Authors: Shana Galen
Suspicion tickled her spine and spread warm fingers over her shoulders. Now what did the man have in mind? If he so much as hinted at sharing a bed—
There was a bang and a shout, and then the sound of voices outside. Catherine whirled toward the window and saw Ashley’s face and her fist pounding the pane.
“What the devil?” Valentine swore, while Catherine ran to the window and unlatched it.
“Ashley! What are you doing? Get in before you fall.” Torn between joy at seeing her cousin and fear that Ashley would fall, Catherine clasped Ashley’s hands and made to pull her inside. Ashley was heavier than she looked, and Catherine grunted, but then Valentine was beside her, lifting Ashley effortlessly inside. Catherine sighed with relief. Ashley was safe. And now Catherine had an ally.
As soon as Ashley’s feet were on the ground, Catherine tackled her, hugging her hard, but
Valentine went straight back to the window. He swore under his breath. Catherine stared her cousin. “You didn’t.”
Ashley gave a sheepish smile. She wore black trousers and a loose-fitting shirt. Her glorious hair was caught under a workingman’s cap. “How could I leave them behind?”
“Hold on,” Valentine was calling out the window. “I’m coming to get you. And you”—he pointed at the ground—“do not even
think
about climbing up.” Then he leaned from the window so far Catherine was afraid he would tumble out. She and Ashley ran to the window on the other side of the bed and peered out.
Josephine was hanging on to the rusty trellis. She too wore men’s clothing, and with her thin figure and cropped hair, she resembled a young boy. The trellis she clutched looked stable enough, but it ended a few feet before Catherine’s second-floor window. Josie was reaching up, her fingers mere inches from Valentine’s. And then she seemed to sway, lose her balance on the trellis, and Catherine and Ashley screamed in unison. The moment they were certain their cousin would fall, Valentine clasped her hands in his and lifted her off the trellis and into the room.
Before she ran to Josie, Catherine saw that Maddie was still on the ground below. She was the only one of the three dressed in a gown, so she obviously did not intend to scale any buildings. Thank God one of her cousins had some
sense. Catherine ran to Josie. Valentine had just released her, and Catherine gave her a hard hug. “You almost got yourself killed! What were you thinking?”
And then she looked at Valentine. “My cousin, Lady Madeleine, Lord Castleigh’s daughter. Would you bring her up before she decides to climb up, too?”
Valentine went to the door, and she heard him call directions to his butler.
Catherine turned back to her cousins, her heart still pounding from fear, but by now the girls were laughing. “We made it!” Josie said.
“Of course we did,” Ashley said, slapping her on the back. “Third time is the charm.”
Catherine gaped. “Are you both mad? You might have fallen and died. And what if this had been the wrong window?”
“We knew it had to be right,” Ashley said. “We’d tried two others already.”
Catherine’s legs felt weak, and she had to back up and take a seat on the bed. She could just imagine her cousins scaling the house, falling, and ending up a broken pile of bones on the lawn below. And that was just the worst-case scenario. All the girls but Maddie were wearing men’s trousers and shirts. Had they been traipsing about London in broad daylight like that? It was one thing for them to dress as boys and run about London in the middle of the night when they were eight. But now they were grown women of
the
ton
. It didn’t help that Catherine had made her own scene this morning. Lord, the papers would be in news ecstasy after reporting on the four of them.
“Oh, stop worrying,” Josie said. “We did it for you. We had to rescue you.”
“And just in time, too,” Ashley said, her gaze falling to Catherine’s sheet. “What was he doing to you?”
Catherine flushed, but before she could answer, Josie reached into her coat and extracted a large cutlass. Valentine, who was coming back into the room, paused.
“Don’t come any closer,” Josie warned. “If you touch her, I’ll cut off your nose. And that’s just the start.”
Valentine touched a finger to his nose and then glanced at Catherine. His expression was one of amusement and disbelief. But Catie knew anger couldn’t be far away.
“You can put it away, Josie,” she said. “He hasn’t hurt me or tried to touch me.”
They heard footsteps racing down the hall, and a heartbeat later, Madeleine burst into the door. “You found her.”
