Chapter Eight
“It came early this morning, darling, while you were out to the spice merchant.”
Standing in the entry hall of the enormous manse on Coleman Street that had belonged to generations of de Edingtons, Katiana found herself looking at a broken seal and an open envelope.
Having just returned from her morning adventure with Titus, she was at a loss that her nosey aunt had already read the contents.
“And you read it?” she said, perturbed. “It is addressed to me.”
Ethyl de Edington didn’t seem concerned. An old woman with a crown of gray hair, round and pretty, she had lived her life as a spinster in a fine home and was queen of her domain. That meant she read any missive that came into the house, whether or not it was addressed to her.
“I know,” she said evenly. “I’m sorry to say that my brother is not doing well. You are requested to return to Callerton Castle with all due haste.”
Puzzled, but still quite annoyed, Katiana read the contents. It was very simple, actually. Just a few words that were not in her father’s writing. She’d seen his hand before, and this wasn’t it.
Puzzlement won out.
“He’s dying?” she said. “But who wrote this?”
Ethyl went to her and plucked it right out of her hand. She peered at the careful writing. “A scribe,” she said as if it was some great mystery. “A priest? Someone who is learned. The writing is quite fine. That suggests education.”
Katiana looked at the woman, finding her behavior odd. “This speaks of your brother,” she said. “Are you not concerned?”
Ethyl shrugged, handing the missive back to her. “As concerned as he would be for me should I be dying,” she said as she turned for the hall. “Come with me, darling. Let us discuss your return to Callerton Castle.”
As concerned as he would be for her, meaning not at all.
Ethyl had no love for her nephew and had never made any secret of it.
She took her grandniece into the hall of the de Edington manse, a house with no name when most usually did simply to identify the structure and the family.
But not de Edington. The locals mostly called it Lady Ethyl’s house.
And it was.
“I wish the missive said more,” Katiana said as she followed Ethyl into the chamber. She stopped to look at it once again. “It says absolutely nothing. How long has he been ill? What is his illness?”
“Does it matter?” Ethyl said, tinkling a silver bell on the table to summon the servants. “He is dying, and that is all you need know. I will send you back to Callerton with a pair of stable servants. They will ride with you as your escort.”
Katiana was still looking at the missive, even as she took a seat at the table as several servants rushed forth with wine and trays of the sweets her aunt had a fondness of.
It was close to the nooning hour, after Titus had returned her very quickly before they could even make it to the spice merchant.
He’d given her an excuse that he had been summoned for something important, and she didn’t push him.
His business was no concern of hers. In truth, she was simply grateful he’d spent any time with her at all.
It had already been an eventful morning.
Titus had left her with a promise of calling on her again, very soon, as he apologized that their morning did not go as planned. He’d had Denys return her home, but Katiana well remembered her last vision of Titus as he departed the tavern and disappeared from view.
From view perhaps, but not from her mind.
In fact, she couldn’t stop thinking of him, even in the wake of the missive that she had received.
She was going to return to Northumberland, to Callerton Castle, and all she could think of was to tell Titus that she was leaving.
He never said when he’d return to call on her, and she didn’t want him to come to the manse only to discover she wasn’t there.
She would have to make sure one of the servants told him where she had gone, because she surely didn’t want Aunt Ethyl to do it.
If the old lady sank her claws in to him, thinking he was a good marriage prospect for her grandniece, he’d never get away.
And marriage wasn’t something that was possible between them.
Sadly enough.
“I suppose that is well enough,” she belatedly replied to her aunt’s offer of an escort. “As I recall, we go north through Nottingham and Leeds. Callerton is near Ripon.”
“I know where it is, dear girl,” the old woman said, delving into the platter of delectables in front of her. “The servants will know the way. They will make sure you arrive safely.”
Katiana set the missive on the tabletop, moodily slouching in her chair. “I must leave right away.”
Ethyl shoved a sweet into her mouth, made from chopped chestnuts soaked in wine, cinnamon, honey, and coated with a honeyed shell.
“Everything can be ready on the morrow,” she said, chewing.
