"Ah, here you both are!" came Katherine's indulgent voice from the doorway. She closed the glass door behind her and walked purposefully down the stone path towards them. "Mrs. Kingston pretended not to know where you were, but a certain disgruntled young gentleman informed me that his ‘mother and father were either still sleeping or out in Mama's garden-- kissing--again,' before he ran outside."
"Hello, Katherine," murmured Brandon. Without so much as glancing toward his sister, he pressed his wife more closely to him. The corners of his eyes crinkled into a smile as he stared down at Marianne, then leaned in to kiss her again. He whispered directly into her ear, "Understand that this is only a brief reprieve for you. I have not finished with you just yet, madam."
Acutely conscious that they were no longer alone, yet equally unwilling to have the rest of the world intrude upon them, Marianne put her hands on the colonel's chest, and tried to free herself She smiled apologetically at Katherine.. "Christopher---your sister."
"She does not concern me at the moment--you do," he whispered again, and kissed her throat. "Only see what you have done to me. I have no shame, even in front of my own sister, and I have not a shred of common decency left."
"That will be quite enough of that, Christopher," Katherine scolded. "I am sure you can pry yourself away from your wife for a few moments and leave us in peace to talk! Have you nothing better to do?"
"Indeed, no, I have nothing better to do," he laughed as he straightened. He still had not broken his gaze from his wife's. "But I can perhaps devise some occupation for myself-- unless you two ladies would rather have me stay here. I promise that my conduct will be above reproach, and I'll not lay another hand on my wife until you are gone."
"Well, it is only too clear what I am interrupting here, but as difficult as it must be for the two of you to be out of each others' sight for five minutes, I have no compunction in sending you away. Marianne is evidently incapable of saying no to you." Katherine gestured towards the door in the stone wall which led out to Delaford's grounds in the direction of the stables, and shook her head at her brother in mock disapproval.
Marianne smiled up at him and gave him a gentle push away from her before turning to her sister-in-law. "Good morning, Katherine. Forgive us--we seem to have had a rather late start to our morning."
Colonel Brandon caught her about the waist from behind and rested his chin on her head as he spoke. "In fact, Katherine, it is doubtful that we would have risen even yet, had we not been expecting your visit, so save your lectures."
His wife elbowed him playfully in the ribs and stepped towards Katherine. "Your brother was just leaving. Haven't you anything to do at the stables, Christopher?"
A frown flickered across his brow and his eyes narrowed slighlty. "No. No, I had no intention of going there today--at all."
"Christopher, I did not mean to..." Marianne began, biting her lip.
He silenced her with a warning glance, indicating his unwillingness to discuss the matter. He turned to his sister with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "We have been having some difficulty with Elinor learning to ride her new mare. Something about how a young lady--a girl ought to ride, as opposed to an incorrigible hoyden, just like... Well, let us simply say that she seems determined to worry me to distraction."
"Does she indeed?" asked Katherine, looking back and forth between her brother and sister- in-law. Her gaze settled intently on him. "You worry too much about her, Christopher. It is not-- it will not be the same, you know. She is a good girl, and she shall have the guidance she needs. I am glad at least that your wife seems well able to turn your thoughts in other directions."
"Yes, well, she certainly does that!" he coughed. His face softened into a smile again, and he winked at Marianne. "Which reminds me-- perhaps I shall go and gather up some of the --ah-- things we left on the lawn last night, Marianne. I had not thought of them again until just now, but I think we dropped everything just below the terrace."
"What sort of things did you leave out on the lawn last night?" asked Katherine, looking once more from one to the other.
Marianne blushed. "Oh, I had almost forgotten! We were out--walking and enjoying the night air, you know--and we happened to--ah, to set down our basket and blanket--and a few items-- before we came up the terrace stairs. We were about to come in, and would not have wished to carry all of that into the house at any rate."
"I see," said Katherine, shaking her head. "So, you were in such a hurry to get inside that you left all of that strewn about on the grass. Would not the servants have seen to everything already?"
Colonel Brandon smiled impudently at his sister. "First you insist that I leave, and then you undermine my attempts to find a reason to do so. Perhaps the servants did gather everything, but I shall look into it anyhow. It is just possible that they did not know what to make of what they found, would you not agree, Marianne? What must they think?"
"Goodbye," she said resolutely, pushing at his back. "Go, unless you mean to absolutely discredit me in front of your sister."
