A Taste of Honey (32 page)

Katherine blushed as she admitted, “He already knows about last night.”

He looked unhappy to have such a joyous discussion taken away from him. “What do you mean he already knows?”

“Last night when I came over here, I found him drinking downstairs.  He knew that I wasn't coming here to see him.  Then he told me which room that I could find you in.”  Pinning the last curl of her coiffure Katherine looked through the mirror at him.  “I don't think that Kent was really all that upset over me not wanting to marry him.” She sat back and looked at Garrett through the mirror.  “Earlier last night he told me something disturbing.  Kent said that he doesn't bel
ieve in love.  Isn't that sad?”

Nodding slowly, Garrett admitted that he had already known as much.  “Kent's mother and father fought on a constant basis, with each other, with him.  That's one reason why he is so cynical about what my mother tries to do in matching two people forever.”  Grasping her hand he squeezed gently.  “It's another reason why I hated seeing you around him, why I didn't want you to be with him.  I thought that he might teach you to feel the same way as he does.”

“But you two are friends,” she argued.  “Why don't you talk to him?”

Sighing heavily Garrett admitted, “I've tried to but Kent will never fall in love, because he doesn't want to.  I'm afraid that he will always be the way that he is now unless someone else can prove to him that it is worth the risk of being hurt.”

Katherine wanted to remark on who she thought might work for him, when Garrett kissed her neck and ears, right where he knew that she was the most sensitive.  She smiled at the thought of their own happiness and remembered that she didn't need to worry about the lost soul in Kent any longer.  She would be busy enough just keeping up with Garrett and any problems that might come their way.

Stepping out into the hall that led to her room, Katherine tried to decide whether she should talk to her sister or wait for Robin to come to her on her own time.  In the hopes of getting it over with sooner, rather than later, Katherine walked over to her sister's room and reached her hand out to knock on the door when a door down the hall swung open. 

Winnie's head popped out from the narrow opening.  “Pst!” she whispered and motioned for Katherine to follow her.  Stepping away from her sister's door, Katherine crept down the hall to enter Winnie's room.  “Is it true?” Winnie asked as she shut the door.  Katherine gave her a small nod as she tried to hide the blush.  Winnie reached out, grasping her future sister in a quick hug.  “That's fantastic!  Oh I'm so happy for you both,” she cried out before pulling back to see Katherine's face which appeared to be far from happy despite the joyous occasion.  “What's wrong?” Winnie asked.

Unable to hold back her worries, Katherine motioned to the room further down the hall.  “Does Robin know yet?” she asked.  Winnie's grin disappeared instantly and she became nervous, almost fidgety as she answered.

“Yes, someone told her.  I think it was one of the maids.  Not that we could have kept it from her for long.  She's not very happy with you, that's why I wanted you to come here first.  You shouldn't have to face her alone.” Winnie straightened up with the pride and purpose of a martyr and looked solemnly at the door.  “As your new sister, I want to help you talk to her.  Make sure that she doesn't just try to bully you or talk you out of marrying Garrett.”

“Is she taking it that badly?” Katherine asked, wincing at Winnie's implied sense of danger.  She had not expected Robin to embrace her enthusiastically like Winnie had but at least some understanding.  With Winnie's dour looks, that hope was quickly fading.

“I haven't known her as long as you have, so I don't know if it is her usual temper or not.” Winnie sighed hopelessly.  “I think she's hoping that she can still stop you and Garrett from getting married.”

Katherine bit her lip with worry.  “No one is going to stop us from getting married, not even Robin,” she assured Winnie.  Katherine turned around to look at the door and wondered what type of doom she would have to deal with.  She didn't want to confront her sister on the happiest morning of her life.  Yet she would be a coward if she tried to hide from all of it now.

“I think I should go talk to her,” she said before opening the door back to the hall.  Winnie tried to follow her out but Katherine stopped her. “Thank you for offering to help, but if she starts throwing things I think I'd be better at dodging them.”  She had meant it as a joke to lighten their mood but Winnie nodded grimly.

