Page 19 of Hit Me With Your Best Scot
With that, he mounted his great stallion again and trotted away. Persephone leaned back against the side of a wagon stopped to unload timber for the Saint Genesius. If she’d just been spooked and Lord Claremont wasn’t out toinjure her, then this would be a one-sided agreement. On the other hand, MacTaggert—Coll—had been extremely useful in keeping her other admirers at bay.Trouble, trouble. Boil and bubble.
Chapter Five
“And thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love,
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons.”
MACBETH,MACBETHACT III, SCENE I
“Nae, ye cannae drive the barouche yerself, m’laird,” Gavin grunted as he bent down to fasten the harness around the belly of the left-hand bay—one of a pair Lady Aldriss had purchased, evidently, because they were pretty.
“But I can drive the phaeton myself.” Coll led the second bay to its place and held it steady while the groom finished harnessing the pair.
“Aye, but then ye cannae climb down and walk anywhere, because there’s nae a groom to hold the team for ye.”
“Is that why Eloise and Matthew tooled off in his phaeton earlier with nae a maid for a chaperone? Because he cannae take his hands off the reins?”
“That’s the idea, I reckon.”
“Whoever thought that doesnae know how to drive a carriage, I reckon.”
Gavin snorted, straightening to pat the closest bay on the withers. “I heard it was ye who gave the pretty lad that fine pair of black eyes. Well done, m’laird. I was beginningto think I would have to do it myself, and then her majesty would sack me.”
“She didnae hire ye, Gavin, so she cannae sack ye. But if the day ever comes when I cannae defend my own sister’s honor, then I reckon I’ll be needing to sack myself.” Coll scowled at the barouche. What an odd vehicle—good for naught but being driven about so all the bystanders could have a good look at the occupants. A Sassenach coach for silly Sassenach ways. “Can ye drive it, then?”
“Aye. Dunnae ask me to dress up in that fancy Oswell livery, though.”
“If ye’re leaving,” Aden’s voice came from behind them, “ye should go now.Màthair’s on her way down to forbid ye from taking any carriage with the Oswell coat of arms onto the street if ye mean to have an actress aboard with ye.”
“Tapadh leat,” Coll replied, thanking his younger brother.
Of course, Aden would know by now that Coll had declared his intent to pursue Mrs. Persephone Jones; no doubt the entire household knew, and Aden had never been lax about listening for rumors, anyway. As Coll brushed hay from his proper coat and not-so-proper kilt, he sent his keen-eyed brother another glance to find himself being eyed in return. “What?”
“What what?” Aden returned, leaning back against the exterior stable wall. “Ye ken the price of failing to wed. Whatever ye’re about, I reckon ye have enough sense to use Lady Aldriss’s panic to yer advantage. And I have to give ye my respect—we tried for eight weeks to set her back on her heels, and ye did it in one conversation.”
Grinning, Coll stepped into the open barouche and closed the low, useless door behind him. “I’d nae have thought she’d tolerate a stuffed deer on her landing better than she would the idea of me courting an actress.”
“Aye, but the deer isinsidethe house, where nae a soul can see it without her giving them leave to enter. The actress will be in a barouche in Hyde Park with the Oswell coat of arms on the door.” He pushed upright and moved to put both hands over the lip of the carriage door. “Ye’re a straightforward man, Coll. But an actress isnae a straightforward creature. She spins lies for her livelihood. Dunnae lose sight of that.”
“I’m nae twelve, Aden. But I ken I’ve been wrong-footed since I arrived in London. It shouldnae have taken me this long to figure out how to use that to my advantage.”
Nodding, his brother slapped the door and stepped back again. “I’ll admit I’m looking forward to the chaos. Have at it,bràthair.”
Gavin practically leaped onto the driver’s perch. “Her majesty’s coming, all right, and she’s got three of those Sassenach footmen with her. I reckon we’re in for a brawl.”
As tempting as it would be to flatten some of the Oswell-MacTaggert stuffy servants and demonstrate to his mother that attempting to thwart him was a fool’s errand, fighting wouldn’t get him to the Saint Genesius by one o’clock to find out what Persephone Jones meant by a business proposition. “Go. Now.”
“Aye,” the groom said, and nodded at the stable boy, who released his hold on the team and stepped back. With a flick of the reins, Gavin sent the horses into a quick trot.
Coll finally turned to look, catching a glimpse of his grim-faced mother as the barouche turned up Grosvenor Square. That was one angry woman, one who was unaccustomed to having her wishes, much less herorders, ignored.
He could have some sympathy; after all, she’d helped both Niall and Aden when his brothers had needed her rather substantial influence in London. One was marriedand one about to be, and while she hadn’t chosen their damned brides for them, Lady Aldriss had helped clear their paths toward matrimony.
On the other side of the equation, she’d taken then-one-year-old Eloise with her and fled the Highlands when he’d been a lad of but twelve years. He’d written her a handful of letters begging her to return, and she’d never bothered to answer him. At least he’d learned that lesson; fists were much more effective at getting a point across than any amount of flowery language.
