“There is no need to thank me for kindness to my friends,” Edmund said with quick deprecation, “although your sentiments are very much appreciated, Lady Katherine.”
With her dark flashing eyes, rosy cheeks and dimples, Kitty could be considered a very good-looking young woman, Diana realized. Jacob’s eyes were certainly following her intently, but all of Kitty’s attention still seemed focused on Edmund.
They make a handsome couple.
But the thought broke Diana’s heart.
ChapterThirteen
When breakfast ended, Kitty came and took Diana’s arm.
“Do you think we might talk, Diana? I’ve so wanted to get to know you before the wedding, but everyone else keeps getting in the way. I’m even glad that Andrew had his nosebleed so that I could come here alone and finally have you all to myself. He’s still recovering, rather than answering letters, if you want to know.”
Kitty’s face was earnest and her smile was friendly. Diana couldn’t help responding positively to her cousin’s entreaty, although part of her pleasure could be attributed to the fact that Andrew's nose was still sore given his behavior the previous day.
“Has he been writing more letters asking for money?” Diana couldn’t help herself from asking.
“I hope not!” Kitty replied. “I shouldn’t have spoken like that at dinner the other night, Diana. Do accept my apologies. Mother was quite upset with me, you know.”
“But was it true?” Diana pressed. “Was Andrew always asking your mother for money when he was in India?”
“Oh, young men always need money, or so he tells me,” Kitty said evasively with an uncomfortable laugh. “You heard his explanation at the time. Andrew would be angry if he knew I was speaking to you of this again, Diana. So would Mother.”
“I’m glad you told me,” Diana admitted, now even more unsatisfied with this glimpse of Andrew’s hidden life. “Whatever they say.”
“I thought you might need a friend, too,” Kitty continued. “Young men and aunts aren’t always the companions one needs, no matter how good their intentions are.”
Diana smiled back now and squeezed Kitty’s arm. Her cousin’s sympathy felt light, whereas her aunt’s was heavy. She could also sense her aunt’s approval as they left the room together. The older woman made no attempt to stop or join them, something that Diana had feared after the surfeit of attention on her the day before. Today, Kitty could be her shield.
They chatted about Kitty’s recent travels with friends and upcoming plans for the London Season as they walked towards one of the smaller sitting rooms where they would be unlikely to be disturbed. Diana thought she could perhaps enjoy something of the Season’s fun vicariously through her cousin despite her own grief and disappointment.
As they sat down together on the flowered sofa, Diana sighed with relief.
“It is good to spend time with someone closer to my age,” she admitted, and Kitty smiled.
“Mother can be a bit too much can’t she?” Kitty asked. “I think that’s really why she sent the message last night, asking me to come over first thing today. She was worried that she was boring you, I suspect. She never likes to give any trouble. But at the same time, she does need to be here to support your poor mother.”
“Aunt Henrietta has been terribly kind,” Diana agreed. “Oh, I hope she doesn’t think I’m tired of her. She has done so much for me, you know, Kitty. I would hate to seem so ungrateful.”
“No, we all understand the pressure you’re under, including Mother. Don't give it another thought,” Kitty assured her. “I’m certainly not sorry to visit you again. Fernside always seems like such a friendly home. Hayward House is shut up so often that it only feels like I’m passing through it on my way to somewhere else.”
“I did wonder about that,” Diana admitted. Then, she added tactfully, “It didn’t have the air of a place that was truly lived in.”
“But it will be different once you’re married to Andrew, won’t it?” Kitty enthused. “You’ll make it into a real home, and maybe our London house, too. We only ever open that one during the Season. Perhaps being married will put Andrew in a better temper too. I’m looking forward to having you with us so much.”
Diana felt a growing burden of guilt at the contrast between Kitty’s joyful anticipation of the impending marriage and her own growing dread and urge to balk at it.
When she saw Kitty frowning slightly and biting her lip, she thought that her cousin had detected her unhappiness, and her stomach churned as she wondered how to respond.
“Do you know the Duke of Colborne well, Diana?” Kitty asked, throwing Diana off guard with the sudden change of subject.
“Edmund? Well, he was at school with Percy. He seemed to be here half of every holiday for as long as I can remember.”
Kitty smiled brilliantly now.
“Then you must know him. I hoped you did. What is he like?”
Diana couldn’t help smiling back, even though a slow, dumb tide of sadness was rising simultaneously in her chest. Edmund and Kitty would make such a handsome couple with their dark glossy hair, Edmund’s glinting green eyes, and Kitty’s rich brown eyes and long black lashes.