The Kingdom of Night (Book 3)

Confusion

Next up: Catherine. When I first started writing I wasn't aware of how important she would be to the storyline. Actually, I almost wish now that I'd written more of her view on things in general. But for now, it is what it is. This part happens after the epilogue of Book 1, because Charlotte has been born. And you will also see the first appearance of the Duke. Above: the lovely Aussie actress Bella Heathcote as Catherine.

September 1895

Catherine

'Mummy?'

     There was a tugging at my skirt, one that I'd grown accustomed to ever since she could walk.

     I looked down. Grace, my two-year-old daughter, was blinking up at me with big blue eyes. She had grown increasingly more independent—and more mobile–over the past few months, and her vocabulary was already quite large. I suspected it was James's doing. He read her books by Tolstoy, Verne, Hardy, even Doyle. Most recently, he'd started her on Rudyard Kipling, and she'd gone around for days saying Mowgli and Sher Khan. Hardly material for a girl her age, in my opinion.

     'Hello, Gracie.' I bent down as much as my bad leg allowed to pick her up. 'What have you been getting up to today?'

     'Daddy has puppy,' Grace said, pointing to the front hall.

     'A puppy? Surely not.' James had a habit of bringing things home that we had no need for, something that I'd long since stopped trying to break. A puppy would be one of the more extravagant things on the list.

     When we got to the front hall, I saw she was right. James was there, with our butler Mr Burton helping him out of his coat while he held a small puppy with a golden coat with one arm. It blinked at me with soulful brown eyes, and almost instantly I felt my irritation lessen.

     'James,' I huffed, letting Grace down and marching towards him. 'What have I told you about...'

     He said nothing, only gave me a naughty grin and set the puppy on the floor. It skittered across the shiny stone, and hadn't even found its land legs yet when Grace squealed excitedly and ran to it, throwing her arms around its neck. They landed in a heap on the rug.

     'I thought it would be a nice addition to the family, don't you?' James put his arm around me, and automatically I relaxed against him. I was supposed to be annoyed, blast him. 'Grace is such a lonely child.'

     'She is not. She seems perfectly fine.' I watched her, sitting cross-legged on the floor and scratching the puppy's belly. The dog's tongue lolled out, and one of its back legs was twitching of its own accord. 

     'Besides,' James said, his breath tickling my ear. 'Perhaps they will keep each other occupied.'

     'Not now, James.' I pushed his head away gently, although part of me was glad he'd done it. We'd only taken on a part-time nanny since Grace became mobile, but even then all my free time was occupied by her. Not that I didn't enjoy that, of course. I loved my daughter, and wanted to raise her in the way I never had. But still, I was unfamiliar with the commitment of looking after a child, especially one as inquisitive as Grace. 

     'You are a hard woman to please, did you know that?' He pressed his lips against my temple, his arm tightening around my waist. 'A hard one indeed.'

     'I said not now.' I finally pulled free. My feelings for him had grown unexpectedly fast, much to his delight. I, for one, was still quite confused about how exactly that had happened. He made me feel things I hadn't known were possible. I had not been raised to marry for love, only for status.