My Lord Deceived (12 page)

It was only
when the door closed behind her that Jonathan realised he needed to
escort her home. He barely had the time to snatch his cloak before
he hustled out of the door to go after her.

He cursed the
darkness that seemed to envelope him and hurried down the main
drive. He could just about make out her silhouette in the gloom and
wondered how she coped with having to walk around in the middle of
nowhere in the darkness. Wasn’t she scared? His thoughts turned to
Brian Meldrew and his friends, and it was enough to make Jonathan
lengthen his stride to catch up with her, which he did, at the end
of the drive.

“Why are you in
such a rush?” Jonathan growled. When she made no attempt to answer,
he captured her elbow in a firm grip and swung her around her face
him. Unless he was mistaken, tears gathered on her lashes. “What is
it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Kat
sighed. She couldn’t explain to him because she didn’t know
herself. For the first time in her entire life she wasn’t sure what
to make of any of the last few hours and couldn’t explain the
emotions coursing through her to herself, let alone him. She had
come and gone from Dentham Hall many times over the years, but she
had never felt the physical wrench when she left, the way she had
today. If Jonathan had pushed her, she would have willingly stayed
at the Hall and shared an evening meal with him, and forgotten her
shift at the Shipwright Inn. It unnerved her just how tempted she
was at the prospect of an evening alone with him.

“I am fine,
just a little tired that’s all.”

Jonathan
immediately felt guilty for having pushed her to read so much. “I
am sorry, I didn’t stop to think.”

“It’s not you.
There is just so much going on of late that it is difficult to make
sense of it sometimes.”

“Such as?” He
tried to keep his expectation out of his voice. He hoped she would
feel comfortable with him enough to be able to confide in him but
was disappointed when she merely shook her head.

“Too many
things to mention. Look, you need to get your dinner, so I will be
off. Don’t worry about me, I will be fine,” she offered bravely and
sighed when Jonathan gave her an askance look.

“I have
promised your mother I would escort you when it is dark. I can
hardly sit at home eating my dinner while you wander around in the
darkness with Brian Meldrew and his cronies on the loose,” he
chided her in a voice that was rougher than it needed to be.

They were
half-way back to the village when Kat’s curiosity wouldn’t be
contained any further.

“How long are
you staying for?”

“Pardon?”

“How long are
you staying for? I mean, this has to be about the longest you have
ever been back at home. I wouldn’t stay too long if I were you,
your uncle might get used to you being here.” She tried to keep the
waspish tone out of her voice, and failed.

Jonathan lifted
his brows and stared at her. “Am I to take it that you are
chastising me for being away from home so much?” He wasn’t sure
whether to be annoyed that she felt able to judge him, or pleased
that she wanted to know whether he intended to stay or not.

“It is nothing
to do with me, but I know that your uncle misses you when you are
away, that’s all.” She knew she had over-stepped the mark with her
questions, but she was struggled to find a way to put some distance
between them and, after this afternoon, that was what she
desperately needed to do.

“I miss being
here while I am away,” Jonathan replied with a sigh. It was the
truth. He had kept a mental image of Dentham Hall, and Kat, in his
head, and it had kept him warm throughout the coldest and most
arduous of his duties with the Star Elite. Right now though, he
couldn’t exactly tell her that.

“But you still
keep going away.” She made no attempt to hide the censure from her
voice and ignored his slightly annoyed look.

“I have many
duties away from Dentham that you don’t understand, Kat,” he
sighed. He wondered whether to just tell her. “It is inevitable
that I have to go away for long periods at a time. I am aware that
my uncle is aging and, at some point, I am going to have to come
back for good but, for now, it is impossible.” At least until he
could quit the Star Elite for a better, more secure life that
wouldn’t put his future wife and children at risk.

“Are you
married?”

“Do you really
think I would have kissed you last night if I was?” He studied her
profile for a moment and mentally cursed. She did. She really did.
He felt his annoyance grow and stared blankly ahead while he
considered the facts from her side.