“In case you need me, I'll keep my door open.”

Katherine tried to smile, hoping that things hadn't gotten that bad.  Down the hall she could hear no noise emanating from her sister's room.  Even after she stood in front of it for a moment, the air remained silent.  With a light knock on the door, Katherine entered and found Robin in her sitting room area, sobbing quietly with her body draped over a daybed.  With her face buried amongst the pillows Robin couldn't tell who had entered.  “I don't want to talk about this right now Victor.  Just go away,” she said, not even lifting her head up.

“Hello Robin,” Katherine said quietly as she stepped further into the room and took in the destruction that her sister had wrought.  One of the curtains had been torn down and crumpled into an expensive pile of useless fabric.  A few of the knickknacks and figurines had been taken down and lay in pieces on the floor.  Had Katherine not know who was staying there, she would have sworn it was the housing for a woman who had gone mad.

Finally Robin did raise her head to look at Katherine; the frizz of hair that had come out as a result of her sister's tantrum did little to change her impression that a crazed woman had destroyed the once lovely room.  Wondering if she should have taken Winnie up on her offer, Katherine began to step back out of the room.

Before she could get very far Robin jumped from the settee and hurled at her to stop her retreat.  “No, don't go Katherine.  Please stay with me.”

Katherine couldn't think of another time in their lives when Robin had ever asked for her company with such a heartfelt request.  With one arm around her sister's back she shut the door.

“What happened here?” Katherine asked as she glanced over her sister's shoulder.  “Was this about me and Garrett?”

Robin looked around the room as if she too were shocked at what she saw.  “No, I don't care about that anymore.  I'm...” The words seemed to stick in her throat before she could say them.  “I'm sorry that I told you not to marry him.  You should marry someone who can make you happy.”  Another sob escaped Robin's throat before she buried her face into Katherine's shoulder again.

Pulling out a small beaded handkerchief from her sleeve Katherine tried to wipe at her sister's face.  “He does make me very happy Robin.  Why don't you sit down and tell me what all of this is about.  Does it have something to do with Victor, or that man I saw you with last night?”

Shocked that she had been caught, Robin finally nodded her head as she sat down on the edge of the daybed and took the handkerchief.  “Yes, some of it.”  Nosily blowing her nose in the soft linen she then dabbed at her wet eyes.  “I don't think that I want to marry Victor.”

Relief flooded Katherine who had begun to wonder if Victor would ever make Robin happy.  Money would have only been a temporary solution to her problems without ever getting at the root of why Robin was unhappy.

“Last night I was angry with you because you were happy and I wasn't.  And Garrett because he could make you happy.  And Victor because he's just a stupid oaf who can't even see that I'm unhappy.”

Laughing at the long list of guilty
people
Katherine couldn't help asking, “Are those the only ones?”

“No,” Robin admitted.  “I'm angry with mother, and Mrs. Brentley and everyone else who thinks that I'm useless.  I just wanted to prove that I could be something other than the failure that you all think of me as.  I thought marrying Victor would prove that I could be better than all of you expected me to be.  I was going to show that I could do something for once.”

With all of the stress that had been put on her to be the best daughter, Katherine had never considered how difficult it would have been to be the 'other' sister.  The one that people expected to fail.  All of Robin's bad behavior could not be forgiven in one day but wasn't there always some path left open for redemption?

“You don't have to prove anything to me, Robin.  It doesn't matter who either of us marries, we'll still be sisters.  I'll still love you.”  It felt strange to say the words that Katherine had felt all of her life and it hurt her to see how shocked Robin was to hear them.  There were so many things that were left unsaid between them that shouldn't have.  Hugging her sister Katherine felt closer to Robin than she ever had before.

“Will you and Garrett be getting married soon?”

