Captive Hearts (8 page)

“Release me at once.” Katherine’s voice came from just outside the room.

“We shall see what your husband has to say about your behavior.”

Still dressed in their cloaks, the two people entered the room followed by the Willingham’s butler, Elton.

She jerked away from her uncle’s grip, her cheeks flushed with temper. With the whispering swish of silk skirts, she crossed the dining room to stand at Matthew’s side, a fact he considered quite brave after her behavior of the night before and this morning.

“She was parading up and down the street with only her maid for escort.” Edward’s ire filled voice rose in pitch. He cleared his throat.

Her gasp expressed her outrage. “I was not parading anywhere, Edward. Hannah was with me, and Lord and

Lady Willingham’s driver followed us as well. I had errands I wished to complete early this morn lest my need of a conveyance was inconvenient.” She rubbed her forearm as though it pained her. “You had no right to drag me into your coach and force me back here as though I were some kind of escaped criminal.” His eyes widened. “You have not told them.” She stiffened, her violet eyes growing dark, an open look of loathing tightening her features. “I will leave that to you, Uncle. It gives you such pleasure to spread the word far and near. In fact, it would not surprise me if it were your words alone that caused the latest round of gossip.”

He drew himself up like a scrawny rooster, an image reinforced by the large flounce of white lace and silk protruding from the lapel of his waistcoat like the breast feathers of a cock. With his bony legs braced apart and his beaky nose high in the air, he looked as though he might crow as well. “You ungrateful little baggage.”

“There is nothing wrong with a lady accompanied by her maid, running errands, Lord Leighton,” Clarisse said.

Edward waved an impatient hand in the air. “There is when she has been witness to a murder and the men responsible have not been captured.” Matthew’s gaze darted to Katherine’s face as a stunned silence settled over the room. Though her features remained carefully devoid of expression, her hands clenched at her sides. He curbed the surprising desire to slide a protective arm about her waist.

“Elton, have two more places set for the meal,” Talbot’s calm tones cut across the quiet. He ran a hand through his thick crop of white hair making it stand on end. “Yes, sir.” The tall thin butler bent to return Talbot’s overturned chair to its rightful position, then melted away.

“You knew about this?” Matthew turned his attention to his uncle.

“Yes.” His uncle nodded.

What other information had been withheld? “Just when were you going to tell me?”

“This morning of course. I had no idea Katherine had

gone out.”

Every eye turned on the woman beside him.

Her chin rose. “They will not show their faces in daylight, nor attack me on a busy London street.”

“You cannot be certain, Katherine,” Edward protested.

“Yes, I can. They are cowards. They would have too many witnesses should they do anything in daylight.” She stepped away from Matthew to remove her cloak and handed it to the maid who appeared at her side. “I will not be treated as though I am to blame for what they did, nor shall I be locked away while they remain free.”

“Both of you take a seat.” Talbot motioned to the empty chairs on either side of the table. “We can discuss what can be done after we eat.” Elton once again appeared at the door. “Barlow has arrived with your maid and several packages, Madame Hamilton. He wishes to know where you would like them put.” Her lips parted, a frown creasing her brow. “Please ask him to put the bundles in our room, Elton.” Hannah appeared behind the butler, her cheeks flushed. The distress in her expression cleared when she saw her mistress. Katherine joined the maid in the hallway, her arm going around her in a soothing gesture.

The woman nodded as she spoke to her then followed a man laden with paper wrapped parcels down the hall.

Katherine’s attention settled on Matthew as she returned to the table. Her cheeks grew flushed and her lashes fell, but not before Matthew read the uncertainty in her expression as she approached him.

If what her uncle said was true, she could have been attacked and killed this morning while he slept. He had been remiss in his duty toward her, a duty of which he hadn’t even been aware. Resentment flashed through him like heat lightning. He neither wanted nor needed any of this. He held her chair for her and with a deliberate, exaggerated courtesy saw her seated, then took a place beside her. “You could have told me, last night.” She turned to face him, her features tight with control. “No, I could not.”

