A Thin Line (16 page)

“Then I really will feel like an invalid.
 
The doctor has not demanded it be done yet, so it won’t,” she crossed her arms and stared mutinously at where she thought he should be.
 
She heard his deep sigh followed by the faintest wisp of sound.
 
“What are you doing?”

“I lit a lamp beside your bed.
 
Pest, we need to talk.”

“Please, don’t you start in on me too,” she begged, rubbing her temple as she felt the bed depress under his weight as he sat down on the edge.

“I think Drucilla covered enough of it for the time being.”

“You heard?”

“She told me.
 
She feels very guilty at the moment.”

“She shouldn’t.
 
As much as I hate to admit it, she spoke the truth.
 
And now look at me.
 
What good is a blind woman?
 
Can you tell me that Derek?”

“Kala, I don’t have any answers for you.
 
I’m also not going to sugar coat anything to make the medicine easier for you to swallow.
 
If you have lost your sight permanently, you are going to have a very tough time.
 
There is no doubt about that.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that I had decided to not have anything to do with men anymore then, isn’t it?
 
I mean, what man would want to be saddled with a blind wife?
 
Can you imagine how suffocating that would be?”

“You don’t mean that,” he scoffed.

“Derek, it is difficult enough for a woman to keep a man from straying.
 
Imagine a man being married to an invalid.”

“You are not an invalid.”

“I am going to have to rely on someone the rest of my life.
 
Tell me, what name would you give that?”
 
Silence greeted her.
 
Kala felt herself drawing within herself and closing out the world.
 
She pulled her knees close to her chest, hugging them tightly.
 
“Are you going to tell Mama and Papa?”

“Do I have a choice?
 
They will kill me if I keep them in the dark about this,” she missed the wince he gave at his choice of words.
 
“Sorry about that.”

“Elizabeth won’t care,” she replied flippantly, referring to their sister. “She’ll think it is only what I deserve for being a hoyden.”

“Kala, Elizabeth cares about you very much,” another voice had entered the conversation.
 
This one belonged to Tessa.
 
She heard Tessa shuffle across the room to Derek.
 
She heard a quiet smack and knew that one had quickly kissed the other.

“Did I wake you?”

“I just missed you.
 
Now, back to you and Elizabeth.
 
She is your sister and she loves you.”

“I was never the sister of her dreams though.
 
I never liked to play with dolls and have tea parties like she did.
 
I constantly embarrassed her with my antics and chasing after Derek and Gabe.”
 
She paused a moment reflecting on how she had interacted with her two very different siblings growing up.
 
“I can’t blame her.
 
But I don’t feel close to her either and know not to expect her to sit by my sick bed and nurse me to health.”

“Kala,” she heard Derek say her name, but then nothing followed it.
 
She could only guess that Tessa had halted whatever he was going to say.

“Why aren’t you two at your house?”

“Tessa and I were worried about you, so we decided we would stay the night here to make certain you would be all right.”

“Thank you,” she said even more hoarsely than usual, her voice tinged with tears.

“We should let her get some rest.
 
She has a big day tomorrow,” she heard Tessa say in her soothing voice.

“What’s going on tomorrow?”

“Gabe has some questions for you.”

“Wonderful.”

“Don’t worry.
 
We won’t let him attack you.”

“Did anyone happen to come by today?”

“Southerby and Dewhurst.
 
Both were turned away.
 
We simply told Dewhurst you weren’t feeling well.”

“Oh,” for some reason she couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Gabe hadn’t at least thought to check on her.
 
Did he not care that he played a part in her new condition?

“Gabe’s grandmother sent her best wishes,” Derek said.

“That was sweet of her,” she paused, weighing the wisdom of continuing.
 
“Gabe came over then?” She asked deciding to take the bull by the horns.

“No, I went over there.”

“Oh.”
 
I’m just a fountain of conversation
, she thought disgustedly.
 
Gathering her reserves about her she said the first thing that popped to her mind, “I hope you gave him what he deserves.”

Derek chuckled at the vindictive note in her voice.
 
“Don’t worry, Pest,” she heard him stand and move towards her.
 
“Both his face and my hand will be carrying the marks of our encounter for at least a few days.
 
But bear this in mind, by not telling you what we were involved in, we truly thought we were protecting you.
 
It might not have been the wisest decision, but we did not want someone to have the power to use you as leverage against us.”
 
She felt him drop a kiss on the top of her head.
 
“G’night, Pest.”

“Good night, Kala.
 
Try to get some sleep.”

“I’ll try,” she told them wryly.
 
Gabe would be questioning her about what?
 
He had been there as well.
 
Had he not paid attention to what happened?
 

Why hadn’t Southerby told her that he worked for the Foreign Office?
 
Why did all the men in her life deem it necessary to keep her from knowing anything about their lives?
 
Derek’s words tossed around in her mind like a storm-tossed vessel.
 
What about Dewhurst?
 
Could he be involved in something nefarious as well?
 
If she were truthful with herself, she knew little about any of the men who had been courting her.
 
All these years, she thought she knew Gabe and look where that had led her.
 

