The Noble Life

Nineteen

With a foreboding feeling that history was repeating itself, Catherine ran down the front steps of Donbroke and began to hurry down the street. Even as she wove way through the thicket of people packed along the cobbles she realised the stupidity of her actions, and yearned for nothing more than to return to the house – yet onwards she pressed regardless. For Catherine suffered from a foolish sense of pride which forbade her from returning to face the professor now that she had displayed herself in such a fashion yet again.

Even if Professor Lawes had journeyed to Warwick in order to make a proposal, he would certainly be retracting it now! He would hardly care for a bride who bolted from the room at the mere sight of him, after all.

There would be repercussions to deal with later – such as the fact that Professor Lawes would now almost certainly return directly to Cheshire, thus putting an end to Catherine's dreams of marriage – yet she could not allow herself to think of that at present. For now she simply desired to escape the mortification for as long as possible. She would just have to avoid Donbroke until the professor had departed, which he surely would do once he realised Catherine was not to return, if in fact he had not already decided to take his leave. Catherine would simply have to find a way to amuse herself for a couple of hours – perhaps she should venture to the outskirts of the town where the air was fresher, offering an opportunity to clear her head.

But Catherine's newly-formed plan was halted only moments later, as the heavens opened above.

Catherine sighed with frustration as the first few fat drops of moisture fell, sending ladies all around her scurrying for cover. For a few moments she simply remained standing where she was, head thrown back to the skies in defiance, refusing to allow her plans to be ruined. Yet still the rain persisted, thicker and faster until the cobbles around her were awash with puddles and the fabric of her clothing began to cling to her uncomfortably. It was at this point Catherine also decided to retreat reluctantly into the doorway of a nearby shop, huffing sullenly at the prospect of remaining there until the deluge subsided – although at least this now offered her the perfect excuse not to return home for the time being.

Catherine had been stood in the doorway for about ten minutes, speculating how likely it was to be a passing shower, when she suddenly spotted something that made her breath catch in her throat. A lean, dark-haired figure was marching down the now almost deserted street with an umbrella held over his head, eyes scanning his surroundings keenly through the curtain of rain. Catherine was allowed a brief moment or two to take in the way his greatcoat billowed with every stride he took, and the steely look of determination in his eyes – until those brown eyes happened upon her own, at which point her heart leapt in her chest.

Professor Lawes wasted no time in crossing the street to where Catherine stood – and as he purposefully closed the distance between them, Catherine suppressed a small gasp at the manner in which he approached. His normally soft brown eyes were positively smouldering with intent, the hard line of his jaw completing the expression. He even held himself in a different way; his shoulders were more rounded, somehow, full of some self-assuredness Catherine had never seen in him before. The transformation was astounding, and Catherine found it truly exhilarating to behold.

"I allowed you to escape me once without expressing my feelings for you, Miss Taylor," he said as soon as he reached her, without uttering so much as a word of greeting. "I shall not allow it to happen again."

All this he spoke without the hint of a stutter, and that, along with the gravelly tone of his voice, stunned Catherine to silence. She was in fact so taken aback that she even forgot to feel mortified at the sight of the professor after running away like a silly little girl; she was enjoying his new persona far too much.