Chapter 24
After weeks of rising punctually at dawn, Kate and Nathaniel didn’t start up the mountain the following morning until the unheard-of hour of eleven.
From her vantage point behind him on the path, Kate observed an unmistakable spring in Nathaniel’s step.
She, on the other hand, was moving like someone who had spent sixteen hours in the saddle.
Not that she was complaining. Even if her legs might not function properly for a week, it had unquestionably been worth it.
They took a slight detour to return to the spot where Nathaniel had dropped his notebook.
Last night, Kate had chastised Nat, as he had invited her to call him, when he mentioned that he had left his notebook—the notebook that contained all his research notes, the very one she had wedged herself into that crack to retrieve!
—on the side of the mountain. Although it had made her flush as it occurred to her that, when faced with the choice between rescuing her and rescuing his research notes, he had chosen her! Her father would never have done that…
She shook herself. Nat had probably done it out of a sense of obligation.
Nothing more. He was honorable to a fault, and as the organizer of this expedition, he would feel responsibility toward his assistant, regardless of who it was.
Had he found himself in the same situation with Iain, he would doubtlessly have done the same for him.
She would be wise to see this for what it was—a mark of his outstanding character—and avoid misconstruing it as a sign that he valued her more highly than his career as a naturalist. Kate knew very well that men did not feel that way about the women in their family, and that was especially true when it came to her.
Happily, when they arrived at the base of the cliffs, they discovered that the rainfall had been lighter than anticipated, and in the shelter of the crevice where Nat had stowed them, neither his notebook nor her sketchpad had suffered any damage.
They continued their climb and settled in to observe the eagles for a few hours. The day was particularly fine, and they were both in an excellent mood.
As the sun started to slant low, they packed up their things and began their descent. “Kate,” Nat mused. “That’s short for Katherine, I imagine.”
“It is, indeed.”
“Katherine Sterling.” He grinned at her over his shoulder. “It has a nice ring to it.”
A pleasant hum coursed through Kate’s body. “I think so, too.”
Nat stepped over a large rock, then held out his hand to help her. “Do you think it will take you long to grow used to being Mrs. Sterling? After a lifetime of being Miss Witherspoon?”
“Oh.” She abruptly stopped as she realized that she hadn’t told him.
Nat must have sensed something in her voice because his eyes creased in concern. “What is it?”
“I lied about my last name, too. It isn’t Witherspoon.” She swallowed. “I’m Katherine Weatherby.”
“Oh.” Realization washed over his face. “Oh. You’re Kenneth Weatherby’s daughter?”
“That’s correct.”
He laughed. “So that’s why you didn’t want to tell me what your father did for a living!”
She smiled. “Indeed.”
He shook his head. “It all makes sense now. I take it your father taught you to paint?”
Kate was careful to keep her expression completely blank. “No. No, he did not.”
Nat frowned. “But… Although I’ve never met your father, I’ve seen his work, and your style is uncannily similar.”
Kate couldn’t help it; she snorted. “Our style is nothing alike. My father can scarcely draw a matchstick man.”
He squinted at her in confusion. “But, as I said, I’ve seen his work, and—” His face suddenly fell slack, and his mouth hung open. “That… wasn’t your father’s work. Was it? It was yours.”
“It was mine,” she confirmed crisply. “It was always mine.”
He shook his head. “I must have misunderstood. I had thought that both the research and illustrations were his. Clearly, I did not read the exhibition notes closely enough.”
“You understood perfectly. At least, you understood the impression he meant to create. He deliberately made no mention of me, leaving everyone to assume that the ‘K’ in ‘K. Weatherby’ stood for Kenneth.”
Something dark flared across his face. “He took credit for your work?” At Kate’s nod, his scowl deepened. “But that’s despicable!”
She inclined her head. “It is.” A laugh burst from her throat. “And to think, it’s not even the worst thing he’s ever done to me.”
Nathaniel stared at her a beat, as if struggling to process her words. “He did something worse than stealing your work?”
Kate smiled at him, then tugged at his hand. “Come. We should get back to the shieling before it gets too dark. I’ll tell you about it on the way. You see, an opportunity arose to join an around-the-world expedition. I’m sure you’ve heard of it—the one being organized by Richard Smithers…”
She told him the whole sorry tale as they picked their way down the mountain. Nathaniel made all the comments people typically made, from “What do you mean, he sold your house?” to “But how could he abandon you?”
She was just concluding as they reached the shieling.
“And so, you see, that’s why I was so interested in the position you advertised, even after our financial concerns had been resolved.
Because I had discovered that I did not have a reputation in the scientific community.
I wanted to establish one, to see if I could succeed on my own merits.
” She bit her lip, peering at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry I deceived you.”
He waved this off, his expression distracted.
“It’s perfectly understandable. And, as I said last night, I wouldn’t have you change a thing, because otherwise we might not have met.
But Kate.” His eyes were urgent. “You just recited one of the most horrifying series of events I’ve ever heard as blandly as if you were recounting a stroll into the village to post a letter. Are you all right?”
