Chapter 11
“Why haven’t they arrived yet?”
Henry peeked over the newspaper to look at Joseph with his brows raised high. “Quite impatient, are ye?”
Joseph ignored him, draining the rest of his glass of whiskey.
He didn’t usually make it a habit of drinking so early in the day but he’d spent all night burying himself in work to distract himself from Catriona’s odd behavior yesterday, so he was feeling tired and cranky.
And now that they were late, he was feeling pissed as well.
“She’s meant to arrive last, not never,” he grumbled from his spot next to the hearth. It gave him a good view of the driveway, never ending torture.
“I think that is meant tae be the groom,” Henry commented. He raised the newspaper back to eye level. “Or perhaps that is the family of the groom? Whichever one it is, we have naethin’ tae worry about. Though I supposed I’m nae family, but I’m sure ye understand what I mean.”
“I understand that you’re aiming to drive me mad.”
Henry chuckled. He folded the newspaper and set it aside, finally giving Joseph his full attention. “I’m curious tae meet the lass that has gotten ye so out of sorts. I daenae think I’ve ever seen ye like this. Not even during yer first weddin’.”
“We don’t need to talk about that,” Joseph clipped.
“And we certainly don’t need to mention it when Catriona and her family are here.
” He surged to his feet and marched over to the sideboard to pour himself another glass.
It would be his last, he promised himself, since the last thing he wanted was to be in his cups during his wedding as quick as it might be.
“She’s the jealous sort, is she?”
“Hardly,” Joseph snorted. The thought stuck with him. A jealous Catriona was not something he’d ever imagined. Was she the type? Did it matter?
He knew the answer to that, but his curiosity was enough for him to forget about the reason he was going through with this wedding in the first place. The reason came bounding into the room a second later.
“Daddy!” Dorothea flew herself across the room and into his arms within seconds. “When will Miss Wallace get here? Isn’t she late?”
“Like father, like daughter,” Henry chuckled.
Joseph tugged on one of Dorothea’s pigtails which were bound with ribbons. “She will be here any moment—” A sound caught his attention, and when he looked to the window, he saw the Heaton carriage pulling into the driveway. “Actually, it appears she’s arrived.”
Dorothea gave him a stern look, crossing her arms. “I should let her know that it is not nice to be late.”
“You know better than to do that,” Joseph responded instantly. “And you will return to your chambers and wait until we are finished.”
“But… can’t I stay and watch?”
“No, little lass,” Henry drawled. “That’s why he’s got me here. I daenae think that society will recognize ye as a witness, little lass.”
Dorothea clearly wasn’t pleased about that. But because he knew that Catriona and her family were on their way in, he didn’t want to risk Dorothea staying for much longer and saying something that she should not, so he began ushering her to the door.
“Stay with your governess,” he ordered just as the door opened and the butler entered, Catriona right on his heels. And that darned dog of hers came bounding in as if she owned the place, going to lie down next to the hearth.
Joseph straightened, taking Dorothea by the hand. She pasted herself to his thigh.
“Good evening, Joseph,” Catriona greeted in that bland tone that had been haunting him since he left Heaton Manor yesterday afternoon. To Dorothea, she sounded far more pleasant. “Good day, Dorothea.”
Dorothea said nothing but curtsied.
Joseph wanted to question her again about her odd behavior. He could tell there was something behind it though he couldn’t imagine what he could have done to deserve it. But he couldn’t ask her here, no matter how much she wanted to.
“Dorothea, go upstairs,” he ordered again.
“Won’t she stay and watch?” Catriona asked with a frown.
“This is not a place for a child.”
Her lips thinned with displeasure, but she said nothing, only stepping to the side as Dorothea quietly took her leave.
No doubt she didn’t like what she was seeing, and he wondered if she would maintain her distant demeanor or call him out on it.
She stared at him as if she was wondering what she should do as well.
“It is nice tae finally meet ye, Miss Wallace.” Henry approached from behind, bearing a broad smile. “I’ve heard a lot about ye from Joseph here.”
Catriona gave Henry a pleasant smile. A dull ache began to throb in the back of his head at the sight. She never smiled at him like that.
“You’re Scottish?” she asked.
“That I am, born and raised. That was until Joseph here stole me away from me homeland and forced me into a life of servitude.”
