Beauty in Disguise Read Free Page B

opened her eyes. Lord Salford had ridden alongside the coach for much of the time, and came inside at night to sleep. He was uncommunicative and sullen, offering none of the endearments he had generously doled out the previous few weeks. He feared her father would discover their intent and would follow them to stop the marriage. She was afraid to tell him she had left a note for her father explaining her actions. It would never occur to her to just disappear!
    When they got to Scotland and Salford discovered that she did not come into possession of her fortune at eighteen, he left her. He never married her, and he abandoned her with only her pin money from last quarter. She found herself desolate in a strange country after traveling days in a carriage alone with Salford. She had done both of the things that would tarnish a young woman’s name.
    Her ruination had been complete.
    Even her father could not forgive her, so he cast her off. And only a few short months later, Kathryn decided God could not forgive her, either. Life had become one unanswered prayer after another until she rarely sought Him anymore. She believed it made her stronger, but she missed the comfort and peace God had always given her.
    Now she was to keep Charity in some semblance of proper behavior during Lord Dalton’s visit.
    “Oh, why does he not come? I am so bored I could scream. I should have accepted Harry Bolton’s offer to go for a drive today. Now I am quite sorry I did not.”
    Kathryn sighed in frustration. “Charity, I am all out of patience with you. The past two weeks you have been anxious and overwrought. It will not bring him here sooner. I have told you again and again that a man of Lord Dalton’s stamp will expect and prefer a properly behaved young woman, not one prone to go into a fit of the dismals.”
    Charity appeared to take her advice to heart as an hour later Kathryn sat in the window embrasure of the drawing room, as she always did during tea. Charity sat before the tea tray looking beautiful and demure. If only it had been natural and not by design.
    Kathryn had gone to her room to freshen up, and once again sat in front of her mirror seeing a stranger. How she wished she could meet Lord Dalton without hiding behind her mask. It was impossible, of course, for many reasons. She knew he must despise her for what she had done to him. He would not be happy to see her. More importantly, she could not bear to see the pity on his face if he recognized her. She could avoid her previous life with her disguise. She could not bear it should he discover her identity and turn his back on her.
    She came back to the present and watched young Lacey as she very slowly and meticulously carried an overfull cup of tea to her. “You are doing splendidly, sweetheart,” she whispered. Lacey was starved for affection in the most pitiable way. She was sadly neglected, though Kathryn found her eager and willing to learn everything she could.
    She was almost upon her with the cup of tea when the door opened and the butler announced in a deep baritone, “Sir John, Lord Dalton has called.”
    Kathryn’s eyes sought the earl’s face of their own volition, and she felt a nostalgic wish in her heart that it was she in Charity’s place.
    The teacup, so lovingly carried, rolled awkwardly across the carpet and a horrified gasp was the only sound heard upon this stentorian announcement. Kathryn’s quiet assurance directed at the disconcerted Lacey was the only thing that kept the self-conscious child from fleeing the room in tears.
    “Jarvis frightened me, Miss Montgomery,” whispered the dismayed little girl.
    “Indeed he did, Lacey. It is of no matter, for we will clean it up momentarily.” Kathryn discreetly bent to mop up part of the spill with her napkin as Sir John shifted his eyes from the small disaster to the man now coming toward him. Kathryn sensed Lord Dalton’s awareness of the situation and appreciated that he did not draw even more