Page 85 of A Scot on Duchess Square
Since they were in fact gentlemen, they waited for Miranda and Gwenys to sit first before settling into their chairs. Miranda clasped Gwenys’s hand when the obviously hopeful girl sidled close. “What happened with Lord Lowery?” Miranda asked.
Douglas shook his head, looking quite despondent.
“Oh dear,” Miranda whispered, and put a hand to her throat in dismay. “This is what we feared.”
Bram growled softly. “But it has all worked out. We’re to have a double wedding tomorrow morning.”
Gwenys leaped out of her seat and hugged Bram. “You made this happen. I know it was you.”
“Hey, do I no’ get a hug?” Douglas teased. “I’m to be yer bridegroom.”
Gwenys hugged him, too.
“You have left me confused, Solway. Douglas’s expression did not look promising.” But Miranda knew Bram must have donesomething to bring about this result. “How did you manage this miracle?”
He winced. “Ye might no’ be too happy with me. I’ll tell ye later. But the important thing is that Gwenys’s father consented and Douglas has the license burning a hole in his pocket. However, no’ everyone will be happy about this outcome, so Gwenys and Douglas must leave immediately after the ceremony.”
Her eyes narrowed.
What had Bram done?
Gwenys did not think twice about it as she hopped up and down with glee. “Oh, yes. I shall run up and pack my belongings right now. Lottie will help me. I’ve already got a bag ready for a week of travel.”
“Good,” Douglas said, rising to join her. “Dinna unpack that one. Leave it be. Ye’ll be in need of it on our travels north. The rest will come later on a luggage cart. With yer permission, Miranda, I’ll help Gwenys gather her belongings.”
Miranda nodded. “So long as Lottie is in the room with you.”
“Of course,” Gwenys replied, as though the thought of doing anything improper with her handsome betrothed had never entered her mind.
Well, Gwenys was a bit naïve as to the nature of men. Douglas was honorable, but he was also lusting after his soon-to-be wife.
As soon as the pair left the parlor, Miranda stared pointedly at the remaining Lanarks. “Now, tell me what really happened.”
Bram cleared his throat. “Well, lass, this is how I see it. Mongo abducted ye when he meant to abduct Gwenys, for which I ought to be eternally in his debt, but I’m going to punish him anyway. Gwenys’s father and stepmother sought to cruelly abduct her too. So I consulted with my cousins,” he said, nodding to Hugh and James, “and Montrose, who is a fine lad.”
“Aye, a fine lad,” Hugh said.
James agreed. “He’s one of us.”
Bram nodded. “We all decided that I ought to have a turn abducting someone.”
Miranda thought he was jesting—at first. “You? Who are you going to abduct?”
“Gwenys’s father.”
“Bram! You cannot! You must not!”
Hugh leaned forward, obviously eager to have a say. “To be precise, we did abduct him a few hours ago. It is done, so ye may as well save yer breath in talking Bram or any of us out of it. I thought it better to take the stepmother, but Bram and Montrose were vehemently against it.”
“I’m not surprised. She may be odious, but she’s a lady.”
“No, that’s no’ why we dismissed the idea,” Bram said with a twitch of his lips, obviously attempting to contain his smile. “Ye know the lady is detestable. Why would Lowery ever pay a ransom when this would be the perfect chance for him to be free of her? If he paid us, it would only be to beg us to keep her in our clutches longer. A bribe rather than a ransom.”
Miranda suppressed a laugh. Oh, what he said was so true. Who would ever want that spiteful woman back?
“But seriously,” Bram continued, “why would we abduct that vile serpent of a woman when it is his blessing we need? So we took her limp dishrag of a husband instead. Kept it simple. He was the one who had to give his consent to the license.”
Miranda’s head was spinning. “How did you pull it off? Did he struggle when you grabbed him? You haven’t hurt him, have you?”
