Page 102 of In Search of a Husband
“Very well, I only ask you to hold your answer until we reach London.”
Kate bit back a quip about his intention of attempting to seduce her or sway her on their journey together. It made no difference. His charm had faded, and all that remained was a wild, pacing animal desperate to secure its future.
That was Hugh Nethercott, the Marquess of Brookhouse now. A lame wolf, cornered, and injured.
And she wouldn’t be swayed. She could have a kind heart without sacrificing her own.
Her mother bickered with her father in the front hall. Kate approached, adjusting her bonnet and pulling on her gloves.
“Are we ready to leave?”
Her father tapped his top hat over his thigh, assessing her. “I don’t understand why you will not marry the marquess. He is a good match.”
Lawd, this was all exhausting. She was leaving Scotland as asked, and still it wasn’t enough.
“As my father,” she said, dropping her voice low, “I hope that you wish me a happy marriage. I am beginning to suspect you need me to marry the marquess as much as he needs to marry me. I am only asking everyone to consider what I would like. And as I don’t wish to marry?—”
Her mother gasped. “Ever?”
“At the present moment?” Kate asked, spinning to address her mother. “No.”
“With his title and our fortune, it would serve both families well.”
Her heart cracked a little further, recognizing no matter the outcome, standing by her own wishes would be deemed selfish. She couldn’t win this because there was never a question as to whether it would happen. Her parents and the marquess had deemed it so, and Kate, ever the good daughter, would agree.
Even if it took six hundred miles to convince her otherwise.
Hugh grumbled as he dragged her trunk down the stairs to rejoin them. “Is everyone ready to depart?”
Kate glanced behind her, taking in one last look.
It had been a grand adventure.
Hughand her father sat opposite her on the bench in the carriage, both glaring and possessing a bitter disposition. Kate pretended not to notice and peered out the window, but she didn’t like seeing the castle fade behind her. It was too quick of a goodbye.
Upon leaving, Mrs. Malcolm had told her that Elsie and the girls were out for a walk, and though Kate was glad to have missed the awkward goodbye that would have ensued, she regretted leaving as she had.
“What a dismal place,” her mother said.
“I never travel past Edinburgh on principle,” her father grumbled.
The marquess only grinned at her, as if she had been bested. Bold, considering she wouldn’t marry him.
“I am thinking a spring wedding,” her mother continued.
“Yes,” her father agreed. “Spring would work. First, we must introduce you two together, perhaps at a ball. Maybe the duchess can help there. Someone should reach out to the gossip rags and share the story of how you were reunited. That would be best.”
Kate bit her lip, fighting back tears as the castle disappeared behind the forest line. The carriage rumbled forward, pulling herfarther and farther away from the small slice of independence she had fought for, then allowed to slip away.
She had vowed never to be at the whim of a man again. After all, women didn’t owe men anything, even if they thought otherwise.
“I don’t wish to speak of a wedding yet,” Kate said, her voice trailing off and crumbling much like her heart. She should be stronger. She was the one who left, after all. Perhaps she hadn’t fought enough. Gabriel had so neatly dismissed her, and she had promptly listened.
“You must speak of the wedding,” her mother insisted. “There must be a plan when we return to London. If our families are to salvage our reputations and find a place in society once again, then it is of great importance that you and the marquess are united.”
“London will believe a redemption story, no doubt,” she said, not hiding the bitter note in her voice.
“I am changed, Miss Bancroft,” the marquess insisted.