They both watched as he closed the door to the garden wall behind him, then Katherine turned to her sister-in-law. "Well, I have already accomplished the first part of my errand here. I need not ask whether the two of you have made up your quarrel."
"Yes--oh, yes--" Marianne broke off and breathed deeply several times as she walked over to a stone bench to sit. There was no point in trying to be demure with her husband's sister. "Everything is very well between us, Katherine. Better than I ever could wish it."
"I am not sure how you managed it afer the scene I witnessed at my home three nights ago. The look he had on his face when he sent me for your cloak-- but now today, I have never seen a man so besotted as Christopher appears to be. If anything, he is worse now than when you were newlywed." Katherine sat beside Marianne on the bench and patted her hand affectionately. "And I am glad to see it, my dear. No one has ever had such power over him. But, it is as well that we managed to get rid of Christopher, as I am quite certain you would not want him to hear what I have come to tell you."
Marianne braced herself. Katherine, as usual, was very determined and never would mince words. "What is it, Katherine?"
"To see you here, unharmed, in Christopher's arms--it was all that I had hoped and prayed to find this morning, Marianne. I was so worried for both of you when we found you out on the terrace at Whitwell."
"There was no need to worry, Katherine."
"Marianne," she reproved her sternly. "I do not know what Christopher thinks you were doing, but I saw that other creature slipping into the shadows as we approached. He was the same one who had upset you inside earlier, was he not?"
"Yes, but Katherine..." Marianne began.
"Allow me to finish, my dear," Katherine insisted. "You have made a most fortunate escape. Most fortunate. Had I but known..."
Marianne stiffened, and felt the glow which had warmed her cheeks earlier under Colonel Brandon's adoring gaze drain rapidly away. "Wh-what do you mean, Katherine?"
The older woman stood and began to pace around the small fountain in the centre of the garden, with obvious agitation. It was unlike her to ramble or speak without some obvious intent, but now she did, almost as if to herself, shaking her head. "I should never, never have sent a general invitation to those people without knowing who they all were. That I ever should have allowed a criminal to set foot in my home, and torment my family! If anything had happened to you, Marianne..."
"Katherine!" Marianne cried, "You are frightening me! What are you saying?"
"That man who stared at you in the dining room and who took you out onto the terrace--I have been asking about him ever since the next morning. I did not like the look on your face when we found you Marianne. If you did not willingly go off with that man, I cannot bear to imagine how he persuaded you to leave with him."
Chagrin and a flash of anger sent the colour flooding back to Marianne's countenance. As she stood and folded her arms in front of her,. she struggled to bring a waver in her voice under control. "If you mean did he drag me out there, Katherine--no he did not. But you cannot possibly be suggesting that I would tryst with another man while your brother was inside looking for me, so I shall not dignify that supposition. I went with him on my own because he threatened to make a scene in the ballroom if I did not, and I wished to spare you that at your party."
"Have you any idea how very dangerous that was, Marianne?" Katherine came back to Marianne's side of the fountain and stood staring at her. "I have since learned that the man is not only a practiced seducer, but dangerously unbalanced, and you would not be the first beautiful young woman he has spirited away from practically beneath her husband's nose."
"What? What? Katherine, tell me. " Marianne asked helplessly, sinking back to her seat.
Katherine said, "It is very possible that he had intentions other than casting admiring glances at you, Marianne." She knelt on the cobbled stone path at Marianne's feet, and took the younger woman's hands into her own. "I know you would never betray Christopher, but he has apparently succeeded in cases like these before. Did he try to lure you away from Whitwell on some pretext, my dear?"
"It was not like that Katherine!" protested Marianne. A wave of revulsion welled up inside her, identical to the one she had felt while dancing with this man. "He--he claimed a mutual acquaintance with me. He wished to speak to me of it, that is all."
Katherine stared at her in astonishment. "Who?"
Marianne pulled her hands from Katherine's and she stared down at them, to avoid the older woman's gaze. It would all come out anyhow, so there was no point in dissembling. "It is John Willoughby," she said, flatly.
"Good lord!" Katherine exploded, leaping up from where she knelt."You mean to tell me that worthless cur was involved in all of this? Christopher will come apart if he should learn it."
"Christopher knows, Katherine. I told him everything."
Her sister-in-law gaped at her. "I admire you for that, Marianne. My brother's anger, once unleashed..." she broke off and began to pace again. "But I doubt you told him all, for you must not know everything about this person. If you did, I promise you would not have allowed yourself to be alone with him. Let me tell you what else I learned."
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