Saving Lord Berkshire - Laura Beers Page 0,34
interests, but Lord George is very progressive in his way of thinking.”
Cooper stepped back into the room. “Lord Berkshire and Lady Kitty have just arrived,” he shared. “Would you like me to show them in?”
“Please do,” Katherine replied.
A moment later, Lord Berkshire and Lady Kitty entered, but it was Lord Berkshire’s demeanor that immediately caught Katherine’s attention. Not only did he appear stiffer than usual, but his eyes seemed to spark with anger.
Kitty rushed up to Amelia and asked, “Will you show me how to play the guitar today?”
“I will,” Amelia replied. “But first, we —”
Katherine spoke over her. “I will need to speak to Lord Berkshire before we start our lessons,” she said. “I just have a few more questions that I must ask him.”
Amelia cast her a curious look, but wisely did not question her. “Then this would be an excellent time for me to show Kitty a few chords on the guitar.”
“Is that agreeable with you, my lord?” Katherine asked Lord Berkshire with a smile.
The anger dissipated somewhat from his eyes. “I believe I would prefer it.”
“Excellent.” She gestured towards the open door. “Allow me to show you to our gardens.”
Lord Berkshire extended his arm towards her. “I shall escort you.”
“Thank you,” she replied, placing a hand on his arm.
As they walked towards the rear of the townhouse, neither of them spoke. It wasn’t until they stepped onto the gravel footpath that Katherine dropped his arm and asked, “Whatever is the matter?”
Lord Berkshire stopped and turned to face her. “Why do you suppose something is wrong?”
She looked at him pointedly. “I can see it in your eyes. They hold a secret, a painful secret that is causing you much anguish.”
“You are wrong,” he said firmly, averting his gaze.
“Am I?” she asked. “Because I am rarely wrong.”
“About reading one’s eyes?”
“No, about things in general,” she joked.
He chuckled as he resumed his walk along the footpath. “I see humility is not one of your traits.”
“It is not.” She glanced over at him. “Do you truly not wish to talk about it?”
“I do not.”
She shrugged. “Then what would you wish to discuss?” she asked, glancing up at the sky. “We could discuss the weather?”
“Heavens, no!” he exclaimed. “I tire of polite conversation. It is dreadfully boring.”
“I could ask you about your childhood,” she suggested.
Clasping his hands behind his back, he replied, “I do not object to discussing my childhood. After all, I had a happy upbringing, and our home was filled with an abundance of love and laughter.”
“Was it?”
He turned his head to look at her. “You seem surprised.”
“I guess I just assumed you had a difficult childhood,” she replied.
“And why is that?”
She gave him a knowing look. “Because you seem so troubled, as if the burdens of your past are weighing you down.”
His eyebrows drew together in an anguished expression. “You are not entirely wrong, but I do not care to discuss it. Frankly, I have a much bigger problem.”
“Which is?”
Lord Berkshire let out a deep, troubled sigh as he reached into the pocket of his waistcoat. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and revealed, “Kitty received a letter this morning.”
“Who was it from?”
“Mr. Kendall.”
Katherine sucked in her breath. “No,” she murmured, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.
Lord Berkshire stopped and turned to face her. “Fortunately, I was able to intercept it, and my butler assured me that it was the first of its kind.”
Katherine pointed at the letter. “Have you read it yet?”
“I have,” he replied. “Mr. Kendall shares a few anecdotes and confesses that he misses her.”
She pursed her lips and asked, “Have you spoken to Kitty about this?”
“No, I haven’t,” he replied. “I haven’t found the right moment to confront her.”
“Perhaps she didn’t grant Mr. Kendall permission to write her,” Katherine suggested.
“If not, it would be rather bold of Mr. Kendall to write to her without her approval.”
Katherine lowered her voice. “If word got out that Kitty was having a dalliance with a solicitor, her reputation would never recover.”
“I am well aware of that fact,” he growled.
“Well, what do you think we should do about it?”
“We?” He shook his head. “There is no ‘we’ about this.”
“Then what are you going to do about it?” she questioned.
Lord Berkshire crumbled the piece of paper in his hand. “I have no idea,” he replied. “I suppose I could lock her in her bedchamber until she marries.”
“That would never work.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” he bellowed, tossing his hands up in the air.
Not perturbed by