The men looked up as she entered. They had been gathered around a table with a paper spread upon it and, as Katherine came closer, she saw it was a large map. She bobbed a curtsy and looked up to meet Nick’s eyes. He smiled and without calculation she smiled back, relieved to find his warmth in the middle of the cold formality. Then Robert greeted her and the Duke stepped forward, gesturing her to look at what they had been studying and the chill, lonely feeling ebbed away.
‘I was just showing Nicholas this map which Mr Crace, our archivist, found recently in the Muniments Room. He is unable to join us for dinner, as he is dining with Reverend Rossington, our chaplain, at the Bishop’s palace.’
Katherine swallowed a small gasp. Of course, a Duke would have an archivist and a chaplain and of course they normally joined the family for dinner. Was it ever possible to be private in this vast house?
Nick was poring over the map again, one long finger pointing to what seemed to be a house towards the edge of the park. ‘Is Cousin Wilhelmina still in residence in the Dower House, sir?’
‘No, she died three years ago,’ the Duke replied. ‘The place is empty now.’ He regarded his elder son sharply. ‘Have you a use for it?’
Nick shrugged, ‘Possibly, sir, if you have not. I shall need to be setting up my own establishment.’
‘You can have the east wing here to your entire use should you wish,’ the Duke remarked. ‘Why do you wish to move out of the house?’
‘Because, with respect, sir, I think we would deal better together if we are not in each other’s pocket. And my wife informed me last night that she prefers a smaller home. Something snug and cosy were the words she used, if I remember aright.’
‘Nicholas!’ The word was forced out of Katherine with more emphasis than decorum and she blushed. ‘Excuse me, your Grace. I meant no disrespect, I had no idea where Nick lived when I spoke.’
‘So, he had not told you.’ The Duke smiled thinly at their discomfiture. ‘You could not have guessed what you would find. And in any case, you would expect the marriage to have been ended long before the Dower House is fit for habitation, would you not?’
‘Yes, of co—’
‘No.’ It was Nick, cutting emphatically across her response. ‘No, that is by no means agreed.’
Chapter Fifteen
As soon as he spoke he regretted it. Not the sentiment, but the abrupt way he had spoken, for Katherine’s eyes meeting his held not the defiance and anger he expected, but a sort of blank tiredness. He felt as though he had raised his hand to strike an already beaten animal.
‘Kat …’
‘Dinner is served, your Grace.’
The Duke stepped forward to offer his arm to Katherine and Nick wondered if he had imagined the expression in her eyes. Now they were bright, attentive on his father, and she was already asking a thoughtful question about the Chinese wallpaper which extended from the Salon into the dining room.
The table was reduced by most of its leaves and conversation would be easy, he thought, taking the foot of the table while Katherine was seated on his father’s right and Robert took the opposite place. It did mean he was sitting at right angles to her, which made it difficult to examine her face more closely.
Still, he mused while mechanically disjointing the capon set before him, the view of Kat’s profile was charming enough to keep any man occupied over dinner. The dark lashes swept her cheek, fluttering modestly in contradiction to the set of her firm little chin. Her nose was straight and when she smiled, as she was doing now at Robert who was offering her fish, there was a hint of a dimple in her cheek.
But despite the smile, he could not read her mood and he had become used to being able to do that on the long journey together. It had seemed she was not used to dissembling, to hiding her feelings; when she was angry her chin came up, her eyes flashed and she said what she thought. When she was happy her laughter was infectious and her whole body relaxed into a fluent softness that had an alarming effect on his own.
But now she was on society manners, listening attentively to her father-in-law and interposing a sensible question from time to time. She seemed to be sharing her attention equally between his father and brother. Nick tried interjecting a question.
‘Do you ride, Katherine?’
She turned to look at him and he was struck by how refreshing she looked in her simple gown in that exotic room. Her expression was serious and when she smiled the warmth did not reach her eyes. ‘No, I have never ridden.’ The smile became rueful. ‘We never lived in the country after I was twelve and in town it was difficult enough keeping the carriage and pair without adding riding horses.’
‘Would you like to learn?’ Her eyes came back to his reluctantly, he could swear. What was wrong? Surely something more than pique over having been kept in the dark over his title and circumstances?
‘Thank you, but I am sure you will be too busy while I am here. And I will have no use for such a skill—it would be a waste of your time.’
‘I do not intend to keep Nicholas chained to the estate manager’s side,’ the Duke interjected drily. ‘He will catch up on affairs here soon enough. And possibly he has plans of his own.’ He regarded his son blandly and Nick acknowledged the remark with a movement of his head.
Now what was the old devil up to? Calling his bluff seemed the easiest way to find out.
‘Indeed I have, sir. Naturally I must devote some time to Witherspoon and to whatever I may do to assist you. Then there is the Dower House to set to right, a hunting lodge to acquire in the shires—I think I will rent at first—and the question of a house. In town. None of that should stop me spending time teaching Kat to ride.’
She did not rise to the bait, merely toying with the timbale of rice before her. The Duke remarked, ‘The town house is entirely at your disposal, I visit only when the Lords are sitting, and these days, not always then.’
‘Thank you, sir. However, I was wondering whether to take something smaller for the time being.’
The footmen cleared the table and for a moment the room was emptied of staff while the second remove was collected from the adjoining pantry.
‘But surely,’ Kat observed mildly, ‘the family house would be more suitable for your purposes next Season?’
‘Why so?’
‘It will impress fashionable mamas, and that is so important when entering the Marriage Mart.’
Robert stifled a gasp of laughter with his napkin, earning himself a look of mild reproof from his father, and a glare from his brother.
‘I am not intending to enter that particular circus.’
‘Well, not quite yet, of course, it would not be proper, but you did say something about the need to set up your nursery, did you not?’ Kat remarked with maddening affability. Heron returned with the footmen and she asked the Duke, ‘Is that delightful view over the fireplace the park here?’
The next course passed with conversation on neutral topics, relieved only by Robert remarking that, whatever else Nick did, he must take himself off to Newcastle as soon as possible and see a tailor. ‘For my coats will not stand the strain on their seams for much longer.’
There was general laughter at Robert’s mock indignation at the fate of his clothes, but Nick was watching Kat. Her hand trembled as she lifted her glass and she set it down hastily. The graceful line of her shoulders