t
o resolve themselves,” Gervais said, and there was a grimness to his voice that made her heart beat a little faster. What did he intend? Whatever it was Katherine knew it was dangerous, and she didn’t like the thought of Gervais going into danger.
The acknowledgement saddened her, but she wasn’t surprised. She’d fallen in love with him again, although she’d tried so hard to fight it. If he were to be hurt or to die... She didn’t think she could bear for him to die a second time.
How can you love a man who has lied to you, who has betrayed you?
The voice in her head was shocked, mortified, scathing. Katherine had no answer. Love wasn’t something she had chosen, it simply was. She may be disappointed that Gervais was not the man she had wanted him to be, but he was her man.
“We’re here.”
Gervais’s voice startled her. They’d stopped at a small bothy, hidden among some trees, with the windows shuttered and dark, and no smoke rising from the chimney. Katherine thought no one had lived here for some time.
However, appearances were deceptive. Once inside and with the lantern lit, she saw it was quite comfortable. Certainly comfortable enough for fugitives to spend a night or two. There was a fireplace which Gervais proceeded to light, as well as a table and chairs and a settle. In the other room there was a plain bed— large enough for two—and a chest for clothing.
Gervais glanced over his shoulder from the fire as she stepped back into the main room. “Are you going to behave? No running away?”
Katherine glared. “I’m hardly going to run off in the middle of the night, am I?”
“Hmm, does that mean you might run off in the morning? Should I tie you up overnight?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to read in his face whether he meant it. “No. The thought of being helpless, bound and gagged, is not one I find enjoyable.”
He smiled. “Strange,” he murmured, “I’ve always quite liked the idea of being tied up. In a nice way,” he added, when she raised her eyebrows. “I’d quite like to be tied up by you, Katherine. At your mercy. Just think of the revenge you could take on me then?”
She was thinking. And he was right, at this moment the idea was very appealing.
“Helpless. At my mercy,” she repeated. “Wouldn’t you be worried about what I might do to you?”
He thought a moment, wiping the dust from his hands onto his breeches. “I don’t think so. And anyway, not knowing what you’d do might give the whole experience a bit of an edge, don’t you think?”
In spite of her irritation Katherine’s body reacted to his words, and she felt a tingle race through her. How could she still want him, she asked herself in despair, after all he had done?
Gervais opened up one of the saddlebags and found the food Mrs MacNee had packed them. He looked toward Katherine, where she stood by the window, staring out into the inky darkness.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“A little. Are there any of Mrs MacNee’s oranges in there?”
He paused. “Mrs MacNee’s oranges?” he repeated.
“Yes. She puts one in my place each night at dinner. You must have a greenhouse somewhere on your estate where you grow them.”
There was a strange expression on his face and when he didn’t answer she turned back to look out of the window at the stars.
“The oranges are from me,” he said quietly behind her. “I have them brought north for you. Because I remembered how much you enjoyed the one I fed you in Newgate.”
“You?” The oranges were from Gervais? He had thought of her well-being, of her happiness, even when she believed him indifferent to her. Katherine put a trembling hand to her lips.
Behind her, Gervais blew out the lantern. She felt him come up behind her, the heat from his body and his warm breath on her neck. “Yes, me,” he whispered. “Always.”
She wanted to turn into his arms and cling to him. She wanted to kiss his lips and tell him how much she loved him. This kindness from him had overset all her resolutions, so much so that she found she could not move.
He slipped his arms around her waist and held her close. “I wanted you to live with me here because I missed you,” he whispered. “In Newgate, as soon as I learned I was going to live, I tried to go to you but my father convinced me to let you go. He said you would find a better life, a happier life, than I could give you. I was a fool to listen, I know that now. I’ve regretted it ever since.”
A tear ran down Katherine’s cheek but she stayed silent.
“I admit when I saw you in Newgate I had thoughts of revenge. For what Edward had done to me. But when you came into my cell it became clear to me that it was just you I wanted. Not to make Edward sorry. It was my last night on earth and I wanted to spend it with you. I thought...”
He smiled against her neck.
“I thought that although by cock crow I would be dead and gone, I would live on in your memory. I didn’t expect to leave a more tangible reminder. I never thought you would give me a son, Katherine.”
