Shackles of Honor (2 page)

“That is the astounding part of it, dear one. I don’t know.” Ellis shrugged his shoulders when Cassidy looked up to him inquisitively.

“Come now, Ellis. A mystery visitor? There has never been such a thing in this house. Not since I’ve been old enough to evoke memory.”

“As I said…that is the astonishment. Neither Father nor Mother will reveal his identity to me.”

“That
is
astonishing,” Cassidy muttered to herself. Suddenly an involuntary shiver trickled through her body.

“Someone been planting lilies in your grave dirt, Cass?” Ellis asked teasingly.

But Cassidy could not dismiss the foreboding feeling. As she walked quickly toward the east gardens and Gavin, she could not rid herself of it. And as she considered
the
recent fate
of
her dear friend
Marietta
at having been literally given in matrimony to old Lord Rapier, her parents deeming him a suitable husband simply because of his title and wealth, she certainly could not induce the sense of
impending doom to evaporate. Even when she saw Gavin sitting on the bench under the large black oaks of Terrill’s east lawns, she could not be rid of it.

Gavin stood and smiled as she approached.
Oh, he
is
handsome
, Cassidy thought to herself. She often wondered how she held his interest at all, for he was nearly twenty and she only seventeen. Yes, he was ever so handsome—and so rugged and strong! Gavin was a hard-working young man, wise in the things that young men couldn’t learn in university. How could any woman prefer a man who was weak-minded in such things as those wherein Gavin was wise? Or weak in body for that matter? And Gavin had wit—a wit that most young men in whose company she found herself could not begin to understand, let alone emulate.

As Cassidy approached him, she marveled again at the handsome state of her secret suitor. He stood tall, broad-shouldered, blue-eyed
,
and blond-haired. His face and arms were bronzed from hours of hard work outside
,
and his smile was like drinking in a warm mug of wassail at Christmastime.

“Cass!” he greeted as she rushed into his muscular embrace. He hugged her warmly, then held her away for a moment as he studied her
,
and said, “You are so beautiful.”

“And you are far too flattering, Gavin,” she scolded, though she loved his compliments. What woman wouldn’t? “But I should not let you embrace me so, for it is completely improper, you know.” She smiled and hugged him quickly once more before taking his hand in hers and leading him in a casual stroll toward the nearby gardens.

“So,” he began as they meandered along the garden paths among the bright yellow of daffodils and lavender of crocus, “what tales of adventure do you have to recite to me today, my beauty?”

“Ha!” Cassidy exclaimed, throwing her head back in a giggle. “Adventures? Me? Ah, yes. I do remind you of the great ones, don’t I? Joan of Arc? Guinevere? Yes, my life’s excitement far surpasses any they could have known.”

“Come now, Cass. Surely you have some news that you’re wanting to share,” he prodded.

Cassidy felt the cold chill trickling down her spine once more
,
and her thoughts were drawn to the news that Ellis had divulged to her mere minutes before.

“Well,” she dropped her voice secretively, “we’re having a mysterious guest in to dine with the family tonight.”

“And a fine horse he sits for certain. I’ve only just seen it on my way here.”

Cassidy looked to Gavin quickly. “What do you mean
he
? And where would this be that you’ve seen him
,
and how would you know that he’s meant to be our guest tonight?”

“I said I had seen the horse he sat, not he who rode it. And it was in your own stables just now. A magnificent bay that puts your brother’s black to shame.”

“Impossible! Ellis’
s
stallion is insurmountable in his perfection,” Cassidy argued.

“Not anymore. I could take you to the stables to see the bay…but we may be seen together and then
—
”

“Then take me. I’ll only just pretend that we happened upon each other if we’re discovered.”

Cassidy’s hands began to tremble unexpectedly as she followed Gavin to the stables. First her hands, then her arms
,
and then her very soul. Something was lurking in the shadows of the future. She felt it, but she could not identify it.

She tried to concentrate on Gavin’s words as they walked, but she found herself preoccupied by the secretiveness of her parents concerning the guest. Never had they behaved so before
,
and she began to worry on various things. Perhaps her father was in financial ruin and had hidden it from them for years. Perhaps the guest was appearing to cart him off to debtors’ prison and throw the rest of the family out into the elements. Or perhaps it was a famous physician come to break the news to Cassidy of the ghastly disease that would soon lead her into a torturous death.

“Well, there he is, Cass,” Gavin announced as they entered the first building of stables. Pointing toward an enormous, wild-looking bay stallion, he added, “Magnificent beast, that one.”

“Beast is exactly the thing,” Cassidy commented. The horse was indeed beautiful but held a fire in its eyes as untamed and frightening as perdition itself. As she and Gavin approached the animal, it snorted, rearing up and neighing frightfully in its stall. It dug mercilessly at the straw beneath its feet and shook out its magnificent mane furiously.

“Oh, no, Cass! That’s an animal of pure and untainted breeding, of exceptional grooming and care. A true gentleman’s mount,” Gavin marveled.

“Why not a woman’s?” Cassidy asked, more desperate to minimize the importance of the evening’s dinner guest than to defend the worth of women.

