Kitty told her sister about his moods and reactions, and how she had tried to protect Hannah. “I had tried to leave him before, but every time…” her voice quivered to a halt. Drawing a deep breath, she continued. “Each time I tried to leave, he found me and dragged me home…and beat me.”
It appalled Eve to see her strong-willed sister reduced to this fearful shadow. “In the past when you would come to Newport, there were times when you would have bruises on your wrists and arms…”
“Freddie made every effort to hurt me where the bruises would never show, but sometimes it just wouldn’t happen that way. In the beginning, I tried to defend myself, to fight back, but I wasn’t strong enough. Sung Li has been trying to teach me how to do so if…” Kitty massaged her wrist unconsciously as she remembered a particular fight. “Anyway, Freddie always insisted he loved me. He was always so sorry!”
“Why did you never go to Da?”
“And tell him what?”
“The truth, Kat. He is our father.”
“He wanted me to marry Frederick, though,” Kitty argued in disbelief.
“Just as he made me marry William, Kit,” Eve took a deep breath and confessed, “but in the end, when I needed Da to support me in petitioning for a divorce, he did.”
“A divorce?” Kitty echoed in astonishment. “You were going to get a divorce? When?”
“My marriage was not nearly as bad as yours. William did not strike me, his punishments for improper behavior and defiance had been more mental than physical, but he…controlled me, Kat,” Eve confessed with a shudder of remembrance. “He managed my every move, word. He chose my clothes, for goodness’ sake! Every dress, every day! If I didn’t do what he wanted, he would ‘punish’ me, by withholding meals, freedoms or threatening Laurie.”
“I get the feeling it was worse than your letters ever let on!”
“Perhaps,” Eve allowed. “So I finally went to Da just before William died and asked him to help me fight the courts for a divorce. We did some research. American divorce law is a truly horrible process to fight. Frankly, I was hoping Da could grease some palms to help get the petition through.”
“So Da could help me as well?”
“I know he will, if you ask him. I think he regrets now rushing our marriages along. I will wire him this very day and see what he can do to get the process started.” Eve reached over and squeezed her sister’s hand. “He loves us, Kat. In the end, all he ever really wanted was our security. It took me a long time to understand that. He’s always felt that he was getting too old to watch over us, and wanted us to be settled. What he really wants is our happiness. If your happiness will be found away from Freddie, then I know Da will make it happen.”
Kitty’s mind spun with the possibilities. It might work. It might spare her a lifetime of running and hiding. Give her true freedom. She stared at Eve in silence. Their married lives had been so similar, yet that knowledge only drew them closer together. The idea of obtaining a divorce would appall her mother, but perhaps Eve was right and it was the best way to move forward. It would be worth it, she decided. Despite the scandal and label of divorcée that would follow, it would be worth it in the end. If there was any person that could make it happen, it was her father. Lelan Preston knew so many connected people through his business interests in New York. Surely, he could ‘grease’ the right palms, as her sister had suggested.
“And it’s not your fault, of course. I would have left him, too,” Eve assured her, misunderstanding her sister’s silence for uncertainty. She sipped her coffee and pondered the underlying tension that seemed to surround her sister. That edginess she had noted earlier still worried her. Then it came to her. “You think Freddie will come after you, don’t you?”
“I am hoping he will not know where to find me,” Kitty admitted honestly, with just enough fear lacing her voice for Eve to reach out and clench her sister’s hand in her own. “He shouldn’t know you live here in Scotland. If he goes to your home in Dorset, perhaps your staff will not reveal where you are. We are.”
“We will make sure he does not. I shall certainly wire my staff there, but to be on the safe side, perhaps we should have a disguise for you, or some such way of keeping your identity and presence hidden,” Eve thought aloud.
“Actually, I have an idea.” Kitty thought about the way Jack Merrill had assumed she was Eve when he first saw her in the park. “I just met Jack Merrill in the park while you were getting the coffee.”
“Oh, dearest,” Eve patted her hand benevolently, “I’m sorry.”
Kitty grinned at the genuine sympathy in her sister’s voice. “No, no, it’s all right, I assure you!” She thought about her idea again. “But, Eve, he thought I was you! Don’t you see? If no one knows I am here…I am assuming that your staff is discreet, yes?”
Eve nodded, wondering where Kitty was going.
“Then I can just be you!”
“You cannot stay locked up here in the house indefinitely,” Eve protested with a frown. “You will need to go out.”
“I don’t plan on attending any social functions for the time being, but if I go riding or such, most would assume I am you just as Jack did this morning!” Kitty clapped her hands, pleased with her plan, while Eve frowned at her casual use of the earl’s name. “I can just hide here in plain sight until I figure out what to do!”
“It might work,” Eve agreed, considering the idea. The few riders they had seen in the park that morning were not acquaintances of Eve’s so there should be no repercussions from their dual appearance. Her staff was indeed discreet and their friends’ only interest would be in guarding Kitty from harm. She knew it would certainly solve the problem of discovery if no one were even aware of her sister’s presence in Edinburgh. “If no one outside this house knew about it, as Haddington does.”
