Page 46 of The Ones Left Behind
“You are very welcome. I am relieved to have you both here,” Matthias said earnestly.
“You are moving quite well on those,” Waverley remarked. How is the leg?”
“I can put some weight on it now. The doctor believes the bone was broken so I must stomach the splint a while longer before we know for certain.”
“At least there is hope and you can move about,” the Duke offered. “We were not certain, when we left you here, if you would survive the fever.”
Matthias stopped at the French cupboard commissioned by his grandfather and began to pour them a drink. He did not want to think of what might have been. Philip came over and took the glasses to their chairs.
“I know everyone was not so fortunate as I,” Matthias reflected, once they were settled.
“But it doesn’t lessen the blow.” Philip spoke from experience. “Now, what is going on with Kitty? Your letter was a bit…vague.”
“Kitty would rather do menial work than live here as a lady.” He paused and decided to be fully open with his friends. “She has refused me twice.”
“I beg your pardon? Why?” Philip asked, taken aback.
“I have asked myself that question continuously. I must seek a wife, and I cannot imagine anyone else. She has no other prospects. I can only think there is some aversion to me.”
“Peter was never secretive that theirs was not a love-match, but I thought they were comfortable. Could something have happened?” Waverley asked.
“Not that I am aware of. That is why I have called everyone here; for advice and, frankly, to force her from the ridiculous notion of being my housekeeper.”
Philip frowned. “Why is it ridiculous?” He held out his hands in an explanatory gesture. “I understand, knowing your relationship with her, that you do not wish to see her in service, but is it truly so awful for her, if it is what she wishes?”
“She should have been my wife!” Matthias slammed his hand down on the arm of his chair. “She returned here half-starved and penniless, according to Hayes. This was her last resort.”
Waverley creased his brow. “She should have come to us. That was why we established the trust.”
“Aye,” Matthias said, downing the contents of his glass. It hurt deeply that she had not come to him. Even with all that had passed, she had preferred to live in starvation. “I need to ascertain why.”
“She mentioned not wishing for another marriage of convenience,” Philip remarked, as if he was recalling her earlier words.
Matthias needed to pace about, for it helped him to think. He desperately needed his leg to heal. Instead, he had to settle for tapping his foot.
“Is there some other history with you and Kitty?” Philip was an astute interrogator.
Matthias had not known the tables would be turned on him. He sighed heavily. “I suppose there is no sense in hiding it... if it will help her to see that I am not operating out of some misguided sense of duty or pity.”
Waverley and Philip waited for him to gather his thoughts.
“Kitty and I were brought up almost as brother and sister. She was a wee bit of a thing when she was orphaned. Her mother was my mother’s dearest cousin and so she took Kitty in and brought her up like her own daughter.”
The two just listened, taking occasional sips of their brandy.
“My mother died too young. Kitty had no one else and followed Peter and I around like a lost kitten. I thought of her as a friend and a sister, I believe, but then she changed—I changed.”
Philip had a knowing look in his eyes.
“The last summer I was down from university, she had grown from a girl into a woman. I was infatuated, of course, but it was more than that.”
“You cared about her,” Waverley observed.
“Naturally. I was not toying with her affections—I was in earnest.” Matthias looked out of the window, that horrible day still fresh in his mind as if it had just happened. “I was head over heels, as they say. After the Midsummer ball, Kitty and I stayed out by the lake until dawn. We talked, we kissed, we made promises… and lost track of time. Notwithstanding the hour, my father was waiting for us when we tried to sneak back inside.”
“What happened?” Philip asked.
“I was sent to my room, and by the next morning, Kitty was gone. He cast her from the house. Instead of blaming me, he thought she was scheming to be a future countess.”
