Chapter Fifteen
The marriage contract was delivered to Cat two days later, one day earlier than expected. She all but snatched it out of Hocking the butler’s hands and rushed up to her bedchamber with the package crushed to her chest. Once there, she closed the door, flopped down onto her bed, and opened it.
Her heart sank a little when she saw how many sheets of paper were involved, each one covered in long-winded and confusing jargon. Cat knew she was no fool, but this was far beyond her experience, and she would be a fool to sign it without someone versed in these matters checking it over.
As much as she dreaded it, the time had come to tell Uncle James the truth.
Fortunately—or unfortunately, if she looked at it that way—he was in today, working in his office.
She really had no excuse to delay any longer.
Cat tidied her hair and smoothed down her skirts, knowing she was procrastinating, and when there was nothing more she could do, she set off down the stairs with the marriage contract in her hand.
He can’t toss me out of the house and tell me never to darken his door again, she told herself. He wouldn’t do that anyway. He is a good man, a clever man.
But he might become very cross, and Cat dreaded a confrontation, mostly because she knew she was in the wrong.
The door to his office was open, and she could see him inside, bent over some work on his desk. He looked up as she cleared her throat, and his face relaxed into a welcoming smile. That made her feel even more guilty.
“Cat!” he said in surprise. Then, as if reading something in her expression, he frowned. “What is it?”
Just for a second, she thought about saying it was nothing and that she didn’t want to disturb him, and turning and walking away again. But Cat couldn’t do that. So she stepped bravely forward.
“I have something to show you, Uncle James,” she said. “And,” when he opened his mouth, “please don’t ask me what it is or say anything. Not until you read it.” He seemed about to protest, so she added in a heartfelt voice, “Please, Uncle James!”
He stared at her in consternation, and then he held out his hand.
Cat put the parcel of papers in it and then sat down rather heavily on a nearby chair.
There, it was done. She felt an immense wave of relief, as if she had handed over more than just the marriage contract.
She had shared her burden, and now it was up to her uncle.
James stared at her for a moment longer, before finally bending his head to examine what she had given him.
The clock on the mantel ticked slowly, and Cat tried not to watch his every expression.
It was just too nerve-racking. Instead she stared out of the window and pretended she was out there, enjoying the sunny weather, and that none of this was happening.
But it was happening. So she imagined Sinclair and Mrs. Dove-Lyon laboring over the details in this document before calling in the legal experts.
Sinclair had said he wanted to help her, and it seemed—from her brief perusal of the papers—that was true.
But would his grandfather be pleased enough to agree?
Would he think gaining a duke’s daughter was worth the loss of Bonnyrigg?
When Uncle James finally spoke, he startled her so much that she jumped and then pressed a hand to her breast to try to still her pounding heart. She stared back at him, but his face was hard to read.
“Cat,” he said and shook his head, “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or tell you off,” he said quietly. “Is this what you have been up to while you’ve been here in London? I had no idea.”
She sighed. “It seemed the only way, or at least something it was in my power to do. I wasn’t sure if I would go through with it, but then the court rejected our case.”
“You felt it was the only way out of this mess,” he finished for her. “You know that Maxwell is going to be incandescent with rage when he hears about this?”
Her mouth twitched unwillingly as she imagined her father shouting and stamping about. “Yes. But I had to take the risk. And as much as he loves me, you know he canna stop me. I am of age.”
James stared again at the papers before him, slowly turning one over and reading it again. “This is very generous. Extremely generous. If I were acting for the other party, I would advise him he was being too generous. Thankfully, I am not.”
“Oh,” Cat murmured. Perhaps her initial feelings when it came to Sinclair had not been misguided after all.
He was a kind man, a generous man, a man who believed she had been wronged and wanted to right that.
No, he shouldn’t have lied to her, but over the past two days she had almost come to accept his explanation.
Slowly her grudge against him was being chipped away.
Not that she was about to tell him that!
“You don’t have to do this,” Uncle James spoke again, eyes on her face. “You don’t have to do anything, Cat.”
