Catherine Nowells

Chapter 8 - Debts

Catherine Nowells, daughter of the Earl of Sussex, trotted on her boots from the village entrance to the jewelry store where her precious necklace was awaiting her rescue. She practically threw herself on top of the glass, gasping on top of it, as soon as she realized it was no longer on display. The blow she gave the window startled the poor jeweler in the tranquility of his small shop, causing him to break the nut of a watch he had in his hands. Adjusting his glasses, he directed his gaze, with the same horror, at the young woman who entered like a bullet. 

"Good morning honorable shopkeeper!" She shrunk everything in her path until she placed both hands on the counter, a few centimeters from the thin clerk. "Give me my pearl necklace. Look, here I have the money." She left the bag of coins that Marcus had given her the day before on the table. 

The jeweler, nervous, sought help in the gaze of the other young woman who accompanied the first. 

"A pearl necklace that I sold you a week ago and that was on display in that corner," explained Nina pointing to the display case. 

"Oh! I'm sorry miss, but a gentleman came to buy it early this morning." 

"But it's not even twelve yet! How can you tell me that? I can't believe it!" She gave a strong punch, very unfeminine, on the board where her hands rested, causing dozens of tiny pieces that the poor Mr. Rotchiesfield had meticulously ordered to reassemble the watch he had to repair, to jump. "Tell me, what did that man look like?"

"I can't tell you..." 

"Do you want to contribute to the misfortune of a poor girl?" she grabbed him by the collar of her shirt, pulling him dramatically, to the point of shaking him like a dying lizard in the hands of a naughty girl. 

"I just can't see well!" he wriggled away from her, starting to get angry. 

"Don't you see?" And can you tell what a blind man is doing in a jewelry store? she snapped incredulously. 

"I can't see from afar," she muttered, trying not to get indignant enough to beat that foolish woman, "and as you understand, that man hasn't gotten close enough to me to give you a detailed description." 

"I don't need a detailed description, my dear sir," she threatened him with her index finger. I just want to know more or less what it was like. 

 "Well, he was more or less tall, with blond hair and a pale complexion." 

"Damned man!" She looked indignantly at her maid, who could no longer lower her head at the embarrassing spectacle she was witnessing. When her mistress didn't get what she wanted, she was capable of transforming gold into silver if necessary "how many Englishmen are there with that description? Come on Nina, let's get out of here."

"Maybe we could have looked at something similar, my lady," added the maid in the middle of the street, while holding Catherine's head on her shoulder. 

"It wouldn't have served," she continued, whimpering. "Mom knows that jewel very well, not to mention the plate with my initials on it. Who would have bought such a stupid thing? It has to be someone who shares the same letters as me." 

They returned dejectedly to the Pembroke mansion. Catherine felt like the most unhappy woman on the planet. Everything she had struggled to get that darned necklace back for, for nothing. Well, she couldn't be ungrateful to those magnificent friends she had gained along the way of her adventure. But there was no point in her returning to the cabaret now that she had nothing to buy. Plus, now she had a whole bag of pounds. What would she do with them? If Mom found out, she would start asking questions and it would be the end of her. She passed by Marcus's bedroom and couldn't help but remember his confession the night before. Did Marcus really consider her half of a perfect woman? Although that flattered and made her happy, she couldn't help but think who the other half was. And most importantly...if Marcus felt something for her, why had he rejected her so many times? And not only rejected, but devalued and humiliated her. In short, he was a too complicated man. But that didn't take away from his charm. Would she dare to go to the meeting that night?