Free Rapture's Betrayal by Candace McCarthy

!”
    â€œWhat is it, dear?” Catherine eyed her niece with concern.
    â€œI don’t know!” Kirsten gasped. “It must be something I ate.” She cupped her mouth as if she were about to be sick.
    â€œOh, dear!” Catherine exclaimed. “We’d best get you outside—now. Miles!” The woman rose, and with her son’s help, ushered her niece from the crowded church.
    Once outside, however, Kirsten didn’t know what to do. She was saved by Miles’s quick thinking.
    â€œMother, is she all right?” he said. Kirsten secretly applauded her cousin’s acting abilities.
    â€œI’m afraid not,” Catherine replied. “She seems quite ill.”
    Kirsten groaned for effect while holding her stomach. She must have overacted, she realized when she saw her aunt’s eyes light up with suspicion.
    â€œPerhaps we should get your mother—”
    â€œNo, no! I’ll be all right in a moment. But please stay here with me for a while.”
    Catherine’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps Miles and I should see you home.”
    â€œOh, yes!” Kirsten said a bit too hastily. “I should feel much better resting in my room.”
    There was a tense moment of silence.
    Finally, Aunt Catherine chuckled. “You’re a clever girl, Kirsten,” she said. “I’ll eat my cap if you’re truly sick.”
    â€œI . . . ah . . .” The younger woman flushed guiltily.
    â€œMother!” Miles said. “How can you say such a thing!”
    â€œMiles Randolph,” his mother said sternly. “Don’t you dare tell me that this has nothing to do with me and your father!”
    â€œBut, Aunt Catherine, if Uncle William learns that you came today—”
    â€œDon’t fret, niece,” Catherine said. “Do you think I’d have come if there was a chance he’d learn of this?” She stared at the two young people reproachfully. Then her expression softened. “So you decided to act on my behalf . . .”
    Kirsten blushed. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œFor what, child? For caring?”
    Miles was impatient. “Mother, will you go home now or not?” he squeaked.
    Catherine sighed. “After all the trouble you two have taken to convince me to leave, I suppose I had better go.”
    A short while later, Miles thanked his cousin for her help. He stood on the Van Attas’ stoop, his eyes bright, his expression filled with warmth and respect for his older cousin. “You did it!” he exclaimed. “But then somehow you always manage to accomplish what you set out to do.”
    Kirsten smiled. “Not always, but usually,” she teased. “You had best hurry and get your mother home before your father arrives there.” During the ride to the Van Attas’, Miles had confided that William Randolph had gone to visit a Loyalist friend.
    The boy flashed a brief glance toward the waiting wagon. “Can you make it tonight?” he whispered. His voice splintered on the word “tonight,” and he cursed.
    Smiling, Kirsten shook her head. “I can’t. Not tonight.” She immediately sobered. “But soon. I’ll let you know.” Her only desire this night was to see Richard.
    â€œLet me know then,” Miles told her, and she assured him that she would.
    Suddenly, Miles hugged her tightly. “I hope you’re not in any trouble.”
    Not because of either of you, she thought, her mind consumed with the image of Richard Maddox. She returned his hug and shook her head as they pulled apart. “I’m not,” she said. “Don’t worry. Now, get!” Kirsten waved at her aunt in the cart.
    Miles returned to the cart, and the Randolphs left.
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    â€œI tell you, Randolph, it’s the only way.” Bernard Godwin inhaled a bit of snuff through his right nostril, before repeating the procedure with the left.