It made him
uncomfortable to acknowledge it, but most of the villages
undoubtedly considered him a wastrel who trotted off to more
salubrious venues, and left his aged uncle at home to manage the
estates while he spent the money they earned. He wondered if that
was why the villagers were so wary of him and glanced at Kat with
renewed curiosity.

“Is that what
the villagers think of me? I am some sort of scoundrel who doesn’t
give a damn for my estates?”

“No,” Kat
replied only to stop. In reality that was exactly what most of the
villagers thought of him. “Well, I don’t know,” she muttered weakly
and wished she had never opened her mouth in the first place.

Jonathan
mentally swore and studied the lights in the bay below them. “I
have responsibilities elsewhere that I cannot turn my back on right
now.”

Kat felt her
chin quiver and cursed herself for being such a cry baby. She had
never felt the urge to cry so much and wondered what was wrong with
her.

“You don’t have
to explain to me.”

Jonathan felt a
gulf open up between them and bit back a bitter curse of
frustration. The need to explain was so strong that he had to
clench his back teeth to keep the words in. He hated her to
misunderstand him and mentally ran through his last statement.

“I can assure
you that I am most definitely not married.”

Kat nodded and
wasn’t sure whether she felt relief or fear. The coldness in his
voice was most certainly intended to banish any further questions,
and worked. Silence lapsed between them as they made their way
toward the twinkling lights of Kat’s home.

“Thank you for
walking me home,” Kat murmured at her front door. She had one hand
on the handle and turned to offer him a vague smile.

“I need to
escort you to the tavern.”

“Not tonight.
It is mother’s night out tonight, so she can walk with me. We will
be quite safe. Billy will be with us,” Kat assured him with a nod.
“Thank you for your kind generosity, but this really isn’t
necessary. I have lived around these parts all of my life and have
never encountered any trouble before.”

“Don’t
underestimate Brian or his friends, Kat. They may be local but that
isn’t necessarily always a good thing.”

“What do you
mean?”

“They are young
and arrogant, and clearly think that they are beyond the law. They
seemed to have lost sight of the fact that even they can fall flat
on their faces.”

Kat frowned at
him, and wondered what he knew that she didn’t. “They wouldn’t dare
do anything to me or anyone within the village. Mostly they are all
talk.”

“What are you
going to do though if it turns out not to be talk, and you are out
alone at night with nobody to protect you?” He drawled silkily. He
hated to frighten her but she had to be a bit more careful about
where she went alone at night. Even with so many people around her
whom she knew well, she was young and beautiful and still at
risk.

Kat knew he
wanted to scare her and, if she was honest, he was doing a very
good job of it. Still, she hated to have him tell her what to do.
She hated anyone telling her what to do. She straightening her
spine she looked him in the eye with almost regal
condescension.

“I am sure I
shall manage perfectly well. I have so far managed to get through
life without undue trauma.”

Jonathan heaved
a sigh of frustration. “I will say goodnight then.”

“Goodnight,”
Kat replied and hurried inside before he took it into his mind to
kiss her again. Tonight though, she had a strong suspicion that
even if she had lingered on the doorstep, he wouldn’t have
attempted even a peck on the cheek again. She felt as though she
had annoyed him immensely with her questions. A part of her
bitterly regretted the distance that now seemed to be between them,
however the logical part of her told her it was necessary to
protect her heart.

“I thought
Jonathan was going to escort you to work, dear,” Agnes sighed as
she watched Kat don her cloak and boots.

“He said he
would, but I sent him home. I am perfectly capable of making my way
down to the harbour,” she muttered and tied the knot on her boots
with more gusto than was necessary. She winced when the top of her
foot was pinched by the thick boot and wriggled her toes in
annoyance. Right now she was so angry with everything that she
almost wanted Brian Meldrew and his friends to appear before her.
She sighed and picked up a long, thin log from the basket beside
the fire.

“What are you
going to do with that?” Billy asked. He eyed the ruthless
determination on Kat’s face warily as she made her way toward the
door.

