“You should’ve told me!”
Kate’s shoulders dropped. She’d hoped it had been idle talk on David’s part. She hadn’t thought he’d really do it. “You’re right, of course. Perhaps you could’ve stopped him. I could not. But he made us promise we would never tell you. In the end, there was nothing I could do but hold his hand. . . .” Her throat closed with the memory. Iniya had stroked his face and whispered comfort into his ear. At least he’d had her there at the end.
Gerard dropped into a chair and slumped over the table, head in his hands. Though he didn’t make a sound, she knew by the way he shook that he was weeping. Whatever was between them now, she’d known him for so many years. Kate put her hand to his shoulder. “If it’s a comfort to you . . . he didn’t have any doubt that you could run the plantation. None at all. He was proud of you.”
His silent sobs eventually faded. Kate poured a glass of wine and brought it to him. He drank it all in one long draw.
“Are you all right?”
“Go to bed,” he growled.
“Gerard . . .” She reached to touch him again, and that was a horrible mistake. Gerard spun and caught her to him, crushing her with his strength. He pressed his forehead to her bosom and wrapped his arms around her waist.
For a moment, she let him hold her, thinking he needed comfort. She kept her hands high and tried to breathe past the vise of his arms.
But then he shifted, dragging his face higher until his mouth touched the bare skin of her chest. “My God, I love you.”
&
nbsp; “Don’t . . .”
“Please,” he whispered, opening his mouth against the rise of her breast. “I need you. I need you.”
“Stop. Stop!” She dug her fingers into his head and pushed as hard as she could.
He finally shoved her violently away. “Go!” he shouted. “Get out of my sight.”
She stumbled toward her bedchamber, relieved he’d let her go, afraid that he’d follow. But his next words turned that fear into despair.
“We’ll book passage to Ceylon tomorrow.”
Kate grasped the doorjamb and whirled back to him. “What?”
He poured himself another glass and downed that one as well.
She shook her head. “No. I told you what happened. I’ll write a letter, explaining it.”
His face had twisted with rage. “You can tell them yourself. And see if they believe you.”
Worried that she was making everything worse, Kate closed the door and sank down to sit on the edge of the bed.
If Gerard hadn’t come to his senses by morning, she would have to send for Aidan after all. It was her only choice. Hopefully, he’d find a way to forgive her. Whatever happened, she would not set foot on that ship. No one could make her go this time.
Chapter 31
“Penrose!” Aidan shouted, slamming open the door of their rented quarters. “Penrose! Damn it, man, what the hell did you mean, sending that ridiculous message?”
He sped up the stairway, his boots echoing like explosions against the plain wooden stairs. “Penrose!”
His secretary didn’t greet him when he reached the rooms. Aidan threw back the covers of Penrose’s rumpled bed in case he’d somehow flattened himself into the mattress.
Christ, he was losing his mind.
Miss Cain has requested your urgent assistance. Please return to Hull as soon as you’re able. Discretion prevents me from saying more.
What the hell could that mean? He couldn’t wait to find out. If Penrose couldn’t tell him, then Lucy would.
Growling in frustration, Aidan wheeled around and pounded back down the stairs.