Page 70 of The Duke's Last Dance
“You… you… you cannot do that!” Lord Burton frowned deeply, his voice thundering through the empty ballroom. “We are engaged! I have done no such thing, and it is not proper of you to call it off without allowing me a chance to explain myself.”
“I have had this knowledge from someone who has worked with you,” Catherine said. “I need not give you a chance to explain yourself. Your actions when you believed I was in the gardens said it all. You have shamed yourself, and I hope you can live with that, Lord Burton.”
He said nothing more. Instead, he left the ring on the ground, storming out of the room. A faint, “you’ll regret not marrying me,” echoed from downstairs.
Catherine said nothing more. Her parents looked at her.
“Where have you heard this, Catherine?” Her father finally said something. “I looked into him when you started courting him. How could you find this information when I could not?”
“Lord Lockhart worked with him in the Navy, or so Nicolas says,” Catherine replied. “He has returned to Town. I do not know how long he has been here, but he had told me of the Duke of Hestina’s ways. When I came in and saw him with other women, doing what he would not do for me, I knew that Lord Lockhart had been telling the truth. What kind of man ignores how he can make the woman he is engaged to feel special?”
She shook her head, and then excused herself.
She did not want to see that ring, nor did she want to continue this conversation. It only made her wonder how often he had turned around at a ball to give another woman the kind of treatment she craved. How often had he turned around when he thought she was going to be a while to see another woman behind him and offer his hand in a dance or tell a bad joke and get her to open up to him?
Catherine went up to her room. She did not know what else she could do, but she knew that she was done with the engagement dinner. Her mother was probably instructing the servants to clean it up, take it away, since the engagement was not to be.
She had Miss Amelia help her out of the pink gown that she had been given for the party. It went into the closet, most likely never to be seen again. She never wanted to think about how close she had come to marrying a man who would never give her the proper treatment again. That meant all reminders of it had to leave her be, had to be taken away.
Her mother would not be happy to hear that she would most likely not wear the pink gown again, but when she had so many other gowns, having a new gown specifically for the engagement dinner felt a little much to Catherine.
“I am sorry to hear that it did not end well, Catherine,” Miss Amelia said. “What do you plan to do with the ring the duke gave you?”
“I plan to mail it to him, as a reminder that he should pay attention to what the woman he courts is asking of him,” Catherine replied. “I cannot believe he thought I would marry him without finding out what kind of a man he truly is. They say you cannot trust someone who does not listen to you… and I suppose the saying is right. Especially about the men you court.”
“What do you plan to do about Lord Lockhart? He is the one who warned you, yes?” Miss Amelia furrowed her brows as she helped Catherine into a walking gown. It was the best thing to put on now, since it was still early in the evening and she had no plans to leave the estate now.
“Yes, he is,” Catherine said. “I do not know… I would understand if he did not want to give met the time of day after what I said to him.” She gulped.
She worried she had ruined a relationship that she should never have ruined, a relationship she still wanted to pursue. Her heart hurt when she thought of him shunning her out of his life forever, though they lived so close to one another when in Town.
Miss Amelia did not say anything more. Catherine finished getting dressed, and she stayed in her room for a while. The sun slowly set, and Catherine ignored her mother’s pleas for her to come down and join them for some piano music in the sitting room.
When Catherine did finally leave her room, it was only to go to the dining room. The hallways had been cleared of any trace of the engagement dinner, and she found it left her feeling hollow inside. She wanted to get married, but she had almost married a man who would never care for her as much as he would dote on the women he could not have.
When she arrived at the dining hall, she was shocked to find that, while it had been cleared of the tables and the finery from the evening, she was not the only one in the hall. Lord Lockhart stood by one of the large windows, quietly looking out the window.
She walked closer, and he turned around, staring at her.
He gave her a soft smile. He had not decided to leave her wondering if he was going to hate her for the rest of his life because of how she had treated him. She did not know what to say, but she drew closer. Her heart pounded in her ears.
Then, their song filled the hall. She didn’t know how it was being played, but she did not care.
“Would you share one last dance with me, Lady Catherine?” He held his hand out to her.
She took it gently, and that was the moment. The moment where she knew it was now or never. Her knees buckled, and she almost toppled to the ground. Tears welled in her eyes, and she knew. She knew she had to say it now.
“It will not be our last dance, Nicolas,” she said with as strong a voice as she could muster. “I love you too much to let you go again. I don’twantto lose you again.”
He smiled at her, and then started to guide her around the room. They danced the waltz, a harmony between their bodies guiding her as he looked at nothing but her. She returned the favor. They glided across the hall as if they had never stopped dancing together, and Catherine could not imagine how she could have been so blind.
She wanted to thank him for everything he had done to fight for her, but she found nothing would come out of her mouth. Only a smile formed on her face, and tears wanted to stream from her eyes down her cheeks to water the plants in the room.
The song ended, and Nicolas bowed to her as she pulled away. She gave him a soft curtsy, and then was surprised when he offered his hand to her again.
“Come. I have one last thing I wish to do tonight,” he said, a sparkle in his eyes. It was a sparkle that Catherine had not seen in his eyes since he left for the Navy, and she had to admit, she was intrigued.
She followed him, taking his hand.
