The other son loops an arm around his shoulders and beams as well. He is about an inch shorter with the same dark brown skin. I blink, surprised to see twins. Unlike Abraham, he doesn’t have freckles, and his frame is leaner.
“Hello, Sister,” he says, then wraps me up in a hug, lifting me off my feet before plopping me back down.
“Watson!” Kitty admonishes. “Behave yourself. Can’t you see she has been through enough?”
“It’s fine, Kitty,” I say. Though I’m not entirely sure she hears me as she drags me up the steps to introduce me to her fiancé’s parents. The boys are a perfect match of their parents, taking their height and strong jawlines from their father, and their eyes and smile from their mother.
I am surprised at how this family welcomes me into their home… how they have welcomed Kitty. All four of them radiate love and kindness.
I am so happy for my sister. I don’t know how she managed it, but they will be a good match for her. She deserves to be part of a loving family for once in her life.
My eyes water. This is how I’ve always imagined family to be. And now Kitty will have this.
“Can you believe it, Clara?” Kitty gushes, throwing herself atop the bed of the room I will be staying in.
“The room is beautiful,” I say.
Kneeling in front of my open trunk, I pull out the last of my clothes to store in the beautifully carved armoire. I pause.
A small thin package, wrapped in thick, black velvet rests at the bottom of the trunk. I reach in and lift it—but only an inch. The weight is familiar, and I know I hadn’t packed it.
My heart jumps into my throat. Alaric must have put it in here, but I can’t imagine when.
I set it back down and close the lid. Pushing up to my feet, I walk over to the armoire and place the last dress with the others.
Kitty lifts herself up on her elbows. “No, I mean all of this? Can you believe I was able to secure such a wonderful match?”
It's strange that such a well-off family would allow their son to be seen with someone from our family. We were low, even within our own social circle. The little money I'd saved would have been decent for someone of a lower class, and she still would have been better off than we were. I don’t voice these thoughts. Instead, I lift my face and smile.
“It's everything I’ve ever wanted for you, and everything you deserve.”
Kitty stands and pulls me into another hug. “I am so glad you could be here for the wedding.” She takes both of my hands in hers and squeezes gently. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
I smile at her. Again. If I keep this up, she'll think I have lost my mind.
For the first time in my life, I feel like a stranger to my sister. I am lost for words. It’s as if I woke up from a dream that had been so real, so consuming… and now I am trying to remember the reality I have somehow forgotten.
“I thought that monster killed you…” Kitty doesn’t have to say, “like mother.” We are both thinking it. Then her eyes brighten. “But you look better than I have ever seen you.”
“Thank you,” I say.
Demons and saints! How did holding a conversation with my sister become so difficult?
“Clara?” her voice is soft and careful. “Are you all right? You don’t seem yourself.”
I pull my hands away as if her touch allows her to read my thoughts. I busy them by smoothing down my skirt. “I’m fine. I'm just tired. We traveled as fast as we could. I was anxious to see you again.”
She takes a step closer, her light brown eyes narrowed… looking for the lie. “That monster didn’t hurt you or…” Kitty’s words trail off, but I understand her meaning.
I feel the prickle of heat as it crawls up my chest to my neck. “No,” I say louder than intended. “He didn’t do anything to me.”
“Good,” she says.
I want to change the subject to anything other than Alaric.
“Enough about me,” I say, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her. “Let’s talk about your wedding. One month, and you will be a married woman. Before we know it, you will have three adorable little children…” I press a finger to my cheek, pretending to think. “One boy and two girls—one of whom you will obviously name after me.”
“You are already planning my future!” She swats playfully at my arm, laughing, and I laugh with her.
“Is he good to you?” I ask.
“Yes, he and his whole family are wonderful.”
“Do you love him?”
She blinks at me, and I freeze. I don’t know what possessed me to ask that. Kitty wrinkles her nose. “You know that love doesn’t matter when it comes to marriage.”
I do know. It has never concerned either of us before.
We sit on the edge of the bed. Kitty leans into my side and rests her head on my shoulder.
“That is very unlike you to ask, Sister.” She pokes my nose, then sighs. “But… I think in time I will. I don’t see how I couldn’t. They are nothing like Father. And he’s so kind and handsome.”
Love has never mattered… though with Xander, we had always been an exception. His family is beyond our reach, but he had believed we could circumvent his parents’ expectations if we just waited until his brothers married.
Perhaps now, with Kitty marrying into such a prominent family, it will be easier for Xander and me to finally marry.
I tug on the edges of my sleeves, conscious of the thin wraps that cover my arms. “Have you heard anything from Xander Callowell?” I ask.
Kitty straightens and looks at me entirely bewildered. I suppose it makes sense. My relationship with Xander was the one secret I kept from her.
“Callowell? Why would you ask about the Callowell boy? You mentioned him in your letters, but I assumed it was some sort of coded message I wasn’t able to decipher.” Kitty scrunches up her mouth, but there’s more to her tone than her words imply.
My heart skips. I can’t be angry with her because I have not been entirely honest either. But this is about Xander… and my future.
I have only been away for a month and a half, not much could have changed… then again. Sitting in the Morgan’s manor, with Kitty engaged to their eldest son, is as far as we could be from the life we had before I was claimed.
Kitty gasps. “Was it code? Tell me, I must know what you meant.” She claps a hand over her mouth as if finally realizing. I like this version of her—energetic and animated. “Oh! He was one of your market friends, wasn’t he? Why didn’t you just say so?”
Market friends… she and Father both knew most days I hunted and sold the pelts of what little I caught to the butchers and clothiers in the market. Still, they both talked about it as though I worked for a reputable business. I suspect at least Father knew I picked pockets, but Kitty only ever wanted to believe the best about me.
I open my mouth to explain my relationship with Xander, to explain that the letter wasn’t written in code and that we have a relationship—but a knock on the door interrupts the moment.
The older woman from earlier, Mrs. Smithe, who I have since learned is the head housekeeper, opens the door and pokes her head in.