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INES
“You have to eat something,” Emmeline told Ines. She had returned only a couple of hours ago, and she had not stopped smiling. When Ines had asked if Fortescue apologized, Emmeline said they were to be married. Ines had been genuinely happy for her friends, but she did not want to sit across from them and Duncan and his horrid mother for two hours.
“The housekeeper brought a tray earlier,” Ines said.
Emmeline gave her a look. “Which you did not touch. I saw it.” Emmeline pulled Ines to her feet. “Come down or Murray will probably come up after you. Besides.” She reached for Ines’s hair, tucking a piece behind her ear and bringing another piece over her shoulder. “When he sees how pretty you look, that will be the best revenge.”
“I do not want revenge.”
Emmeline raised a brow. “Yes, you do. And if you do not, I do. The man is a fool. Let him see what he is missing.”
“He is missing nothing, just a silly girl with silly ideas.”
Emmeline took her shoulders. “You are not silly, and neither are your ideas of romance. You made me believe in romance, and that is no small accomplishment. Please, please come down to dinner.”
“Fine.” She had to go. If she stayed, then everyone would think she was ashamed. She was not ashamed of what she and Duncan had done. She loved him. She knew he loved her.
But as Catarina had told her on more than one occasion, love was not everything. Sometimes love could not conquer all.
“You will come then?” Emmeline asked. “Good.”
Ines straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, determined not to be cowed by Lady Charlotte. For the first time since she’d left London, she had wished Benedict had found her. If he’d found her, they could be on their way home by now. She’d never have to see Duncan or his awful mother again.
She and Emmeline reached the drawing room just as Lady Charlotte was leading the party into the dining room. She greeted Emmeline and nodded to Ines, her eyes flicking across the room. Ines followed Lady Charlotte’s gaze and spotted Duncan. He was standing beside Stratford, and as usual, he made an imposing figure, especially dressed as he was. She tried not to stare, but she had only ever seen illustrations of Highland dress. Duncan wore a dark green coat and linen neckcloth. The belt around the coat secured the green and blue plaid with faint stripes of red that he’d draped over his shoulder. It matched the kilt he wore, which fell just above his knees. Below his knees were flat soled boots, probably more for show than actual use as they looked too thin to offer much protection in the elements.
He had shaved and his hair was pulled back into a queue. His amber eyes met hers then moved away. Ines tried to slow her heartbeat. Her heart seemed determined to betray her. It still loved him, even when her mind begged it to stop.
Duncan took his mother’s arm, escorting her. Fortescue took Emmeline’s, and Ines moved to walk behind. But Fortescue shook his head. “I’d be a lucky man to have two such lovely ladies on my arms. Miss Neves?” He held out his free arm. Feeling grateful for his kindness, she took it and allowed him to lead her to the dining room.
When she entered, Lady Charlotte stood behind her chair, her son behind her, waiting to seat her. But Lady Charlotte was staring at something on the table, and too late Ines realized exactly what it was.
She’d forgotten to tell the housekeeper not to leave the box on the table tonight. She should have told her to give it to her mistress after Ines was gone. But it was too late now. Lady Charlotte lifted the wooden box and looked around the table. Everyone stood, as no one dared sit before Lady Charlotte.
“What is this?” she asked.
Ines did not want to answer, and the rest of the party looked questioningly at each other. Ines did not need to answer. The lady would know soon enough when she opened it, and Lady Charlotte did not wait for an answer at any rate. She flicked the small gold latch aside and opened the box. For a long moment, she stared down at the contents. Ines felt her face flush and burn. She wanted to sink under the floor when Lady Charlotte lifted the lace from the box and held it up. There was no question what it was or who had made it.
“What is this?” Lady Charlotte demanded. Her gaze rested on Ines for what seemed a very long moment. Ines was aware all eyes were on her, and she swallowed. Words deserted her.
Emmeline broke in. “I am certain Ines meant it as a thanks for your hospitality. Her lace is highly prized.”
Lady Charlotte looked at Ines again, and Ines took a breath. “It is a gift. They are lace cuffs. I thought they would look pretty on the dress of your daughter. Then I thought why not give them to you as a thank you.” She looked at Duncan, but he was staring at the lace in his mother’s hands. “I asked your housekeeper to leave it on the table tonight. It was before...” She trailed off.
Lady Charlotte looked at her son, seeming to want him to speak. Was it possible she wanted him to defend Ines?
Ins shook her head. Now she was acting truly foolish.
Finally, Lady Charlotte looked away and her hand shook before she dropped the lace back into the box. Ines prepared for her to return it. Surely, she would not want any sort of reminder of Ines. Perhaps she would throw it in her face or throw it in the fire.