“I am sure he can be convinced not to say anything,” Kitty argued, sure Haddington was in possession of a protective streak as his sister had always claimed.
“Without knowing the truth?”
Kitty thought about telling the earl about her marriage and shuddered. It would never do to see that man’s jovial countenance darkened with pity. Potential friend or not, truth certainly was not an option there. “I’ll think of something to tell him.”
“And Moira and Abby? I am sure they can be trusted with the truth.”
“Of course, they can! They are our dearest friends.”
Chapter 9
But there was about her the mysterious authority of beauty, a sureness in the carriage of the head, the movement of the eyes, which, without being in the least theatrical, struck him as highly trained and full of a conscious power.
- Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence
“Good morning, Evelyn.” A deep voice interrupted her solitude.
Kitty turned to see Jack Merrill standing, hat in hand, near the door of the parlor where she was reading a book, two mornings later. So far, their plan was working well. Eve had taken her habitual morning rides early so Kitty might ride out later, avoiding the more populated paths, with a groom to guide her. Eve had gone out to tea a couple of times for appearance’s sake but had cancelled her at-homes and other engagements for the time being. Their meals thus far had been taken in private, since Eve’s husband Francis was still away at Glen Cairn.
She hadn’t seen Haddington since the morning in the park. Curiously, she had found herself dwelling on their meeting since then and had hoped she might meet him again in the park when she rode in the mornings. To her disappointment, she had not, but now he was here of his own accord. Well, he had certainly turned himself out nicely for the visit! He was wearing a charcoal gray pinstripe morning suit with a silver silk waistcoat and narrow black cravat. His black shoes were shined to a high polish, his tall, gray felt hat was tucked under one arm and he held a bouquet of yellow hothouse roses in the other. With his dark hair slicked back, and warm golden eyes, he was simply stunning to behold. Her heart raced as any woman’s mig
ht at the sight of him.
“Don’t you look nice,” she offered cheerfully. Jack watched as the woman’s lips twitched in amusement, before her hand came up to cover them. Bloody hell, it was the sister! She looked so much like Evelyn it was hard to tell them apart until he saw her eyes. The green arctic glass of Evelyn’s gaze was so different from the sparkle dancing so warmly in Kitty Hayes’ eyes. So she thought this funny, did she? Well, he refused to be laughed at!
With a frown, he entered the room. “That’s enough of that now, lass. American or not, there’s no reason for making light of my appearance here. I said I would call on you and I am.” A pair of days had not lessened the impact this woman had on him. In fact, he’d had the oddest compulsion through most of the previous day to come over just to visit her, to see if she was truly so engaging as their moments in the park had led him to believe.
She was lovely now, dressed in an aqua blue morning dress that brought a hint of the sea to her green eyes and set off the honeyed gold of her hair. Her looks and coloring were indistinguishable from the countess, but she radiated warmth and vitality he felt the countess was missing. It was beguiling and distracting. “These are for you.” He thrust the bouquet at her. “A gesture of blooming friendship.”
In truth, it was more a gesture of seduction, though he dared not let on. Though the heiress might be unavailable for marriage, his attraction to her – once he had correctly identified her – was undeniable, and he determined after some brief consideration that an affair with the spunky lady might be just the thing to take his mind off his problems.
He intended a slow, satisfying affair, to take his mind off his troubles and deliver them both a great deal of pleasure in the process. Naturally, she would need to be carefully seduced into submission. Most married women required a fair share of delicate handling before they succumbed to the inevitable. Of course, it might help his purpose if she took his gestures in the spirit they were delivered, rather than with humor.
“I’d probably refrain from tossing about more insults against the American people if you’d like a better reception.” Kitty ignored his harsh tone, knowing he was only miffed by her response to him. It was amusing to be mistaken for Evie by him though! Inhaling the scent of the roses, she located an empty vase on the mantle and began to sort the flowers out on a nearby table so she might arrange them herself, before having one of the servants add water. “So, what can I help you with, my lord?”
Recalling the reason for his visit, Jack cleared his throat and stepped farther into the room. “I am here to call on you as promised.”
“You look like you’ve come courting,” she told him in that alarmingly direct fashion she had. “I thought I made it clear I was unavailable to fill such a role for you.”
Throwing him an assessing look that absorbed him from head to toe, Kitty adjusted the vase and visually sorted the roses before taking up a few and putting them in the vase. “Or,” her lips twitched again as if she had divined his latest objective, “was there something else you wanted?”
Jack could think of a dozen things he wanted from this lady and wondered if such intentions were evident to her. If his desire showed on his face as readily as it pulsed through his veins. The magnetism between them was undeniable. Surely, she felt it? He wanted to rip her clothes from her body, shred her defenses and mount a triumphant assault upon her person. Naturally, he didn’t say so. Any of those thoughts vocalized were unlikely to earn him an invitation to visit again. Even at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to slide his arm around her and…
Kitty squealed then and popped her finger into her mouth. “Oh, that hurt!”
