That was because she was too afraid he was wrong. It would be impossible to marry James and not lose herself to him. “If only there were some word from the committee,” she said.
“I heard nothing before we left London. Croston himself said it was too soon.”
“Yes. I know.” But there would be no mercy from the committee, and she didn’t expect any.
She touched the ragged spot where an entire corner had been shot away. She would have it repaired. She would have everything repaired. Before the month was out, there would be a crew of masons rebuilding the east tower and an army of gardeners coaxing the rose garden back to life.
The two ships were barely visible on the horizon now. A ship can only have one captain, and I prefer to be it.
If she didn’t do something to steer herself on course, everything she’d worked so hard to gain would be crushed. She would be crushed. She needed to solidify things with Lord Deal now—today—before she lost herself completely to James.
THE NEWS OF the committee’s decision had not yet reached Dunscore.
It was the critical fact that pounded through James’s thoughts as he thundered across the countryside toward Deal Manor with the night’s sensations still thrumming in his blood.
Last night had made one thing clear: he needed Katherine like a cannon needed powder. Like a sail needed wind.
The way she’d felt in his embrace this morning—he’d wanted to renew his proposal right then and there. But he wasn’t a fool. He knew Katherine too well to believe last night had changed her mind about anything.
That she still believed she needed to marry was his only hope for success.
Deal Manor came into view, and a familiar feeling coursed through his veins. An old exhilaration surged up from some hidden place. His strategy unfolded before him.
With any luck, this one confrontation would be all that was necessary.
James dismounted outside Deal Manor, rehearsing his attack as he handed off the reins. Once Deal was no longer an option for her, his marriage to Katherine would be all but assured.
Inside, he found Deal comfortably seated in his breakfast room. A copy of the Edinburgh Courant lay open with a scattering of crumbs dusting its pages.
“Had an uncanny feeling I might be seeing you,” Deal said.
“Oh?”
Deal only smiled and gestured to the empty chair at his small table nestled in a bay of tall windows. “Please, be seated. I’ll call for an extra plate.”
James preferred to stand, but there was no need to be an ass. “No need for the plate. I’ve already eaten.” It was a lie. Food was the last thing he could stomach this morning. A maid poured him a cup of coffee before being dismissed by Deal, and James sipped the brew even though he would have preferred something stronger. Good Scotch whiskey, for example.
“I’ll come straight to the point,” James said. “Whatever your understanding with Lady Dunscore, I want you to break it. I am prepared to negotiate an incentive.”
Deal took a bite of some dark bread, unperturbed save for a slight raising of his bushy brows. “And if the promise of an incentive doesn’t tempt me, you’ll resort to stronger measures, I suppose.”
James tamped down a flare of anger. “I’ll do whatever is necessary.”
Deal chewed his bread and took a sip of tea. “I can see now why Katherine said you were unsuitable.”
James’s gut pitched sharply. “Katherine thinks anyone in breeches is unsuitable.”
“But she has too volatile a nature to hide her emotions well, and when we discussed marriage it was clear her love lay elsewhere.”
Her love. James squelched a callow urge to embark on a fishing expedition.
“I asked her if she’d left someone behind in London—someone who’d broken her heart, perhaps—” Deal gave him a pointed look “—but she said no, that there was nobody appropriate. Now I can see perhaps she was right. Do you really think to win Katherine by threats and bribes?”
“I will have Katherine by whatever method it takes. Have you come to an understanding?”
“That, Croston, is a question you should be asking her.”
“I’m asking you.”
“I certainly won’t deny Katherine my help, though I’ll admit I haven’t yet decided what form it should take.” There was a stubborn set to Deal’s face that James didn’t like.
“Perhaps I can help you decide,” James said coldly. “Katherine may be carrying my child. And even were that not the case, there’s a good chance that after last night it would be.”
Deal set down his bread and looked James in the eye. “Impertinent bastard. I would call you out for besmirching her if it wasn’t plain as day you’re besotted. A man in love deserves a measure of mercy, I suppose.”
In love. The idea grabbed him by the throat and for a moment he couldn’t breathe.
Deal gave James a look he hadn’t received since school days. “My only question is how you plan to make her say the vows. Will you hold a pistol on her?”
Somehow he managed to inhale. “I’ll take care of it.”
“You think to leave her no choice, is that it? Make yourself the only option? A faulty premise, my boy, as you well know. A rich estate and a beautiful countess—even a seafaring one—is bound to be a powerful lure. Been thinking of a few suggestions these past days. McGowan, for example. He’s young enough. Solid estate. Weogh wouldn’t be a bad choice, either.”
“I’ll tell any man that tries exactly what I told you,” James said darkly.
Deal narrowed his eyes. “You’ll ruin her in your attempt to have her?”
He was in love.
In love. The certainty of it snaked down on the inside of him and curled up tight.
“I’ll do anything to have her,” he said flatly.
Wasn’t that what a man in love was supposed to do?
* * *
KATHERINE STEPPED OUT of her carriage in front of Lord Deal’s house, where dozens of hoofprints in the dough-soft mud made the ground uneven and hard to walk on in her slippers. Obviously hers was not the first visit of the morning. There were muddy footprints on the steps and in the entranceway.
“My dear, what a lovely surprise,” Lord Deal said, meeting her in the entry. “Come, come—I’m just finishing my breakfast.” A few crumbs on his mustache attested to the truth of it. “Will you have anything? A bit of fruit, perhaps? Tea?”
Brandy, more like. “Tea would be nice, thank you.” He guided her into the sitting room where his breakfast table was set up by the window. His gait was more shuffly this morning than it had been before, and he nearly lost his balance when they walked from the floor to the carpet. She put out a hand to help him.
“There’s a good girl. My bones just aren’t what they used to be. Been having some trouble this morning—weather must be changing.” He gestured her to a chair at his table and sat down. A maid hurried over and whisked away the cup from his last visitor and replaced it with a fresh one. “Has something happened? Is everything all right with your guests?”
“Nothing has happened. William has gone to Edinburgh, and Lord Croston has been out on a morning ride.” She took a breath. “I fear waiting much longer given the uncertainty with