Chapter Twenty-six
Kaitlyn smiled up at Sir Hughes when he entered the parlor later that evening. “How was your trip into town? Did you accomplish all you hoped to?”
Jack nodded. “Yes, thank you. I hope there will be no issues.” He moved closer to her chair and sat on the one near her looking at Amelia, who smiled and kept working on her stitching. “I saw Mr. Manning before I left. Did you have a good visit?”
Kaitlyn nodded. She glanced at Amelia and leaned a little closer to Jack. “He had some concerns about the state of our relationship.”
Jack nodded as if he understood her hint. “And did you ease his mind on the matter?”
Kaitlyn nodded. “I did. He is interested in coming back to visit again. He may even arrive in time for supper. Would you be all right with that?”
Jack nodded. “I would be honored to have him join us.”
Kaitlyn looked again at Amelia. When she was sure the girl wouldn’t be able to hear them, she spoke. “He asked me a question. Very much the same as what I asked you, except it is in earnest. I want you to be completely aware of how things stand.”
Her heart pounded in her chest. She really didn’t belong to him. She could leave without his say so, but she still worried about hurting him and wanted to be sure that he approved.
Jack’s face remained impassive. She couldn’t read much inside his eyes, but after long moments he eventually nodded. “That is good news. Is it what you want?”
Kaitlyn studied him for a moment. He continued in a whisper before she could voice her thoughts. “I have begun to think of all the good you and I could do together.” He looked over at his cousin, who remained quietly engaged in her stitching. “Amelia is peaceful and safe here. We could provide for her, and I’m sure her father will have no qualms about leaving her in my care. I don’t want her to be sent to another relative. She’s had too much upheaval in her short life.”
Kaitlyn looked at the sweet girl. Though she would love to keep her close in her life, she knew it just wasn’t possible. She turned back to Jack. “Sir Hughes, you are a fine man with so much to offer, but I think we both know we aren’t truly meant for each other.”
“But we could be. There are so many happy marriages that grow out of a different beginning.”
“I know,” Kaitlyn said. “But where I come from, marriage is always for love. Although I didn’t know it when I arrived here, the more time I have spent with Cyrus, and the more I think about our past lives, I know he and I are meant to be. I can’t explain it more. I wish I could make you understand, but I really can’t make this a true marriage between us.”
Jack nodded. “I do understand. For all my life, I’ve been told I must find a bride and make sure my home and estate and people are cared for. That it is a duty and that I shouldn’t expect a loving relationship with a wife. My parents were kind to each other. I think in their own way, they did love each other, but I want more than that. I want a woman whose eyes light up when she sees me. Whose smiles warm my heart and makes me believe I could never live without her.”
Kaitlyn patted his hand. “And we both know that isn’t me. I do like you, but you deserve the joy of what can really come from a love match.”
“Though I agree,” Jack said, “so much of me wishes it would have been with you. I’ve met many of the heiresses who’ve arrived at Aunt Nellie’s. They all seem so strange at first, but with you, something felt right. You fit where so many of the others couldn’t.”
Kaitlyn smiled and he studied her for a moment. “Aunt Nellie has tried to introduce me to all of them, as if she wishes I could convince one to marry me and stay close to her. Until you, none caught my interest in more than just an appreciation for their beauty.”
“You know,” Kaitlyn said, “most women do like to know they are beautiful, but there is so much more than that. We want to be understood, to be thought of as a person and not a piece of property, to know there is more to us than the size of our dowry that interests a man. If you do ever meet more of the visitors Aunt Nellie has at her home from time to time, think of them as a person first. See the beauty inside her more than the outward. And when you see her as a person and not a duty, that is when you will find true love.”
Jack nodded and kissed the back of her hand. From toward the front of the house, they heard a knock at the door and Kaitlyn’s heart fluttered. Jack chuckled. “Well, shall we see if it’s the man who has stolen you right from under my nose?”
The smile that blossomed across her face made him laugh out loud. Before they could leave the parlor, the butler knocked and announced, “A Mr. Cyrus Manning to see you, sir.”
When Cyrus entered the room, his eyes went straight to hers. He then glanced at Jack as if worried about the reception he’d receive.
“Welcome to my home, Mr. Manning. Kaitlyn told me you’d be joining us for dinner. I’m pleased you’ve come.” Jack turned to Amelia. “Will you go check with cook and see how soon it will be served? And ask them to add another setting?”
Amelia nodded and left the room quickly to fulfill her errand. Jack took a step to Cyrus and shook his hand. “I can only allow this if I know exactly where you stand.”
Cyrus looked at Kaitlyn with wide and hopeful eyes. “She is my life.”
“And you can care for her, and will treat her like the amazing woman she is?”
“I will.”
Kaitlyn’s heart felt warmth flood it. Though Jack didn’t love her, he was doing everything in his power to make sure she was cared for. He did see women as more than property. She hoped beyond all hope that he would find the woman who was right for him. The kind of love she felt with Cyrus, who stood in front of them professing that very emotion.
“And you love her?” Jack asked, pressing for more.
“I do.”
She didn’t know how long it would be before she would hear those words from him at their own wedding, but when he said them, she took a step forward and embraced him.
“I love you, Kaitlyn. I think I always have.”
“I love you,” Kaitlyn said, leaning her forehead against his chin. From the side, she heard Jack stepping away and moving toward the door.
“Don’t be too long,” Jack said as he left the parlor. “And keep it chaste.”
Cyrus’s rumbling laugh deep in his chest sent shivers through her. “I can’t promise,” he whispered as he lifted her chin to look at him. “But I’ll try.”
His lips against hers were feather light at first, as if he wasn’t sure what she would think. She leaned against him as Cyrus’s arms tightened their hold. His kisses teased her, exploring her lips, tasting her, nibbling at the bottom lip, moving to her cheeks and then the corner of her mouth before kissing her lips again.
A single knock at the door made him pull back, and Kaitlyn missed him more than she had when he’d first left for Bath.
“How are we going to manage this secret and keep your other secret for another week?” Cyrus asked as he put a couple of feet between them.
Kaitlyn shook her head as she moved toward the door slowly. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to practice being sneaky and prim and proper. But honestly, I kinda think that’s why they have all these long rambling gardens with lots of trees and bushes and secret places. We’ll just have to make use of some of them.”
Cyrus caught up to her and grabbed her once more, turning her around and kissing her to the point she didn’t know if she’d be able to stand on her own, let alone walk over to the door.
“Sorry,” Cyrus said. A grin split his face. “Except really I’m not. I wish we didn’t have to go out and face your fiancé, no matter how cool he is about this whole thing.”
Kaitlyn sighed. “No kidding. Maybe after dinner, we could manage to get a few minutes alone again. Then tomorrow we’ll have to head back to Nellie’s. We can go find Jem and make sure he won’t be mad about my second proposal in a week.”
“Except this one is for real. Please, please say this is real and you won’t change your mind.”
“Cyrus,” Kaitlyn said. “You are the one I want. I knew it as a teen when you came to visit and hang out with Jem all the time. I pushed it away, thinking it wouldn’t ever work because you only thought of me as a little sister. The more time we’ve spent together during this trip to England … both Englands,” she added, “the more I know you really are mine.”