Intolerable Civility

Chapter Nineteen: Dutch Courage

The good thing about the whole event, David decided, was that Sarah was staying at home. Even Sarah did not have the gall to invite herself to a stranger's house. At least, not when the stranger was a baronet with a reputation for a sour temper. It was strange how his spirit lightened as the kisses Sarah blew them receded into the distance as they drove away from Plas Bryn.

Four days later (they were travelling slowly, thanks to Luke and the weather) they arrived at Sir William's sprawling new Oxfordshire estate. Despite the glinting whiteness of the new bricks and the unblemished slate of the roof, there was something grim about the house. It was too clean, too tidy. It looked as though the wind itself would not dare disturb its cropped lawn.

He looked at Cate. She clutched Luke to her chest, eyes wide and dark, cheeks pale. It was useless to say that he would protect her from her parents — whatever it was she was afraid of, it was not something she believed he could protect her from. Instead, he said quietly, "I am very grateful for what you are doing for me, Cate."

She nodded mutely and clutched Luke tighter.

The coach stopped and the grand front doors of the house opened. David got out of the coach, then helped Cate down. Her hand shook in his. He would have kept holding it as they entered the house, but she was holding Luke and that demanded both of her hands. Instead, he stayed close to her. Inside the front hall — a cold marble cavern in white and gilt — Lady Balley awaited them. He kissed the hand she offered him, but Cate, he noticed, was not offered a cheek to kiss, nor even a hand to shake. Lady Balley looked dispassionately at Luke, who stared curiously back at her.

"His eyes are brown," she said. "I thought they would be. But he is not an unhandsome child, I suppose." She turned away. "Your rooms are upstairs. No doubt you will want to rest after your journey, Captain Demery. Catherine, you will not leave the bedroom, except for at dinner. Sophia and Paul are in residence, but you are not to seek them and they are not to seek you."

"Where is Luke?" Cate's voice quavered. "Madalene?"

"That is no concern of yours." Lady Balley's voice was cut glass. "Dinner will be at eight. I do not know what you have brought with you to wear, so I have selected a gown from your old things that is suitable for the occasion. Come along, Catherine."

Lady Balley annunciated every syllable of the name in cold, clipped tones. David suddenly understood why Cate preferred Cate.

Lady Balley went up the stairs and Cate followed her. David came along behind them. They went not to the family quarters of the house, but into an ostentatiously decorated sort of state wing. It might have been a mark of respect, David supposed, but it also implied that Cate was no longer family.

"My old bedroom...?" Cate said timidly, as Lady Balley led them through a gallery full of portraits of long-dead ancestors in fresh gilt frames.

"Paul's tutor sleeps in it now," Lady Balley said. "You will stay here."

She opened a door into a large but stiffly furnished bedroom. The only indication that it was intended for Cate was a wooden crib placed near the bed. The rest of the room was masculine and impersonal, all dark silk drapes and hunting paintings on the walls.

"You must not spill anything or scuff the carpets," Lady Balley said. "And take care the infant does not make a mess."

"I will be careful," Cate said, her voice meek and quiet. "It is a very handsome room, Mama."

Lady Balley did not seem to think that worth a reply. She moved along to the next door in the wall. "And your room, Captain Demery. I hope you will find it comfortable."

It was even grander than Cate's room, with a bed that could easily have held three people and a roaring fire in the oversized fireplace. A decanter of some dark amber spirit had been set up on a table near the fire, along with one small glass — only one. Clearly, he was not meant to share, nor invite company here. David also noticed that there was no door to connect his bedroom to Cate's. He wondered if Lady Balley suspected their marriage was unconsummated. No, if she had, she would have placed them in the same room. The reason for this arrangement was prudery, or perhaps even punishment. Nevertheless, it was convenient for them both.