Page 74 of The Marriage Debt
Then they were on their feet again as the duke stalked in looking as fresh as if he was fifty years old and had spent the previous evening reading by his fireside before retiring to bed at ten.
‘Good morning, Miss Cunningham. Graham. Robert, where is your brother?’
‘Breakfasting in his room I imagine, sir.’
‘Hmm.’ The duke’s inimical stare fixed on Katherine.
‘Possibly Lord Seaton is not a natural early riser, Your Grace,’ she ventured.
‘Modern affectations. I do not hold with them.’ He duke satdown with his plate and engaged a nervous Mr Graham in meticulously polite conversation. That gentleman’s relief when the duke finished his frugal breakfast was clear and he made his escape with Robert without a backward glance.
Katherine watched the duke from under her lashes. His back was upright, his shoulders set, his expression calm and haughty. But under it she thought she could glimpse an elderly man. A tired, sad man. Something caught inside her and she realised it was a pang of pity and compassion. But what could she do to help a duke?
Chapter Twenty Five
Katherine was visited by a sudden, terrifying idea. If she could, in some small way, reconcile Theo and his father, surely that was the best way she could possibly repay him for everything he had done for her. It was the only way she could express her love, even if he never knew what she had done, or why.
‘Sir.’ She got to her feet as the duke did. ‘May I speak with you?’
As soon as she had thought it she knew how foolish it was to be afraid. He was just a man, one she had grown fond of.
‘Of course, my dear. Would you care to come into the library?’ When they reached it he pulled forward a chair for her and she sank into it, searching for words she wished desperately she had the opportunity to rehearse.
‘Katherine, is anything wrong?’
‘Sir, please forgive me if this is presumptuous, but I have to speak with you about Theo.’ He still seemed receptive so she carried on in a rush. ‘He loves you so much, he is so proud of you and I believe you feel the same about him, but neither of you will show it. He is hurting, although he hides it, and I know it cannot be easy for you either.’
The duke’s mouth twisted suddenly and Katherine held her breath, convinced she had either distressed him or had simply overstepped the mark, but all he said was, ‘Go on.’
‘He left all those years ago because he was hurt and angry. From what he has told me I am sure he offered you ample cause for anger. But you knew where he was in London, you knew what he was doing and you did not send for him, or go to him. He was very young, very proud, with a pride he learned from you. And that pride has hardened now to the point where it is difficult for him to take that first step, even though his conscience tells himhe should.
‘You were so cool, so ironic, when he came back. My father died ten years ago, but what I remember most of all about him was his warmth, his forgiveness, even when we had hurt or disappointed him.’
‘I find it hard to imagine that you were ever a disappointment to your parents, Katherine.’ It was said gently without any of the mocking edge the duke’s voice so often held.
‘Of course I was,’ she said, half laughing at the memories. ‘All children are, surely, from time to time. But if they know themselves to be loved, then they try harder next time.’ It had worked with Philip while her parents were alive, but since then it seemed her own influence was never enough.
‘I love both my sons and I am proud of them both.’
‘I know that, but do they?’ She was growing in confidence now she knew the old man would not snub her efforts. ‘Did you know that Theo fought at Waterloo, that he had two horses shot out from under him?’
‘I knew he fought there, he let that much slip.’ The duke hesitated then said slowly, ‘I felt such dread that I could hardly speak, such pride I thought my heart might burst with it. I saw him standing there, so correct, so controlled, so obviously unwilling to share with me what must have been a devastating experience, and there were no words.’
‘He is a fine man,’ Katherine said. ‘And a brave one. It hurts him to speak of that battle and he will say little to me because I am a woman and he wants to protect me. He would talk of it to you, if you only ask. Has he told you that we were held up by highwaymen on our way here?’
The duke’s eyebrows rose. ‘He has not.’
Katherine smiled, despite the tension she was under. ‘He was wonderful. He climbed out of the carriage, told them he was Black Jack Standon and showed off the marks of the noose onhis neck. He thinks so fast and has such courage.’ She hesitated. ‘I saw him on the scaffold in the moments before the trap dropped. No-one there knew who he was, buthedid. He knew he was a Lydgate, and he knew how a Lydgate faced death. And he learned that at your knee.’
The duke suddenly dropped his face into his hands and Katherine, without thinking, fell to her knees beside his chair and put her arms around him. ‘Oh, sir, you are both so proud – please do not let that separate you from your son.’
After a moment he looked up at her and she saw his eyes were wet with tears. ‘Thank you for that, my dear. I imagine I am not an easy person to approach in such a way, am I?’
That, if ever she had heard one, was an understatement. ‘No, sir.’
‘I rather think your courage is a fitting match for my son’s. I will do as you ask, I promise. Perhaps, when he does bestir himself, you would be very kind and ask him to join me here. There is no need to tell him why. And, Katherine,’ he added as she reached the door, “You have heard the expression,The pot calling the kettle black?’
‘Yes, Your Grace.’ She regarded him, puzzled.
