A Stranger at Castonbury - By Amanda McCabe Page 0,62

handsome young man was laughing, and Lydia looked so full of wistful longing as she watched him.

‘Lydia, my dear,’ Catalina said. She gently took the girl’s arm and turned her away from the window. ‘Life in London is not so grey as all that, you know. You have much to look forward to there.’

‘Do I?’

‘Of course. There will be dances and concerts, the theatre—and you are sure to find a suitor to your liking there. One your guardian will also like.’

Lydia nodded, but Catalina could see that she was not convinced. And why should she be? Mr Hale was a very respectable choice, especially for a young lady of Lydia’s disposition. Young lovers shouldn’t be parted because of ambition or duty. Catalina knew the pain that caused all too well. She had to help Lydia be cautious, but not to lose hope too soon.

‘Let’s go over your lines again,’ Catalina said, taking up the script from the table.

An hour later, there was a knock at the door. Catalina opened it to find a footman standing there with a note in his hand. His blond hair contrasted with the red and gold of his livery, and his eyes were strangely insolent as he looked at her. ‘Excuse me, Mrs Moreno, but I was asked to deliver this to you,’ he said.

‘Thank you.’ Catalina took the note, and saw that it was Jamie’s handwriting that spelled her name across the folded paper. Breathless, she hastily closed the door and broke the wax seal to open it.

Catalina. I have not been able to see you alone for the past few days, and I fear we may not have the chance to speak privately again for a while. But I must tell you so many things—beginning with what happened to me in Spain after I thought you died...

I cared for nothing at all when you were gone. I felt cold, removed, and it didn’t matter what happened or what I did. I infiltrated a group opposed to the king in order to send their plans to the British government. I came to believe what I did was painful but necessary for the security of Europe after Napoleon, and as I did not care if I lived or died it seemed best I was the one to do this rather than a man with a wife. When I was discovered, there was a fight and I was wounded, as you can see now.

It was soon after that my brother Harry found me and I heard what had really happened at Castonbury while I was gone—the financial troubles, the scandal, father’s health. I had abandoned them when they needed me the most, and only then did I feel the full weight of my mistakes. I can only try and make it right now, for all of us.

And that is why I truly cannot bring myself to hate Alicia Walters. I have done things as terrible as she has, and yet here I have another chance with my family.

If you can, please meet me tomorrow. I will send you word on where and when. I must see you and talk to you more. J.

Catalina closed her eyes and clutched the note tightly in her hand. How Jamie must have hurt, so ill, so far from home! And she had not been there to comfort him. She still could not, not really. She feared he wouldn’t accept any comfort she could give anyway. So much had happened while they were parted, so much that she didn’t know. If they were to be together again, they would have to find a way past that, and she wasn’t sure that was even possible any longer.

Yet still there was that temptation to meet him, to run to him. She urged prudence on Lydia, but it seemed she had none herself. She never had, not when it came to Jamie.

Catalina went to the window and looked down at the small garden below. It was much quieter there than in the grand front gardens. No one rushed around getting ready for the party tonight. But the peaceful scene brought no quiet to her own heart.

‘Oh, Jamie,’ she whispered. ‘Why do you do this to me?’

Why did he make it so very hard to do what she knew she had to do?

* * *

‘...though you have ever had my heart, yet now I find I love you more because I bring you less!’

As Lydia swooned back in the leading man’s arms for the final