The Engagement - Regency Brides 02 Read Online Free PDF Page A

if the Earl of Kenswickʼs brother shows his favor to you; then all those rumors about you and the duel will be unfounded. Donʼt you see-if they were true and Kenswick did throw you over because of something you did, then his brother wouldnʼt speak to you, much less come to call!”

    Katherine sat there stunned as her fatherʼs words sank into her. To think her reputation could be restored simply by being seen with Thomas Thornton. The need to ruin him and his family would no longer be necessary. All she would have to do was be seen with Thomas, making it clear she was not interested in marriage, and in a month or two, they could go their separate ways.

    Her reputation would be restored, and there would no longer be a need for the plan.

    “You are right, Papa, even though I had not thought of it that way,” she murmured as the excitement of her new idea took root.

    “But you must, darling!” her mother chimed in, apparently fully recovered from her swoon without the aid of smelling salts. “Since the breakup of your engagement, it has been hard on all of us, especially me.” She fell back in her chair again, laying her hand over her forehead. “Being snubbed at every gathering can be quite vexing on my fragile health!”

    Shaking her head and stopping short of rolling her eyes, Katherine retorted, “It is my aim in life, Mama, to put right every wrong in my life so that it might benefit your own.”

    The sarcasm breezed right over her motherʼs flighty head.
    “I appreciate that, dear. Truly I do.”

    Katherine and her father shared a wry glance, then stood.
    “If you both will excuse me, I had better freshen up before Mr. Thornton arrives.”

    “Yes, do make yourself extra presentable, dear. We canʼt lose this one, you know. It might be quite some time before another comes to call!” her mother said, her voice shaky with false bravado. “If you happen to pass Lucinda in the hall, can you please tell her to rush with those salts, dear?”

    “Yes, Mama,” she said in a singsong voice as she hurried from the room.

    It was Theodoraʼs room she ran to, however, instead of her own. “Dora! I have just met with my parents, and Papa made the most excellent point!” Excitedly, she told her cousin what her father had said. “So you see, Dora, we do not have to carry out this plan to the bitter end! Just being seen with Mr. Thornton will boost my reputation.”

    “No!” Theodora practically screamed at her as she stood and took Katherine by the arm. “You must see this plan through you must! Itʼs the only way we — I mean, you — can be fully vindicated!”

    Katherine became alarmed at Theodoraʼs anxiety. She had not expected such a response. “But we do not have to ruin Thomas to be vindicated. Just getting my good name back would be…”

    “Enough? Is that what you were going to say?” Theodora spat. “Enough for all the turmoil you have been through?
    Enough for having your heart broken into a million pieces?”
    Katherine knew the breakup of the engagement was more of a humiliation than a heartbreak, but her cousin seemed in no mood to hear that. She seemed quite vexed!

    “Dora, I just think this would be so much simpler-“

    “We will stick with the plan, Kate. We must if we are to see all made right! We must!”

    Katherine backed away from her, pulling her arm out of her painful grasp, and walked to the window. Confusion crowded her mind and heart as she wrestled with the dilemma.

    Two riders on horses appeared in her line of vision, and she focused to reveal their identity. The two handsome men were dressed for riding in their fine suits, both expertly handling their mounts as they rode up the path.

    Itwas Thomas and North, the Duke of Northing shire.
    ~

    “Are you absolutely sure you want to pursue this?” North asked Thomas again for the third time as they rode toward Ravenhurst Castle. “Many other women would be glad to be your wife and the mother to your