Chapter 22
M organ could have fallen to the floor when he saw Lady Annabelle enter his home.
He had been aware that Catherine was out of sorts, and he tried to wait until she felt better, but it was unlike her other outbursts.
As a child, she was prone to moments when she was difficult, but she never hid herself away from him entirely.
Each time he approached, he heard her hide in her room.
Something was very wrong, but there was nothing that he could do when she refused to see him.
Sitting in her room with her, he was quite aware that she wanted him to leave, but she was not angry with him. She was afraid, if anything, which he supposed that he understood.
"Forgive me," she whispered.
"Catherine, I am not angry. I only want to know why you did this. I want to know how you did it."
"I found the letter in your study. I wanted to know what had happened, and I wanted to find my family. I saw Lady Annabelle's name, and then I continued looking. I found an address scribbled in a drawer with her name, and I wrote a letter."
He frowned, but fixed it. She was not allowed in his study, and she knew that perfectly well, but it was not the time to punish her.
"You are too clever for your own good, sometimes," he sighed. "Catherine, I am not angry with you. I wish you had told me that you planned to do this, or even that you had done it. That is all."
"I wanted to tell you. That is why I have been hiding. I have been ashamed of myself, and I could not look at you."
"You must not be ashamed of yourself. You did what you thought was best, I only wish I knew why."
"It was because I have so little family," she said quickly, taking him by surprise. "I only have you, Aunt Dorothy, and the staff here. I am happy here, truly I am, but knowing that there is an entire side of my family that I could meet… It got the best of me."
Morgan took her in his arms and soothed her gently. He was angry that a lady who hurt him so terribly had appeared, but he did not hold that against his niece. She had never been a selfish little girl, so he had to allow her one moment of it.
"She will be coming to speak to you," he explained. "Your governess shall be with you, and you must not be alone with her."
"Why not?"
"Because," he grimaced, "because we do not know her. I know that she is your aunt, but that is all that we know."
"I thought that you knew her very well."
"I thought the same, but it was not the case."
"Do you hate her, Uncle?"
It was an odd question to answer. Morgan did not like her, but hatred was perhaps too strong a word.
"I do not hate anyone," he promised her. "She is not my favorite person, but you are right. She is your aunt, and we must accept that."
She still seemed uncertain, but Morgan was as content as he could be. He had his answers, and that was all that he could hope for in that moment. He had to keep to his promise, and that meant leaving Lady Annabelle with her.
He returned to the hallway, and saw that they were not there. He looked to his butler, who seemed quite uncertain.
"They are in the drawing room, Your Grace," he explained.
"Has she done anything?"
"No, quite the opposite. She has been very cordial with your wife, from what I heard."
"That is good, at least."
He went to the drawing room, and as he entered both ladies looked up at him.
"Hello again, Your Grace," Lady Annabelle greeted. "Is it time for me to meet my niece properly?"
"Indeed, but should you say one thing that I deem unfair you shall be sent away again."
"I have no intentions of that, and so all is well."
She left for the west wing, the place she had been on previous visits, and Morgan took a seat beside Dorothy. She placed her tea onto the table, and Morgan leaned forward to touch her teacup.
"It is cold," he muttered. "Did you not touch it?"
"I did not much feel like it. I do not mean to be difficult, as her visit has nothing to do with me, but it feels strange to have her here with us."
"It will not be for long. I do not want her here any more than you do, but Catherine deserves to see her aunt."
"Precisely, which is why I will smile and be pleased about it. I will say, though, that she is not the loveliest lady."
"Then it is just as well that you are my wife and she is not," he chuckled, taking her hand as he had after her fall.
She winced as he moved her arm, and he placed his fingers on the buttons of her cuff. He looked to her for permission to unbutton it, and she nodded gently. He unbuttoned it and pulled back her sleeve, grimacing at the mottled colors that struck across it.
"That looks dreadful. Does it hurt?"
"Yes, but it is better than it was. Francine believes it will be gone within the week."
"Yes, but even so, I feel terrible. I should have protected you."
She laughed softly, and Morgan knew why that was; he had no control over the horse bucking, and it was not possible for him to catch her or any such thing, but he still felt immense guilt. He had asked her to ride with him, even though she was not skilled.
"Believe me, I felt very safe. You came to me in an instant, and you helped me to my feet. It was frightening, but I am well. I survived."
"If you are certain. I do want you to feel safe here, Dorothy. I know that this is not ideal, but my priority is the happiness of yourself and Catherine."
"My priority is also yourself and Catherine. That is why I am perfectly happy to have our visitor here. My only concern pertains to you. Are you happy for her to be here?"
"It is necessary, but it will be done with soon enough. She will only be here for the afternoon, and then–"
"Uncle Morgan!" Catherine exclaimed as she burst into the room. "Aunt Annabelle has said we can have a picnic in the gardens. Can we?"
Lady Annabelle had entered behind her, smiling sweetly. Morgan hesitated, his eye falling to Dorothy's bruised arm, which she quickly covered with her sleeve again.
"I do not think that is such a good idea."
"Please?" she asked. "We have not had a picnic in so long, and I would so love one."
"It will not be too long," Lady Annabelle assured him. "She was telling me about the cakes your Cook makes, and I was hoping I might be able to try some."
