Ever After (Unfinished Fairy Tales #3)(64)
“The story was awful,” Elle says, a miserable look on her face. “The writer called you a power-hungry seductress who bewitched the prince. He said in the history of Athelia, while scores of kings have taken mistresses, none behaved as outrageously as His Highness did. He said everyone was rendered speechless when His Highness carried you out of the courtroom, leaving his lawful wife all alone on her bench.”
“She wasn’t alone,” I mutter. “Bianca was sitting by her side.”
“The point is, the story painted you as a...a home wrecker, but in truth it’s the other way round,” Elle says. “Mr. Wellesley is asking me about it. I’ve explained everything to him, but thousands of readers are going to think badly of you, Kat.”
Somehow, my wedding day comes back to mind. Throngs of people were cheering and waving at me as I rode through the city in the royal carriage with Edward. I imagine those eager, enthusiastic faces turning into ones of hatred and contempt, and I tighten my arms around the cushion, as though it were Edward’s body. I will always be grateful to Edward for saving me at the trial, and I don’t regret moving out with him, but the price we’ve paid is hard to swallow. Even if I don’t care about my reputation, I’d hate it if the people turn against Edward.
“What did His Highness say?” Poppy asks. She reaches out and pats my arm. “Surely he has read the story already, if the paper sold out this morning.”
“I don’t know yet.” I tell them about Edward going to proceed the divorce with Katriona. Both Elle and Poppy look pleased, yet surprised at the same time.
“Lady Katriona is willing to divorce His Highness?” Elle says incredulously.
I promised Edward that I’d keep Katriona’s Moryn husband a secret, so all I can say is something like, Katriona felt remorse about throwing me into prison and invoking Edward’s wrath.
“I see.” Elle still looks anxious. “But with that horrid story about you being spread far and wide, do you think the court will grant His Highness the divorce?”
“I’ll ask Jonathan,” Poppy says eagerly. “He’ll come up with something to help His Highness argue his case.”
I smile, infected by her optimism. Yet my instincts tell me it won’t be that easy. Everything I’ve tried to achieve in Athelia has always met with obstacles, and I strongly suspect that this will be no exception.
31
Edward
I shut the door of the suite and start down the marble corridor, my step considerably lighter. I cannot wait to reach Henry’s house, to Kat’s side. I had sent in the petition for divorce once I discovered Katriona Bradshaw had a husband in Moryn. Today I have received an acknowledgment of service form and a notice of proceedings form, which I have given to Katriona Bradshaw to fill in. I’m carrying both forms in a large brown paper envelope, and I shall ask George to personally deliver the forms to High Court. Once they approve, I will be granted a decree nisi, and then three months later, I can apply for a decree absolute. That is when I will be a free man.
Three months at the very least, until I can have Kat back as my lawful wife. I pray fervently that no infuriating obstacle shall stand in our way.
Katriona Bradshaw seems subdued when she signed the forms and returned me the copies. There is a slight twinge of remorse in my heart, but it disappears in an instant when I remember that day I saw Kat at the trial. There were occasions I had seen her fragile and vulnerable—especially during the days following up to her second departure from Athelia—but even during that period she could find optimism and comfort me. This time, she was pale, thin and visibly shaken, clinging to me like a broken doll, her usual fiery spirit completely snuffed. Were I not a law-abiding man, I would have attempted to plot the murder of both Bradshaw sisters, for causing such pain and suffering to my Kat.
Jacques, Katriona Bradshaw’s husband, had been the key to her acquiescing to my request of divorce. Were it not for him, I would still be struggling to figure out a lawful and ethical way to get rid of Katriona Bradshaw. I wouldn’t have been able to acquit Kat of her ‘crime’ in court, unless I could have Father issue a royal pardon, which he is unlikely to give. And so, when Jacques asked for a sum to settle the problem between him and Katriona, as well as my sponsoring him a legal permit to stay and work in Athelia, I had no qualms agreeing to his request. Anything to make Katriona Bradshaw surrender is worth the cost.
When my thoughts turn to court, I cannot be so optimistic. Despite Katriona’s signatures in the forms, the ultimate decision rests with the judges. The reason for the divorce, which I gave as “an irrevocable mistake,” is not normal—indeed, it isn’t even heard of. However, if it comes down to that matter, there is no choice but to reveal Jacques' existence. I had promised Katriona I would not let the public learn of her secret, unless as a last resort.
No, what I’m truly worried about is Kat. I’ve read the papers this morning. There was one story about the trial, and the author was brutal, harsh, and contemptuous in his description of Kat. As though she were a covetous siren who made me lose my head. The latter part I will acknowledge as truthful, but as for calling Kat a siren, I can only laugh. People never understand that Kat did not set out to trap me into marriage. Were it not for my persistence (twice!), she would never have married me.