Page 98 of The Trouble with Tigers
Zeke extended his hand. “Lord Ezekiel Thurgood of Claybourne. Kitty’s fiancé.”
Collin grinned and pumped Zeke’s hand. “Very good to meet you, Lord Thurgood. May I congratulate you on your excellent choice of brides.”
Zeke gave Collin a polite smile, bowing his head slightly. “On that we agree.” He turned his gaze on Kitty. “I’ll leave the two of you. If you need me…” He left off, departing and closing the breakfast hall’s seldom-used double doors behind him.
Kitty barely knew where to begin. “Where have you been? How did you find me? Collin, they said you died.”
Her darling brother. A bit fuller ’round the middle. Deeper lines etched across his forehead now. But Collin. Here. Alive.
“Obviously they were wrong, to my ever-loving relief. Sweetheart, do you mind if we sit? I’ve ridden straight from Maidstone County, and I’m rather exhausted, not to mention famished.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” Kitty pulled out the chair beside hers and flapped her hands for him to sit. “I’ll fix you a plate while you fill me in on everything. Starting with where in the world you’ve been these last two years, how long you’ve been home, and how in the world you found me, and—”
He chuckled. “Not so fast, poppet.”
“S-sorry. I’m just so happy,” she choked out.
Collin withdrew a white linen handkerchief from his coat pocket, and held it out to her in exchange for the breakfast plate she delivered. “Thanks, love.” He scooped up several large forkfuls of eggs.
Kitty sat and stared at him, her chin in her palm, content for the moment to simply watch him eat.
When he’d consumed most of the food on his plate, he sighed and set his fork aside. “It’s not a pleasant tale, I’m afraid, so I won’t belabor the details. The ship upon which I sailedcame upon another vessel, in trouble, or so we thought. Our good captain offered assistance. Once he dropped anchor, he summarily lost his ship to the hailing crew.”
She gasped. “Never say so. Grandfather and I were informed your ship went down.”
“A ship did indeed go down—burned into smithereens by its crew. It just didn’t happen to be the one I was aboard.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “I’ll never forget the smell of burning bodies.” He shuddered. “The ship that overtook us was a slave runner. Do you understand what that means?”
“A sea vessel used for the despicable practice of human trafficking,” she said.
“Yes—manned by a bloodthirsty lot of pirates. They pressed me into service.”
“Forced you to work on a slaver’s ship? For two years? How did you survive? Oh, if only you’d sent word.” She wrung her hands, imagining the horror.
Collin gave her an aggrieved look. “Don’t you think I would’ve if I could? Kitty, you have no idea what I’ve lived through, or to what lengths I had to go to make my way home.”
She was instantly contrite. “Collin, forgive me. I didn’t mean to diminish what you must’ve endured. It’s just that I’ve missed you so terribly.”
He took her hands in his. “And I you. Only imagine my disappointment when I arrived to Hastings House to find you gone.”
She swallowed past a lump in her throat. “Then you know about Grandfather.”
He nodded, face grave.
“I wish you could’ve been there to say goodbye.” She paused. “What will happen now? Collin, Garrick’s inherited the title.”
He gave her his signature crooked grin. “He merely borrowed it, love. By rights, it’s mine.”
She gazed at him in pure adoration. Of course he’d set things right. “Baron Collin Hastings of Maidstone.”
“Precisely. Speaking of titles. My only sister’s getting married, to a future earl, no less?”
She shook her head. “We’re not really…” She’d been ready to refute her engagement to Zeke, out of habit. Because up until last night, her engagement had been only pretense. But that was no longer precisely the case.
“Not really?” He prodded.
“We’re not really going to get into all that now, are we? I want to hear more about you, and introduce you to the rest of the family.”
***