Valentine stepped back and then Catherine was surrounded by her three favorite people in the world. Ashley, Madeleine, and Josephine were crowding around her, hugging her, and talking all at once. Ashley was the first to make herself heard above the din.
“If he hasn’t touched you, Catie, where are your clothes? Why are you dressed in only a sheet?”
Catherine shook her head. “I woke up this morning and my clothes were gone. I had to use Lord Valentine’s sheets to cover myself.”
The three cousins turned back to Valentine, now standing with one shoulder braced on the doorjamb. Josephine lifted her grandfather’s cutlass again. “What did you do to her clothes? Was that part of your plan? To force her into your bed and have your way with her?”
Valentine held up his hands. “I assure you I was just as surprised as Miss Fullbright to awaken thus. I have no idea where her clothes are. She seems to have been left here with nothing.”
Maddie clutched Catherine’s hand. “So then you didn’t want to marry him?” She looked at the other girls. “I told you. I knew my father was lying.”
“We all knew,” Ashley said. “But we didn’t know what to do when they said your name during the wedding, and then
he
”—she pointed to Valentine—“lifted the veil, and there you were. And you looked so happy that we thought maybe we had misunderstood.”
Catherine shook her head. “No, no misunderstanding. My father drugged me. He has finally had his way.”
“And sacrificed you to the wolves,” Ashley added.
“I would hardly call myself a wolf,” Valentine muttered.
“We can’t let Uncle Edmund get away with this,” Ashley said.
Catherine saw Valentine start. “Now, don’t do anything rash.”
“But we have to do something,” Josie said. “Catie is trapped in this marriage, and we’ve lost her forever.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Miss Hale. I live only three blocks from Lord Castleigh’s house,” Valentine said. “And the three of you are welcome to visit, providing you use the front door.”
“But it’s not the same,” Maddie cried, turning away from him. “You have to come with me. I know my father will make this right.”
Catherine knew her kind uncle would do all in his power—even to his own family’s detriment. But Uncle William could not help without causing scandal, and even if she were safe under his protection, her father would find a way to get to her. “I am certain Uncle William would help if I asked,” she said, “but I don’t need his help.”
“Yes, you do!” Maddie cried.
“Don’t be a fool,” Ashley said.
Catherine looked at Valentine, still standing in the doorway. She knew he was watching her, waiting for her response. Was she with him or against him? Would she accept this marriage—at
least temporarily—or fight it and force them all to face the consequences?
Catherine turned resolutely back to her cousins. “Listen, girls,” she said, “Lord Valentine and I have discussed this. There’s no way out.”
Ashley’s jaw dropped. “You’re giving up? You’re just going to accept this and marry that-that
man
!” She pointed an accusatory finger at Valentine.
“I’m not giving up, but I don’t see another way right now.”
“Well, I do,” Maddie said, taking her hand, and Catherine was surprised by how firm her grip was and how determined the set of her jaw. “You’re coming home with me. Daddy will take you in.”
Catherine snatched her hand back. “No, Maddie. I won’t do that to you. Any of you. It wouldn’t help anyway. You know my father would find me and then…”
“Then let’s all run away,” Josie said. “We were going to anyway.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Valentine said, coming into the room. “Don’t ruin your own chances for a good match.”
Maddie shook her head. “But we don’t want to make good matches. We don’t want to marry.”
“You’re eighteen and don’t know what you want,” Valentine broke in before Catherine held up a hand. “You, you are Lord Castleigh’s daughter.” He inclined his head at Maddie. “You will be
expected to make a good match and continue the family tradition. You”—he nodded at Ashley— “Sir Gareth is a friend of mine. You’re expected to marry a baron at the least. And you”—he glared at Josephine—“put the sword away. If your father knew you were going about acting like the black sheep of the family, your grandfather, he would drink himself to oblivion.”
Ashley put her hands on her hips. “Well, you seem to know so much about everything, Lord Valentine, why don’t you think of a way to get Catie out of this? Or perhaps you wanted this all along? It seems you want to get all of us married off.”
He shook his head. “I assure you, Miss Brittany, my interest is all for my bride. Remain a spinster if you wish, but don’t put ideas in Catherine’s head.”
Now it was Catherine’s turn to glare at him. The presence of her cousins made her brave. “Put ideas into my head? What? Am I an imbecile who cannot think for herself?”
