Page 21 of The Marriage Debt
‘I believed you. I had spent the night with you and you treated me honourably. And if you were innocent, then I had no choice but to help you.’
‘Kat, come here.’ He put up a hand to his eyes.
‘Why? What is wrong? Is that bandage chaffing your throat?’ Anxious, Katherine leaned over the bed. The next moment she was caught around the waist, pulled down against Theo’s chest and was being thoroughly kissed.
He had kissed her once before. Once only, as the prison clock struck eight with the turnkeys at the door. This was different. A slow slide of his lips across hers, a gentle pressure which tantalised, promised, stirred feelings inside her which burnedand ached and made her arch instinctively closer.
Her lips parted and his tongue slid inside her to touch hers. Katherine gripped his shoulders as though she were drowning and tried to hold onto the remnants of rational thought. Those remnants were telling her that this was outrageous, that she should not be doing this, allowing this. Her self-control struggled briefly with the newly-discovered wanton instincts that seemed to be rioting through her and finally got the upper hand. She opened her hands and pushed.
Theo released her immediately and she sat back panting on the edge of the bed. ‘We shouldn’t.’
‘I wanted to thank you, Kat.’ He took a deep swallow of water and managed, ‘Don’t have the words, the voice but will try if you will not let me kiss you.’ His face was serious under the unruly tumble of damp black hair and Katherine caught herself before she could reach out and brush it back from his forehead. ‘You save my life, you put yourself in danger and you gave up the last of your financial security. Do not deserve that. I can never repay it.’ He broke off, coughing, and she gave him the water again. ‘I was resigned to dying – just return for the last six years listening to my pride and not my duty. Turned my back on my responsibilities.
‘Resigned until I met you and found there was still something I wanted.’
Katherine knew she blushed and he smiled wickedly at her. ‘Not just that, although kissing you reminds me why it is good to be alive.’
‘I am glad,’ she said simply. ‘But we should not be alone, I think. After all, as soon as Arthur can arrange it, the marriage will be annulled.’
‘Have you forgotten why you married me? How will the debt be paid?’
Fear rolled back like a cold fog. ‘I had not forgotten, precisely,’she stammered. ‘It just did not seem important under the circumstances. The last few days, all I have thought about was making sure you did not hang.’
‘By saving my neck you have resurrected the debt.’ He struggled to get whole sentences out as though that would convince her. ‘The moneylenders will be interested to hear about this. We must leave town soon.’
‘There is no “we” about it,’ Katherine said robustly, fighting down the waves of panic. ‘It is my debt, not yours.’
Theo grinned. He seemed invigorated by the dreadful mess they found themselves in.
‘How can you smile about it?’ she protested. ‘I only married you because I thought the debt would make no difference to you. Neither of us has any money, for goodness sake. You must disentangle yourself from my affairs.’
‘Kat, you saved my life. Do you think I value that at less than a few thousand pounds?’
‘Five thousand,’ she said miserably. ‘You might not be going to hang, but if you remain married to me,youwill end up in a debtor’s prison.’
‘No annulment, Kat.’
‘Then I will go to the moneylenders and tell them the marriage was not consummated. That will do just as well.’
Theo sat up, the smile vanishing from his face. ‘They will not believe you, and for another, if I really thought you would do that, I promise you I would make it a lie before you could leave this room.’ He fell back coughing.
Katherine scrambled to her feet and backed off from the bed. ‘No.’ There was a very determined glint in his eyes, even if she could not believe he really would force her. ‘If I promise I will not go to them today or tomorrow, will you promise me you will rest now?’ She received a reluctant nod. ‘Would you like something to eat? No? Then I will bring you some lemonade.’
‘Claret.’
‘Lemonade.’ She reached the door and looked back. ‘We have no claret.’
‘Liar,’ he observed amiably.
‘Oh very well, but it will do you no good whatsoever. In fact I would not be surprised if you ended up with a brain fever.’
Katherine shut the door with a snap and went downstairs to find Jenny, feeling she had definitely come off worst in that encounter. She should have explained only what she had intended to about her adventures in Hertfordshire, she should have accepted Theo’s thanks with dignity and decorum and she should have convinced him they should seek an annulment at the earliest opportunity.
What happened instead? she berated herself as she walked into the kitchen.He knows every detail, you let yourself be kissed until you almost lost every shred of self-control and modesty and he is refusing to annul the marriage.
‘Are you all right, Miss Katherine?’ Jenny asked, emerging from the pantry with a bowl of eggs.
‘Perfectly, thank you. Could you ask John to clear the bath from upstairs when he has a moment? And if there is any left of that dozen of claret that Mr Philip thought I don’t know about, please will you take one up to Mr Lydgate.’
