Once Upon a Diamond (29 page)

The taste of her threw Tristan’s world upside down. A
burning ache grew inside him. She still loved him. He knew it as sure as the
diamond was pure. He would not lose her now. Yet for her sake, she must stay
with the duke and duchess. Yes. A week would have to be enough time to discover
who was involved in the attempts on his life.     

Across the room, Robert snapped a scrutinizing brow at
the couple. “Katherine Josephine, what do you think you’re doing?”

Blushing, Kate looked to Tristan for help.

Tristan stepped forward and pulled at his waistcoat. “Your
daughter was simply, uh, thanking me for nursing her brother back to health and
giving up my bed for his comfort.”  

Hell’s bells. The woman was more trouble than a hornets’
nest.

Matthew’s
eyes sparkled with amusement. “A pleasant way to be repaid. Perhaps I should
get blown to bits more often.” 

Robert cast a perceptive glance toward the couple and
said nothing. Kate turned even redder. Tristan burned with the desire to sweep
his wife into his arms and take her away.

Matthew broke the silence when he touched Robert’s arm. “Tell
us what happened, Father.”

Robert
drew in a deep breath and took a seat. “When I last saw you, I had set sail for
the Continent. I can only guess that Gaston sensed I was getting too close to
the truth about his thievery with my money and hired one of the sailors aboard
my ship to kill me. During a storm, Gaston’s man hit me on the head and threw
me overboard. I discovered later that the scoundrel who hit me, fell and was
drowned as well.”

Kate’s throat ran dry. The thought of her father falling
into the angry storm made her ill. But Gaston and thievery? What was this
about?

“The long and the short of it was, I drifted on a piece
of wood thrown over by the storm, and by some miracle I was picked up by an
English ship. Delirious with fever, I couldn’t remember my name. The ship
captain made certain that I was cared for in the most splendid manner. He had a
load of goods to deliver, and while I recovered, the ship made its way to Italy.
When we docked, I sent you a letter.” 

He glanced at Matthew and Kate. “Obviously, you didn’t
receive it, thinking that I drowned. I returned home, hoping to greet my
family, only to learn that they had traveled to England. And I have just
received information that the captain is in London, too.”

Kate shot her brother a stifling glare. “For some reason
I believe you knew of Captain Gaston’s dealings and kept it from me. And
you," her finger pointed toward Tristan, “I suspect my brother had
conveniently informed you of the captain’s atrocious behavior?” 

Wisely, the two men didn’t answer. Kate turned back to
her father. “Papa, what will you do if you run into Captain Gaston?” The
possibilities chilled her veins.

  Robert’s jaw clenched. “It seems the man is in trouble
with the British government, and therefore, I have been asked to curtail my
contact with the captain until things are sorted out on England’s end of it. But
from what Lord Lancewood here has told me, Katherine, you’ve had quite an
adventure here in England, too." 

Kate quickly drew herself up and hopped off the bed. “I
admit I have had my share of abnormal occurrences the last month or so.” 

Tristan and Matthew eyed each other and both let out an
amusing snicker.

Kate frowned. “I do not find my adventures funny.”

Robert exchanged confused glances between the two men. It
was obvious that Matthew was growing a bit pale.

 “Katherine,” Robert said, “I believe it’s time we leave.
I promised your aunt that I would return with you for dinner. Of course, now
that Matthew is out of the woods and recovering, I must thank Tristan’s mother
for being such an accommodating host, but I see no reason for you to impose on
the Lancewood family any longer.” 

Robert slapped his hands on his knees and raised his
eyes to the earl, as if waiting for Tristan to tell him otherwise. “Is there?”

Kate jerked her gaze toward Tristan. There was an air of
loneliness about his expression that twisted her heart.

Tristan’s smile did not quite reach his eyes. “I will
see that your daughter’s things are sent to the duke’s as soon as possible.”

Matthew’s gaze widened in surprise.

Robert nodded and patted his son’s arm. “Looks like my boy
will be ready to join us in a week or so.” 

Robert rose and shook Tristan’s hand. “No need to show
us out. We can manage. Why don’t you keep my son company for a while.” 

Kate gave Tristan a quick glance, then left the room
with her father. Tristan rubbed his hands across his face and dropped into the
chair beside Matthew’s bed.

Matthew struggled to swing his legs over the side of the
mattress, almost kicking Tristan off his seat. “You stupid idiot! Why did you
let her go? My father should know. She’s your wife! She should be with you
tonight.” The man waved his hand wildly in the air. “Not with those relatives
of ours.”

Tristan rose and strode toward the window, pulling the
curtain aside to watch Kate depart. “Don’t inform me of my husbandly duties. You
seem to be forgetting who put me in this blasted situation in the first place,
Mr.
Matchmaker
.”

Matthew rested back in his bed and threw his hands
behind his head, wiggling into a comfortable position. “You love her, don’t
you?” 

Tristan turned on his boots and crossed the room.

“You do, you know,” Matthew said. “Don’t deny it.”

A second later, Tristan slammed the door, leaving
Matthew to enjoy his victory laugh alone.

When supper ended at the duke’s townhouse, the duchess
asked the men to join the women in the drawing room. It had been two days since
Kate had seen Tristan, and tonight, he’d barely said a word to her. But during their
time apart, she wondered if the carriage incident had also been an attempt on Tristan’s
life. What was going on? Who were his enemies? Was the dead man at the inn a
one time event? Or was her imagination taking things to the extreme? She wasn’t
sure about anything anymore.

“Charlotte, my dear, did you know that your father had a
suitor visit with him today?” the duchess asked in a hushed whisper.

Beaming with excitement, Georgiana took a quick peek
over her shoulder at the men clustered on the other side of the room, then
moved her attention back to her daughter.

