Hiding Katherine by GG Shalton (reading women .txt) 📗

another marriage. Your prospects are limited since you are no longer a maiden, but I will find some type of arrangement on my trip. Now be gone with you before I am forced to silence your tongue.”

“Father, please reconsider.”

“I expect your obedience, Deanna.”

Katherine looked down at the floor hesitating to give away her folly. Eavesdropping was frowned upon and could cost her a walk in the garden tomorrow. Instead, she held her breath as her father stormed past the door never noticing her presence.

She whispered, “Deanna?”

Deanna turned around jumping slightly, “You frightened me! How long have you been listening?”

“I just arrived,” she lied. “What is wrong with Father?”

She grasped Katherine’s arm and pulled her toward the storage room. “Come inside at once. We must talk.” Katherine followed her sister, noticing the bags under her eyes and the worry lines on her forehead. But most staggering of all was her sister’s determination to argue with their father. His tolerance for disobedience would not go unpunished.

Looking around the room, Deanna motioned for her to sit on a barrel. She whispered, “Grandmother is ill. Very ill.”

Katherine brought her hand to her mouth feigning surprise as she had heard Deanna’s conversation with their father. “How do you know?”

Deanna leaned closer to Katherine making sure they could not be heard. “I received a missive a few days ago at Lumberton and made haste to come ask Father if we could go see her. It was dated over a month ago. The healer said she would die within a few months. Her last wish is for us to see her before she passes. Her letter said she would send a few warriors to escort us. Father is refusing to let us go, and she is too ill to travel here.”

Katherine’s head was spinning thinking of her grandmother. “How can he refuse you passage? You are a widow and don’t even live with him.”

Deanna shook her head. “My husband’s nephew is inheriting Lumberton. I will be put out soon. He left me a small living, but I must come back home. Father is my closest male relative since my husband was killed, and he still thinks of me as a child and not a grown woman.” She stood up and walked to the other side of the room deep in thought. Turning back toward Katherine, she raised her chin in defiance. “But I am my own woman and will go to see Grandmother. He is set on me remarrying before the end of the year.” She ran her fingers over the thick braid that lay on the side of her shoulder. “I don’t wish to remarry. He should respect my mourning period.”

Katherine cracked a smile. “Mourning period? Didn’t you loathe your husband?”

Deanna rolled her eyes. “It matters not! The idea of marrying again is unsettling.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach trying to visibly comfort herself. Her eyes met Katherine’s, letting out the breath she was holding. “What do you know anyway? You are only sixteen. You should have been betrothed by now, but our father is saving you. Waiting for the highest bidder. Which means, he will never let me take you.”

Katherine snorted. “Highest bidder? You always exaggerate.” She ran her finger over one of the barrels making markings through the dust. Thinking about Deanna going to Scotland without her made her feel a bit jealous. Making a decision, she hopped up from the barrel she was sitting on and faced her sister. “I want to see her too.” She reached for Deanna’s hand and pleaded. “Please take me with you. She is the only mother I have ever known. I will run away if Father refuses.”

The corners of Deanna’s mouth curled up into a smile. “Finally! My little sister is not so perfect. Perhaps even a little rebellious. You will thank me one day that I saved you from an impending marriage to some old leech sucking the life out of your youthful existence.”

Katherine’s eyes widened in surprise at her sister. “Sometimes you speak so vulgarly.”

Deanna’s smile faded. “I speak the truth, Sister. Such a fate I would never want you to know.”

She shivered at her sister’s warning. “I don’t plan to run away forever. I only wish to stay a fortnight at the most. I will need to return after we see Grandmother. I don’t wish Father’s wrath upon us.”

Deanna looked at her sister, seemingly agreeing to her request with a hint of reservation in her eyes. Reaching for Katherine’s hand, she patted it affectionally. “Of course. We will ask a few of the warriors to escort you back home. But for now, we must keep our trip a secret.”

Dropping her hand, she paced in the small space of the room. “Father is leaving to negotiate my hand in marriage in a few days. By then, the Scotsmen should be here, and we can go with them.” Taking a moment, she cleared her throat. “I think it is best that I return to Lumberton tonight to avoid Father. I will come for you once I know he is gone. Grandmother must have known that he would refuse and sent the missive to my home. Stay strong my sister and I will come for you soon. You mustn’t tell anyone, not even your maid.”

A few days later Katherine took a book into the garden. Her sanctuary. Carefully taking off her veil, she spotted Sir William from the corner of her eye. One of her father’s favorite men, his broad frame stepped through the bushes invading her perfect resting place.

Wincing, he blocked the afternoon sun from his eyes, “Miss Tolland? Your father would be unhappy if he knew you were outdoors without your covering.”

“Then we shan’t tell him,” she said with a smile.

Sir William was in his mid-thirties and had served her household since she could remember. He was still unmarried and a trusted advisor. A previous knight to the king, he kept the castle in order when her father was away.