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“No,” William said. “But someday, I will tell you. I promise.”

“That is not fair,” Hannah huffed, crossing her arms.

“Nevertheless, it is a personal affair between a husband and wife,” William said, not wishing to burden his sisters with the truth. “Such a thing is not suitable for young ladies to hear. Now, I hope you both enjoy your breakfast. I fear that I have work to finish.”

“Will you join us for supper?” Hannah asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “And tea and dinner.”

Hester grinned. “We will expect you to be here. If we must always be proper ladies, you must be a proper gentleman, and everyone knows that a gentleman always keeps his word.”

“Of course.”

William smiled until he left the dining hall. Then, he hurried up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He was going to his study, once again. It was still his refuge, and he found that he missed Catherine’s unexpected appearances. An ache throbbed in his chest. Somehow, he had to convince her to come back to him.

He could not have even the smallest inkling of affection for Catherine. He could not endure losing another person. That was an undeniable truth. But…

Had he not lost her already? Catherine was no longer in his life. She was alive, but she was still gone. If he did not act, that distance between them would only grow, and she would become even further away from him. He had always resolved not to have any affection for anyone else, but did he not already bear some affection for her?

It was not love. William did not believe himself really capable of that. He did not even know if he would recognize love. But he knew that he cared greatly for her, and in the weeks following her absence, William had come no closer to making himself have any less affection for her.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Catherine’s absence was driving him mad, and if he did not do something soon, he was going to scream. Somehow, he must persuade her to return.

For his sake and for that of his sisters.

CHAPTER32

Catherine strongly suspected that Elias had rearranged his entire life around her sudden appearance in London. She knew that he must be quite busy to have left Dorothy and Bridget in the country and to have come to London alone, but Elias acted as though he had no obligations at all outside of being her companion in London.

They went to the theater and the opera. He took her to the shops on St. James and Bond Street. When she mentioned offhandedly how lovely the weather was, he immediately suggested a promenade.

Couples milled about on the path, enjoying the sunshine and warm air. Catherine found that she observed them more than she previously had. Since marrying William, it seemed as if she had learned to watch people more closely and to behave more like a proper lady.

“I am surprised that you did not ask Lady Mathers to join us,” Catherine said slyly. “I am certain that she would have been delightful company.”

Elias cast her a sideways glance. “You seem far too invested in my fondness of Lady Mathers.”

“I find it interesting how much you admire her,” Catherine replied. “You are so sentimental.”

“I am not sentimental,” Elias said.

Catherine shook her head. “I believe that you conspired to keep the young lady away from me, for fear of what I might tell her about you. Did you worry that we might gossip overly? I could tell Lady Mathers some very interesting stories.”

“Perhaps, you ought to spend more time thinking about your own romantic prospects,” Elias said.

“I have no romantic prospects!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “I am a married woman!”

Elias hummed. He halted abruptly, forcing Catherine to stop with him. Grinning roguishly, he gestured around the bend in the road. “I think youdohave romantic prospects.”

Catherine inhaled sharply. Time seemed to halt around her, for her own husband William stepped from beneath a sprawling weeping willow. Her eyes eagerly searched over his handsome form, taking in his broad shoulders down to his waist and his legs. William’s blue jacket and trousers emphasized his masculine form and heated her blood.

He was there. Catherine could not even determine all the precise thoughts that flew through her head as she beheld him. Why was he in London? How had he even known thatshehad gone to London? In the next second, Catherine realized that his staff must have told him, but still, she had not anticipated him coming to London.

“Why is he here?” Catherine murmured, clinging to her brother. “He did not inform me that he would be here.”

“There is only one reason why,” Elias said. “You.”

William approached them, his manner casual. Catherine moved nearer to her brother. She was not afraid of her husband, but the threat of this confrontation filled her with a deep-seated dread. What if William had come to tell her he wished their marriage to be annulled?