He laid an arm across the back of her chair, his thigh touching hers as he focused his attention on her. “I’m listening now.”

Her confidence wavered beneath his regard for a moment, then her jaw firmed and her spine straightened.

She adjusted the knot of his stock, her hand lingering against the front of his waistcoat. “I would prefer to speak to you in private after the meal.” Surprised by the proprietary gestures and her courage in the face of his attempted intimidation, his fingers curled around hers, holding her hand against his chest. A sudden vision of how she had looked the night before intruded, bringing him to an instant state of painful arousal. A spike of irritation hammered through the hard-won control he held over his temper. “We shall speak in private about a great many things, Madame.” Matthew bent his head to press a kiss within her palm and purposely nipped her skin with his teeth. He watched with satisfaction as soft color blossomed then receded in her cheeks.

“If what your uncle says is true, Katherine, you must be more careful in future.”

Anger flared in her eyes as she met his gaze head on.

“Perhaps I should begin to carry a flintlock for my protection. You would not happen to have an extra at hand?”

He thought of the weapon he had tucked beneath the mattress and smiled without humor. “I would have to be certain of your proficiency with firearms first, sweetheart.

You wouldn’t wish to shoot anyone by accident because you were unfamiliar with the rules governing weapons.”

“Actually she is an excellent marksman,” Edward said. “Her brother collected firearms and taught her to shoot.” He frowned and looked down his nose at his niece from across the table. “Not that I agree with women participating in such activities.” One perfectly arched brow rose as Katherine’s attention swung to her uncle. “You would prefer we be helpless and deferential at all times would you not, Uncle? Even when it is a danger to us.”

“There is nothing wrong with a woman knowing her place, Katherine. I am sure your husband will instruct

you in what that is.” His expression of smug satisfaction bordered on being a smirk.

Matthew disliked the man’s pettiness and the pleasure he derived from it. “I happen to approve of Katherine’s ability to defend herself. There may come a time, I may need her to guard my back, as I’ll guard hers.” Edward’s expression darkened to one of displeasure.

“Meaning?”

“You may leave the caring for my wife to me.” The man bared his teeth in an enthusiastic smile.

“Gladly.”

He viewed Edward’s acquiescence with suspicion and wariness. It had come too easily. Had he charged blindly into the fray without first knowing all he should? Damn.

What the devil had happened to the calm, deliberate man who captained a vessel two times a year? Had being imprisoned somehow addled his brain? Why was he even tempted to champion a woman who had completely deceived him? He looked down at Katherine’s upturned face. She offered him a hesitant smile. He controlled the urge to shake her. Was he allowing his baser needs to rule the rest of him? Matthew shied away from answering the question.

Katherine straightened her spine and turned away from the four pairs of probing eyes fastened on her. She concentrated instead on the view of the garden visible from the French doors of the study. Despite the woven intricacies of the hedges along the path, the fountain remained discernable, the nymph at its center, surrounded by frolicking water. Katherine gripped the doorknob, fighting the urge to escape the room and the expectancy of the people behind her.

“Will you not come join us by the fire, Katherine?” Clarisse asked.

Katherine rested her forehead against the coolness of the windowpane for a moment. “Of course, Lady Willingham.” She forced herself to turn and face the group.

The empty place on the Chippendale sofa next to Matthew lay open and waiting. Katherine took the seat but left a wide section of a cushion between them.

Sliding forward to the edge of his seat, Edward’s brows lowered into a sympathetic frown as he faced her. “I want to see justice done, Katherine, but not at the price of seeing your reputation damaged. Every time you are associated with what happened, there are suggestions made about what you may have been subjected to that night, as well.”

Katherine shrugged and settled back into the corner of the sofa. Her gaze briefly touched Matthew’s face then flitted away. “I am traveling to America. I do not care what anyone thinks I was subjected to.”

“Your husband may feel differently. And through their association with you as their nephew’s wife, Lord and Lady Willingham may feel you should show some restraint in whatever actions you are thinking about taking.”