Another, more important thought brought itself to the forefront of her mind.
 
What would happen to her?
 
She had already made the decision to be an independent, unmarried woman.
 
She couldn’t let her family continue to interrupt their lives just to care for her.
 
They did not need to look after a grown woman, and she did not need to be looked after.
 

“I refuse to be a burden on anyone,” she told the empty room.
 
She needed a solicitor to act on her behalf in business affairs.
 
She would discuss the situation with Richard.
 
Of the men in her life, she could expect him to be the most reasonable and understanding.

***

Gabe arrived for the breakfast meal at Richard and Drucilla’s house.
 
All the adults were gathered around the table, talking and chatting.
 
He watched Kala as she made several attempts at spearing a sausage on her plate.
 
Just when she became disgusted and would have starved herself before asking for help, he walked over to her.

“Having trouble?” He goaded her.

“Leave me alone,” she bit out so that only he could hear.

He leaned down in her ear and whispered, “Ten o’clock.”

“What?”

“The sausage is at ten o’clock.
 
The eggs are at two.
 
The toast is at six, and the fruit is scattered in the middle.”

“Thank you,” he heard her stiff reply.
 
He stepped back and saw her run her fingers around the edge of the plate.
 
She found the appropriate ten o’clock position and stabbed the sausage.
 
He winced a bit, afraid that the poor sausage had received what she would like to do to him.
 
He walked over to the sideboard and filled his plate with food, then joined the group, settling next to Kala.

“Tessa, how are you?”

“Fine, Hawkescliffe,” he couldn’t help but hear the hint of anger that filled her voice.

“Drucilla?” He asked politely.

“I’ll be fine in a month or so,” he saw her shoot Richard a withering look while she nibbled on dry toast.
 

Gabe turned his attention on Derek.
 
“The latest shipment has come in.”

“Oh?
 
How’s it look?”

“I think we should do well from what I saw last night.”

“You went down to the docks at night?” Kala questioned.
 
“Even I’m not that foolish,” he heard her mutter under her breath.

“I was well armed, since you seem to be so concerned about my person, and I only went to our dock.”

“Well, did you get a good look at some of the items, or did you only stay long enough to go over the manifest?”

“I stayed most of the night and helped the men unload a great deal.”

“My, my, the Duke of Hawkescliffe dirtying his hands with manual labor,” Kala said caustically.

“I had a lot on my mind and needed the physical exertion,” he replied wondering why he had admitted that to her.

“Sure, like which mistress to bed next,” he had to lean in to hear her whispered words.
 
“Poor Clarissa.”

“Are you volunteering?” He asked back.

“Go to Hell,” she stood and pushed back her chair.

“Kala,” she heard two female voices admonishing her.
 
Gabe actually chuckled at her predicament.
 
The man hadn’t made any attempt to laugh in years.
 
If she had her sight, she would stomp out of the room and do some door slamming to make her feel better.
 
In this case, she flounced back into her chair and slumped against the back.
 
Her hands were fisted tightly in her lap.
 
She refused to pout, but she knew she had a mutinous glare on her face, because she had used it enough growing up.
 
Besides she never pouted.

“Pardon, Your Grace.”
 
A female voice from the area of the doorway interrupted.

“What is it nurse?” Dru asked.

“The baby is fretting and won’t settle down.
 
He keeps calling for you.”

“I’ll be right up.”

“Is something wrong?” Richard looked worried.

“Teething.”

“Oh,” he sounded relieved.

“I’ll come with you and see the other children,” Tessa said.

“I’ll come too,” Kala said.

“No, Pest,” she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and a deep, sensuous voice in her ear.
 
“You have questions to answer.”
 
She heard the women push back their chairs and leave the room.

“Traitors,” she muttered.

“Gentlemen, perhaps we should take this into the study and allow the dishes to be cleared.”

“Certainly,” she heard Gabe say shortly before she felt her chair being pulled away from the table.
 
Deciding to do this with dignity, she stood up and stepped around the chair in the opposite direction from where Gabe had sat.
 
Her knee banged into another chair and she stood stunned, unsure what to do.
 
A hand grasped hers pulling her out of the maze of chairs and placed it on a masculine arm.
 
“Thank you, Derek.”

“You’re welcome, but what did I do?” She jerked her head around to the sound of his voice on the opposite side of the arm connected to hers.
 
She felt a brief tightening in that arm that never quite disappeared as Gabe guided her into the study.
 
Kala should have known him just from his scent, which always smelled slightly exotic with an underlying hint of cinnamon.
 
He led her to settle into an oversized leather chair, and then heard the men’s heavy footsteps moving around the room.
 
She noted how quickly she already had begun to rely on her other senses.

“You know, I would really prefer to know where my inquisitors are.”

“I’m sitting in the chair behind my desk,” Richard spoke up first.

“And I’m on his desk.”
 
She could picture Richard leaning back in his chair, his elbows resting on the arms of his chair and his fingers steepled in front of his chin.
 
Derek, however, would be perched on the desk in his easy-going manner.

“I’m standing two feet in front of you,” Gabe’s deep voice replied.