Was it all a lie? Was every intense look he gave her and every promise nothing more than a part of the arsenal of charms of a rake? Did he only try to manage his wife while keeping a mistress? Or was Anne already with child before they married, and he escaped his responsibility? Cathy did not know which was worse.
Was his trip to the north a way to escape Anne? Or was she there to further feed his appetites? Did she not know her husband had been a rake? Shedding that knowledge about him just because she was attracted to him was foolish.
“I do not believe you. He would have told me,” Cathy said weakly.
“Would he do that for you?” Anne prodded, her lips splitting into a smile. Cathy knew that the other woman had found something in her face that she liked. Saw the devastation. Her walls were stripped away so Anne could peek in and see her insecurities. “Tristan is known for being a rake, a man with needs and wicked appetites. A cold woman like you would not satisfy him. He wants beauty, heat, and passion, and not some cold duty coming from a scandalous beginning to a contractual marriage. I have his child, proof that I know what kind of man he is, much better than you do.”
Every word uttered by Anne felt like a needle pricking Cathy’s soul. What did she have with Tristan, anyway? Their bond was still fragile and new. They had not even shared a bed yet. Anne seemed to be flourishing in her pain, smirking even as she held her precious belly.
“Miss Longrove, you should leave,” Cathy said quietly. “You must leave Baxter Hall immediately.”
“Why should I do that?” Anne asked, her voice rising into a full shriek. “I am not leaving Baxter Hall until he talks to me. He will not leave me to rot when I am carrying his blood, while you may never go beyond being a placeholder.”
“His Grace is not here,” Cathy repeated. “He has left for business.”
Anne laughed at that. “Is this what he is calling this now?”
“I told you to leave my house at once,” Cathy nearly shouted.
Anne’s face contorted into something uglier. Angrier. “Do you think you are better than me, Miss Priggish, because you carry his name and wear his ring? You have stolen him from me. Therefore, you are a shameless thief who has been marriedout of convenience.Temporaryconvenience! Your marriage has been nothing but a mistake from the beginning!”
Cathy did not expect what happened next. She was unable to raise her hands to defend herself. Anne, out of her fury, was able to shove the much-taller Duchess, with her desperate strength. Cathy gasped as her boot caught the path’s edge. She fell, her arms flailing, before she crashed into the midst of a rose hedge.
“Ah!” she cried.
A scream tore from her throat as she fell backward. Pain quickly followed as she tried to rise, thorns ripping through her sleeves and scratching the soft skin of her arms. The thorns sliced through her like tiny knives, and with the briars thick and tangled, she found herself trapped. The hedge resembled a cage made by nature.However painful the scratches were, the humiliation of having fallen with Anne looking down at her was even worse. It burned her wholly.
For a moment, Anne stood over her. Her eyes were wild and dancing. She was completely unrepentant, not offering Cathy any help. What did she expect, anyway? There was no word of apology, either. Then, Miss Longrove turned on her heel, disappearing quickly around the corner.
“Your Grace! Are you all right?”
Cathy was both relieved and horrified to hear that a member of staff had found her. A young under-gardener, wide-eyed with horror, sprinted toward her. He reached for her as she managed to pull her arms free from the branches. Blots of red appeared on her sleeve, and she could feel the weeping scratches on her skin. But at least she would be released from her rose-hedge prison.
Her heart had been the thing most hurt by the encounter. She had begun trusting Tristan. His presumed lover must have been given quite some reassurance from their previous trysts to come to Baxter Hall to assault the Duchess without fear.
Cathy wondered if she should even stay in Baxter Hall. Scandal would be coming their way no matter what, anyway.
Chapter 24
Tristan had been in good spirits on the ride back. He had managed to find her father and convince him to return. Her family’s accounts were finally in order. He had even managed to settle two outstanding debts that had been quietly accumulating since before the wedding, and he had done all that without telling Cathy, because he wanted to see her face when she opened the next set of books and found the columns finally, cleanly, balanced.
She will be delighted.
He was thinking about that when the carriage rolled through the gates of Baxter Hall.
Henderson was on the front steps before the wheels had stopped. That alone was enough to make Tristan’s good humor evaporate. Henderson usually waited in the foyer.
Tristan was out of the carriage before it had fully stopped. “Has something happened, Henderson?”
“Your Grace.” Henderson’s voice was steady, but his eyes were not. “Miss Longrove called this afternoon. Her Grace receivedher in the gardens.”
“And? Speak, man.”
“Miss Longrove was escorted out, but... Her Grace has not returned from the gardens.”
Tristan was already moving.
“How long?” he asked, not breaking stride.