A Taste of Honey (19 page)

He wanted to explain to her that he would never do that.  To tell her that for the first time he felt that shadow had lifted and he was freer than he had been in years.  Yet as with most little sisters, there was a strange bond that made talking about such things with her impossible.

Instead, smiling at her, he tickled the tip of her nose like he used to do when they were kids.  “Don't worry,” he told her before brushing past and sneaking down the stairs.

Dear Kat,

I was sorry to learn that I had frightened you in any way.  Please be assured that the promise I made in the carriage the other night I will hold true to, only touching you when you ask me to.  Please accept these flowers as a truce between us.  Do not mistake this as giving up.  I only wanted to promise you my best behavior for the next time that we meet. It will be soon.

Garrett

Katherine tried not to bristle at his use of the nickname that he had bestowed upon her unwillingly.  When she had woken up to daffodils in her room she had smiled broadly at the bright flowers that had lifted her spirits from the dim room she had been staying in.  It was only when she had noticed the note beneath it that she had considered Garrett might have sent them instead of Winnie who seemed to know her so well already.

She knew that the arrival of his flowers and note meant that he had been there while she was sleeping as he never would have sent them through his mother or sister.  It made her cheeks flush as if his lurid thoughts had left some imprint on the room.

That he had not even t
r
i
ed to kiss her last night lent credence to the idea that he would hold true to his promise not to touch her unless she allowed it.  Yet he was too determined for her to believe that he had given up on all of the tricks he had employed thus far.  She knew that Garrett would find another way to get what he wanted.  All the same, she wrote him a quick letter to be sent through Winnie, assuring him that she had accepted the truce.  It might then allow her more time to pursue Kent, which was her main goal now.

Yesterday, while she had remained in bed, she had considered the different pros and cons as she knew them, and had decided that Lord Kent was worth the bad-boy reputation that came with him.  Besides if she chose him, her visit to London could be over quickly and she could return to the country with him at his estate where her life could return to a quieter pace like she preferred.  From what she knew from Garrett, Kent wanted to marry her. Since she wanted him as well they could be engaged and done with it by the end of the year without the ritual of having to chase each other around.  The next time that she was with him she hoped to be blunt about everything and take her chances.

The major advantage to choosing Kent over Garrett, besides making her family happy, was that there would be no confusion as to her feelings for him.  While Kent had seemed charming, there had been no shocking sensation at his touch making her insides curl in anticipation.  She looked forward to the comfortable prospects of marrying a man that she could like but didn't have to love.  Katherine knew that Garrett would have demanded nothing less of her were she to marry him.  She was already worried enough that she was starting to feel something like love for him, which only strengthened her resolve that she needed to marry someone else, soon.

The swelling around Katherine's ankle had gone down dramatically by the second day, with only a slight twinge of pain when she stood on it.  Mrs. Brentley surveyed the bruise herself, before allowing Katherine to leave the sick room to attend breakfast downstairs.  With an old cane that Winnie had found, they helped her hobble down the stairs.

“You're still not allowed out of this house, at least until Garrett has looked at your ankle again,” Mrs. Brentley warned her, completely unaware of her son's interest in her new charge.  “And even then, if you have a dark bruise, you'll have to stay inside as well.  It would be unfortunate if any man were to see such a horridly colored ankle.”

Katherine wanted out of the house but she knew that she should feel lucky enough that she had gotten out of that room at all.  “Tonight I'll be fine to sleep in my own bed,” she informed Winnie who shook her head.

“Nope.  Garrett told mother that until you're healed you aren't allowed to sleep in the same bed as your sister.  Robin might kick your ankle in her sleep and hurt it worse.”  Winnie looked sheepish as she gave her brother's decree to Katherine because she knew how much it made Katherine bristle that he was so valued by their mother that she would do whatever he told her to without questioning his motives.

Katherine had hoped for better news, but she had not expected it.  “I guess there was nothing going on tonight anyway, I just wanted to go for a walk outside.  Tomorrow night though, I have to attend that dance, it is a sma
ll one anyway.” Katherine said.

“Do you want me to call for Garrett now to check up on you?”

Katherine considered it but shook her head.  Her ankle was still sore enough that she felt sure that he would tell her no and Winnie would be forced to call Garrett back at a later date as well.  “Let's wait until tomorrow morning.  We'll send for Garrett then.”

After another full day of not leaving the house, Katherine was getting antsy to get out again.  How could her mother stand being bedridden most of the time?  Of course her mother had never cared much for going outside in the first place.  Still she couldn't imagine spending much more of her time locked up in one room, unable to see more than a handful of people every day.

When Robin and Mrs. Brentley left to make the final adjustments to their newest sets of dresses, Katherine was sure that she could sneak out for a small walk and was even draped in her purple cloak before Winnie caught her at the door and sent her back up to Garrett's room.

“If you won't be good, then I'll just lock you in there,” Winnie warned, brandishing a small key as she said it to show that she was prepared.

Reluctantly Katherine went back up to the room, still needing Winnie's occasional help on the stairs, and returned to the bed that she wondered if she would ever leave.  Silently, she cursed Garrett, knowing that with one word he could set her free from his room and his mother and sister's constant supervision.

During Garrett's visit the next day it was evident that he had read her letter accepting the truce and he was on his best behavior, which really didn't say too much.  He was polite to her, but watched her just a little too closely for her to be simply a friend of the family to him.  He was accompanied by Winnie, since Mrs. Brentley had left early for gossip and tea with some of her friends.

“And Robin is busy choosing what dresses you'll both wear to tonight's dance,” Winnie explained but Katherine didn't care that her sister wasn't there.  Robin would only tell her more about Victor's money and she was sick of hearing how rich he was.

