hold off her impending faint.
Go away, black spots, she willed. While it's not unusual for young ladies to pass out when laced tightly, the loosening of my corset will reveal more than an imperfect waistline. No one can know. I have to remain conscious.
“Dinner,” a Cockney-voiced woman called from the doorway.
The rustling of fabric accompanied the sound of several booted feet making
their way toward the door. Katerina drew in another breath, hoping to calm herself, but her bruised side compressed against her corset, and her vision blurred. Her breath caught in a pained gasp.
Unable to rise from the bench, and in excruciating pain, Katerina waited
another moment, hoping for the spasm of agony to pass. A warm hand closed on
her bare arm, just above the elbow.
“What's wrong, love?” Christopher asked, “and don't say it's nothing. I can see you're hurting.”
“I'm fine,” she replied, but the choked sound of her voice gave away the lie.
“No, you're not,” he replied. “Can you get up?”
She shook her head.
Christopher slid his fingers down her arm to her hand, taking hold of it
gently. She tried to use him as leverage, but it wasn't enough. Her back had stiffened and resisted movement. He sighed and placed both his hands on her waist, lifting her to a standing position. She walked awkwardly out from behind
the bench and swayed.
Christopher gripped her waist tighter, preventing her from falling. Standing face to face, she looked up into gray eyes filled with concern.
“What happened?” he asked tenderly, stroking a bead of sweat away from
her forehead.
“Please, I don't want to talk about it,” she begged.
“I'm sure you don't, but I'm afraid I must insist. Did he beat you?” he demanded, his voice dark.
Oh, Lord, he knows. She looked away. Tears stung the corners of her eyes and one escaped. Still supporting her with one arm around her waist, Christopher
used his free hand to brush away the drop “Why?”
She had to think for several seconds before she could formulate a coherent answer to his question. “He heard a rumor. He often has friends over, though he
rarely goes out himself. They tell him things.”
“A rumor about what?” Christopher asked.
Tonight, he won't be satisfied with partial answers, it seems. “That I was seen with a man.”
“Me?” Guilt twisted Christopher's face.
“Unless it was a lie, there is no other possibility,” she replied with brutal honesty.
She watched his throat bob as he swallowed. “How badly are you injured?”
She shook her head. “It's bad.”
Christopher's jaw clenched. “Is this why you didn't come walking with
mother and me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to leave?”
That's what a normal person would want, isn't it? To go home and rest? But
that was the last thing Katerina wanted. “Where would I go? He's been drinking
all day. If I can stay away until he's passed out, I might just make it through the
evening unscathed, but if he finds me when he's drunk…” she swallowed. “I'm afraid.” She choked.
“Afraid of what?” Christopher asked, and the worry on his face touched a place so deep inside her wounded heart, she feared her reaction to it.
The honest truth, one she'd never before voiced aloud, spilled from her lips.
