Love Me Always

LOVE ME ALWAYS

Book One in the “Fielding Brother’s Saga”

(
previously
published using my old pen name, Phyllis)

Marie Higgins

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or
dead,
is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Love Me Always

Copyright
© 2011 by Marie Higgins

Cover Design by Sheri McGathy

Edition License Notes

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For more information:
 
http://mariehiggins84302.blogspot.com
 

No Way Out
–
Catherine Martin
is trapped. Either she wed an elderly man and commit to a marriage without love, or continue living with the father who believes her guilty of murder and one foot outside the asylum. Catherine picks marriage to the Duke of Ashton, Grant Fielding. However, when she stays with the Fielding family before the wedding, she doesn’t plan on falling in love…with Grant’s nephew, Nicholas.

Destined for a lonely life – Nicholas Fielding loves his uncle’s soon-to-be bride, and has loved her since they were children. Now Nick must choose between his dying uncle's
last wish
to marry, and the woman who will make Nick happy for the rest of his life. No matter how hard Nick tries, he cannot stop his love for Catherine.

A flurry of accidents begins to happen around the Fielding estate and soon all accusing eyes turn to Catherine. When accidents escalate to murder, suspicions expound and even Catherine’s father believes she’s gone mad. Does Nick love her enough to discover the truth?

Dedication

I want to thank my readers.
 
If not for you, I wouldn’t enjoy creating new stories.

I also want to thank my family for having patience with me.
 
You are my inspiration!
 

Chapter One

England 1850

Marriage
– Catherine Martin shuddered – to a man old enough to be her father.

Bile rose in her throat and her heart twisted as dreams of marrying a man for love faded away. The Duke of Ashton, Grant Fielding had been her parents’ close friend for as long as she could remember.

Gazing into her full-length mirror, Catherine frowned. Moisture gathered in her eyes, threatening to spill forward and
reveal
the tumultuous emotions spinning in her head. She glanced down at her black trimmed, deep purple traveling dress, and sighed heavily. The short waist-jacket accented her figure, making it appear more slender. The color even made her hair shimmer and allowed her skin to take on a creamy complexion. Normally she would be pleased with the becoming nature of her ensemble, but today she wanted nothing more than to be garish and ugly. Perhaps then His Grace wouldn’t want to marry her.

“Oh, Miss Catherine, keep your chin up,” her maid, Emily, said cheerfully. “You’re certainly going to make an impression on the duke. The way you look now, you’ll take his breath away.”

Precisely the problem
, Catherine thought. She shook her head and a lock of hair slipped out of her carefully styled bun, falling across her forehead. “Quick, Emily. Locate my dreariest gown and make certain it’s wrinkled beyond compare. Also, please wind my hair so tight it makes my eyes pop out of my head.”

Her maid, only younger by a few years, gasped as she lifted her hand to her throat. “Why, Miss Catherine? I cannot do that.”

“You must.” Catherine clutched the girl by her bony shoulders. “The man is old. Breath is vital to his health and it’s important he maintain it. I would hate to be the reason Grant Fielding had heart palpitations.”

Emily’s dubious expression wavered slightly before she giggled. “Oh, Miss Catherine, how humorous you are. His Grace made a wise decision when he invited you to his estate to continue his pursuit for your hand in marriage.”

Catherine dropped her hands and nodded, her heart sinking even lower. She wanted to live her life on her own terms, but the longer she pondered her dilemma, the harder her chest tightened as invisible fingers gripped her very being, suffocating her. She was trapped.

Yet, it beat the alternative – living with a father who thought she was insane. Marriage to the duke was a way out of the dungeon she’d be in if she stayed at home.

“Thank you for your kind words,” she muttered before inhaling deeply, hoping to release the horrid pressure in her chest.

The rattle of approaching carriages and the pounding of horses’ hooves drifted through her bedchamber. She trudged to the opened window and peered out, the sharp wind buffeting her face. Three elegant vehicles with three outriders pulled to a stop in the circular drive.

“They’re here,” Emily cheered as she joined her. “I’ve never seen anything so grand in my life.” She sighed. “You’re most fortunate, Miss.”

Agony consumed Catherine, more intense now. She was far from fortunate. For the rest of her life she would be stuck in a loveless marriage.

“Miss?”
Emily leaned near the window’s ledge. “Who are those men dismounting?”

Catherine focused on the three broad-shouldered men striding to the front door. “I’m not certain.” He leaned out a little further to get a better look. “If I’m not mistaken, I think they are the duke’s nephews.” Confusion filled her and she frowned. “I wonder what they are doing
here?
”

A few times in her childhood, Grant brought his nephews when he visited Catherine’s parents. They were never really close, mainly because the boys were the age where they disliked girls…especially ones who could ride better than they could. From what she could remember, the boys’ mother died when they were young, and their father had some lung ailment that kept him inside the house, which was why their uncle practically raised them.

Emily stretched her neck, looking closer. “Where’s the duke?”

Catherine shrugged, turning away from the window. “Perhaps he’s waiting in the carriage.”

The bedroom door opened and Catherine’s father stepped in. Once again, mixed emotions stirred to life. She wanted to scream in frustration – wanted to blame someone for the unfairness handed to her. Why hadn’t her parents put a stop to this ridiculous marriage idea four years ago? Just because her grandfather was Pastor over the parish Grant had attended with her father, didn’t mean they had to agree to the betrothal. Even now she couldn’t believe her father hadn’t called down hell and fire from one of her grandfather’s old sermons for Grant’s method of practically buying her since he’d paid for her schooling and most of her clothes.

Obviously, her father didn’t think this was a sin.

“Are you ready?” her father asked, his voice and manner too soft to be the stern Colonel he’d been for as long as she could remember.

Catherine gave him a sharp nod then turned away. She hadn’t spoken to her parents since they’d sent her away to the girls’ school. Even at her mother’s funeral two years ago Catherine had barely said a word. Of course, the sudden death and the way her mother had been killed still left a heavy scab on Catherine’s heart. If only she could remember everything about that night.

Pushing aside the horrid memory, she walked to the empty vanity table. Her hair ribbons and brushes had been packed in a trunk with all her other belongings. A sense of emptiness filled her. She longed for the way her life used to be.

“Emily?” Henry Martin asked. “Would you see if Mrs. Berkley is packed and ready to travel with my daughter?”

“Yes, sir.”
Emily bobbed in a small curtsy and left the room.

Strong footsteps grew on the floor behind Catherine,
then
her father’s hands rested on her shoulders. She stiffened, refusing to give her father any affection. He hadn’t been any comfort since her mother’s death anyway.

“They are here,
Cat.
”

Catherine cringed upon hearing the nickname her parents used when she was a child, not wanting to think about those days. Instead of saying anything, she answered with another nod.