“In fact, I’ll send my major-domo to make all of the arrangements.
Would you like to take my cart, dearest?
The one-horse cart that is gaily bedecked with blue and red paint?
I cannot drive it any longer, as it is too taxing on my hands and arms, but you can use it if you wish.
It might be more comfortable to travel in than on the back of a horse. ”
Katiana smiled weakly. “That is very gracious, Auntie,” she said. “It will carry my baggage easily.”
“It will,” Ethyl agreed. “Put it on the back. It has a little place for it. Ah, I used to drive that carriage around when I was a young woman. It was quite sporting, truly. I made quite a sight on the streets of London with my white horse pulling that lovely carriage. I must make sure the wheels are still steady. It has been sitting for some time.”
With that, she rang for her major-domo, a rather handsome younger man she simply liked to keep around.
He was not particularly bright, but he was eager.
When he appeared, Ethyl told him what was happening and what was needed, and the man went off to ensure that everything was prepared.
Feeling gloomy, as preparations for her trip home were in the works, Katiana reached out and plucked one of the sweets off the tray in front of her, the same wine-soaked chestnuts, and popped it in her mouth.
It really was quite delicious, but it wasn’t enough to take her mind off the change in her immediate future.
Her father was dying.
She was much like her aunt in that she was somewhat ambivalent to it, but she didn’t hate her father like Ethyl did.
Katiana didn’t have any profoundly happy memories of him, either.
He was simply her father, who had sent her away at a very young age and didn’t seem to want her around very much.
The only thing he’d really made an effort at was keeping her separated from her brother, and that had only been after the disastrous time in her life when they’d both been fostering at Roxburgh Castle.
Ansel had made it his mission in life to beat on his younger sister, for whatever reason, and even an apathetic father like Paulus had been aware of that.
That was why Katiana hadn’t seen her brother in almost fifteen years.
But if she had received a missive regarding her father’s health, then surely Ansel had received one, too.
That meant she would more than likely see him at some point.
Already, she was nervous.
The nooning meal came at some point after that, but Katiana didn’t feel much like eating.
She’d already eaten four of the wine-soaked treats, but it wasn’t that.
It was the simple fact that now Ansel was on her mind when he hadn’t been for years.
Excusing herself from the hall with the ploy that she needed to start packing, she left the chamber and hurried up to her room, an enormous bower that overlooked the street.
She loved to watch people, and did so, frequently, from the bench seat built into the window.
But today, there would be no people-watching.
She had bags to pack.
Pulling out a trunk and two smaller capcases, she began to pull forth items from her wardrobe.
She had a talent for organization, so in little time, she had neat piles of clothing—shifts, dresses, surcoats, stockings, and the like.
Though she was working as if she was focused on her task, the truth was that her mind was wandering.
Thinking.
Apprehensive.
Thoughts of Ansel wouldn’t leave her. Undoubtedly, the same person who sent her the message had also sent Ansel one.
There was no doubt in her mind. The last she heard, he was at Thornton Tower serving an old friend of her father’s.
Katiana knew the de Allery family, the family that inhabited Thornton Tower, because they had a daughter her age.
Zora de Allery had fostered at one of the de Wolfe properties and been at every party Katiana had attended when they were younger.
She had been at every de Wolfe feast, and every gathering—anything that involved the de Wolfe family.
Katiana and Zora had not exactly been friends, but they hadn’t been enemies, either.
Zora seemed to want friends who were from more powerful families, and Katiana simply didn’t fall into that category.
Katiana was certain that, these days, Zora was married.
Surely she had married into a fine family and was rich beyond measure.
Ansel was serving her father because that was what Paulus wanted, though she wondered if that situation had ruined the alliance between Thornton Tower and Callerton Castle.
Ansel had always been a wicked soul, and she couldn’t imagine he had outgrown that.
She remembered hearing the knights at Roxburgh speak of her brother being a bad seed, something she didn’t really understand because she was so young, but something she came to understand very well as she grew older.
The fact was that she didn’t disagree.
Ansel was evil.