He turned to Dorothy, who was not comfortable with it, but it was as she had said. Their priority was the little girl, and if this made her happy then it was what would be done.
"Very well, but then you are to return home."
"Can she visit again?" Catherine asked.
"Eventually, yes, when it is arranged properly rather than by a rushed letter."
Her smile faded, but only slightly. She took Lady Annabelle's hand, and they disappeared.
"She seems to care for Catherine," Dorothy said helpfully. "At least there is that."
"Yes, but that does not mean I am pleased that she is here."
"Are you truly going to have her back again?"
"I would rather that than go there. Perhaps we could invite your friends at the same time, so that she is not led to believe she may come and go as she pleases?"
Her eyes sparkled.
"I should like that very much. I have not seen them in a while now. You are also yet to meet them."
"Indeed, and from what I am told you have a friend that is rather frightening. That may well be of use to us."
"Cecilia is harmless," she giggled. "She simply does not like it when gentlemen swarm her. She has no intentions of marrying, you see, but as a beautiful lady she receives many offers."
"She sounds very interesting, indeed. Very well, then, it is settled. We shall arrange for another visit with Lady Annabelle, and you may invite your friends too."
It was enough to calm her, and it made Morgan feel better too. He did not like it when he did not have control, as it never ended well, but at least that way he could feel as though it had been his own idea.
He left for his study later that afternoon, and he watched as the sky turned dark. It had to mean that Lady Annabelle had left, of that he was certain, and so he decided that he could leave the room and go to dinner.
As she rose to his feet, however, the door swung open.
Lady Annabelle had clearly been crying, and though his instinct was to instruct her to leave that instant, he pitied her.
"Lady Annabelle, I–"
"Please, I only ask that you listen to me for a moment, and if you still wish to be rid of me then I shall go."
With a sigh, he motioned for her to speak.
"Today has been wonderful. I had not known about Catherine.
Elizabeth disappeared after our engagement was cancelled.
We could not find her, but you know how my family was.
My father refused to accept any help in finding her, and so they crafted a story that she had gone to live in the country with a cousin to practice as a governess for a while.
It satisfied the ton, and nobody questioned her whereabouts. "
"Is that to say that she had vanished completely?"
"Indeed. I only knew of her passing because those that found her informed my father.
He paid them handsomely to never breathe a word of it.
I never thought that my sister would do something like that, so drastic.
She never told us that she was with child, especially with your brother's.
My father would have pushed for the marriage had he known. "
"And your sister would have been ruined. It is a shame that she fell in love with him, but there was no changing his mind. He met the business end of a shotgun to avoid it."
"All the same," she sobbed, "I wish I had known the truth. We all deserved that much."
Though he disliked her, Morgan had to feel sympathy for her. He knew the torment that had followed when his brother died, but at least he knew almost everything that had happened. Lady Annabelle had had nothing, and had it not been for Catherine then she may never have.
"What do you want from me?" Morgan asked. "You are here to see Catherine, but she has gone to bed. You should have left by now."
"I know, but I could not bring myself to. You do not know what it is like to live in my household, Morgan."
"Do not call me that," he instructed. "You do not have the right to such informalities."
"My apologies. I had grown used to it."
"Yes, many years ago. I no longer have any interest in following that path again. I have a wife now, and she is the only one that may call me by my given name."
"Yes, your wife… regardless, I have truly come to ask a favor of you."
"I suspected as much. What do you want?"
"I was hoping you might allow me to stay here for a while?"
"No."
"Morga– Your Grace, you do not understand.
It has truly been so awful in my household.
I never found a husband, and my father hates me.
He says that I am an even greater disappointment than Elizabeth was, for at least she had done away with herself.
I cannot be there anymore. I do not know what else to do. "
"You should find a husband. You cannot stay here. Go find that viscount that you so liked the company of."
She looked at him sheepishly.
"He never truly liked me," she admitted.
"I never saw him again after that night, and I have always regretted what I did to you.
I should have apologized, but I was too ashamed of myself.
I was a girl, Your Grace, and now I am a woman.
I do not ask for your forgiveness, only some mercy.
Please do not send me back to my father. "
In spite of everything, Morgan pitied her. He knew what had been expected of her, and for her to have been such a failure would have been too much for her father to allow. He dreaded to think of what had happened to her since they had parted ways, even if he did not like her at all.
"Very well," he sighed. "You may stay for the week, but you are not to be alone with Catherine."
"Why not? She is as much my niece as she is yours."
"She has lived here since she was a small child. You will not walk into her home and make her believe that you are someone you are not, the same way you did to me."
That seemed to silence her.
"A week then," she smiled. "I am so grateful, Your Grace."
She turned and left, and Morgan found a maid to prepare a room for her. Suddenly, he was quite aware that Dorothy would not be happy with what he had done. He had not asked her how she felt about it, and had simply invited a lady she was not fond of to stay with them.
Fortunately, at dinner, Lady Annabelle held her tongue. He explained everything to Dorothy and Catherine, to which Catherine could not stop smiling, and Dorothy nodded quietly. He would make it up to her, but he was unsure quite how to do that.
Then, he remembered something.