Chapter 24 #2
The moment he left my side, I strode to the table where Hattie sat. I tried to keep my pace in check. The last thing I wanted was for Davis to notice that I practically ran to Hattie after our conversation, but whether he took note or not, I had to speak to her.
Hattie beamed up at me from her chair. How could she even bear to look at me, let alone give me one of those full, dimpled smiles of hers? “Congratulations,” she said with such sincerity I had to reach for the back of a chair to steady myself.
Mama and Aunt Pryor congratulated me as well. I shook my head and took a seat, trying to look as calm as possible. “I didn’t win.”
“Why not?” Mama asked in surprise.
“There wasn’t a winner,” I said quickly.
“Oh really? We couldn’t tell that from here.” Aunt Pryor took a sip from her tea cup and then glanced at me from over the rim. “We only noticed that you and the captain faced each other longer than any other pair.”
“True, but it was a stalemate. We each lost to the other and nobody won.”
Despite my clarification, Mama and Aunt Pryor insisted on relaying details of the competition. I forced myself to pretend interest for a few heartbeats, but then I leaned over to Hattie and whispered, “I need to talk to you.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Now?”
“Yes, right now.” I stood and made an excuse about being too long in the sun. Mama laughed softly at that, most likely because it was a sentence I’d never uttered in my life.
I tugged on Hattie’s hand. I needed to remember how to breathe normally and that wasn’t going to happen until I’d heard the full story of exactly what had happened between her and Captain Calder. She laughed and pulled her hand away from mine so she could straighten her skirts. “I’m coming.”
I tapped my toe until she was situated according to her liking, then nodded toward the house. “To the library.”
I marched ahead, not waiting for Hattie, leaving doors open behind me as I went.
The moment I entered the library, I checked every corner to make certain no one was there and then turned to see Hattie only just reaching the door, her eyebrows furrowed, but her mouth still characteristically turned up in a grin.
I pulled her in and shut the door behind us.
She looked as though she was waiting on the smallest of things to tip her smile over the edge and into laughter.
“What happened? I’ve never seen you in such a state. ”
I’d been in a state ever since Captain Calder had whispered into my neck.
“Hattie,” I said with a huff of frustration.
This was the wrong time to be thinking of things Captain Calder said only to distract me.
“You need to tell me everything you can about Captain Calder and you need to do it now. Please.”
Hattie’s eyes positively glowed at the mention of his name, and somehow that sentence was exactly the thing she needed to set off her delighted laugh. She grabbed both of my hands this time and squeezed them.
Something buried deep inside me broke at the sound of her laughter. If I’d had any doubt about the captain’s claim over my most wonderful cousin’s heart, it fled. Hattie laughed and smiled easily, but almost never like this—not with her whole body and soul.
Which was good. Very good. The whole point of this house party was to find Hattie a suitor or, even better, a fiancé, and here we were with most of the work done before we’d even arrived.
And Captain Calder was . . . well, he was perfect.
I’d never met a better man and I’d never known a better woman than Hattie.
Everything was coming together splendidly.
Some day in the future I would call Captain John Calder cousin and he would become a permanent fixture at our family gatherings.
Hattie would become the mistress of the house she so thoroughly fell in love with, and everything would be as it should. The future would be perfect.
Once I adjusted to the idea of every single detail of it.
“What do you want to know about him?” Her voice jumped with excitement.
I closed my eyes for the space of a breath. I needed a reprieve from her happiness, just for a moment.
When I could finally speak, I didn’t manage a look of happiness. If anything, I probably looked as though I wanted to accuse her of a crime.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him? I thought we shared everything.
Captain Calder is . . . ” I trailed off, because how could I explain him?
He was so capable, and everyone loved him, and the only thing that had ever given me pause about him was the name he’d called out in the night.
Come to find out, he was just a man who desperately missed his sister, which was frustratingly endearing, and another point in his favor.
“You’ve kept him a secret from me all this time.
And I know—I have no right to censure you over a secret when a secret of mine damaged your family so but .
. . ” I rubbed circles into my temples with my fingertips.
I’m not certain I was even making sense anymore.
With a sigh, I said the one thing that just kept echoing in my mind.
“Six years, Hattie. You’ve kept him a secret for six years. ”
Once the words left my mouth, all the anxious energy that had fueled my walk from the terrace to the library fled. All of my fire extinguished as if it had been smothered by a blanket. My arms drooped to my sides, and even my hair felt heavy.
Hattie didn’t seem to notice. She took me by both hands and dragged me to the settee.
With only the slightest tap on my shoulder I collapsed onto the seat.
She settled next to me, curled her legs up on the seat, and squeezed my hands once again with delight.
“I met him at Eastmoor, the Hartleys’ estate. ”
I think I’d heard that estate mentioned. And I knew the Hartleys a little, but they were better friends with Aunt and Uncle Pryor than our family. “And . . . ” I waited for her to continue.
“Oh, Evelyn, he was so thoughtful and a perfect gentleman. Really.” She leaned forward until our faces were only inches apart.
It was like we were children again, spilling secrets and plotting out a day of adventures.
“I never saw him do an unkind thing. We were thrown together often, since we were the only two young people staying there at the time.”
“And you never thought to mention this to me because . . . ”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Your father was gone for almost a year after that, and I don’t think it crossed my mind when your family was so worried about his safety. Besides, I didn’t know you would be interested.”
I shook my head. Six years ago I would have only been sixteen, and much more interested in horses and guns than men. But I’d always had a place in my heart for Hattie. “You didn’t think I would be interested? Of course I’m interested.”
She smiled again, and, blast it, how could Captain Calder have resisted her?
Why would he have wanted to? “I’m so glad,” she said.
“It will make everything much easier. I know I haven’t seen him for years, but he is most certainly the best of men.
And in case you aren’t aware, your parents agree with my assessment of him.
Applewood will need repairs, of course, but he plans to use his bounty money for them.
And on top of everything else, it is so close to your home. There couldn’t be a better situation.”
“He’s spoken to you about his plans for Applewood?” When did he have time? Had they snuck out last night after spending the day there?
“Actually, your mother told me.”
“My mother?”
“Yes. She had every young man investigated before coming, including Captain Calder.”
She certainly had, and so had I, but somehow we had missed one very important point. “Hattie, he is—I think he is quite serious. A proposal could be coming, perhaps sooner than any of us thought possible.”
Hattie’s eyes went wide, and for the first time since I mentioned him, her smile faltered. “Already? He can’t think to propose already.”
Already? Hadn’t he waited years? He spoke about her with his fellow soldiers while in battle.
He planned a future with her. When he’d reached for me in the middle of the night at the cottage, it was Hattie he’d been longing for.
And yet, the way he’d whispered in my ear earlier, his voice rolling over my shoulders in that hushed tone—was that the action of a man on the verge of proposing to another woman?
My face heated. He had been trying to distract me.
I knew how tempting it was to win at any cost. Hadn’t I done the same to him? “Honestly, I don’t know.”
“I think it would be too soon.”