Chapter Thirty-Five
“Whatever you think is happening here, Dulverton, you are probably wrong,” Jasper yelled shrilly, gripping Katie’s arm even harder.
Dulverton dismounted with the fluid grace that always left Katie feeling a bit breathless and strode toward them. “Unhand her,” he snarled.
Jasper stumbled back a step and yanked on Katie’s arm, but she dug in her heels. “Grab him, you fool!” Jasper shouted over his shoulder. But there was no answer and when Jasper twisted them both around, she saw that Robin was alone.
“I think your minion decided that discretion was the better part of valor, Staines.” The duke’s quiet, toneless voice was more terrifying than a shout.
Jasper whirled them around. “You want her?” He shoved Katie so hard she stumbled. “Here she is!”
Dulverton caught Katie before she could fall and steadied her, seemingly unconcerned as Jasper’s footsteps receded into the darkness. He lifted her chin and his pale eyes turned to ice when he saw her cheek. “He struck you.”
“It—it doesn’t hurt,” she lied. “I’m so sorry about all this, Dulverton. I never thought he would—”
“Shhh,” he murmured as he leaned down and lightly kissed the offended cheek.
A scream shattered the night. “Aaargh! What the hell do you think you are doing?” Jasper demanded in a high-pitched voice.
Katie heard an answer voice—low and masculine—right before a dull thud, which was immediately followed by the sound of branches snapping and something being dragged.
“Stay here, Kathryn.” Dulverton held her chin until she nodded. He released her and they both turned as Mr. Court emerged from the gloom, effortlessly dragging Jasper by one foot.
Katie had never thought Court an especially large man—certainly not when compared to her husband—but he was obviously wiry and strong.
“I caught him trying to reach his carriage,” he said, shoving his normally impeccable hair off his brow with the hand not gripping Jasper’s boot.
His bland features twisted into a scowl.
“His minion was nowhere in sight. Shall I go after him, Your Grace?”
“Thank you, Court. That won’t be necessary,” Dulverton said when the valet yanked Jasper the last few feet and then dropped his leg, leaving him belly up in front of the duke.
Jasper whimpered and began to push himself up. Dulverton put his huge, booted foot in the middle of the other man’s chest. “You struck my wife.”
Even ten feet away Katie shivered at the frost in her husband’s voice.
“I—I—she incited me,” Jasper said in a choked voice.
Dulverton struck like a serpent, grabbing Jasper by the front of his coat, and yanking him to his feet in a move that demonstrated his massive strength. Even though Jasper was not as husky as her husband, he was still a tall, well-proportioned man.
“It is unfair to beat on those who are weaker, but that did not stop you from hitting my wife, so—” Dulverton backhanded Jasper so hard it was a wonder his head did not fly off his neck.
Katie gasped and then winced at the pain in her cheek, lifting a hand to hold the swollen, pulsing flesh, as if that would somehow ease the pain.
Dulverton looked up at the sound, his murderous expression kindling when he noticed she was cupping her cheek.
Jasper was just lifting his head when the duke hit him again.
And again.
And again.
“Dulverton!” she cried.
Her husband stopped in mid-swing and turned to her, Jasper dangling from his other hand like a ragdoll.
Katie recoiled at the naked rage on his face.
Never had she seen so much anger—on his face or anyone else’s—and it sent an icy shiver down her spine, even though it was not aimed in her direction.
“What?” he growled when she did not speak.
“You—you might kill him.”
His blond brows drew down sharply. “You care for this piece of filth?”
“No! Of course I don’t. But I care for you—and I do not wish to flee England and live on the Continent. I—I like it here at Briarly.” She paused and added, “With you.”
He stared at her for what felt like years but could only have been a few seconds. And without speaking, he turned back to Jasper, whose body was limp, his head lolling. “You threatened to go to the newspapers to discredit and shame my wife?”
Katie’s jaw dropped. How did he know that?
When Jasper only moaned, the duke shook him like a terrier shaking a rat. “Answer me, you piece of dog refuse.”
“Yeth! Yeth! Pleath, thtop!” Jasper lisped, as though he was missing a tooth.
“Yes, what?”
“Yeth, I threatened her,” Jasper whined. “But I wathen’t going to do it,” he moaned. “I thwear.”
“You are a man without any honor. Why should I take your word?”
“I—I thwear on my daughter.”
Dulverton’s eyes narrowed.
