Moreover, despite his reluctance on several fronts, he was glad to be back in England. And for the first time in a very long while, Brandon acknowledged, he felt eager and hopeful about the future.
—
When Kate arrived home moments ahead of an impending rainstorm, she discovered her companion in the library as usual, curled up on a window seat, scribbling in a notebook.
Smiling fondly, Kate went to the hearth to stir the fire. She considered herself quite lucky to have found Nell Cuthbert, a middle-aged widow of good breeding who was respectable but not puritanical. Normally a bit scatterbrained, Nell seemed even more dreamy-eyed and unfocused of late. With her nuptials approaching in a few weeks, there was also a hopeful feeling of romance in the air.
When Kate fetched Nell’s shawl and wrapped it around her plump shoulders, the widow looked up from her writing. “Thank you, my dear. I was growing chilled.”
“It is no wonder. You are wearing a summer gown on a blustery spring day. Do come away from the window, Nell. Have you had your tea yet?”
She looked around her blankly. “I believe they brought a tray in some time ago. The tea must have grown cold, though.”
“I will ring for a fresh pot, but there are sandwiches and scones here.”
While Kate went to the bellpull, Nell stood stiffly and stretched, then carried her notebook, pen, and inkwell to the desk. “My, how I let the time get away from me. I wished to jot down one more page of notes.”
That was regularly the case, since she was trying her hand at writing a novel, a brooding gothic romance set in a haunted castle.
When a footman entered, Kate gave orders for more tea and settled on the sofa. Realizing the servant had eyed her oddly, she pulled off her powdered wig and combed her fingers through her hair.
Rather than disapprove of her male attire, however, Nell clapped her hands together in delight. “What fun your unconventionality is. You have given me a capital idea for a new plot.” She frowned. “Where are my spectacles?”
“Atop your head. Will you join me on the sofa?”
“Yes, indeed.”
Complying, Nell reached for the plate of sandwiches and began to nibble. “How fared your meeting with the pirate, dear?”
“Well enough, I suppose. Deverill agreed to help me locate the shipwreck in exchange for my finding him a suitable bride.”
“How comforting to know he will aid you. But will you truly be able to secure a genteel match for him as you did for me? At best he is a sailor and merchant, at worst a pirate.”
“To be precise, he was a privateer. There is a difference.”
“What difference?”
Kate had posed the same question several years ago. “Pirates are typically rebel citizens with allegiance to no country. Privateers are sanctioned by governments by letters of marque. In Deverill’s case, the American government granted him legal authority to conduct hostilities against declared enemies, meaning us British.”
“The distinction will be lost on the ton,” Nell predicted.
“I expect so,” Kate agreed. “But he is quite wealthy, not to mention outlandishly handsome. And now that he possesses a distinguished title, I suspect there are any number of ladies who would leap to become his wife.”
“You said you quarreled with him before he left for America. I imagine it was awkward for you today, meeting him again after all this time,” Nell said sympathetically, reaching out to pat Kate’s hand.
Kate squeezed her companion’s fingers in return. Sometimes Nell surprised her with her compassion and insight. In the past year, Kate had come to love Nell, for dotty-headed or not, she was a real dear and a jewel of a friend. She would be sorely missed when she married and left her position in the Beaufort household to begin a fresh stage of her life with her new husband.
“Our meeting was indeed awkward,” Kate said simply, preferring not to expound on the details. “But we came to a satisfactory business arrangement.”
“Merely business? I thought your past acquaintance with Mr. Deverill was romantic in nature.”
“Once it was, but no longer.”
“A pity. I want you to be as happy as you have made me.”
Managing a smile, Kate attempted to change the subject. “I hope I may find such happiness also, Nell. May I count on your presence when Deverill calls here tomorrow at eleven?”
“Of course. With a man like that, it is only prudent for me to attend you.”