“This is Henry Macdonald,” Joseph cut in, “and he manages my estates. I asked him to be here to act as my witness.”
“Ah, I see.” She dismissed him with ease, turning her attention back to Henry. “Where did you reside in Scotland?”
“Glasgow, Miss Wallace. A city man through and through. I suppose that is why I am nae so bothered when I am in London.”
“I have been to Glasgow a few times,” she said. Joseph clenched his jaw. “It is a beautiful city.”
“Nae more beautiful than ye, I’m sure,” Henry said, and she laughed heartily. Heartily. Yet when she looked at Joseph, she looked as if she would much rather be anywhere else.
“Where are you sisters and your uncle?” Joseph cut in once more. He had no intention of being ignored in his own house on his own wedding day.
“They are coming in, I’m sure,” Catriona answered, her voice lacking interest. “I hurried inside because I did not want to keep you waiting for much longer. Last I checked, they were still speaking with the priest.”
“Ah, forgive us!” Right on cue, Lord Heaton came bustling in with a flustered looking priest next to him. Ava and Maisie came in right after, all smiles. Ava took one look around the room and asked in dismay, “Where’s Dorothea?”
“She won’t be joining us,” Joseph informed them.
The two younger sisters made no effort to hide their disappointment, but they said nothing. Joseph felt his annoyance shoot through the roof. They didn’t have children. They couldn’t possibly understand why he made the decisions that he did.
“We’ve wasted enough time,” he clipped. “Let us get this over with.”
He marched over to the hearth, waiting impatiently for everyone else to fall in line.
Joseph didn’t miss when Ava and Maisie bumped their heads together to whisper to each other—more than likely regarding his bad mood—nor did he miss the fact that Lord Heaton was studying him with an uncharacteristically serious countenance.
His attention was mostly fixed on Catriona, however, who seemed intent on ignoring his order and instead took that opportunity to tell Henry that they must take some time after the ceremony to talk a bit more.
He was barely holding himself together by the time she and the priest made their way over to him. And even though he was obviously staring at her, she ignored him, attention fixed on the priest.
“Let us begin,” he said.
Joseph didn’t listen to any of it. He didn’t feel the need to, especially since it was his second time being a groom. He knew the process, knew the vows, and didn’t really care to pay attention to any of it when the lady standing next to him was threatening to drive him mad.
He simply couldn’t understand why her sudden aloofness was bothering him so, and Joseph was far too annoyed to care. Right now, he only wanted to bide his time and wait for the moment to demand answers. He stayed still, waited, said his vows, and continued to wait.
“You may kiss the bride.”
He’d been so caught up in his head that he hadn’t remembered that crucial part of the wedding. Joseph turned to face Catriona as she turned to face him.
The stoniness of her expression remained. She looked at him as if she was looking at a piece of clay, uninterested. But then her eyes dipped to his lips for a moment, a flash of awareness sparking in her gaze. And when he stepped closer, he heard her breath hitch in her throat.
He should make it quick. They did not have any affection for each other after all, and this was just for formality.
But that was at the back of his mind when he slid his hand around the small of her back.
That reality fell to the wayside when she put her hands against his chest and that indifference melted away, revealing a soft innocence that put cracks in the walls around his heart.
Making it quick might have been the right thing to do, but Joseph didn’t feel like being smart right now.
So, he kissed her softly. He felt her stiffen against him, her fingers tensing against his chest. Her lips were as soft as he’d thought they’d be, the smell of her floral perfume wrapping around him like a gentle cocoon.
Joseph forgot where he was, who he was, his reason for being.
In that moment, he was simply a man, and Catriona was a woman, and their kiss was the spark that ignited something long dead inside him.
She pulled away first, looking startled, an adorable blush staining her cheeks. He watched as she tried to put herself back together, slipping behind that mask of indifference once more. He swallowed his sigh.
He didn’t know what he thought would change with the kiss. For her, nothing seemed to have happened.
But for him, he wasn’t so sure he could say the same.
There would be wedding breakfast. Even though Catriona knew that from the beginning, she couldn’t help the pang of disappointment watching her family’s carriage pull away, taking away her uncle and sisters and leaving her alone in this stranger’s house.
Her house now, she supposed.