I quickly headed into the conservatory and then through the first door I saw, which led into a room so dim I had to pause for my eyes to adjust. The walls were covered with books, thousands of them, and from the musty smell, most had been sitting there for years. A desk sat in a corner, dusty with disuse. The library, I guessed, but it did nothing to help me get my bearings, because I’d never seen it before.
I kept going, hoping to find a quiet room where I could shrug off my disappointment and decide my next move. I found a hallway that seemed to run the length of the house, and I veered down it, glancing through each doorway I passed, but nothing looked familiar. Lakecrest, daunting enough from the outside, seemed even larger from the inside. Every room was decorated in a different theme, from French Rococo to Arabian Nights, and I wondered how anyone could feel at home in a place constructed from other buildings’ ruins.
The hall narrowed and ended in a door that sat slightly ajar. Hearing voices coming from the other side, I knocked cautiously. The door was pulled open abruptly, and a maid peeked out.
“Yes?”
Behind her, I could see a counter and sink, both filled with glasses in various stages of being washed.
“Sorry to disturb you,” I said. “I’m afraid I’m lost.”
“Where did you want to go?”
Overwhelmed by all the bric-a-brac and mismatched wallpaper and staring animal heads, I felt close to tears. I told the maid I needed to get outside, and she led me through a warren of tiny rooms where servants were cleaning up the party’s aftermath. I stepped out of a narrow side door and into the kitchen garden, where gravel paths bordered neatly tended beds of vegetables. A footpath led to the bluff that overlooked the lake, and I headed toward it, drawn to the stairs that led down to the water.
A few children were running along the sand, trying to fly a kite, but otherwise the beach was deserted. I walked down the wooden steps, pulled off my shoes and stockings, and stood at the water’s edge. I’m not sure how long I was there, my feet rooted in the wet sand. I wondered if Matthew would fight for me, what I’d do if he obeyed his mother instead. I heard the stairs creak behind me, but I didn’t turn until I heard Matthew’s voice.
“Kate.”
He was looking at me from the bottom step. Contrite. “I heard what happened.”
“That your mother tried to buy me off?”
A look midway between anguish and frustration crossed his face. “She hasn’t gotten to know you yet. Give her time.”
“They all think I’m a gold digger,” I snapped. “Your family, your friends. At least your mother was honest enough to tell me to my face.”
I pulled my feet out from the sand and awkwardly tried to brush them clean. The horrible truth was that Hannah was right, that I was lying when I said I had no ulterior motives. How long would Matthew believe me over his mother?
“It’s all been sorted out,” Matthew said briskly, as if he’d cleared up a minor domestic spat. “Come back to the house.”
“No!” I snapped. “I’m leaving!”
The children stopped to stare at us. Clutching my shoes and stockings in one hand, I scampered around Matthew and up the steps. I didn’t stop until I’d reached the top, where a movement from the house caught my eye. Hannah was looking down at us from a second-floor balcony, like a hawk tracking her prey.
Defiantly, so she could hear me, I raised my voice. “I don’t want any of this!” I shouted, struggling to keep my wind-whipped hair out of my eyes. “I never did!”
Suddenly, I realized I wasn’t protesting solely for Hannah’s benefit. I didn’t want Lakecrest and all the responsibilities that came with it; I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life facing Hannah’s and Marjorie’s disapproving glares. Hannah had offered me a way out. I could take her money and never see this place again.
Matthew stared at me, bewildered by my loss of control. The distance between us had never felt so vast.
“Kate.” His voice was almost a whisper. “Please.”
I looked at Matthew’s stricken face and didn’t see the glittering prize I’d worked so hard to claim. I saw a man in pain—a man I’d promised to stand by, for better or for worse. Did I really want to give up on him so soon? I reached out, and he practically fell into my arms. I kissed him on the cheek, then the lips, pressing my chest against his, hoping Hannah was still watching.
“Let’s sneak out,” I said softly. “Go home.”
Matthew tapped a finger on my nose, looking tempted. “Naughty girl.”
“Come on, then.”
Matthew sighed and extracted himself from our embrace. “I can’t. Got to stand by Mum till the bitter end. But you can go if you want. I’ll call the driver.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all. You can get started on the packing.”
“Packing?”
“I told you. We’ve got it all sorted out.”
I looked up at him, bewildered.
“We’re moving to Lakecrest. Mum insists.”
CHAPTER FIVE
There must have been some kind of mistake. Matthew hadn’t even asked me.
“We agreed to move, didn’t we?” Matthew asked briskly. “The apartment’s much too small for a married couple, and there’s no space for entertaining. We have to maintain certain standards.”
“But, your work,” I stammered, queasy with dread. “You’d be so far from the office.”
“I’ll keep the apartment, of course,” Matthew said, as if the arrangements he’d worked out without me should be perfectly obvious. “It will be useful for the nights I work late. But you’ll be much better off up here.”
I wanted to scream, “I hate Lakecrest!” I pushed the frustration down and tried to keep my voice level. “I don’t want to live so far out in the country. What will I do all day?”
“Mum will show you the ropes,” Matthew said. “You’ll have Marjorie for company, too.”
That was hardly a comfort. “Why don’t we find a larger apartment?” I offered. “We can come out on weekends.”
“I can’t see why you’re being so difficult—”
“Because I have no interest in living in that miserable house!”
Matthew’s face hardened into an obstinate expression that was a mirror image of his mother’s. “It’s already been decided.”
It was our first fight. I could feel the hurt and anger radiating off Matthew as he tried to keep his voice calm. Saw his determination to prove he wasn’t the kind of husband who gave in to his wife’s complaints. What would I gain by dragging it out? If I gave in gracefully, I could gradually change his mind over time. I thought I’d be at Lakecrest a few months at most, not knowing how much I’d be changed in even that short time and never guessing how hard it would be to leave.
“All right,” I said, summoning an apologetic smile. “You can’t blame me for being nervous, though, after what your mother said.”