“I thwear on my life,” Jasper amended.
Dulverton grunted. “I would be more inclined to believe that.” When Jasper’s eyes drifted shut, the duke shook him again.
“What?” Jasper whined piteously.
“You are vermin and deserve to be exterminated.”
Katie gasped and Dulverton cut her a quick look, his face twisting as some strong emotion wracked him.
“But I cannot kill you.”
Jasper started sobbing and babbling what sounded like thank yous.
Grim-faced, Dulverton turned to Court. “Did his horse run off?”
“Yes, but his carriage is only a few minutes away.”
Dulverton turned to Jasper and hit him again.
“Aaargh! What wath that for? I promithed you!”
“Shut up or I will change my mind about letting you go.”
Jasper cringed and Dulverton thrust him toward Court. “Get him out of my sight before I come to my senses and kill him.”
Jasper whimpered.
Court shoved his shoulder beneath Jasper’s armpit. “I’ll not carry you. You can walk, or I can drag you again, the choice is yours.”
“Walk—I can walk.”
He could, but just barely. Despite his words to the contrary, Court all but carried him into the darkness.
Dulverton turned to her. “Come. You will ride with me.”
“But—Robin?”
“Court will take him back.” Dulverton swung himself up on Centurion’s back, held out a hand and extended his foot.
Katie took his hand and set her foot on his and he effortlessly lifted her up. “Swing your leg over.” Once she’d complied, he held her with one arm and turned the horse.
“How did you know where to find me?” she asked, even though she could guess. But anything was better than silence.
“Your maid went to Court, who brought her to me.”
Thank God Becky was every bit as willful as Katie. What had she told him? Everything? Somehow Katie could not believe that. Becky would have left most of the story to Katie.
“I need to tell you some things—things you might not know,” Katie said when they entered Echo Forest, whose darkness felt soothing rather than scary now that she was safe with her husband.
“We will be home in less than—”
“I want to tell you now so I don’t have to look you in the eyes.”
A long pause, and then, “Very well.”
“There was no footman.”
“Yes, I gathered that,” he said dryly.
“I—I didn’t tell you about Jasper because I didn’t want you to challenge him to a duel.”
He gave a mirthless laugh. “Lord Jasper owes his life to your maid. She extracted a promise from me before she would tell me your whereabouts.” Although he sounded like a man thwarted of his due, Katie could not help thinking there was a certain—if grudging—respect in his voice when he mentioned Becky.
“He would not have gotten off so easily if I had not given my word.”
Katie thought about Jasper’s misshapen face and bloody mouth. If that was Dulverton’s notion of getting off easily, she did not want to see hard.
In any case, she owed her friend even more than she’d believed.
And she owed her husband the truth. “I came here tonight to tell Jasper that I would not give him money even though he was threatening to expose every detail of our long-ago affair—as well as creating a few of his own. He said he would sell the story to a newspaper.”
“He would never have done so.”
Katie twisted until she could see just one side of her husband’s face. “What do you mean?”
“Lady Grimsby would cut him off if he did such a thing—even if she did not realize he was the source of the rumor.”
“He said she would never cut him off because he would take his daughter back.”
“He signed away his rights to his daughter months ago.”
“What?”
“Yes. In exchange for money, of course.”
“I never heard anything about that.”
“It is not common knowledge; I know his solicitor.”
“And he told you?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that—er, illegal?”
“Under the circumstances, no.”
“What circumstances?”
“I will tell you later. Finish your story.”
Before she could lose her nerve, she blurted, “I became pregnant that summer five years ago.”
His big body jolted, telling Katie that was not something he had expected. “I see,” he said a moment later.
“We had been, um, meeting each other for several weeks when he was called away by Lady Grimsby. He promised he was going to tell her that he was marrying me.” She snorted. “I was so stupid that I—”
“You were but six-and-ten and Staines must be a good decade older.”
“There are twelve years between us.”
He made a noise of disgust. “You were not to blame, Kathryn. He was. You were a child.”
“Many women marry at that age.”
“We are talking about manipulation and deflowering, not a marriage.”
“I suppose so. But I was not entirely without blame.”
“What did he say when you told him about the child?” he asked, ignoring her claim.
“I did not get a chance to tell him because he brought a wife with him when he returned to his father’s house.”
Dulverton muttered something under his breath.
“I beg your pardon?” Katie said.
“Nothing,” he said. “Go on.”
