Page 60 of One Bed for the Bluestocking
“And yet, you didn’t say anything,” Kate said, her voice hoarse.
Roderick shrugged.“At first, we thought he was daft.”
“But after a few weeks,” Colin added, “we realized he was right.For the reasons Iain noted, and other little signs.”
Kate was trying very hard not to burst into tears.“Why didn’t you turn me in?”
Colin’s eyes were sincere.“Because, by that point, we were friends.”
Roderick waved a hand.“Besides, university life can be deadly dull.Watching ye pull yer little ruse was the most entertainment I’ve had in a while.”
Arthur waggled his eyebrows suggestively.“Especially watching you circling around Mr.Sterling.”
“I see.”Kate swiped a thumb beneath her eyes, having been unsuccessful at holding in her tears.“How did you figure out my true identity?”
“Believe it or not, that was Roderick,” Colin said.
Roderick narrowed his eyes.“I’d like to know what ye meant by that!”
Colin held his hands up.“No offense intended.”
“Hmpf.”Roderick turned to Kate.“Ye’ll recall I said that my uncle had one of yer father’s paintings.”He nodded toward the sketchbook Kate held clutched to her bosom.“I thought yer work looked awfully familiar.Ye were the one who made those paintings.The ones attributed to yer father.Didn’t ye?”
Kate nodded.“I did.”
“The thing that confirmed it,” Arthur said, “was the painting belonging to Roderick’s uncle.He had him bring it with him when he came into town three weeks ago.”
“The signature,” Colin explained.“It was your handwriting.That’s how we knew it was your work, not that you painted in a similar style to your father, having trained under him.”
Arthur nudged her with his elbow.“Besides,Kit Witherspoon?Really?”
They all chuckled at that, even Kate.“I suppose as aliases go, it leaves something to be desired.I thought I could remember to answer to Kit.”
Roderick rocked back on his heels.“Well, it’s a good thing ye can paint, because ye won’t be getting a job spying for the Foreign Office.”
“I don’t suppose I will.”Her face fell as she considered her prospects.“Although I might have to move to the Continent regardless.I’ve been ruined, and in the most public way imaginable.”
“It won’t come to that,” Arthur said, passing her his handkerchief.“Mr.Sterling will marry you.”
Kate accepted Arthur’s handkerchief and dabbed at her cheeks.She wasn’t sure how much she should reveal about her relationship with Nathaniel.He was trying to avoid a scandal so he would be considered for the Natural History Chair.Of course, given the fact that her deception was now public knowledge, and they had spent the last six weeks alone together in the field, it seemed that scandal had already come knocking at his door.
She finally settled for saying, “I would like that, as I believe you have discerned.”She could feel her cheeks burn as she made the admission.
“Dinnae fash,” Roderick said.“He’ll marry ye, all right.He looks at ye like the sun rises and sets out of yer arse.”
Colin winced.“Perhaps now that we’re openly acknowledging that ‘Kit’ is really Kate, we should use more befitting language.”
Roderick’s expression was blank.“That’s what I did.”
Arthur rolled his eyes.“Think, Buchanan.You wouldn’t say the wordarsein front of your grandmother.”
Roderick looked perplexed.“I would.I’m fairly certain my grandmother taught me that word.”
Colin stepped forward.“Lovely.Why don’t we take Kate over to Mr.Sterling’s office so she can apprise him of recent developments?”
Kate nodded, and they set off.As they crossed the quadrangle, dread churned in her stomach.Nat had specifically asked her to maintain her disguise so as not to sabotage his bid to secure the Natural History Chair.Oh, God.She had ruined his chances, hadn’t she?The scandal of the two of them having been alone in the wilderness for weeks on end would be the talk of the university.
Although she knew Nathaniel cared for her, she did not delude herself that she held a higher place in his esteem than his research.She was all too familiar with naturalists, having been raised by one.Nothing was more important than their work.Nothing, and in an instant, she had gone from being the person who aided him in the thing that was most important to him to the person who had sabotaged his chances of achieving his dream.