“I am,” she assured him. “It was a near thing, to be sure. But, as I mentioned, my sister, Eleanor, married the Duke of Norwood. Jasper has been extremely generous to all of my sisters. We haven’t wanted for a thing since then.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about how it made you feel. Those first few weeks must have been terrifying!”
Kate stiffened. She’d never been comfortable talking about her feelings.
Maybe never wasn’t the right word, but growing up, she had spent a great deal of time in the company of her father, trying to win his esteem by making herself useful to him as an illustrator.
She had quickly learned that he had no interest in hearing her thoughts, much less her feelings.
The less she spoke, the better his mood and the more he seemed to appreciate her.
She had therefore trained herself to go all day without making any sound other than the scrape of her pencil.
But Nat was waiting for an answer. “It was… stressful,” she said slowly, choosing her words with care.
“Especially at first. But perhaps not to the degree you might assume. I know you’ll find it difficult to believe, as you’ve never met my eldest sister, Eleanor, but I don’t think it’s an overstatement to describe her as indomitable.
Even in my bleakest moments, I would tell myself, Eleanor will think of something.
And it really was a comfort to me, because it’s impossible to imagine Eleanor failing at anything. ”
Nathaniel was studying her more closely than she cared for. He didn’t look entirely convinced. “I’m relieved to hear that you have such a wonderful sister. But surely you found it distressing for your father to act in such a manner, regardless of the ultimate outcome.”
Kate shrugged. “My father has always been this way. His actions may be shocking by society’s standards. But my sisters and I did not find them particularly surprising.”
There was a white lie buried in this statement.
It was true that her father had always been callous, and that her three sisters had understood his true character for years.
But Kate had been caught off guard. She now understood that her desperate longing for him to love her and to value her as a father should had clouded her judgment.
She had looked at her father through blinders, seeing him only as she wanted him to be, rather than as he actually was; his betrayal, therefore, had been a deep blow.
She couldn’t bear to admit to Nathaniel that at first, she had assumed he intended to take her with him on the Smithers Expedition, that while he might abandon her three sisters, she had honestly believed that she had somehow been different.
She felt her cheeks heating, recalling the horrible moment she had learned that she was wrong, that in spite of everything she had done to help him with his scientific work, he didn’t care for her, after all.
It was still hard to even think about that moment, much less talk about it.
Nathaniel took her hand in both of his, stroking its back with his thumbs. “I know you’re incredibly stoic. You’ve proved it time and time again these past few weeks. But I’m honestly flummoxed to see you brush aside his actions so easily!”
Kate shrugged and strove to make her voice light. “I am a Weatherby Wallflower, after all. We’re a tenacious bunch.”
Nathaniel tilted his head. “A Weatherby what?”
“A Weatherby Wallflower,” she replied. At his blank stare, she continued, “It’s a nickname given to my sisters and me by the papers.”
Now he looked truly befuddled. “The papers? What papers?”
“Pray don’t ask me to list every paper that referred to us thus, because it will have grown dark by the time I conclude.
The short version is that my sister, Clarissa, was jilted, and then most every paper in Britain ran a nasty series about the hopelessly unmarriageable Weatherby sisters in their gossip columns. ”
Nathaniel drew back. “Did they really?”
“They did.” She peered up at him. “Have you truly not heard about it?”
“Not a word.” He shrugged. “I don’t read the gossip columns.”
Kate tried to keep her expression solemn, but the corner of her mouth was threatening to turn up. “It’s frightfully dull compared to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.”
Nat threw back his head and laughed. He caught her around the waist, pulling her to him. “I regret to inform you that you’re marrying a frightfully dull sort of fellow. Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” Her voice emerged slightly breathless. “I’m afraid you will find your bride equally dull, but also notorious in some circles.” She glanced up at him. “Will you mind?”
“Not in the slightest,” he said at once.
She bit her lip, studying his face. “I’ve been making light of my situation. But I’m serious, Nat. My reputation was extremely bad before my sister became a duchess. And even now—”
He cut her off with a quick kiss. “I don’t care.”
She gave a bleak laugh. “You might care more than you think. When we were in London, whispers would follow us wherever we went. People would point and laugh behind our backs. I know you want a quiet life, and—”
This time, he silenced her with a long, passionate kiss.
When he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.
“Now hear this, Katherine Weatherby—there is no amount of petty gossip that could make me change my mind. I don’t care in the slightest about the opinions of a bunch of petty fools.
You’re perfect for me. You are literally everything I’ve ever wanted.
You won’t change my mind, so quit trying.
” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Now, don’t we have more important matters to attend to than this conversation? ”
He was still holding her close, so she had an idea what pressing matter he had in mind. Speaking of pressing, it was currently pressing into the soft flesh of her stomach.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, her voice breathless.
By way of answer, he swooped her off her feet and held her high against his chest. “Why don’t I show you?”
He carried her into the shieling.
By the time they got around to preparing supper, it was pitch-black outside, and they ate their smoked fish and potatoes beneath a sky brilliant with stars.