Chapter 28
It felt strange to be back in a chemistry classroom and pretending to be a young man. Frankly, after sleeping rough on Lewis for weeks on end, it felt odd not having grass in her hair, but Kate was trying to adjust.
Colin, Arthur, and Roderick had been eager to hear how her trip had gone. They were huddled together, admiring Kate’s sketches while waiting for Professor Hope to arrive and begin his lecture.
Kate flipped a page. “This was the first chick to hatch.”
Arthur swiveled his head for a better view. “You actually saw it hatch?”
“We did,” Kate confirmed.
“How close were you, to be able to see this much detail?” Colin asked.
“Maybe seventy-five feet?” Kate guessed. “We used spyglasses to be able to…”
She trailed off as a shadow fell over her sketchpad. She looked up and saw Iain Galbreath regarding her with a smug smile.
Her stomach twisted. It had been easy to forget about Iain while she was two hundred miles away on a remote loch. But now, she would have to deal with him, and she didn’t care for the gleam in his eye.
He nodded toward her sketchpad. “Are those from your recent expedition?”
She tried to make her voice steady, to sound natural. “Indeed. We were able to observe a nesting pair of golden eagles.”
“Hmm.” He didn’t give the sketch even a cursory glance. His eyes were fixed on Kate. “And it was only you and Mr. Sterling, out there by yourselves?”
He was speaking in a carrying voice. Around her, curious heads began to turn their way. “That’s right,” Kate replied.
“Sleeping together,” Iain added. Kate’s heart sank at his lurid tone. He knew. She’d been all but certain of it before she left. She’d thought perhaps he would use that information to get her dismissed.
He obviously had something much more public in mind.
Still, she had to try to brazen it out. She forced a chuckle. “That’s a curious way of putting it.”
“Not at all curious.” Iain turned, his gaze sweeping the lecture room, where several hundred students now regarded him with rapt attention. “You see, gentlemen, Mr. Witherspoon is not what he seems.”
He turned toward Kate. It struck her that his eyes were more predatory than those of the eagles. “Or should I say, Miss Witherspoon is not what she seems.”
Kate was frozen. Her instinct was to deny it, to say something in her defense, but what was there to say? It was true!
Iain was still speaking. “Think about it, gentlemen. Has anyone in this room ever seen Miss Witherspoon without her coat? I haven’t.
She always keeps it on. She doesn’t roll up her sleeves when she’s working in the chemistry lab, nor does she ever take it off to join in a game of cricket. What could she be hiding under there?”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Colin said. Kate felt her heart squeeze, that her friend would stand up for her in front of so many onlookers.
Iain looked unconcerned. “How about using the necessary? Has anyone seen her use one of the communal easement rooms? Or does she skulk off to do her business someplace private?”
Roderick called, “Well, Galbreath, if I’d known ye were so interested in peeking at our cocks, I’d have found a more private place to piss, too.”
That got a laugh. But as the laughter died down, Kate could see whispers being exchanged across the room, followed by subtle shakes of the head. Come to think of it, I’ve never bumped into Witherspoon in the privy, they would all be saying.
“None of this proves anything, Galbreath,” Arthur said. “So our Kit is a bit shy. That’s hardly a crime.”
Iain’s smile was smug. “Then explain why there’s padding sewn into her coat.”
“Lots of men pad their coats.” Roderick flexed an arm. “Not everyone is born with my braw physique.”
“To be sure. They pad their clothing at the shoulder, or even the calf.” Iain smirked. “But why would a gentleman add padding around his waist?”
“Around his…” Kate watched Roderick’s face fall. He tried to rally but couldn’t banish his pinched expression. “Don’t be daft.”
“I felt it,” Iain insisted. “I lost my balance when we were playing skittles, and we went down in a heap. She’s padding her waist, and she’s binding her breasts. You can feel the band of linen through her clothes. Go ahead. See for yourselves.”
A sense of hesitation was palpable in the room, as the notion of laying a hand somewhere as innocent as the back suddenly felt scandalously improper.
“Mr. Galbreath,” came a new voice from the front of the lecture hall.
Kate turned and saw it was Professor Pope. Perfect. She wouldn’t even have a few minutes’ grace before the university faculty became aware of the scandal.
“These are extraordinary allegations.” Professor Pope’s gaze sharpened on Iain.
“I hope you are not making them speciously.” He turned to Kate, his expression sympathetic.
“As for you, Mr. Witherspoon, the accusations levied against you by Mr. Galbreath would be very easy to disprove. I am a physician, in addition to being a chemist, and I would be glad to perform a cursory examination should you wish to lay Mr. Galbreath’s lurid claims to rest once and for all. ”
Kindhearted Professor Pope—he thought he was doing her a favor. He thought “Kit” would pass the exam.
But Kate knew better.
Shoulders drooping, she gave a slight shake of her head.
Conversation burst out across the room, as her fellow students interpreted her refusal as a confession. Which it was. Professor Pope looked stunned speechless.
Kate turned to her three friends—former friends, perhaps—ready to see the disappointment, the derision in their eyes.
Instead, she saw fierce defensiveness. In fact, if she didn’t know better, Kate thought… that they didn’t look all that surprised.
Roderick surged to his feet. In three strides, he was nose-to-nose with Iain Galbreath.
“Proud of yerself, are ye?” He shoved Iain in the chest, sending him staggering backward.
“Do ye have any idea who she is? That’s Katherine Weatherby!
Her sister is a duchess! Ye’ve gone and kicked the hornets’ nest.” He laughed blackly.