He waved her protests away. “Of course you can, but we’ve already decided this.”
Catherine turned her back on him. Oh, she wished he would just go. She pulled her friends close. She needed the security their circle gave her, and she wanted to reassure them. “Valentine has promised me he will try to find an escape from this mess. In the meantime, you three are still the Spinsters’ Club,” she said. They giggled at the
childhood name. “There will just be one less of you temporarily.”
“And that’s all you have to say?” Josie cried. “But what will you do? You are married to a man you do not even know!”
The devil you know, Catherine thought, but again, she needed to calm her younger cousins. “I know you are worried, but right now this seems the best choice. If I’m selfish and ruin myself, Valentine, and our families, then how does that make me any different from my father?”
“You could never be like your father,” Madeleine whispered. “And you know we don’t care about Society’s rules. We’d rather live in disgrace than sacrifice you to him.”
Maddie was crying now, and Catherine took her hand. “You won’t lose me. And I’m hardly sacrificing. Look at him.”
The girls turned as one and studied Valentine, who was once again slouched against the door. “You said yourselves he was handsome and kind. There are worse fates.”
“But what if he beats you?” Josephine said.
“Then I’ll run away, and I’ll come to one of you.”
“Come to me,” Maddie said. “Promise.”
“I promise.”
Ashley was the first to turn back to Valentine. “And don’t think we’ll let you get away with anything,” she snapped at him, then motioned for Josie to come forward with her sword.
“If I hear that you hurt her, you’ll be sorry.”
Maddie didn’t say anything to Valentine. She only hugged Catherine and promised to send enough clothes for a few days.
“We’ll be back tomorrow.” Ashley said the words to Catherine, but she suspected they were meant for Valentine’s ears. “We won’t abandon you.”
Maddie and Josephine nodded, and then, with a sinking feeling in her belly and a heavy heart, Catherine watched them file out of the room. She and Valentine were left alone.
He crossed his arms over his chest and jammed his shoulder into the door again. “Are your cousins always so wild?”
Catherine went to the window and peered out, hoping to catch a last glimpse of the three of them leaving. “How do you mean?” She craned her neck.
She heard Valentine chuckle. “No matter. You’ve just answered my question. How exactly are you all related? I’m sure I should know, but the information has escaped me at present. Your father and Lady Madeleine’s father are brothers, I believe.”
“Yes, and Josephine’s mother, my aunt Mavis, is their sister.”
“What about the adventuress? Miss Brittany?”
“I suppose that technically Ashley is not really Maddie and Josie’s cousin. Her mother and mine are sisters. But Ashley is the sort of girl everyone
wants to know. Truly, we are all more like sisters than cousins.”
“What is this talk about the Spinsters’ Club? I have not heard of it. Where does it meet?”
Catherine looked back at him and tried not to smile. “It’s a private club. No men allowed. I’m afraid I cannot tell you more than that. Against the rules.”
He frowned. “I see. You realize I have my own methods of obtaining information.”
She smiled. “I shall see you at dinner.”
She turned back to the window, and when she heard him leave, she picked up the robe and slipped it on. Hopefully, Maddie would send clothes before the dinner hour. And what then? She looked back out the window. Obviously, it could be scaled. She could leave anytime she chose. She would remember this, and if Valentine tried to touch her, if he drank too much and hit her or threatened her, she would know how to run away.
Maddie’s clothes arrived an hour later. She’d sent two dresses and underclothes, but none of them were Catherine’s. Catherine wondered if she would ever see her own things again. Perhaps her father had already sold them or given them away. It was growing late, and she’d received no letter or note from him, no call from her mother or sister. She felt as though she’d never existed in their lives.
She had not expected to hear from her father—
had not wanted to hear from him, in any case. But what of her mother? Did she not care about her own daughter?
Catherine unfolded the dresses, shaking out the wrinkles, and as she did so, a pair of trousers fell out of the folds of one. Catherine picked them up, then shook out the other dress. It hid a shirt and an old jacket. She sent a silent thank-you to Maddie. These would be a start if she ever needed to escape. She took an extra pillowcase from the armoire and folded the men’s clothing into it, then hid it under her mattress.