Page 74 of Hit Me With Your Best Scot
Temperance grimaced. “That would actually make things easier. It is a threat, however, that only he can answer.”
Coll and a simpler life seemed very compatible, actually, but Coll being idle here in London while she trod the boards in the evenings didn’t seem very realistic. He liked to use his hands, and he was accustomed to having people about who needed his help. Even if his pride allowed her to earn an income for the two of them, he would never stand for being useless. And all that was aside from the fact that she might well have nowhere to live now.
“What if I could offer you the means to live as comfortably as you chose?” the countess said, on the tail of that thought. “You and the nonexistent Mr. Jones could purchase a house in Knightsbridge, and you wouldn’t have to pursue parts on the stage.”
“I like acting,” Temperance replied promptly. “And I do very well with it, thank you very much.”
“Even more, she’s good at it,” came Coll’s voice from the doorway behind them.
Temperance whipped around. His coat was missing, his white shirt soiled and black. Soot was smudged across his face, and his expression made her breath catch.
“It’s gone, isn’t it?” she asked, unable to keep her voice entirely steady.
“Aye. Flora and Gregory are safe, though.” He held up a lidded basket in one hand. “And I fetched Hades for ye.”
Her hands went to her chest, relief setting a sob tearing loose. “You saved him!” she stammered, hurrying forward and throwing her arms around Coll’s hard chest.
He set the basket down and enfolded her in his arms. Safe. He made her feel safe, protected, and wanted, all at the same time. It was a giddy, heady feeling, even with the bleakness around her. “I’m sorry, lass. I couldnae save anything else.”
“You’re not hurt?” She pushed away to look up at his face, brushing at the smudges there.
“Nae. A wee bit singed, mayhap. And clawed-at.” He lifted one hand to show her a pair of deep scratches across his knuckles. “I think Hades may be part Scottish wildcat.”
She chuckled, wiping her eyes again. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised.”
He lifted his gaze, looking over her head toward the table where she’d been sitting. “Ye couldnae wait until I got back here to start yer fight, eh,màthair? Did my lass get in a few jabs, at least?”
“Yes, she did,” Lady Aldriss said smoothly. “I would have asked to speak with her alone regardless, but my timing did leave something to be desired. I apologize for that.”
“You’re defending your family name,” Temperance replied, facing the countess again. “I do understand pride.” Kneeling, she unfastened the lid of the basket and gingerly opened it a crack. “Hello, Hades,” she said soothingly. “My good boy, are you well?”
The cat peered out of the narrow opening, then gave a plaintivemeow. Holding her breath, Persephone let the lid open wider, and the cat surged onto her lap and then curled into a tight ball of fur.Oh, thank goodness. Not everything had been lost. Not the little alley cat on whom she’d taken pity six years earlier. She stroked him gently for a minute, then lifted him into her arms and stood again as Coll put a hand under one arm to steady her.
“Thank you, Coll,” she whispered, lowering her face into the black fur. “Thank you.”
“Ye should have seen him,” another male voice announced, “dancing across the rooftop while fire bit at his feet. He didn’t make it three steps on the ground again before the entire house collapsed.”
Gasping, Temperance grabbed at Coll again with her free hand. “For God’s sake, don’t do that again,” she hissed, looking up at his face. The idea that he might have been killed made her entire being go cold. “Promise me.”
“I dunnae intend for any more houses to burn down,mo chridhe.” With a slight smile touching his mouth, he leaned down and kissed her. “And Niall, keep yer damned mouth shut.”
His brother, still wearing his proper coat but also a bit singed, nodded as he made his way over to his wife. “Ye near scaredmeto death, so I wanted to share.”
All the MacTaggerts were together now—even the patriarch newly arrived from Scotland, apparently to put a stop to Coll marrying her. But they were family, and they hadn’t all been beneath the same roof in a very long time, from what Coll had told her. “I should go see to Flora and Gregory,” she said, setting Hades back in the basket. “We need to find somewhere to stay.”
“Ye’ll stay here,” Coll stated, his voice flat.
“I will not. Today is your brother’s wedding. You should be celebrating, not worrying if someone will put a torch to Oswell House.”
“I’d like to see someone try,” he returned, in a tone that made her shiver. She hadn’t seen him truly angry since that first night, when he’d punched Lord Claremont. This, though, was something more. “I’ve already sent a carriage for Flora and Gregory. Ye’ll stay here.”
“Yes, of course,” Lady Aldriss put in, apparently realizing that she’d lost this argument before it could begin. “You’ll be safe here while we discover who is trying to harm you.” The countess gestured at her daughter. “Eloise, please show Mrs. Jones to the yellow room. And with the number of young ladies residing here now, I believe we can put together a wardrobe for you until you can arrange to have some of your clothing replaced.”
Though she had frequently found it baffling, not to mention maddening, the incessant need for the aristocracy to be polite could occasionally be useful. Temperance curtsied. “Thank you, my lady.”
Coll took her fingers in his. “Huddle and the rest will be worried about ye. If ye write ’em a note, I’ll see it delivered.”
This hadn’t been at all how she’d thought today would proceed. But then she generally slept late on Saturdays, and so she likely would have been in bed when her house burned down. Coll MacTaggert had saved her yet again.
