A shiver ran down her spine and arms, her hand clutched Kenneth’s arm. Cragshade saw them in that moment, bowed and lifted his hat before making his way into the house, using his cane as it was intended rather than a fashion item.
“That vile man, I wish father would simply send him away.”
They pressed on with their walk. A bench came into view and Ruth set it in her mind as her marker for she knew she would not be able to walk a lot farther without a break.
“I was not pleased when first you told me of your father’s intentions. But I understand. If we are to have a future, and children of our own, I should not like to constantly have to look over my shoulder with fear your cousin will attempt to harm us somehow.”
Kenneth grunted, a sound she’d realized he made when he was too disgusted for words. She pointed to the bench and they sat, a sigh of relief escaping from her lips as her body rested against the back of it.
“To think he is faking a resurgence of the pain in his leg. It is ridiculous. It takes all of my strength to be civil with the man. He does not even have the decency to dine on his own, instead he pollutes the dinner table night after night with his mere presence.”
Ruth had not taken part in dinners with the family since her fall, nor since her courtship with Kenneth was made official. Tonight, would be the first one and she was not at all looking forward to spending it seated across from Sophia and Lord Cragshade.
“I hope soon we can prove his intent to harm me and be done with it once and for all.”
“As do I, my dearest, as do I.”
They sat for a while in silence, facing the lake, and watching the cygnets who were slowly growing into beautiful swans. They still looked grey and small, but their necks were growing, their feathers puffing up and a slight change in their color indicated they soon would be as beautiful as their father, and as their mother had once been.
‘Let us not talk about such sad things anymore. Rather, I am curious to find out what it is you have concealed from me.”
For a moment, his eyes grew wide as if he stood accused of some wrongdoing or other but then he realized her meaning and grinned.
“Ah, I almost forgot all about it. Here…” He placed the item, a square box wrapped in cloth into her lap.
She ran a hand over the material – fine blue silk with silver flowers stitched along the edges – and unwrapped it revealing a wooden box. Frowning she looked at him. He leaned forward and flipped a small, golden clasp, indicating for her to open it.
“Lord Caster made it for me, in his workshop. To keep the item safe.”
“The item?” With curiosity burning within her, Ruth gently tipped the wooden box and removed its content.
“Kenneth!” She gasped as she stared at it. It was her mother’s patch box – repaired to the point where it was almost impossible to see where it had been broken. She ran her hands along the sides, feeling where the cracks had been, invisible almost to the naked eye. It was almost the way it had once been.
She raised it and admired the care Lord Caster had taken in repairing it.
“Kenneth – thank you. It is beautiful. It is…I do not know what to say.”
He cupped her face with his right hand, the tenderness in his eyes filling her with warmth.
“Charlotte told me the shards were found. I had a maid collect them for me and Lord Caster repaired it as best he could. I meant to surprise you with it the evening my father agreed to the courtship, but the fall prevented me.”
Suddenly, the smile fell from Ruth’s face as she remembered that terrible day. Her sister’s face appeared before her, the anger, the disappointment when she’d accused her of having stolen the pieces of the box.
“What is wrong? Have I upset you? I meant to make you happy…”
“No, it is not that. It is just that…I was sure Sophia was the one who caused me to break the box in the first place, by covering it in soap. I did not tell her, but when I found the pieces missing, I made my suspicion known and accused her of stealing the shards.”
“Oh Ruth…I should have told you that it was I who took them.”
“I must apologize to her. I must. I did her wrong. I thought she was so envious of your affection for me that she meant to harm me by causing me to break something I held so dear. Please, take me back to the manor?”
At once, he rose and took her arm and together, they hurried back to Goldclaw Manor with as much speed as she could muster.
She had to ask Sophia for forgiveness for accusing her so falsely of taking her shards – and hope that it was not too late.
Chapter 29
Ruth found her sister seated in the drawing room, a piece of embroidery on her lap. It sat there untouched, just like the lacy pancakes Kenneth sent up to them during that first uncomfortable breakfast with Lord Cragshade. The needle was pinched in her sister’s hand, but her eyes were vacant, staring up ahead at nothing at all.
