One More Chance

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Catherine had nodded her acceptance. Christian had then left her to make arrangements for the wedding and the departure afterwards. He had planned to leave his second in command, Sir William Scotsworth to guard the place along with Sir Kingford. 

Christian then made his way to the hall. He had requested Catherine to join them there and planned to let the duchess know about his plans. Not that he requested her approval or anything, but he wanted her to despair over the lost chance for her daughters. She deserved that little amount of pain after all that she had done to Catherine.

Catherine arrived in the hall within seconds after he did. She wore a simple gray gown that was suited more to that of a maid then a lady of the house. He made a mental note to get her clothes befitting her station. However, her clothes did nothing to take away her beauty. Her purple eyes still sparkled and she had the charisma about her. Her check and temple just showed a faint impression of the bruises she had gotten earlier. She walked towards him and took a seat in the sofa.

Just then, the doors of the great hall opened again to admit the duchess. She gasped in outrage and shock to see the both of them together. "What is the meaning of this Christian? I know you were upset with me earlier for losing my temper. I had hoped to apologize for that and hear your choice among which of my daughters you had chosen. Yet, you are with her!" she accused.

"Indeed, Lady Wolverstone. The purpose of this meeting is the very same. I wanted to let you know that my bride would be your step-daughter, Lady Catherine Wolverstone."

"You cannot!" the duchess hollered in distress. Catherine smiled wickedly next to him. It seemed she enjoyed to see the her step-mother in agony. Well, he was pleased to indulge her.

"Pray, why not lady? How convenient for you to forget that the duke had another daughter? My orders were to marry one of the duke's daughters, not one of the duchess's daughters and there is a great deal of difference, isn't there?"

"No!"

"And to call her illegitimate when she was the firstborn, shame on you!"

"No, she is promised to another. There is a betrothal agreement. You cannot break it!"

"I have no time for your games, duchess!"

"No, it's true. She is to marry the Earl of Cragford!"

He heard a gasp from Catherine. Christian was shocked. If the duchess could supply a name, she could not be joking. How was this possible. He looked at Catherine with a question in his eyes. "That's not true! It's one of her games," she cried. She had outrage written all over her face. Christian trusted her. "Do you have any proof?"

The duchess threw at him a leaf of papers. He quickly scanned through them. It was indeed a betrothal agreement. It was signed by the Earl of Cragford and duchess herself. He couldn't be sure if it was a true or forged document. This was going to pose some problems.

"This is a lie. You can't have a betrothal agreement drawn up without my permission. I did not sign this," Catherine shouted at the duchess after peering over his shoulder to study the document.