“Christ and all the saints!” Duncan exploded. “I cannae do this.”
Ines jumped at his outburst, and everyone but his mother turned to stare at him. Lady Charlotte took her seat, looking almost relieved. “You have something to say, Duncan?”
“Nae tae ye, Mother.” He shook his head. He looked at Ines, and she stared back at him, hoping her glare was harsh. She wanted to hurt him as much as he’d hurt her. Duncan’s look softened as he stared at her, and then he was moving toward her. Ines started to back up, but Duncan was too quick. He caught her hands and held her. Then, to her shock, he knelt before her.
“Stand up, Duncan!” his mother said, her voice like iron.
Somehow Duncan ignored her. He looked up at Ines, and no matter how much she tried to look away, it was his face that she wanted to see above all others.
“Lass,” he began, then shook his head. “Ines. I owe ye an apology. I faltered when I should nae have.”
Ines did not speak. It was not enough. She wanted to forgive him, but his words were not enough. Her heart still hurt. It still felt hard and unyielding when she looked at him.
“It’s strange, aye?” He glanced at Fortescue. “I never faltered when a line of soldiers fired at me, but last night, I hesitated.”
Fortescue gave him a sympathetic look, but Lady Charlotte was becoming more agitated. She stood. “Duncan, sit down.”
He ignored her and looked only at Ines.
“I love ye, Ines. I love ye heart and soul.”
Ines gasped. Or perhaps she sobbed. She just knew her heart lurched hard in her chest.
“I wanted tae tell ye last night. I tried tae show ye instead, but I wanted tae give ye the words as well. I’m giving them tae ye now.”
“Thank God,” his mother said. Duncan turned to look at her, then put his arm about Ines’s shoulders. Ines stood still and frozen, not shying away, but not accepting his touch either.
“Mother, ye ken I love ye and respect ye.”
Lady Charlotte blew out a breath. “I know that. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me what you feel for her.”
Duncan frowned, looking confused. “I should have said before. I should have stood by her side last night. It’s where I should have been from the start. I ken I’m a failure in yer eyes. Ye sent me tae London tae find a titled English bride, and I fell in love with a Portuguese lacemaker. But ye of all people should understand love. Ye felt it once with my father.”
Lady Charlotte gripped the table hard then eased down into her chair, looking suddenly older and frailer.
“I’ve spent years trying tae atone for my mistake. I ken if I hadnae run away that night, yer husband and my father would be at this table now. I never wanted tae disappoint ye or defy ye again, but I have tae. I love Ines Neves, and I want tae marry her.” He looked down at Ines. “If she’ll have me. And if ye dinnae approve”—he looked back at Lady Charlotte—“then I’ll accept that and we’ll leave right now. But I willnae ever leave her side again.”
Lady Charlotte sat back, nodding resolutely. The room had gone silent except for the crackling of the fire. Duncan went to his knees again and took Ines’s hands. “I dinnae deserve ye, lass. I dinnae ken if ye can ever forgive me, but I swear if ye’ll have me for yer husband I will nae give ye a moment’s regret.”
Ines realized everyone was looking at her. She looked down at Duncan. There was still pain when she looked at him. He’d hurt her, and that would not disappear in an instant. But more than the pain was the love. She loved him too. First, she’d loved the idea of him. Then she’d loved the look of him. And now she loved the man himself.
“I love you,” she said. “Sim. Yes, I will marry you.”
Duncan rose to his feet and pulled her into his arms. And then she was off her feet as he lifted her up and swung her around. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, and he kissed her back, and in that moment, she felt her heart soften and melt and she fell in love with him all over again.
Somewhere a door slammed open, and Ines supposed Lady Charlotte had fled the room. But then she heard a familiar voice. “Take your hands off my sister-in-law.”
***
DUNCAN
Duncan had known Lieutenant-Colonel Draven would arrive. He just hadn’t thought it would be during the happiest moment of his life. He broke the kiss and stared at the dining room door where Draven stood, his gaze dark and full of anger. Just behind him, Duncan spotted Jasper, his black mask covering the burn scars on his face.
“Put her down,” Draven said. “Get your pistol and meet me outside.”
Duncan lowered Ines to the floor and pushed her behind him, wanting to protect her, though she needed no protection from her own brother-in-law. “Sir, I want tae...” Duncan knew that was not the way. He began again. “May I have yer permission tae marry Miss Neves?”
“No,” Draven said. “You will be too dead to marry anyone.”
“Sir,” Jasper said from behind him.
Draven pointed at Stratford, who was now standing at the table. “You here too? Did you formulate the plan to abduct my sister-in-law?”