“Just wait until the Duke of Norwood gets through with ye. Yer reputation will be rubbish!”
“Not that he has much of a reputation to begin with.” Arthur’s voice dripped with disdain. “The world already knows what a shit artist he is.”
Iain blinked. “Katherine Weatherby?” He turned to Kate. “Is that true? I—I didn’t realize.” His head swiveled to face Roderick. “How did you—”
Colin stood. “Come, Kate.” He turned to her. “You don’t mind if I call you Kate, do you?” She gave a tiny shake of her head, and he offered her his arm. “There’s no need to subject you to this riffraff.”
In a daze, Kate accepted his arm and allowed her friends to shepherd her from the room.
They stepped outside into the quadrangle and huddled in a corner.
Kate was still struggling to wrap her mind around what had just happened. “You… You knew. How?”
Colin nodded toward Arthur. “Arthur spotted that you were a woman on the first day.”
Arthur inclined his head. “You can’t slip a beautiful woman past a Welshman. We’ve a keen eye for these things.”
“And yet, you didn’t say anything,” Kate said, her voice hoarse.
Roderick shrugged. “At first, we thought he was daft.”
“But after a few weeks,” Colin added, “we realized he was right. For the reasons Iain noted, and other little signs.”
Kate was trying very hard not to burst into tears. “Why didn’t you turn me in?”
Colin’s eyes were sincere. “Because, by that point, we were friends.”
Roderick waved a hand. “Besides, university life can be deadly dull. Watching ye pull yer little ruse was the most entertainment I’ve had in a while.”
Arthur waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Especially watching you circling around Mr. Sterling.”
“I see.” Kate swiped a thumb beneath her eyes, having been unsuccessful at holding in her tears. “How did you figure out my true identity?”
“Believe it or not, that was Roderick,” Colin said.
Roderick narrowed his eyes. “I’d like to know what ye meant by that!”
Colin held his hands up. “No offense intended.”
“Hmpf.” Roderick turned to Kate. “Ye’ll recall I said that my uncle had one of yer father’s paintings.
” He nodded toward the sketchbook Kate held clutched to her bosom.
“I thought yer work looked awfully familiar. Ye were the one who made those paintings. The ones attributed to yer father. Didn’t ye? ”
Kate nodded. “I did.”
“The thing that confirmed it,” Arthur said, “was the painting belonging to Roderick’s uncle. He had him bring it with him when he came into town three weeks ago.”
“The signature,” Colin explained. “It was your handwriting. That’s how we knew it was your work, not that you painted in a similar style to your father, having trained under him.”
Arthur nudged her with his elbow. “Besides, Kit Witherspoon? Really?”
They all chuckled at that, even Kate. “I suppose as aliases go, it leaves something to be desired. I thought I could remember to answer to Kit.”
Roderick rocked back on his heels. “Well, it’s a good thing ye can paint, because ye won’t be getting a job spying for the Foreign Office.”
“I don’t suppose I will.” Her face fell as she considered her prospects. “Although I might have to move to the Continent regardless. I’ve been ruined, and in the most public way imaginable.”
“It won’t come to that,” Arthur said, passing her his handkerchief. “Mr. Sterling will marry you.”
Kate accepted Arthur’s handkerchief and dabbed at her cheeks.
She wasn’t sure how much she should reveal about her relationship with Nathaniel.
He was trying to avoid a scandal so he would be considered for the Natural History Chair.
Of course, given the fact that her deception was now public knowledge, and they had spent the last six weeks alone together in the field, it seemed that scandal had already come knocking at his door.
She finally settled for saying, “I would like that, as I believe you have discerned.” She could feel her cheeks burn as she made the admission.
“Dinnae fash,” Roderick said. “He’ll marry ye, all right. He looks at ye like the sun rises and sets out of yer arse.”
Colin winced. “Perhaps now that we’re openly acknowledging that ‘Kit’ is really Kate, we should use more befitting language.”
Roderick’s expression was blank. “That’s what I did.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “Think, Buchanan. You wouldn’t say the word arse in front of your grandmother.”
Roderick looked perplexed. “I would. I’m fairly certain my grandmother taught me that word.”
Colin stepped forward. “Lovely. Why don’t we take Kate over to Mr. Sterling’s office so she can apprise him of recent developments?”
Kate nodded, and they set off. As they crossed the quadrangle, dread churned in her stomach.
Nat had specifically asked her to maintain her disguise so as not to sabotage his bid to secure the Natural History Chair.
Oh, God. She had ruined his chances, hadn’t she?
The scandal of the two of them having been alone in the wilderness for weeks on end would be the talk of the university.
Although she knew Nathaniel cared for her, she did not delude herself that she held a higher place in his esteem than his research.
She was all too familiar with naturalists, having been raised by one.
Nothing was more important than their work.
Nothing, and in an instant, she had gone from being the person who aided him in the thing that was most important to him to the person who had sabotaged his chances of achieving his dream.
Nat didn’t have it in him to get angry or yell.
But it seemed inevitable that his feelings for her would change.
What if a twinge of regret came into his eyes every time he looked at her?
What if he married her out of a sense of obligation, but the warmth that had flourished between them disappeared forever?
What if he couldn’t even bear the sight of her, the person who had cost him his dream?
They had reached the building that housed his office. Kate swallowed as she mounted the steps. At least she wouldn’t be left in suspense. The agony of awaiting his reaction would soon be over. The only question was whether it would be replaced by the agony of losing him.