Changing Kitty

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Inside, Kitty was dying. He was just staring at her. They were standing under a damp wooden ramp on the edge of London and he’d just kissed her. She’d professed her love for him and he was just staring.

His bright blue eyes were wide. Kitty couldn’t determine whether they were wide with embarrassment or sheer pity. She stepped away from him until her head was touching the ramp. She fidgeted with her gown anxiously and then began to straighten the lace on her parasol. ‘Be calm,’ she told herself. ‘He’ll leave in a moment and you’ll be clear to run away.’

It was at least five minutes before he said anything. “Why?” was all he managed to say.

Kitty was surprised. Off all things to say, she wasn’t expecting a simple question. At least he wasn’t demanding her to leave him alone. “Why what?” she said softly.

Captain Aubrey smiled slightly and shook his head. He ran a hand through his thick, dark blond hair and then laughed lightly. “Why is this happening to me now?” he asked as if it were the simplest question in the world.

Kitty didn’t know whether she was supposed to be offended. “You were the one who kissed me. You told me that my first kiss would be with the one I love, and it was. I didn’t realise that he would find me so ... laughable.”

Captain Aubrey closed the distance between them and placed his hands lightly on her waist. Kitty was well aware of the fact that he knew she was not properly dressed in her underclothes, she, however, appreciated the fact that he knew it was because of an injury. “Why is this happening to me now?” he repeated with a smile on his face. “I’m leaving in five days. Why could this have not happened when my duty was over so I could do something about it?”

Kitty peered up at him curiously. “You’re not angry?”

He shook his head. “I’m much happier than I ought to be. You deserve far better than me, Kitty.”

Kitty was confused. “How can you say that?” she asked. “What is wrong with you?”

“Many things,” he chuckled. “The first is that I’m besotted with a woman far above my station.”

Kitty could feel her heart swell. He reciprocated. He felt the same way. She wasn’t insane. She now knew how her mother felt about her father, how her Aunt Jane felt about her Uncle Daniel, how her grandmamma had felt about her grandpapa ... a feeling that was completely indescribable. If he were not holding her to the ground she was sure she might fly.

“Stations do not matter when it comes to love,” she informed him excitedly. “Why, my father was just a small town solicitor when he inherited the earldom and married my mama ... that’s not a good example ... er ... my aunt! My Aunt Jane was just a farmer’s daughter when she married my uncle, the Earl of Southerby.”

Captain Aubrey smiled sadly at her. “That’s different, Kitty. He was the one with the money and the grand estate to offer her. With us it is the other way around.”