Page 28 of A Scot on Duchess Square
Yet how could she deny them their happiness?
She blinked, trying to expunge the image of herself and her liar of a husband. But all she saw was that wretched man and the lies he had told her. “Have you kissed him, Gwenys?”
Her niece blushed as she nodded. “Just once. A few minutes ago. Kissing seemed important. We had to know it would please us to kiss each other, did we not?”
Miranda felt Solway’s gentle hand at the small of her back, as though he sensed her difficulty and sought to comfort her.
“Aye, Gwenys,” Solway said, his hand still lightly resting at her back, “ye’ve established ye like each other’s company, and it was logical to know that ye would care for each other in a more intimate way. Friendship and attraction are both important in a marriage.”
“Says the man who has never been married,” Miranda muttered, then instantly regretted it.
Her own past was getting the better of her.
Solway tucked a finger under her chin and forced her gaze to his. “Says the lady who has been badly hurt by a fiend’s betrayal. Neither Douglas nor I are anything like that low specimen of a creature ye married. Dinna ruin Gwenys’s chance at happiness because ye are afraid she will repeat yer mistakes. No’ that yer behavior was wrong in any way. Trusting in yer husband and wanting to make a real marriage is never a mistake.”
Tears formed in her eyes. “All you say is true. But I cannot change.”
“Aye, ye can. It will take time, that’s all. Fortunately, I am a patient man. I’ll wait for ye as long as it takes.”
“Oh, we are speaking of us now?”
“I didna mean to say anything to ye just yet, but yes. It is no’ only Douglas and Gwenys who hope to find love. Dinna stop them, Miranda. Let them forge their own path. They deserve that chance.”
Miranda’s lips were now pursed. “And us?”
“We deserve our chance at happiness, too. But I will never push ye to marry me. Ye’ll let me know when it feels right and ye are ready. I’ll ask ye then to be my wife. And if it never feels right for ye,” he said with a sigh, “then I shall respect yer wishes.”
Miranda stepped away from his touch, which was addling her senses and making her think marriage to Solway might work.
But how could it?
“Summers are lovely up here,” Douglas said. “Perhaps ye could join us here for the month of July or August…or both. I could show ye around. There’s lots of beauty in the Highland hills.”
It was so obvious these two young lovers ached to be together.
Not that they were children, by any means. Gwenys was almost one and twenty and Douglas appeared to be in his mid-twenties. Both of them were of marriageable age. Indeed, many couples married younger and had children of their own by now.
“Gwenys, come to bed,” Miranda said, holding out her hand to her niece.
“All right,” Gwenys responded, noticeably deflated. After a moment of struggling to hold back tears, she turned to Douglas. “Will I see you before we leave?”
He nodded. “Aye. I shall be here to see ye off. I would no’ wish to be anywhere else.”
Miranda steered Gwenys up the stairs to their quarters, feeling awful because her niece was quietly crying. She heard barely a sniffle, but the girl’s cheeks were moist and there were trails of tears running down them.
All Miranda could think of was that love hurt and she wanted to spare Gwenys the pain.
But she had to stop thinking like this. First of all, it was the separation from Douglas that was hurting Gwenys, not the unfaithfulness of his love.
In truth, Miranda hoped his feelings were real. She wanted Gwenys to be blissfully happy, as so many of her friends were in their marriages. Hers was the only one among their circle of friends that had been disastrous.
She latched the door behind them and slipped out of her robe. Gwenys did the same and then slid under her covers, no doubt to quietly sob some more.
Miranda sank onto her own mattress and blew out the candle so that they were now in the dark. “Gwenys, perhaps we could come up here for the summer months, as Douglas suggested. There’s really no reason for us to remain in London during the intolerable heat. Would you like that?”
Gwenys leaped out of her bed and hugged Miranda enthusiastically, then gasped and drew back as she recalled her bound ribs. “Yes, I would love it so much! Thank you, Aunt Miranda. I love you.”
Then she grabbed her robe and donned it while dashing out of their chamber.
