Chapter 22
Jackson’s final glance before he disappeared tore the breath from Kate. She grasped for something to hold onto before despair washed her away. Her fingers gripped Blackthorn’s leg. Propriety be damned, she held tight.
What is he doing with Lady Betsey? A short sennight ago, Jackson had avoided society at all costs, and suddenly he was escorting a marriageable lady through Hyde Park. Had he lied about not wanting to marry? Had it been a ruse to seduce her?
Her heart felt as if it might crack in pieces.
“Kate? What is it?” Blackthorn’s voice penetrated her mind but with no air in her lungs, responding was impossible.
Her head became light as she focused on the area she’d last seen Jackson. Her surroundings dimmed, fainting a foregone conclusion, when Blackthorn pulled the carriage to the side of the lane and turned to her. His hands shook her shoulders.
“Damn it, Kate, speak to me.”
Forced to face him, she met his eyes. His panic broke through the haze engulfing her, yanking her back to her senses.
Blackthorn scanned the area quickly before his eyes narrowed and he refocused on her.
“You’re in love with Jackson Cooper.”
Kate wished he’d framed it as a question. Anything so her foolish heart could deny the claim.
She’d given her heart, her innocence, to a man who didn’t love her. Even worse, a man who appeared to be courting another.
The realization sent blood rushing to her ears. Blackthorn’s lips moved but she couldn’t hear the words.
He gave her shoulders another shake. “Kate. Look at me.” Their eyes connected and her head cleared. “Good. Keep focusing on me. We’re leaving.”
Oh Lord, we’re creating a spectacle. People stared at them.
Ever efficient, Blackthorn moved through the crowd, until they were traveling through a quieter part of the park.
“Where do you wish to go?”
Kate shoved down her rising panic, striving for inner calm. If she asked, Blackthorn—ever the gentleman—would forget the last twenty-four hours and continue with their courtship. She could set the mystical tree, Jackson, and her lapse of judgement behind her, then follow through with her duty, and marry a duke.
Sadly, she couldn’t do it. Not because she loved Jackson—and even with her heart breaking, she knew she always would—but because if she did, she wouldn’t be true to her.
If she’d learned anything the last few days, it was that she hadn’t been living for herself. Everything she’d done up to now had been an attempt to be the perfect daughter. To make her father finally see her.
But Father hadn’t the capability to ever see the real her.
Venturing from the ball and into the night, stumbling upon a tree that spoke to her in ways she hadn’t thought possible . . . Well, that was the truest thing she’d ever done.
If Jackson’s tale proved true, the tree’s purpose was to deliver her soul mate. Despite her heart lying crumpled at her feet, she knew it had.
If she’d met Jackson sooner, before she’d become betrothed to Blackthorn, things could have been different.
He never fought for you.
The stark truth cut into her. Jackson hadn’t fought for her. Nor had he spoken of love.
Maybe they were star-crossed. Or perhaps he was her soul mate but she wasn’t his. A twist in the fates.
Either way, she couldn’t go back. She wasn’t the same person now. She could only go forward, even if she’d be traveling there alone.
She turned to Blackthorn. “I need to speak with my father.”
~ ~ ~
“I forbid it,” her father roared as he stood like stone beside his desk.
“You can’t force me to marry Blackthorn,” Kate replied with as much calm as she could muster.
“Be damned if I can’t. I’m your father.”
“Even if you could, I wouldn’t agree to it,” Blackthorn cut in.
Kate had given Blackthorn the chance to flee to safety. If she was going to claim her future, she needed to start doing it. Hiding behind Blackthorn wouldn’t always be possible; why start now? The man had been too stubborn, or maybe too chivalrous, to abandon her.
Father fixed his glare on Blackthorn, but when the younger duke held his regard, her father whirled and barked at her. “I’ll disown you. No man will have you without a dowry. Especially your commoner.”
Kate quelled the urge to snort. If he disowned her, finding a husband was the smallest of her worries. Nevertheless, her sisters wouldn’t spurn her, though she would hate to impose on them. Once she reached her majority at one and twenty, she would be granted access to her aunt’s bequest.
Casting her out would cause a scandal, Kate had no doubts there. If Father agreed to let the betrothal end quietly—private to begin with—everyone’s reputations could escape unscathed. Disowning her would amount to ruination, and the family title tarnished because of it.
The only thing her father hated more than disobedience was a scandal.
Kate infused her voice with steel. “I’m not marrying Blackthorn,” she repeated.
“And I won’t marry Kate,” Blackthorn added.