She shook her head. These were words she’d longed to hear but she seemed unable to respond. She teetered on a knife-edge. The doubts and pain from the past on one side, and Gervais’s promises of a bright new future on the other.
“Katherine?” he said sadly. “Will you trust me? Will you believe that I always wanted the best for you and acted accordingly?”
She gave a choked laugh. “The best for me? Why would you want the best for me? Why did you arrange for me to have oranges where no oranges will grow?”
She turned then and he saw that she was crying. His eyes darkened with pain and in the moonlight the lines about his mouth seemed deeper. He looked older. He looked as if he had suffered too.
“Because I love you.”
Her eyes closed and she sighed. When she opened them again she was smiling. Gervais searched her face, clearly not persuaded he had convinced her of his sincerity.
“I love you, Gervais. I have loved you ever since that night.”
With a soft groan he leaned in to kiss her, long and deep. “You are everything to me, Katherine. You and Anthony. You have given me hope, a life to aspire to, and I will be forever grateful to you for that.”
He led her to the bed in the darkness, their food forgotten, and she discovered that all those highs and lows of emotion over the past hours had turned into a raging desire. They kissed wildly, and without undressing he lifted her skirts and opened his trousers, and pushed into her.
No finesse, just the desperate urge to join together.
Their climax came quickly, rocking them, and they lay exhausted. Soon Katherine fell asleep, but Gervais held her long into the night, alert for any sound outside, knowing he would protect this woman with his life if it came to it.
16
The night sky was becoming grey with approaching dawn when Katherine finally awoke. And found herself alone. “Gervais?” she called, sitting up and pushing her tangled hair from her eyes.
“Sssh!” he hushed.
Turning around she saw him standing beside the window, peering out cautiously, without allowing himself to be seen by anyone outside. She slipped out of bed and went to him.
“What is it?” she asked, also keeping her voice to a whisper.
“I heard a horse whinny. It may be just a passerby but...”
She gasped. “It’s him. He’s found us.”
“Possibly. But there’s no need to worry.”
“He’s capable of anything, Gervais. You don’t know him as well as you think. He can be charming but underneath...if you see his true self...” She shuddered. “He’s evil, Gervais. He doesn’t just use violence to get what he wants. He enjoys it.”
Gervais frowned as he thought of what his Katherine must have gone through with that man and for how long. Well, she was safe now and he would do everything in his power to see she stayed that way.
“Katherine, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. We seemed to have other things to say to each other.”
He gave her a quick smile. “But we’re not alone here. My father and his men have been following Prime. If he’s out there then so are they.”
“Your father?”
“And half a dozen of his best men. With pistols.” He sounded very sure of the fact but Katherine thought he was saying it just to comfort her. How could he know his father was out there?
“I saw a letter on your desk...”
“He’s been keeping me informed.”
More secrets, Katherine thought darkly, but she didn’t feel as annoyed as she expected she would.
“Could you find us something to eat?” Gervais turned back to the window and whatever was outside. She noticed he had a pistol on the sill beside him, and realised that was what she had seen him slip inside the saddlebag just before they left the castle.
Katherine went to the table and searched through the food packed by the cook. She found some bread and thick slices of ham and cheese, and passed both to Gervais, along with a flask of wine. She sat at the table and forced herself to eat; she wasn’t hungry but who knew when she might have the chance to eat again? If Edward came and tried to take her away... The food lodged in her throat and she forced it down.
It was still not full daylight when she heard a sound in the stillness outside. The dull thud of a horse walking, moving toward the back of the bothy. She looked at Gervais but he was moving away from the window, following the sounds.
Then the front door burst open and Edward Prime stood there, the pistol in his hand aimed at Gervais’s heart. He’d tricked them, she realised too late, by sending his horse off alone.
“So, Hawley, escaped the hangman after all, eh? But not for long.” Edward’s voice was hearty and loud, full of gloating excitement. It was Edward at his worst.
Gervais did not flinch. “There’s nothing for you here, Prime. Have you forgotten that if I’m captured then I’ll turn you in too? We’ll both face the hangman.”