“His father hosted a ball for him and his new bride. I did not want to go, but my aunt insisted. I thought he would just ignore me,” she confessed, loath to tell him just how petty Jasper had been.
“But he—he taunted me that night, taking pleasure in baiting me in front of our neighbors. It was—it was one of the worst nights of my life and my aunt would not allow me to leave.”
His arm tightened around her, but he did not speak.
“The ball was awful, but it was not much better when I was in bed that night. I was terrified of the future and was awake all night but still unable to think. I went for a ride at first light hoping to clear my head. I was upset and stupid and reckless and tried to jump—” Her voice broke, and she choked back a sob before she could finish. “I was thrown and lost the child.”
He held her so tightly she could scarcely breathe. “Oh, Kathryn, my poor darling.”
Katie had been hanging by a thread and his tender words and gentle tone—one she’d never heard from him before—snapped her control and she sobbed.
Once she started, she could not seem to stop, crying uncontrollably just as she’d done all those years ago when she’d woken up on the ground, the skirt of her habit soaked in blood.
Dulverton stopped Centurion and wrapped both arms around her, holding her silently in his strong arms while she poured her grief out into the night.
Katie cried until there was nothing left, until she felt empty, the old pain burnt away. She realized when she emerged from her weeping that Dulverton was not only holding her, but was pressing light kisses on her head, temple, and cheek, carefully avoiding the swollen part of her face.
“Th-thank you,” she said hoarsely. “I can continue now.”
He answered with a firm kiss on her crown and a gentle squeeze around her waist. “There is no need to hurry,” he murmured into her hair. “I can let you down and we can walk or sit, if you would rather?”
Katie eyes burned with fresh tears at his thoughtful, generous offer. “Thank you, but I am fine.”
One last kiss before he took up the reins and they moved on.
Katie cleared her throat, feeling a sudden urgency to tell the rest of the story and be done with the painful subject.
“My aunt found out the truth when I went to her terrified by all the bl-blood. She told my mother, of course. The countess was furious, disgusted, and ashamed. She forbade me to tell my sisters or—or anyone else. I obeyed her until a few weeks ago when I told Becky—er, Stone.”
Dulverton’s hand, which still rested on her belly, tightened and he pulled her even closer, a low rumbling emanating from his chest. “If I had known all of this back there, I would have killed Staines,” he seethed.
“That is why I could not tell you. Everyone says you are a capital shot and lethal with a blade. I—I did not want you to be punished for killing a peer’s son.”
“A capital shot?” he repeated in an amused voice. “I think you have been listening to gossip, my love.” He pressed more kisses against her hair, his breath hot on her scalp.
My love?
Katie did not dare to hope he meant it as anything more than a casual endearment. “So that is why I had to come alone tonight to—to end this. You see that, don’t you?”
“No.”
Katie bit her lip at his curt response, recalling Becky’s words from earlier. “Are—are you going to beat me?”
Dulverton snorted. “Something tells me that you would not respond well to a beating, Kathryn.” Before she could agree, he added, “And I am not the sort of man who beats women. However, if you ever keep an important matter from me again, I—”
“I won’t! I promise. And this—this was all of it.”
“All?” he asked, sounding skeptical.
“I give you my word. It was all.” But then Katie recalled one more thing.
“What?” he demanded.
“I did not say anything.”
“No. But your body tensed. What is it, Kathryn?”
“It is nothing bad,” she hastened to assure him.
“If it is not bad, then why won’t—”
“It is possible that I am with child.”
Dulverton reined in sharply. “What did you say?”
“I—I suspect I am with child.”
After a long, worrisome silence, she felt his thighs flex and Centurion resumed walking.
“You are angry with me for risking our child tonight.”
“I am angry—no, furious—with you for risking yourself tonight, Kathryn. I have been since the moment your maid told me of your reckless plan. And I am furious that you did not trust me enough to ask me for help. Have I really been so awful that you—”
“No! You have not been awful at all.” She gave a watery laugh.
“Not for a long time. I should have trusted you, Gerrit.” She felt his body tighten at the sound of his name and knew herself for the shameless manipulator she was.
“I am so sorry—for all of it. For lying to you to begin with, for withholding the truth for so long, for not asking for help. Can—can you forgive me?”
His voice, when he finally answered her, was quiet and filled with pain. “It will take time, Kathryn.”
Silent tears slid down Katie’s face as they rode the rest of the way home without exchanging another word.