The minute Cate arrived back at Plas Bryn, the footman informed her that Sarah, Laurie, and Mrs Demery were having tea in the drawing room. At any other time, Cate would have left them to it, but today she bore good news and she rather wistfully hoped that Mrs Demery might perhaps thank her for it. She was still quite scared of Mrs Demery. So she braved her in-laws' company, settling Luke down on the sofa near Laurie and pouring herself a cup of tea before it could become rude that no one had offered.

"I'll make a cup for David," Sarah said, leaning forward over the tray.

"No. He's not here. He stayed behind to do some business. He will be back in a week or so."

Sarah looked disappointed, but Laurie looked up from jogging Luke on her knee. "That means his application was somewhat successful?"

"Very successful," Cate said proudly. "My father has agreed to invest a large sum. David will be able to hire men to start digging as soon as he comes back."

Laurie raised her eyebrows and Sarah clapped her hands, but Mrs Demery only pursed her lips.

"He would have better waited to find impartial investors," she said. "There is too much entitlement when one involves family with business. I suppose Sir William only invested to make up for David having to marry you."

Cate choked on her tea. "That it is not at all the case. My father would never make any investment if he did not believe it was a sound one."

"Why does it even matter?" Laurie said. "If David has the money, he'll be developing the mines and making even more, and he won't have to run off to London for months at a time because things aren't doing well here." She cast a sly glance at Sarah. "You might have to return to the metropolis without his company, dear cousin."

Sarah smiled placidly. "I have no plans to return to London just yet."

"I thought you were tired of Wales," Cate said.

"I am developing bucolic habits," Sarah said. "I have taken up walking and I paint views of the sea."

"They're not very good," Laurie said. "It is mostly just grey upon grey."

"I enjoy myself," Sarah said with dignity. "The occupation is the object."

"And I do not object to it," Laurie said. "Spinsters are much better employed outdoors than in, I believe. A bit of wind and rain clears the cobwebs from their souls, but embroidery and carpet-work, well, it waxes a spiritual mustiness, doesn't it? And it ruins the eyesight. A spinster needs good eyesight. How else can she peer from behind curtains to any good purpose?"

It was impressive that Sarah managed to listen to that without even the hint of a blush. She acted as though it had never been spoken, turning to Cate with a smile.

"Tell me about your visit to your family, Catherine. Is your mother well?"

"My mother is well, yes." That was consciously polite. "My father is well too. And my youngest sister is very well. She met David for the first time. I think they will get along." If they ever got to spend any time together. "It was very good to see her again."

"How pleasant."

Laurie's rudeness was thus passed over as if it had never occurred. She slumped back on the sofa with Luke in her lap, speaking nonsense to him under her breath. Cate wondered what her purpose was in saying such things — to merely be hurtful? Or did she really dislike Sarah? It was not as though Laurie were in a position to look down upon her cousin — she was a widow herself, without children or prospects or fortune, and not much more than a few years younger than Sarah.

"How many younger sisters do you have, Catherine?" Mrs Demery asked.

"Two, Madam. Madalene is seventeen and Sophia is fourteen."

"They are at a delicate time in life. If you love them, it would be best not to be too close to them. Their connection to you may narrow their prospects. I am sure David understands this. He will not encourage the connection."

"You are quite mistaken. He has already promised that when Sophia is older he will help me see her more often."

An unpleasant, bitter look crossed Mrs Demery's face. "A foolish promise."

Cate knew it was not for her sisters' sake that Mrs Demery disapproved. Mrs Demery was annoyed that David was doing something nice for Cate. Somehow, knowing that made up for the fact that Mrs Demery did not show any pleasure in the good news at all.

A short while later, Mrs Demery said it was time to leave. Laurie was loth to leave Luke, whom she was feeding biscuits, and dragged the goodbyes out. It was more peaceful once they were gone. Cate went and sat with Luke on the rug in a patch of sunlight, and he fell asleep, drooling, on her knee.

"It is good news," Sarah said, pouring herself another cup of tea. "I don't think they congratulated you. I will. It was very clever of you to write to your father. Did you try to persuade him, or was it David who convinced him?"

"It was between us both, really. We worked together."

"And how pleasant that now he will stay here with you for spring and summer. Your efforts have paid dividends."

"That's not why I did it. But I am glad he'll be here."

"And I, too. He is very good company."

Cate did not wish to share his company too generously with Sarah, but she kept quiet. Perhaps Sarah would be too busy painting or walking to bother with David. Only David liked walking too, didn't he? Perhaps he and Cate could go for walks together in the warmer weather. They might stop down by the beach, or under the shade of an oak tree, and he might take her hand... Her cheeks warmed remembering their kiss. He had kissed her back, even if had drawn away a moment later. It was not wrong to hope, was it, that it might happen again?

"Is it so hot in the sunlight?" Sarah asked. "Your cheeks are awfully red. Perhaps you should move to the shade. You do not want to spoil your complexion. I have noticed it is much improved since I arrived here. Not so wan."

"Perhaps I need the sunlight then." Cate shook herself. Now if Sophia were here — or even better, Madalene — she might tell them about the kiss. Sophia would delight in it and Madalene would offer guesses as to what David had been thinking. Madalene was quite astute that way.

Cate looked warily at Sarah. But what harm could it do to tell her? She had to tell someone. The memory had been burning up inside her for the past four days. And even if Sarah spread gossip, who would bother to care? David was her husband, after all.

"I'm thinking of David," Cate said. "That's why my cheeks are so red. He kissed me, Sarah. It's the first time."