If it wouldn’t give her father hope, she’d squeeze Blackthorn’s hand in gratitude.
Father’s jaw went slack as he continued to gape at their united front. No doubt, he’d find a way to punish her as soon as Blackthorn took his leave. For now, she stood strong.
“You are too much like your mother,” he spat.
Well, that isn’t a compliment.
Blackthorn stepped forward. “Kate and I will remain friends and continue to be seen in each other’s company now and then. Society will eventually stop speculating on our supposed betrothal. There will be no damage to Kate’s reputation.”
Fists clenched in anger, her father’s cheeks flushed dark red. “If I could disown you without damaging the title, believe me, I would,” he sneered, leaning over his desk. “I’ll just find someone willing to marry you, and be done with it.”
Kate’s heart dropped. She’d thought she’d be free.
“Try it and I’ll ruin you.” Blackthorn’s vow rumbled harshly. Kate spun to face him. Where had the gentle, friendly duke gone?
His eyes snapped, pure frost. “I don’t often sink to such depths but if needed, I’ll use all my power to lay you low.”
“I’m a duke!” her father blustered, fist banging on his desk.
“I’m a younger, much more accomplished duke. Don’t underestimate my reach.”
“Of all the—”
Blackthorn cut him off. “It will be a mistake to doubt me.” He paused, allowing the threat to sink in. “Kate will go about her life. Marry whom she wishes.”
“I should never have agreed to your courtship.”
“But you did and in doing so, solidified a champion for your daughter.”
She should step in, say something in her defense. But Kate had nothing to trump what Blackthorn had threatened. The weight of a duke was more ponderous than an unmarried lady.
“If you are willing to defend her, why not marry her?”
“She does not wish marriage to me, a decision I respect.”
Kate bit her lip worriedly as the men continued to eye each other. If her father wouldn’t back down, what would she do?
When he broke and looked away first, she breathed easier.
“I want your word before I leave,” Blackthorn insisted.
Silence met his request as the two dukes glared and postured.
“She will need to marry,” her father at last countered.
“If she finds a man of her choosing.”
Kate’s head spun at their heated exchange, her resentment building at being discussed as if she were invisible. Blackthorn meant well, but she wouldn’t promise her father anything. Not when her only desire was to sneak way and mend the brokenness lingering after witnessing Jackson with another woman.
The vision of Lady Somerby, adoring his half-naked body that first night, remained burned into her memory. But the thought of him courting Lady Betsey, of him offering the woman what he denied Kate, crushed her.
Yet her father had a valid argument. A lady’s purpose was to marry. She simply wished to allow her heart to lead her, rather than the demands of duty.
Kate found her voice, and her courage. “Father, I do wish to marry.” She hesitated when his stern frown locked on her. “Someday. Just not today.”
“Your sisters never gave me this much trouble,” he fumed.
Witnessing the affection between her sisters and their respective spouses, Kate knew if they’d been asked to marry anyone else, a fight would have ensued.
With Blackthorn’s support and approval, she’d pled her case. All she could do was wait.
Her father pushed up from the desk. “I don’t respond to threats, Blackthorn.”
“Don’t see it as a threat.” Blackthorn affected a shrug.
His lips tight, her father’s stony regard swung between her and Blackthorn. “I will relent, since it is clear the two of you refuse to honor your agreement.” His blunt finger stabbed in her direction. “I’ll give you one year to find a husband. If you don’t, I will.”
Blackthorn stepped forward but Kate stalled him, a hand to his arm. A year’s reprieve was beyond generous when applied to her father.
And one year closer to accessing her inheritance.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to see to.” Not waiting for a response, her father stalked from the room.
Blackthorn turned to her. “I couldn’t be certain, did that go well?”
Laughter bubbled in her throat for the first time in hours. “Sadly, yes, it went about as well as expected.”
“Are you pleased?”
“Surprisingly, I am.” She hadn’t known what to expect when she’d approached Father. Could have gone horribly worse.
“Will he keep his word?”
She quickly offered reassurance. “He will. He is a hard man but an honest one. Especially before another peer. He will keep appearances. It might not have shown, but he took your threat to heart.” She clasped his hand between hers. “I still don’t know how to thank you enough.”
When he gave her a genuine smile, she felt a shiver of sadness knowing she couldn’t love this man as he deserved.
He lifted their entwined hands and brushed a light kiss over her knuckles. “Just promise me you’ll be happy.”
An unwelcome vision of Jackson and Lady Betsey flashed before her, but she held on to her confidence. “I will.”
If she fibbed a bit, no one would know. Except me.