“Yes, I'd like it to be at his estate.  Hopefully soon enough that any gossip from this won't have spread that far north yet.”  Nervously she added, “I'd like you to be there.”

“I will.  I promise.”  Robin surprised her by adding, “But before then, I'd like to be the one who visits mother and father to tell them about it.  You'll have too much on your mind with planning for a wedding to think about how they will take the news.  Besides there are some things that I need to look into.”

“What things?”

Robin shook her head, refusing to answer.

Explaining the engagement to her mother was not something that Katherine had been looking forward to right before her wedding and finally she nodded her head in consent.  “Write to me as soon as you get there to tell me how father's doing.  The last letter I had from mother wasn't very hopeful, but it's so hard to tell with her.”

Robin agreed as she stood up to wipe the last of her tears.  Pulling out a little valise she began packing her things and leaving behind the new items that Victor had bought her.

“Are you going to break your engagement with Victor?”

“Yes, but not yet.  I have some things that I need to think about before I tell him.”

Katherine could see no reason to continue the relationship with Victor when Robin had already decided against marrying him.  In one night Robin's attitudes had changed causing Katherine to become suspicious.  “There's something you aren't telling me, isn't there?”

“I'll tell you later,” Robin promised.  “Once I've figured out what I need to do next.”

After taking a private breakfast with Winnie and Mrs. Brentley, it was decided that they should leave Victor's residence almost immediately since Robin had already left with Garrett's carriage to go see their parents.

Katherine tried to explain to Garrett and Mrs. Brentley that Robin was trying to find a new beginning, but neither seemed very hopefully about it.

“How long do you think it will last?” Garrett asked as they gathered their luggage to leave.  “Has your sister ever signaled that she might be interested in a new start before?”

Katherine didn't know quite how to answer.  She had never before believed that she understood her sister this well.  “I don't know.  Robin may have decided that she hates who she has been, but that doesn't mean that she can simply quit who she was.  She never talked to me about anything like that before, but growing up we rarely talked.  I spent all of my time with my father and Robin was usually by herself or with my mother.  I never realized how much what others thought of her might have affected her behavior.  I should have...”

But Garrett cut her off with a brief hug.  “You can't fix everyone's problems,” he warned her.  “Most of it Robin will have to do on her own, if she wants to change.”

Nodding her head Katherine smiled up at him.  “You're right,” she admitted wearily.  “At least Robin knows that I'm here for her now.”

Winnie entered the carriage with sketches of wedding plans already planned out on several sheets of paper.  For the rest of the day the three women continued to discuss the arrangements to be made.  Garrett sat in the corner of the carriage for most of the day long journey, pretending to be busy with anything else.

Slowly Katherine was finding her place in her new family's lives.  She became excited about her future and even tried to forget the troubles that her sister would be facing that night and what kind of reaction her mother would have.

Arriving at the Brentley's estate, Katherine could not believe the immense house that she would become mistress of one day soon, since Mrs. Brentley had already admitted that she did not want to be in direct control of the estate any longer.  Garrett had been taking over many of the duties before and with a new Mrs. Brentley, she saw it as her time to step down.

While the grounds were not as extensive as Victor's had been, the Bre
ntley
s
’
boasted a lovely set of garden's surrounding the house with its own set of walkways and riding trails that she was excited to explore.  Being north of London, the climate was colder than she was used to and Katherine decided that she would make a new set of warm shawls before the dead of winter hit in a few months time.

Garrett allowed Winnie to accompany them while he showed her the house and grounds and introduced her to the many servants who dwelt within.  Unlike the Sullivan estate, the furnishings were well taken care of and everything looked and sme
lled new just like the Brentley
s
’
other home in London.  The final room they showed Katherine was the library that both Winnie and Garrett had tried to entice her with.  Opening the large double doors, the three stepped into the opulent room that housed many bookshelves at least twelve feet high.  A beautiful hand-painted globe rested by one of the desks and Katherine examined the delicate hand writing that labeled each of the countries.