Panic started to claw at her stomach. A thousand what-ifs ran through her brain. ‘How am I going to solve this?’
‘Big gulp of air, Harriet. In and out.’ Kit’s calm voice penetrated through the fog.
‘I am breathing.’
‘Good, now trust me. You are not alone. Your niece won’t be ruined. I promise you.’
Trust him? She had little choice.
‘Stephanie will have a fit.’
‘Better a fit now than a catastrophe later.’ He jerked his head. ‘Run and get her. I want her to see this while it remains innocent.’
Hattie nodded. ‘You had better be right, Kit, or I will never forgive you.’
‘I had better be right or I will never forgive myself.’
‘What is wrong, Hattie?’ Stephanie looked up from her sewing. ‘I suppose you have come to apologise for your behaviour. Very well, I will listen.’
Hattie grasped the door frame and swallowed her quick retort. ‘Apologies will have to wait. Come now, Stephanie. There is something you need to see. Livvy’s happiness depends on it.’
Stephanie put down her embroidery. ‘You are being awfully mysterious.’
‘It has to do with Livvy and your forbidding of Mr Hook’s courtship.’
Stephanie went white. ‘She hasn’t run away, has she? Mrs Smith’s eldest did that. The shame of it. Mrs Smith had to hide her face for weeks.’
‘Livvy remains at Highfield, but I hate to think what could happen. You need to come now. Simply sitting there and expecting other people to act for you won’t wash this time, Stephanie.’
Stephanie opened and closed her mouth several times. ‘Who alerted you to this?’
Hattie rubbed a hand across her face. ‘Sir Christopher. He discovered Livvy’s communication to Mr Hook. Hurry.’
‘If what you say is true, then we shall be in his debt.’ Stephanie grabbed her bonnet.
Kit breathed a sigh of relief when Harriet arrived back at the hill with Mrs Parteger in tow.
‘They remain there.’
He silently handed the spyglass to Harriet, who took a look and passed it to her sister.
‘Is all as it was?’ Harriet asked. ‘Hand-holding and gazing into each other’s eyes?’
Kit pursed his lips. There was no need to describe the passionate embrace he’d witnessed. ‘They are young and in love. And you know what can happen when love is thwarted. It is obvious that they are a resourceful pair. No one guessed until today about their little romance.’
Mrs Parteger gave a slight gasp and leant on Hattie’s arm. Harriet put an arm about her. Kit suddenly understood why she had been reluctant to leave Northumberland. She had shouldered a vast amount of responsibility.
‘Kit has a plan, Sister.’
Mrs Parteger wiped her eyes. ‘I should like to hear it. I never considered my baby girl capable … capable of such things.’
Kit exchanged a glance with Harriet. Her eyes danced.
‘A long engagement, but Miss Parteger should have her Season. I would suggest Mrs Wilkinson would be the best person to accompany her.’
‘I couldn’t possibly …’ Mrs Parteger began.
Harriet cleared her throat and nodded towards where the couple stood.
‘What I mean to say is that it is an excellent suggestion. I can’t speak for my sister, but I would be honoured if she chose to serve as Livvy’s chaperon.’
He watched Harriet’s eyes widen. ‘Of course I’d be delighted to go if the occasion arises.’
‘Shall we break this embrace up?’ Kit asked, giving a loud shout.
He started down the hill. Harriet’s hand touched his sleeve. Kit fought against the urge to cover it with his hand.
‘Do not think this means I have forgiven you, but thank you,’ she said in an undertone. ‘You appear to have saved the day.’
‘Only appear? I have saved the day and allowed two people to have a chance to get to know each other before they are leg-shackled.’
‘And, yes, I did want to go to London with Livvy before you ask.’ Her eyes twinkled with mischief. ‘I hope you are not going to be insufferably smug about the whole thing.’
‘You are speaking to me and that is a start,’ Kit answered. He inclined his head. His fight back had started. This time he intended to leave nothing to luck. He was going to do everything in his power to show Harriet that she should take a chance on him. ‘Do remember to save me a dance at the Summerfields’ ball. It is all the thanks I require.’
The ball to mark the end of summer hummed with activity when Hattie arrived at Summerfield three days later. She hated the bitter-sweetness of attending a ball here again. It shouldn’t matter that the last time she had been here, she had met Kit, but somehow it did. That evening had changed her life in more ways than she had considered possible.
Now she was committed to dancing with him again. Over the past few days as the excitement of Livvy’s engagement swirled around her, she had tried to think up an excuse, but none had come.
After he had engineered the engagement between Mr Hook and Livvy, her sister felt that Kit could do no wrong. And she kept going on about how Hattie had made a mistake in refusing him. Even now as they waited, Stephanie made several remarks about how useful Kit was. It was as if she had suddenly been re-infected with her matchmaking fever.
Hattie closed her ears.
A tingling went down her back. She glanced over her shoulder. A tall figure alighted from a carriage and then turned to help a woman down.
Kit.
As if she had spoken his name, he turned towards where she was standing, waiting to greet the hosts. A tiny smile briefly crossed his features. He nodded towards where she stood, waiting with Livvy, and then whispered something in his mother’s ear.
Once she would have blushed. Now she forced herself to coolly nod, only to be greeted by an enthusiastic wave and a gesture to come over from Mrs Reynaud. To Hattie’s astonishment, Mrs Reynaud was not veiled, but dressed in a sumptuous gown with a necklace of diamonds sparking at her throat.
Briefly she contemplated pretending she had not seen the wave, but she knew that would go against the fibre of her being. She did want to see her.
‘I will be back.’ Hattie pressed Stephanie’s hand. ‘This queue is taking ages. Mrs Reynaud is here. I hadn’t realised
