Josie Dennis by Return to Norrington Abbey Page B

Tomorrow they would all return to Thorne Manor. Would James come as well? She couldn’t bear it if he did, truth to be told. Seeing him without Frederick would be torture. They each held an equal share of her heart. Would it even keep beating if she left either one of them?
    “I cannot wait to get home,” Catherine gushed. “Henry is meeting with his father today, which should effectively sever any attachments he feels to the abbey.”
    “He hates it here, doesn’t he?”
    “No. I believe he has sad memories here, however. It should come as no surprise that his parents’ marriage was not a happy one.”
    Isabella didn’t stifle the shiver that thought incited. “I imagine so.”
    Was Frederick thinking to have a marriage like his father’s? Populating the abbey with young maids to see to his needs when the mood struck? That night in her bed, loving them at the same time, was something she could relive forever. It was a pity that would only be in her head. Those were sad memories indeed.
    “John said Henry and Frederick spoke at length in private yesterday.”
    That seemed extremely odd to her. To her recollection, they hadn’t spent more than two minutes in each other’s company the entire length of their stay. “Henry and Frederick spoke?”
    “I was worried Henry’s brother would attempt to convince him to extend our visit,” Catherine went on. “But no, we leave on the morrow.”
    “On the morrow,” Isabella echoed in a small voice. “I suppose I should see to my things.”
    “Are you coming with us?” Catherine winked. “I thought you would wish to stay here.”
    Isabella’s mouth dropped open. “Why?”
    “Isn’t this where your heart is?”
    “My heart?” Isabella’s hands fluttered until she clasped them tightly in her lap. “I do not know to what you are referring.”
    “You and Frederick, Isabella. I believe you are attached to him.”
    “I do not…” She felt tears burning behind her lids. “Yes. I love Frederick.” Oh, it felt heavenly to admit at least half of the truth.
    “I knew it! Hmm. What shall become of my brother, however? I do not wish to see his heart broken.”
    She couldn’t conceal everything from Catherine any longer. “I love James, too. Oh, you must think me an evil creature.”
    “Evil? Hardly that. Who am I to tell you where to give your heart?”
    Isabella wiped at her damp eyes, shaking her head. “You misunderstand me. I have been with both of them, Catherine.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “At the same time.”
    Catherine’s laughter, light and tinkling, was completely unexpected. “Truly? Oh, that explains so much.”
    “What?”
    “James and Frederick, constantly in each other’s pockets. They have grown so close, and now I know why. I daresay they love you, too. Even that scoundrel Frederick appears to have changed his stripes.”
    “He is a scoundrel,” Isabella said. “But are you not shocked by my confession?”
    Catherine leaned forward. “I am in love with two men as well, Isabella. I am the luckiest of women to know in my heart that they love me, too.”
    “It is true, then? What Frederick…You and John and Henry?”
    Catherine’s cheeks turned pink, but the sparkle was back in her blue eyes. “Yes. I never imagined I could be so happy.”
    Isabella thought for a moment, of her incredible sexual encounters with Frederick and James and the cherished tenderness she felt afterward, and knew she longed for what Catherine had.
    “I want to be that happy,” she admitted on a whisper.
    “Why do you believe you won’t be? My brother is a fine man, and if he set his sights on you I couldn’t be happier for the both of you. If you manage to secure Frederick, as astounding as that is to me as I sit here, surely you can have your heart’s desire.”
    She shook her head. “I am not you, Catherine. I am not sweet and warm and kind.”
    “What do you believe you are, then?”
    “Selfish and arrogant. How I believed no man