Lady Willingham spoke for the first time. “What your

uncle says is true, Katherine. Once your reputation has been sullied, it will follow you wherever you go. Should you come forward openly about what you saw that night, it will not matter whether or not they touched you. It will be what everyone will think.”

“I think, in time, there may be a way for you to achieve justice without sacrificing anything, Katherine.” Talbot ran his hands over the wooden arms of the Chippendale chair he sat in. “But it will take patience.” How could they put speculation above seeking justice for her family? She rose to return to the French doors, separating herself from the group once again. She was not only disappointed by their attitude but hurt by it.

“If I wait long enough, eventually they will die in their beds and God will serve them justice.” Bitterness put an edge to her words.

“No one expects you to wait indefinitely, Katherine.” Talbot laced his fingers together. “Eventually these men will be caught and punished.”

Though they all meant well, they spouted the same cautious platitudes Edward had been offering her for months. She turned to face Lord Willingham, as her rage thrust through her control and overrode her sense of propriety. “I wonder how differently you would feel if it had been your wife or daughter, who had been left lying in the street, beaten and bloody, her dignity torn from her, and her neck, bruised and raw, from a noose twisted until the life was strangled from her. I wonder how patiently you would wait, if every person you loved were suddenly ripped away from you, as my family has been from me.”

She had been alone for months, but an overwhelming sense of abandonment swept over her. She turned away from them, her composure deserting her. With a twist of the knob, she opened the French doors and fled the room.

Driven from his seat, Matthew strode forward to follow her. Edward grasped his arm as he passed, his grip surprisingly strong. “We must speak about what can be done to protect my niece, Captain Hamilton. In the state she is in, she may well attempt something foolish.” If she were tempted to do something foolish, it would be because she had received little or no support from her

only living relative. “You forced her to marry me to get her out of the country.”

“I did not force her. She agreed to the marriage once she met with you. It was the only thing I could think to do under the circumstances. I am sure you have noticed how headstrong Katherine can be. Frankly, I found it exhausting trying to reason with her about the situation.

She is too driven by her need for justice to listen to anything.”

He could understand that. Had it been his own family he would have spent every waking moment personally hunting down the men responsible. He wondered why, with all the resources available to him, Edward Leighton wasn’t doing that. He studied the man more closely. “Just what is being done to see these men are caught?”

“The local magistrate has hired some men to look for them, as have I. There has yet to be any news from them.

It seems the brigands have grown more cautious since the attack upon my brother and his family.” His gaze shifted to Talbot. His uncle’s frowning visage met his in silent communication.

“Of course she has been tormented by dreams of the man who attacked her.” Edward’s expression grew mournful. “It wasn’t enough that she was nearly strangled to death, but for them to abuse her as they did her dear mother.” He shook his head.

A dropping sensation struck Matthew’s stomach.

With the force of a blow, the reason behind her behavior of the night before and the purpose of the dark droplets on the sheet became clear. The adage that a horrible injury is numbed by the sheer magnitude of the trauma was true. When the numbness wore off, he would know how to feel. His face felt wooden as he turned his attention to Edward. “You must be mistaken.” The man started and looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“It must be clear. Last night was our wedding night.” Edward’s brow creased and he narrowed his gaze.

“It’s understandable, Captain Hamilton, that you wish to protect Katherine’s reputation.” Was that not what her uncle should want as well?

The numbness began to recede as anger rushed in to replace it. He controlled the impulse to jerk the man out of the chair and shake him like the sniveling rat he was.

Aware of Clarisse and Talbot’s presence, he glanced briefly at his aunt. “Forgive me for speaking so bluntly in your presence, Clarisse.” Focusing on Edward, he took a measured step toward the man. “Do you think me such a fool I wouldn’t know the difference between bedding a virgin and a woman who is not?” Edward’s mouth opened and closed as he sought an answer.

“Shall I have the proof dragged from our marriage bed for your perusal? Should I call my valet down to testify to the blood upon the sheets?” Edward shook his head. “I meant no insult.”