Kate sat on a high-back chair opposite Charlotte who had
settled on the piano bench, folding her hands neatly on her lap. It took every
bone in Kate’s body to hold back from asking the duchess who the caller had
been, though she knew it was Edward.

The duchess inched closer. “A suitor, my dear, and a
very interested one at that. I must say your father was quite surprised. He
would have talked to you about it sooner, but he was at the club this
afternoon."

With a twinkle in her eye, Kate glanced at Charlotte and
thought it wonderful that her cousin was going to marry Edward. She smiled,
thinking how lovely it would be at family gatherings to have Charlotte by her
side, doing battle with their domineering mother-in-law. Life would be easier.

But the situation made Kate wish that Tristan had had
time to ask her own father about their marriage. The hasty way their bonded
life had begun was unsettling. Sometimes she felt she hardly knew the man.

“Who was he, Mama?” Charlotte asked with innocent eyes.

The duchess sighed. “He doesn’t own an illustrious title.
But I believe your father knows he will give you a good life.”

Aware that Mr. Edward Fullerton was only the second son
of the earl, Kate knew he had a healthy allowance to live on, and he was not a
wastrel. The man was interested in crop rotation and helped Tristan with his
many estates. It was unfortunate for Charlotte that Edward could not make
dinner tonight.

Charlotte gripped the edges of the piano bench. “He is
rather good-looking, is he not, Mama?”

“Oh, yes, my dear, rather good-looking - not as handsome
as your brother, however. But your father is willing to offer him a nice
dowry.”

“Oh, he cannot be solely interested in that, Mama. You
see, I know he loves me,” Charlotte answered confidently.

The duchess sat upright in her chair, a cluster of
wrinkles forming across her forehead. “Charlotte dear, you must be aware that
almost every man concerns himself about the dowry, rich or poor. Almost every
man except your father that is.” 

Georgiana batted her eyelids like a starry-eyed girl. “The
duke was too wealthy to worry about that. He married me for love.” 

Georgiana peered across the room, eyeing her husband
with a giddy expression. Kate almost laughed out loud when the duke stared
back, his questioning gaze asking if he had done something wrong.

“I think I shall be quite happy, Mama.”

The duchess clasped Charlotte’s hands in hers. “Indeed,
you will. You are so lucky. It’s not often a girl finds a man she wants to be with
for the rest of her life.”

Kate stared across the room and a tingle of warmth shot
down her spine when Tristan’s green eyes caught hers and held. He would come to
love her. She had to believe it.

Standing beside Tristan, her father flashed her a wink
and returned to his conversation. Deceit clawed at her heart. She hadn’t been
fair to Tristan or her father. But she had wanted to give her father time to
adjust.

One week was not too long to be away from Tristan, she
assured herself, shifting her gaze back to her husband. She started at the dark
look of desire in his eyes. Why the man was caressing her with that emerald
gaze as if she were going home with him tonight! She felt a warm blush creep up
her neck. It was indecent! It was wonderful!

The duchess stood up and clasped her hands together in
excitement. “Of course, my dear, your father never said yes. But it was almost
a done deal. The gentleman will be calling soon enough to tie up any loose ends.
However, your father would like to have a word with you before he arrives.” 

The duchess made her way toward the duke.

Trying to suppress her grin at her mother’s
announcement, Charlotte leaned toward Kate. “How are you and Tristan doing
these days? He seems, well, not able to keep his eyes off of you. Yet that
green gaze seems to be hiding something too.”

Kate looked about to make certain no one could hear her
conversation. “He is hiding something, Charlotte, and if I do not tell someone
I feel I might burst.”

Charlotte moved closer, her eyes widening. “What is it?”

“When I was staying at his townhouse, the earl and I
were married by special license.”

Charlotte cupped her hands over her mouth and sucked in
a breath of air so loud that the rest of the group stopped their conversation
and twisted their heads her way.

“Matthew and Devin know,” Kate whispered, “but Papa
doesn’t. I haven’t the heart to tell him."

Before Charlotte had a chance to ask Kate any more
questions, the duke strode over, resting a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. "I
hear your mother has told you about our visitor, my dear." 

“Yes, Papa.” Charlotte smiled at Kate.

“Very good then. After breakfast tomorrow, I should like
to speak to you about Mr. Henry Manning and his offer.”

Kate almost fell off her seat.

The following evening Kate entered the Bartswood
Ballroom with her father on her arm. A host of murals depicting Italian
landscapes and people dressed from the sixteenth century blanketed the
twenty-foot walls surrounding the dance floor. Potted palms added to a feeling
of warmth. Kate tipped her head toward her father, noting the aroma of vanilla in
the air. Charlotte had mentioned that Lady Bartswood often scented her palms in
such a manner.

“Is it not beautiful, Papa?"

“Beautiful," Robert said dryly as though he wished
he were somewhere else.

With her father in tow, Kate skirted the perimeter of
the floor looking for Tristan. Regret settled in her heart for not attending
the ball with her husband. Except for that one evening, Tristan had not come to
visit her once since she had left his townhouse.

He had dined with her at Ridgewater as a favor to the
duchess, but not one word of love or devotion had passed his lips. Though his
eyes had almost devoured her, he had not even tried to take her aside and steal
a kiss or talk to her about their marriage.

Was he having second thoughts? Would he never love her? Should
she go home to Wilcox Manor after all?

“Good evening, Miss Wilcox.” 

Kate looked up at the sound of Lady Lancewood’s cool
greeting. Tristan’s mother was dressed in a pink silk gown, her dark hair
framing a rather cool, but still pretty face for a woman of forty-six.

Stunned, Kate greeted the lady and introduced her father.
It was amazing that the countess spoke to her now when she had barely said two
words to her at the Lancewood townhouse.