She leaned forward, hands clutching the edge of his desk. “But I do, Uncle James. If this helps everyone, then I need to do it.”
He smiled and shook his head. “You are an extraordinary girl, Cat. There are not many young women in your position who would set aside their own happiness, their own future, for the good of others.”
Was she? She didn’t feel extraordinary. Yes, she would be relieved if her plan worked. There was also a niggling sense of guilt that it may not be quite as big a sacrifice as her uncle believed, although she wasn’t going to admit it.
“What do you think of the settlement apart from it being generous?” she asked him, needing to change the subject. “Uncle James, will we be able to save Bonnyrigg?”
“Yes, I think it will work. If you marry this man you will receive Bonnyrigg and the estate, and the debt will be null and void. And all without handing anything over to him. Apart from yourself.”
She nodded. “All right. Then I should go ahead and marry him.” She spoke to herself rather than her uncle.
“Wait, Cat, I haven’t finished. Unfortunately it all depends on Lord Armytage being agreeable to the settlement. Just because his grandson signs it, does not mean it can be enforced.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lord Armytage could disinherit his grandson. What then? You will have married a penniless man for nothing.”
Cat’s spirits sank.
Watching her face, Uncle James raised an eyebrow. “Do you think he will disinherit his grandson?”
“I don’t know. Mr. . . . that is, the Master says he does not have much influence over what his grandfather does. He has never stood up to him before. But,” when her uncle went to speak again, “he promised me he will do so now.”
James waved a hand. “That’s all very well, but I need to speak to the Master myself before you sign this. Can you send for him?”
“Yes, I can. I will do it now.”
“And he will come?” her uncle asked, seemingly surprised. Did he think Sinclair would be hiding in a cupboard and have to be dragged to the altar? Cat knew that was not the case. He wanted to marry her, he had proven it to her, and suddenly she felt some of her fears dissipate.
“He will come,” she agreed and smiled.
An hour later, Sinclair Robertson, the Master of Armytage, was standing in the drawing room before the Earl of Strathmore and the Countess, his wife. He felt as if he were being judged for everything from his manners to his disorderly curls.
He glanced sideways at Cat. She didn’t seem relaxed either. She sat nervously on a sofa, looking as if she might spring to her feet and run from the room at any moment.
Once the introductions were made, Sinclair sat down beside her. And waited.
The older couple were still observing him as if he were a specimen in a cage, and not a very nice one either. He understood their feelings, but as he did whenever he was anxious, he began to babble.
“You have read the contract? I believe it is all in order. I am happy . . . That is, I am delighted to marry Lady Catriona so that I can help her . . . that is, help her family to regain what is rightfully theirs.”
“Are you indeed?” the countess said drolly. “Forgive me, but the last time I met you, sir, you were calling yourself Mr. Sutherland. If I find it difficult to believe you now.”
“I apologize for that,” he spoke quickly, feeling the heat come into his face.
He felt like a five-year-old being scolded for a misdemeanor—she had that effect on him.
“I am deeply sorry, my lady. I never meant for the deception to go on for so long when I neglected to inform Cat of . . . that is, Lady Catriona, of my real name.”
“And that was because?” The countess was waiting, but was that a glint of humor in her gray eyes? Sinclair sincerely hoped so, but he wasn’t depending on it.
“Because I fell instantly in love with her,” he said quietly and sincerely.
There was silence in the room as they stared at him.
He did not dare to look at Cat, although he felt her watching him too.
Was this the grand gesture Christopher had spoken of?
Admitting the truth before these people who held his happiness in their hands.
Making himself vulnerable when it felt so very difficult to do so.
If they rejected him now, then it would serve him right.
“So you lied?” the earl prompted him.
“Because she had told me why she was seeking the Master, and I knew if I told her who I was, then she would hate me. I would lose my one chance for her to get to know me and to perhaps like me for myself rather than hate me for my name.”
