Page 4 of A Scot on Duchess Square
She gave an approving nod. “Are you an inveterate gambler?”
He laughed. “Lady Miranda, I am a Scotsman. We are a tight-fisted lot and no’ easily parted from our money.”
She smiled again, and he thought life would be quite sweet for him if hers was the smiling face he awoke to every morning. “Then I do not see what is so wrong with you that a good Scottish lass would not find you to her liking. But you may not have my niece. It is obvious this is what your kinsmen intended, to drop Gwenys at your feet and have you marry her.”
He shook his head and gave a light moan. “Dear heaven, they’d bring me a child bride?”
“She’s nearly one and twenty. Hardly a child, but she’s not very wise to the world. She falls too easily for flattery and believes too strongly in romantic love.”
“What is wrong with that? Are ye no’ at all romantic, Lady Miranda?”
“No longer. And you?”
“Och, I am a man of forty years now. I think if I were ever to make a love match, it would have happened already.” Although, oddly, he could see himself with someone like her. “No, I am no longer a believer, either. However, I did hold out hope for thelongest time,” he admitted, wondering why he felt compelled to speak so honestly with her.
“So did I,” she said in a hushed tone, intending the comment mostly for herself.
He thought it quite surprising that someone as passionate as she was had not found someone to love or who had loved her deeply in return. In truth, she was lovely if one overlooked her harridan’s temper, although how could he blame her for her outburst when she must have been frightened out of her wits?
Did it not speak well of her that she fought back instead of cowering in fear?
He had no chance to pursue their conversation because they were interrupted by the arrival of his kinsman, Douglas Lanark. “Ye sent for me, Bram?” he asked, rubbing his eyes and emitting a yawn, obviously not fully alert yet.
“Aye, Douglas. Ye need to get to the Lampton Inn in Edinburgh as fast as possible and seek out Lady…?”
“Gwenys Lawson,” Lady Miranda finished.
Bram quickly filled him in on the problem. “Lady Gwenys may have spoken to the magistrate by now. If so, ye’ll need to advise him that I’ll see him immediately upon my arrival in Edinburgh on the day after tomorrow. Let him know that Lady Miranda is safe and under my protection. No harm will come to her, and she will be reunited with her niece at that time.”
Douglas nodded. “I’ll pack right now.”
“And ye’ll need to stay close to the lass and watch over her until Lady Miranda and I arrive.”
“Why not send me back with Douglas?” she asked the moment the young man had left them alone once more.
“Because he needs to get to Edinburgh as fast as possible and reassure yer niece. Is she alone at the inn?”
Lady Miranda nodded. “We were on our way back to London from a family wedding in Aberdeen.”
“Och, Aberdeen? Then ye’ve already traveled quite a way. I’m due in London before the end of the month to serve in the House of Lords. Ye ladies shall have my escort and protection on yer trip home. I was to leave by the end of the week, but there’s no reason for me to wait. I’ll only need a day to pack and gather my papers.”
“I do not wish for your protection or your company,” she intoned. “I think I’ve hadquiteenough of you and your oafish Lanark kinsmen.”
He frowned. Had he expected better from Lady Miranda? Obviously, she was like every other Sassenach he’d ever met—proud, arrogant, and always looking down her nose at anyone who was not cultured and English.
“Ye are in Scotland now, my fine lady. This ismyterritory and ye are a guest here. I dinna care whether ye want my company or not. Ye’re going to have it until ye are safely back in London. After that, ye can go to blazes for all I care.”
Her eyes widened.
Instead of shouting back at him, she suddenly appeared contrite. “Forgive me, Your Grace. That was rude of me. But Gwenys and I made it up here on our own just fine, and we can do the same on the return trip home.”
“Obviously, ye were no’ fine, since Mongo grabbed ye and brought ye here. But I see ye deem me an embarrassment. An uncouth oaf of a Scot. Ye would consider it a humiliation to be seen in my company. Well, too bad.” He folded his arms over his chest and stared down at her. “Ye shall have my escort to yer doorstep, and then I shall leave ye to fend for yerself.”
“I see what you are doing,” she said with aharrumph.
He arched an eyebrow. “What am I doing?”
“Keeping me close to ensure I do not press charges against your kinsmen. Why else would you care about my safe return to London?”