“Go to work,”
Kat snapped. “I will see you later.” She didn’t look back as she
left and knew that her mother, and Billy, both stared after her in
consternation. She hated to be grumpy with them. It wasn’t their
fault that her world was all topsy-turvy. It was that pesky Lord
Denham’s fault, but she had no idea what to do about the raging
curiosity that burned through her. She ached to know what the
‘responsibilities’ were that he had alluded to, but she couldn’t
ask him. His face had become withdrawn and implacable once he had
realised just how much he had revealed to her as it was, although
in all honesty he hadn’t revealed much at all now that she came to
think about it.

That led her to
one last question. Was he being honest with her when he said that
he wasn’t married? More importantly, what ‘responsibilities’ could
a single man like Jonathan have that took him away for weeks or
even months at a time?

CHAPTER
SEVEN

The following
morning Jonathan ate breakfast in his study with his uncle.

“Is Kat due to
read again today?” Bruce asked hopefully.

“She read
rather a lot yesterday. It doesn’t seem fair to expect her to do it
again today.”

“She doesn’t
usually read that much. It was nice to carry on with the story,” he
sighed with an air of satisfaction.

“I am sure that
if she can make it, she will be here at the usual time.” He
certainly hoped so because there were things Jonathan needed to
discuss with her. “It is very good of her to come and read as often
as she does.”

“It is very
good of her to spend any time with an aged old man like me. She
would make a perfect relation if she was gentry,” the old man
sighed with regret.

Jonathan
scowled at that. “You have never allowed social status to influence
your association with people before,” he remarked pointedly. He
knew his uncle was like any other aristocrat, and expected him to
continue the family name, but this was something he had never
discussed at any great length with anyone before.

“I know, but we
have to consider that there are still social strictures. Kat is
very nice but she hasn’t been trained to run the house, nor would
she be able to hold her own amongst those other cats within the
Ton
.”

“I don’t
consider the
Ton
of any importance to my future marital
status. I would never consider the prospect of being associated
with any one of them in matrimony,” Jonathan announced flatly. He
couldn’t bear the thought of being landed with some insipid miss
whose scheming machinations and avaricious mother would rule his
house. Hell would freeze over first.

“You need to
take a wife at some point.”

“If I don’t get
to choose my wife, then I have no intention of getting married. It
is as simple as that.” He stated flatly. His eyes met Bruce’s over
the width of the table.

“I thought I
taught you never to dally with the locals,” Bruce replied with no
hint of censure in his voice.

“I have not
dallied with her,” Jonathan argued. “If I have my way Kat will be
far from a dalliance.”

“That sounds
serious.”

Jonathan merely
stared obliquely back at his uncle. The need to keep his intentions
private was so very strong, but this was his uncle, his closest
living relative. There should be no secrets between them.

“How do you
think she is going to feel about the differences between you, and
the expectation she will have placed on her if she takes up the
position of your wife? There is a world of difference between her
life as a villager and the life of Lady Dentham, you know. Your
mother never really took to it and she was born aristocracy.”

“I know, but
Kat is strong and will manage. Besides, I am going to be around to
help.”

Bruce lifted
his brows and looked at Jonathan in shock. “What about your work
with the Star Elite?”

Jonathan
studied his uncle carefully and read the hidden hope in his weary
eyes. “I have grown tired of life in the shadows. While we are at
war, I have responsibilities to the Star Elite that I simply cannot
walk away from, you know that. The men I work with are my
colleagues, but they are also my friends. I cannot simply leave
them to fight alone. It is my duty to ensure that the borders are
protected from smugglers and the like. But, that doesn’t mean that
my private life has to be entirely compromised. I cannot
countenance being wed to Kat before I need to disappear on another
mission that is likely to take me away for weeks at a time, but I
will have to. I can ensure that she is settled before I go. You
will be here to help her with anything that arises while I am gone.
Besides, she has her mother and Billy, who will be here too. It
isn’t as though she is will be entirely alone. If it becomes
apparent that I need to spend more time at home then I am afraid
the time has come that I will have to leave the Star Elite, and
will retire to run my estates without reservation.”