His hands were sweating. He wiped them surreptitiously on his jacket.
They were still observing him but he thought the countess had softened a little, and her husband was almost smiling.
As for Cat . . . He shot her another sideways glance.
She was looking down at her hands, which were folded in her lap, and her auburn hair shielded her expression.
So be it, he thought pessimistically. She will reject me now, and I will leave and never return. It is over.
“The marriage settlement is very generous,” the earl said.
Sinclair looked up in surprise. Did that mean this wasn’t over after all?
“It is only what Cat . . . what her family deserves,” he answered. “This has been sprung on them without warning, and the loan wasn’t theirs to begin with. My grandfather took advantage of the situation.”
“Very true,” the earl drawled. “Your feelings on the matter are appreciated, sir. However, Lord Armytage may not agree with you.”
Sinclair rubbed his hands over his face. He knew his curls were sticking up all over the place despite his efforts to flatten them down with pomade. “You’re right,” he said. “He may not be happy, but it is up to me to persuade him.”
“Is he on his way south?” the countess enquired. “We may be able to join our voices with yours.”
That was unexpected and at the same time reassuring. “I have written to him, and so has Mrs. Dove-Lyon, but as yet we have had no reply. His silence does seem strange. My grandfather has always been quick to tell me what I am doing wrong.”
“Then I think we will need to go to Lord Armytage rather than waiting for him to come to us,” the earl announced. “Because my niece cannot marry you unless we clarify his part in the settlement.”
“I understand.” And he did. It all hinged on how much his grandfather wanted Sinclair to marry Cat. What he was willing to give up to achieve it.
“Even then,” the countess interjected with a stern note in her voice, “she will not marry you unless it is her wish to do so.”
Cat stirred. “Aunt Jennie,” she protested, “it is my wish.”
Now it was Cat’s turn to be stared at. Sinclair felt his worried frown soften into a joyous smile. “Is it your wish?” he asked her softly. “Really?”
She turned to look at him as if he were a scatterbrain. “I want to save my home and my family, so of course it is my wish!”
Well, that put him in his place!
“We should set out as soon as possible,” the earl interrupted. “We will travel to Bonnyrigg first, and then Cat can stay there, and you and I will travel on to your grandfather’s home.”
“No!” Cat jumped in. “I will come with you. I might be able to help. In any case, I want to see this man. I want to—”
“I think it would be better if you didn’t assault him,” the countess said dryly.
Sinclair laughed. He hadn’t meant to, but the thought of Cat throwing punches at his grandfather’s dour face was suddenly far funnier than it should have been.
Cat looked at him surprise, and then her lips were twitching too. Her blue eyes sparkled, and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her hand in his and bring it to his lips.
“Did you really fall instantly in love with me?” she said, looking as if she couldn’t bring herself to believe it, and yet she wanted to.
“Yes, I did. My mother used to tell me it was the same for her when she first laid eyes on my father. She just knew. When my grandfather disapproved of her choice, they ran off together to London.”
“Very romantic,” the countess murmured, and cleared her throat, “but hardly practical.”
Her husband took her hand in his. “I don’t think we were particularly practical either,” he reminded her. “Before your sister Luna married Maxwell, I received a tear-stained letter begging me to run off with you. Do you remember?”
She smiled. “I remember. I wrote it because you were going to marry that horrible woman for her money.”
“I wasn’t,” he retorted. “She spread that rumor. And my father. I would have run off with you in a heartbeat, Jennie, rather than do that.”
They gazed into each other’s eyes in a most affecting manner. Sinclair heard Cat sigh. Then the earl cleared his throat, and his wife straightened her sleeves, and it was back to business.
“I think that is all we need to discuss,” the earl said. “Perhaps,” and he looked at his wife for her approval, “we can leave the two of them together for a moment. Jennie?”
She considered it. “Just for a moment then,” she said, reluctantly, and rose to her feet.
The two of them hesitated, as if having second thoughts, and then they left the room. The door remained open, but at least Sinclair and Cat were alone.