Page 78 of Her Bear of a Duke

"My Dear Catherine,

I am writing this to tell you that you will not see me again. It is for the best, as I see now that I have only been standing in the way of your real family.

I am sorry for what happened. I wish that you had not seen it, for it must have been so frightening. It is for that reason that I have no choice but to leave. I do not like the person I was that night, and I do not want you to see more of it.

I will be seeking an annulment for the marriage, of course. Your uncle might not like it, but this is how it must be. I am not leaving you alone, however, for you have your Aunt Annabelle to take care of you. It is better this way, as she at least deserves you.

I will not see you again, but know that none of this was your fault. You have always been a wonderful niece, and I am always proud of you.

Yours sincerely,

Aunt Dorothy"

His hands trembled as he held the note.

"She has not seen it," Lady Annabelle explained. "I found it by chance, and kept it from her. I thought that you would appreciate making your own decision, rather than me doing something without your permission."

"Yes, that is most certainly appreciated. Thank you, Lady Annabelle."

"We are family now. Perhaps you might simply call me Annabelle?"

Morgan did not wish to speak to a lady other than his wife in such an affectionate manner, but she had a point. They were family, and he had to treat her that way whether he liked it or not. He nodded begrudgingly.

"I will say, though," she giggled, "that it is strange how she proposed that she seeks an annulment and you and I become Catherine's parents. It is kind of her to suggest it, but rather sudden."

It was at that moment that Morgan had passed over the word ‘annulment' completely. He looked back, and his breath was knocked out of him. Dorothy had no intentions of returning, and as he did not know where to find her, there was nothing that he could do.

"I need to be alone for a while," he said firmly.

"Morgan, what you need is support," she replied gently, brushing her fingertips against his arm. "I am here to help you."

"I do not need your help. I need my wife."

"Your wife has left you. She has abandoned you and our niece because she was unhappy. Young ladies do that. I will not do that to you a second time, not now that I have grown so much."

"How clear must I be that I do not care for you?" he snapped. "I want my wife, and you are not her. You are only here because Catherine thinks highly of you, but when I look at my staff and see how miserable you have made them all, I want to change my mind about showing you kindness."

"That certainly is a strange way to talk to the sister of the lady your brother killed. Do you know what that did to my family?It destroyed us, and my father to this day refuses to believe it happened. He locked himself away all day, refusing to do anything but weep. We lost everything, and for years I continued on trying to help my family. We never knew why she had done it, and when I learned the truth I thought that we might at last be able to find a way through."

"And that is why you are here, yes? It has nothing to do with Catherine, and wanting to meet your niece. You only want a nice household to stay in, and to avoid going home."

"I have never truly lied about that. I am here for the sake of my family, and if that affects your own then so be it."

At last, there it was. He knew that the crueler side of Lady Annabelle still had to exist, but he had not expected her to give herself away, not after she had done so all those years before.

"I want you to leave," he instructed. "You may say goodbye to Catherine, and then you will return to your family. I have to rebuild what I have, and I cannot do that with you here."

"You are not being fair. The girl needs me. I am the closest thing she has to her mother. I know that you were happy to forget about her, but I am not. I never did."

"I did not forget about her. I did not know who she was. From the moment I found her, I planned to write to your family, but Catherine did so first. If you wish to call me responsible for what my brother did, then I will not stop you, but you ought to remember your own part in it."

"I had no part in it. I had nothing to do with you."

"No, but you cannot help but imagine what sort of family would make a young lady so frightened to tell the truth about her pregnancy that it was easier to run away entirely."

"How dare you," she snapped. "Would you say that to Catherine, if she were here right now?"

"That your family did not care for her mother? She already knows as much."

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