“Prick yourself?” Haddington strode toward her and reached out to take her hand from her mouth. As his hand came toward her face, however, she cringed to the side and stepped back. Frowning with bemusement, Jack persevered and stepped in, removing her hand from her lips and examining her finger. “There is still a piece of the thorn in there. We’d best make sure you get it out. Why are you arranging these yourself anyway? Have a servant do it.”
“Ladies arrange flowers,” Kitty explained, wincing as he pinched at the thorn, trying to remove it. “Besides, Eve is not keeping a large staff right now.” With Glenrothes out of town, Eve had allowed the bulk of her staff a holiday, a gesture Kitty found generous.
“Is she worried about the cost?” he asked absently, as he pinched again at the sliver of thorn. “MacKintosh is wealthy enough to support her even without her own fortune.”
“That has nothing–” Kitty gasped when Jack brought her hand to his mouth and took the top of her finger between his lips, suckling deeply. Though she realized after her initial shock he was merely trying to remove the thorny sliver, the suggestive heat of his molten eyes and questioning brow told other tales. She stared at him, entranced, as his rough tongue slipped erotically over the tip, sending a quiver of warmth up her arm only to set her chest atremble as she drew in a shaky breath.
She swallowed deeply, trying to deny the lustful rush flaring between them. A shocking heat pooled between her thighs. “Wh-what do you think you are doing?”
Jack watched the light in her eyes change with an inward, knowing smile of satisfaction. She wasn’t immune to the attraction between them at all. He could see how this one small gesture affected her, how she was now fully aware of him as a man. From the blush that came to her cheeks and the increase in her breathing, she was feeling the same desire as he. The earl imagined that ardor blossoming, imagined her beneath him and panting with lust. It would happen, he resolved, as his body stirred to life. He would seduce her, win her. The rewards would be incredible for them both.
Locking her gaze with his, he sucked on her digit a moment longer before removing it. “There you are! Good as new.”
Kitty stared down at her finger as if she had never seen one before. Just that tiny bit of her body had come into contact with his mouth! This innocuous bit of flesh and she was flooded with thoughts and feelings such as she had never known. Why should she feel such raging desire for this man? Why now? Certainly, the earl was a handsome and appealing man, but she had met many men like him before. But this was different. Unfamiliar, yet strangely undeniable.
“What were you saying?” he prompted when Kitty remained silently fascinated.
“What?” She shook her head to clear the lingering fog.
“You were saying that Evelyn is a penny-pincher.”
“I was not!” Kitty defended quickly, only to find Jack grinning at her merrily. “Evelyn is very economically minded, of course.” So am I, Kitty thought. There had been a time before Da had become so successful that life in the Preston household had been very frugal. A dollar was a dollar, Da had taught them. Just because you had them did not mean you had to spend them.
“Economically minded?” he questioned, reaching out to brush a loose strand of hair that had been teasing her neck behind her ear, but again she twitched away. It seemed to Jack that reaching out to her was like trying to feed a wild animal. Skittish and wary of man.
“Prudent,” she countered firmly, to distract him from her curious behavior.
“Parsimonious.”
“That’s very rude. She actually let most of the staff off for a holiday and it’s horrible of you to think the worst, but still, Da always said that frugality was a part of responsibility.” She raised an eyebrow to him as she took a step back, putting enough space between them to stay out of arm’s length and for her to regain her equilibrium. “Of course, Da also said never to talk to strange men.”
“And who is your Da?” he asked absently, while his thoughts were focused on getting closer to his prey.
Kitty smiled fully, drawing his attention again to her full pink lips and pearly white teeth. “My father is the Lelan Preston,” she said proudly, and let that sink in for a moment.
“Ah, that’s right!” He had only recalled the revelation of wealth, not the name of the man who possessed it. Lelan Preston. “Owner of
Preston Shipping!” He exhaled the name with a sigh of reverence. How had he ever let Evelyn slip away? His pursuit should have been relentless! Oh, the sacrifices he had made in the name of friendship! Bowing out so Glenrothes might marry his long-time love was the grandest gesture he had ever made. He groaned aloud in frustration from being denied such wealth. “Are you sure you’re married?”
“I am sorry to say so,” she said hollowly, seeing that his focus was again on his conundrum and less upon herself. “And since you brought it up, there is a favor I would like to ask you.”
“It might cost you.” A hint of playfulness tinted his voice.
“I’m sure everything has a price with you, Jack Merrill,” was her wry response. “But I would like to keep my presence here in Edinburgh a secret. To be frank, I have run away from my husband, you see, and don’t want him to find me.”
“Why did you run away?”
“It is not important,” she insisted, looking away. “I simply ask that you do not mention to anyone that the countess’ sister is here for the time being.”
“Why?”
“Honestly,” she admitted, figuring honesty was best, no matter Eve’s reservations about Haddington’s ability to keep his lips buttoned, “I want to petition for a divorce from him and need some time to see it started.”
“A bold move,” Jack commented with a low whistle. Glenrothes had divorced his first wife after a dozen years of infidelity on her part. The process had taken years to work through the courts and had finally taken a Parliamentary decree to see it done. It might not be so bad a process in America, but the scandal that followed was typically the worst part. Society vilified a divorcée. “Is your marriage so bad?”
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