Page 80 of Return to Satterthwaite Court

She’d told herself he would come, that he’d pursue her as she’d been pursuing him, but she hadn’t entirely believed it until this moment.

Christine adjusted herself on the sofa, far more composed than Kate was herself. “Thank you, Pruitt. Please show Lieutenant Heywood in.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Charles stood at the door of the drawing room. He was windswept and damp from the storm. Not at his best, admittedly, though he’d been in perfectly good order when he’d departed from Grillon’s an hour ago.

The chocolates were to blame.

They’d been a ridiculous, romantic afterthought. Had he not had the idea of stopping off at the sweet shop on the way to Duke Street, he’d never have been splashed by that passing four-wheeler or jostled in the cab of that blasted omnibus. There’d been no time to return to his hotel. He’d been that impatient.

He hadn’t seen Kate in nearly a fortnight.

She stood alongside her tall friend in front of the overstuffed drawing room sofa, a faint tremble on her lips, and her blue eyes very wide as the butler announced him.

Charles’s chest tightened in an unexpected rush of emotion.

She’d been uncertain of him. He realized it now with a savage sense of irony. It was he who had been uncertain of her, all these days past, alone in the wilds of Somersetshire as he’d planned his trip to London. He’d been half convinced that, when he finally arrived, he’d find she’d forgotten him. That her impulsive nature would have led her to fix her interests on some other fellow who may have caught her fancy.

But no.

Kate may be spirited and impulsive, but she wasn’t inconstant. Not if the way she was looking at him was to judge.

“Lady Katherine.” He bowed.

“Lieutenant Heywood.” She dropped into a perfunctory curtsy. She wore a dusky blue silk dress with a darker blue silk ribbon belt at her waist, not too dissimilar from the dress she’d been wearing the first time they’d met. “May I present my dear friend, Miss Mattingly?”

Charles crossed the room to make his bow to the tall young lady. “Miss Mattingly and I have met before, I believe.”

Miss Mattingly smiled. “We have, sir. I’m resolved to forget that unfortunate encounter so we might start anew.”

“I’m obliged to you.”

“Please sit down.” Miss Mattingly relinquished her place beside Kate. “I must step away a moment to speak to Pruitt. If you’ll excuse me?”

“By all means,” Kate said. “Take as long as you require.”

Charles waited until Miss Mattingly had gone and he and Kate were alone to withdraw the crushed box of candy from the inner pocket of his coat. “I brought you something,” he said, offering it to her. “My apologies. It’s a bit worse for wear.”

Kate took the dented box with a bemused smile. “Sweets?”

“Chocolates.”

She opened the violet-ribbon-trimmed lid. The dainty chocolates inside were ornamented with even daintier pieces of candied ginger. “Ginger creams!” she exclaimed in genuine delight. “My absolute favorite.” Her smile turned quizzical. “How did you know?”

“I didn’t,” he said. “I guessed.”

Among a shop filled with cloying sweetness, the ginger creams had seemed an appropriate selection. Like Kate, they contained a dash of fire.

She popped one into her mouth, eyes closing briefly with the pleasure of it. “Oomph. How divine.”

Charles suppressed a grin. “I’m pleased you like them.”

“I beg your pardon. Would you like one?”

“Thank you, no.”

She flashed him an apologetic look, partially covering her mouth with her hand as she finished chewing. “I suppose I should have waited to eat them until I was alone.”