“This horse isn’t tended to by merely a stablehand. Someone has spent hours in the breaking and grooming of it. And besides, he has the look of being just broken. A woman…most women would not feel safe with such an animal supporting them.” Gavin looked from the horse to Cassidy
,
who was still staring at the animal in awe. “You’ve captured my heart
,
you know, Miss Shea.”

Surprised by the sudden change in the conversation, Cassidy looked up to see Gavin’s mesmerizing blue eyes gazing admiringly down at her.

“You do flatter me far too often, Gavin,” she scolded.

“I speak only the truth to you. I…I must beg a favor of you, Cass.” Cassidy felt her heart begin to pound wildly
,
for she sensed the essence of the favor
,
and it caused her to feel delightfully unsettled in her stomach. “I would ask…I would beg the gift of one sweet taste of your lovely lips, milady.”

Finally
, she thought to herself. She’d waited so long for her first kiss. For Gavin’s kiss. And now, at long last, the moment was upon her. Slowly he placed his strong hands, one at each of her shoulders, pulling her closer as his head bent toward her own. Then, delightfully at first, his lips caressed hers tenderly. His kiss was soft and sweet, pleasing to the senses in the first moments. But as his lips continued to linger on hers gently, she knew that this was not what she had always dreamed it would be. Her heart did not soar. Her spirit did not jump with elation. And when the mad pounding of the bay stallion’s hooves on the stall wall and his violent neighing startled the very essence of Cassidy’s senses, she broke from Gavin, pushing herself from his arms and backing further away from the frightening animal.

“He’s only just anxious to be out,” Gavin tried to reassure her. But Cassidy sensed something else. It was as if the animal were angry. As if it accused her of acting too rashly in her infatuation with Gavin.

“He frightens me
,
and…and all the same it’s time I was dressing for dinner.” Cassidy forced a smile at Gavin as he took her hand in his, kissing the back of it tenderly.

“You’ll tell me the tale? The adventure of the mystery dinner guest? Tomorrow when we meet?” He smiled
,
and it warmed her.

“Yes, I’ll tell you.”

She turned and, lifting her skirts to her ankles, hurried toward the house. Disappointment throbbed mercilessly in Cassidy’s bosom. Her first kiss was not at all as she had always imagined. She had expected to find herself near to a faint with ecstasy. Instead, she was relieved when it had ended. Disappointment had never before come so strongly to Cassidy. And now there was this mysterious dinner guest. What bend of fate awaited her in the dining hall?



In dressing for dinner, Cassidy found herself primping far too long, striving all too hard for perfection in her appearance. Her hair was curled and piled perfectly on her head. A satin ecru ribbon wove itself among her locks. Long, perfectly arranged ringlets cascaded here and there down her back and over her shoulders as she tugged, dissatisfied, at the cream velvet that clung to the curve of her shoulder. Many times to many parties she’d worn velvets that were sewn to slip just off her shoulders. But this night, as she viewed herself in the glass
,
having donned her best gown, she was disconcerted at revealing so much of her skin. The dress was by no means inappropriately tailored, exposing only the tops of her shoulders and clavicle as it dipped into a modest V below her neck. Still, it unsettled her to see herself so mature
-
looking as she gazed into the glass.

The thought of poor
Marietta
and her ancient, rotund husband flashed before her eyes. Suddenly, she did not want to look her age. But she straightened her posture and resolved to look her best just the same, for perhaps the famous physician downstairs would see how healthy she looked, rosy cheeks and all else considered, and change his diagnosis of her ghastly disease.

“Are you quite ready, darling?” It was Ellis come to escort her down to dinner. “Or are you once again too preoccupied with that looking glass?”

Cassidy opened the door to her chamber, glaring out at her brother as he stood before her in the hallway smiling, amused with his own wit. “You beast,” she scolded.

“Well, whatever it is that I am…come along or we’ll be late.”

Taking his arm, she mentioned, “I’ve not seen Mother since this morning. Or Father
,
for that matter.”

“Well, while you were off gallivanting with your Gavin Clark, Father was locked in his study with a man whom I’ve never seen before, and Mother was pacing in her chamber like a caged lioness.”

“What is this all about, Ellis? I’ve felt nervous…insecure somehow all the day long,” Cassidy confided. “Something is amiss. Don’t you feel it?”

Ellis, in a rare moment of somber words, admitted, “Yes. I…I don’t understand their silence in the matter…Mother and Father, I mean. I…I’m unsettled myself.” Then, obviously having seen her need of his strength, he smiled and added, “But look at you! How could anything unpleasant happen on this night when you look as beautiful as a young bride
,
radiant and ready to be presented to her bridegroom!”

“I love your flattery, Ellis, for I know that you give it sparingly and sincerely.” She paused at the threshold to the dining room, lifting herself on her toes
,
and placed an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

“Let us sup then, sister.”

He opened the dining hall doors, escorting her in to dine with their parents and the mysterious owner of the violent bay.

Cassidy smiled warmly a moment, her attention
arrested by her mother
,
already seated at the long table laden with rich foods.