“How does your ankle feel?”  Garrett asked, setting a tall chair beside the bed and sitting down so that the bumps of Katherine's feet in the sheets were right across from him.

“It is just fine.  Yesterday, I went all over the house without a bit of pain or assistance.  Your mother and sister shouldn't have bothered to ask you to come over,” she lied and tried to motion Winnie not to disagree.

Winnie glanced apologetically at Katherine before turning to her brother, “She's lying, it still hurts to walk on.  It is getting better though,” she added after seeing the murderous look on Katherine's face.

“I'm going to need to see it for myself,” Garrett told her and pulled back the sheet from her feet so that he could examine it.  At least the small red marks from her shoe laces had disappeared, but there was still a dark shadow along her ankle and when he noticed her wince slightly.

“Winnie, I'd like some tea please,” Katherine said as she pulled the sheets back over her feet.  Glancing between both of them for a moment Winnie finally left the room.

“I can't stay locked up here in here,” she told him.  “I'm starting to go crazy with Winnie and your mother both treating me like an invalid.  So my ankle's a little sore, I'm not about to die of a sore ankle.  Please tell them that I can leave tonight for the dance,” Katherine begged as she felt some of her pride slip away.

Garrett smiled at her impatience to leave.  “Is my bed so terrible?  Most women enjoy a few days of lying in a man's bed.”

Katherine did not miss his joke and began to wonder how many other women Garrett had put in this same bed.  She suddenly wanted to escape it more than before.  “Well I don't like it and I hate sick beds,” she told him.  “My mother has wasted most of her life in a sick bed and I refuse to do the same.”

He did seem to pity her situation.  “You can go to the dance tonight,” he told her after a long pause.

She gave a grateful smile.  “Thank you Garrett, this means a lot to me.”

“If,” he added quickly, “You agree to my terms.”

“What terms?” she groaned, knowing that she wouldn't like them.

“First, you will still spend your nights in this room.  You should be sleeping alone while your ankle is healing.  Second, you can't do any dancing.”  When Katherine tried to interrupt him he rushed on.  “And third, if you need to go for another of your walks, you are not going alone.  You will go with me so that I can monitor your ankle.”

“Your mother could monitor me quite well herself,” Katherine protested.  “Or even better I could go with Winnie.”

“She could walk with you, but could she carry you home if you hurt your ankle again?” he asked.  Katherine could see his logic and overall it was not too much to ask.  She had already known that she couldn't dance tonight, and being forced to sleep in a comfortable bed was not a bad thing, even if it was his bed.

“Fine, I'll agree to your terms.  I'll even go for a walk with you tonight, but you must keep your promise not to touch me.”

“Unless you ask,” he reminded her with a slight twinkle to his hazel eyes.

“Don't worry, I won't ask,” she replied smugly.

“I thought that you hated pink,” Winnie commented as she helped Robin and Katherine unpack their new dresses for the dance that
evening
.

“I do, but Victor loves the color on me.  So, until we're married, he gets whatever he wants,” Robin told them as she pulled on the matching elbow length gloves.  As with Robin's earlier pink dress, this one had been intended for Katherine.  She didn't mind letting her sister wear it instead of her.  It was hard to imagine that someone like Kent would appreciate the pink color on her anyway; he seemed too masculine to stand next to such a light color.

Pulling the dark red dress off of the bed, Katherine slipped into it and marveled at the shimmers of black hidden within.  “That's a beautiful fabric on you,” Winnie commented, as she handed over the jewelry that had also been ordered to fit with the ensemble.

Nervously touching the red jewels Katherine wondered how much they had cost.

“They are paste stones, not real and not too expensive.” Winnie assured her so that Katherine wouldn't worry about them.

She was embarrassed to be given so many wonderful new things that her family never could have afforded.  “Your mother shouldn't have bought us so many things.  We aren't used to wearing new dresses to every event.”

“Oh don't worry about all of that,” Winnie said, sweeping up Katherine's hair in a loose fashion.  Since she wouldn't be dancing they didn't have to worry about putting as many pins in and it allowed Winnie to choose a more delicate design.  “Mother always buys her charges new clothes, and right after you and Robin put in your order, Garrett doubled her funds for the dresses so that she could choose some of the accessories that she wanted too.”

Katherine stilled at the comment, her hand resting nervously on the necklace.  “Garrett bought these?”

“Well mother was able to pick them out but yes it was with Garrett's money.”

Whispering so that Robin couldn't hear, Katherine motioned Winnie closer.  “Why didn't you tell me that Garrett was buying us all of these things?”

Winnie frowned before realizing what was wrong.  Katherine now felt horrible, like she owed him something for buying her and her sister new items for all of their dances.  “Katherine, he does it every year.  Since father died, he's been in charge of all of our finances.  He just carried on the tradition of letting our mother pay for all of her sponsors' needs with the family money.  I mean it’s not like he's just paying for yours, he's paying for Robin's too.”

Still, it didn't seem right that she was wearing clothes that he had bought her, sleeping in his bed at night, and eating the food that his money provided.  It was odd that he had already become her financial protector without her ever consenting to it.

“I guess that I should thank him,” she whispered to Winnie who shook her head.

“He didn't do it for you; he did it for our mother.” But Katherine couldn't accept that he had doubled his mother's funds just for his mother's sake.

That night Garrett arrived to help escort them to the dance and even lifted Katherine into the carriage so that she didn't put too much weight on her bad ankle.  Robin looked confused and a little annoyed at his presence.

“You don't need to come with us,” she told him.  “I'm sure that some other young man at the dance would be happy to escort Katherine around.”