Sarah's mouth opened wide. Then she laughed — a shrill, high laugh. "I suppose he did marry you." There was something ugly in the sound of her voice. She laughed again. "We used to call him Georgy Peorgy, you know. His brother was Prying Paul."

"You don't mean to say..."

"He was a regular little flirt as a boy. Don't worry. He's not like that now."

"He certainly is not!" Cate looked suspiciously at Sarah who stared guilelessly back at her. "Perhaps it meant nothing to him, but it meant something to me. I cannot stop thinking about it. He once told me that ours would never be more than a marriage of convenience. That I was nothing to him but an obligation. That he could never forgive me for what I've done. And it didn't matter then. I didn't feel anything for him at all. It's different now. I don't know what to do."

"Goodness," Sarah said politely. "Well, I am certain I do not know what to do either. I have never been married, nor been in love. Why would you ask me?"

"I'm not asking you. It is just that I must speak of this or I will burst." Cate played with the carpet tassels. "It is I who kissed him really. I started it. I don't know how I dared."

"Really?" Sarah sounded more interested now. "You must consider if you have been too daring then. He may not have wanted to be kissed."

"He did kiss me back."

There was a short silence. "But did he really? Are you perhaps imagining it?"

"He had his hand in my hair, pulling me closer."

Another silence, unbroken this time.

Cate sighed. "Then, he pushed me away. He said he can't. Can't what? Can't forgive me? Can't love me? What do you think he meant by it, first returning the kiss, and then pushing me away?"

"I don't know why you would ask me." Sarah sounded annoyed. "What possible expertise do you imagine I bring to the question? If you want to know what he meant, you must ask him when he returns in a week."

That was a terrifying prospect. Cate flushed. "I'm sorry. I have embarrassed you."

"Think nothing of it. We will stop speaking of this now and forget we ever did."

After that, Cate thought that Sarah would make some excuse to leave, perhaps one of her long walks or sea paintings. Instead, however, Sarah poured herself another cup of tea and ate another biscuit. As Cate was also still hungry, she shifted Luke, still sleeping, from her knee and did the same.

"Did you think Laurie was particularly rude to me today?" Sarah asked after a while.

"She seemed a little more scabrous than usual, though her tongue is rarely kind."

"I bring out the worst in her. I think it is because I tried to warn her."

"Warn her? About what?"

"About Wynn. I knew he was a villain, but she swore to me that she loved him, that he would do her no harm. I think she hates me for being right. Her pride cannot stand the wound."

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you," Cate said.

Sarah sighed heavily over her tea. "Perhaps, perhaps. All the same, I am glad that David made Wynn disappear."

"Made him... disappear? What do you mean by that? He did not kill him, surely?"

"Kill him!?" Sarah laughed. "My god, he's not dead. Did she tell he was dead?"

"Yes, she said..." Cate frowned, trying to remember exactly what it was Laurie had said about her husband. "Well, I'm not sure she did, really, but I got the distinct impression he was. And she never talks about him. No one ever talks about him, really."

"He's not dead." Sarah laughed again. "He's an ensign in the infantry. Currently stationed in... was it India or the Indies? I can't remember exactly. Somewhere hot and far away. David used his army connections to arrange it, but only after—" She stopped abruptly. "Did he tell you about that?"

"He has told me nothing about Mr Wynn."

"Then I am not sure I should say. It would be a dreadful scandal if it were widely known, though I'm not sure most people would not approve, really, if they knew what Wynn had done to Laura."

"What did Wynn do to Laurie?"

"All the things that bad men do to good women. He gambled away her dowry, of course. It was supposed to go to purchasing him a lieutenant's commission. He was unfaithful too. But that's not the worst of it. She took it all meekly for about four or five months. You wouldn't think that, Laura being meek, but she was, because she loved him and wanted nothing more than to please him. Then one night it was too much for her. She lost her temper. She has a terrible temper and it's a miracle she lasted that long. She took him to task about the drinking and the gambling and the mistresses. To make her quiet, he laid his hands on her. She says it was the first time he ever did that. I'm not sure I believe her, but it was certainly the last. She crawled from the house the next morning and begged a passing carter to take her to her mother's place. She could barely walk or speak, but she left him, and refused to ever return."

"Poor Laurie," Cate said. "I never imagined. No wonder she never talks about him."

"They are very painful memories, I am sure. If he were dead, at least she could be free of him. But he will never come back. David made it impossible."

"What did he do? Tell me. I will never pass it on."

Sarah hesitated. "You will think differently of him when you know. It was very cruel."

"Did he not deserve cruelty?"

Sarah bit her lip. "Well... David was home on leave at the time. He actually carried her to bed from the cart. He saw her bruised and battered and broken. He called for the surgeon and made sure she was safe. Then he went out. I don't know exactly how he did it — he must have had some friends to help him — but Wynn went missing. Two days later, some fishermen found him floating in a row boat without any oars ten miles out from shore. It was very hot weather, the middle of July, and he wasn't wearing any clothes. There was nothing in the boat with him but an empty bottle of gin. Every inch of him was sunburnt and he was mad with thirst and terror. You would be, wouldn't you? Too far from shore to see where to swim to. Nothing to do but wait and hope to be rescued, not even knowing if you will be. Do you take a risk and start to swim?"

Cate's heart pounded in her chest. "I can't imagine David doing such a thing. It is too cruel, even for a man like Wynn. He might really have died."

Sarah shrugged. "But David is cruel. He can be kind too, to those he loves, but when he hates— he is heartless and unforgiving."

__

2023-04-29: And Laurie's secret comes out.