Stratford shook his head. “Sir, you are mistaken. This is not what it seems.”
“Really?” Draven stepped further inside. “It looks to me like Murray has taken advantage of my charge and now feels duty-bound to marry her.”
“Nae, sir,” Duncan said. “I want tae marry her because I love her.”
“So you did not bed her?” Draven asked.
Duncan hesitated, eyeing the pistol at the colonel’s side. Then he noticed Ines tugging at his arm, trying to loosen his hold on her. Finally, she pushed herself forward. Duncan could see his former commander brace for some sort of dramatic scene, but Ines only gave him a short curtsy then smiled.
“Benedict, I have missed you.”
The colonel’s eyes narrowed.
“The truth is Duncan did not abduct me. It was all a mistake.” She looked at Duncan and smiled. “Except it was not a mistake, and I love him.”
“Ines, move aside.”
She held up a hand, turning a withering look on Draven. “And if you so much as hurt a hair on the head of my soon-to-be husband, I will tell Catarina and she will flay you alive.”
“Your sister is home and worried sick about you.”
Ines looked repentant at those words. “I am sorry about that. But she will forgive me when we tell her about the wedding.”
“There will be no wedding!” Draven yelled.
Jasper moved beside him. “Sir, I have met your wife, and she has something of a temper. I beg you not to act in haste. Perhaps if we send for her...”
“Perhaps I can kill him and beg forgiveness later.”
Ines moved toward him. “Benedict.”
Quicker than Duncan thought a man of his age could move—but then Draven had always seemed as fit as any of the men, despite being fifteen years their senior—he caught Ines by the wrist and thrust her at Jasper. “Hold her.” And then he lunged forward, head down like a charging bull. Duncan didn’t even try to resist. He deserved this much, at least. The colonel slammed into his midsection, and Duncan stumbled back, crashing against a wall and sending a painting flying off its hook and clattering to the floor.
Colonel Draven pulled his right fist back and plowed it into Duncan’s cheek. Duncan winced at the pain but didn’t fight back. The next punch brought the taste of blood. His ears were ringing, but he could hear Ines screaming and Stratford yelling and Jasper and Miss Wellesley somewhere in the midst of the fray.
And then his mother’s voice rose above it all.
“Cease this at once!” she demanded. She’d sat at the head of the table, watching the scene, but she’d obviously had enough.
Draven, fist pulled back for another blow, paused and looked at Lady Charlotte. Duncan took a breath, which was not easy with the colonel’s hand clamped around his throat and his head pushed against the wall. Lady Charlotte pointed at Draven.
“Release him.”
The colonel hesitated, but he was a soldier first and Lady Charlotte had been born a commander. Draven released him and stepped back. Duncan almost slumped over but caught himself just in time. The punches had been harder than he’d expected. His cheek throbbed and one eye was swelling closed.
“Now step away.”
Draven did as ordered, and Duncan steadied himself against the wall. Jasper must have released Ines because a moment later she was at his side, supporting him. Of course, she was. The lass was one of the few genuinely kind, compassionate people he had ever met. She’d barely known him, yet when Nash had shot him, she’d never left his side. Duncan put his arm about her, pulling her tight against him. He’d come perilously close to losing her, and only now did he realize how close to the precipice he’d been standing. For once, he did not want to go over. He did not want to risk it. He wanted the assurance that the woman holding him up now would be at his side forever.
It was the sort of predictability Duncan had never thought he’d want, but he now realized—almost too late—that it was what he’d needed all along.
“I do believe you have forgotten yourself, sir,” Lady Charlotte said to Colonel Draven. “How else to explain why you have come into my house and begun a brawl as though you were in some sort of tavern.”
“My apologies,” Draven said. “I was not myself.”
She nodded. “None of us have been ourselves lately.” She surveyed the room with accusation in her eyes. “But we must maintain some semblance of order. Duncan, introduce your...friends, please.” Her gaze dipped to Ines at his side, but Duncan saw only resignation in her eyes.
“Lady Charlotte,” Duncan said, taking a breath as his was short after the blows he’d taken. “Might I present Lieutenant-Colonel Draven and Lord Jasper Grantham. We served together in the war.”
“You are heroes then,” Lady Charlotte said. “Four heroes at my dinner table.” She gestured to Stratford and then Duncan. “I am fortunate indeed. Please sit.” She gestured to the empty places at the table. “I will have two more place settings brought in.” The footman departed immediately without having to be told.
“Thank you, my lady, but we would not wish to intrude,” Draven said.
“Oh, nonsense,” Lady Charlotte said, taking her seat again. “I imagine you have been traveling day and night, tracking my son’s betrothed.” She glanced at Ines, and Duncan started at how easily she used the word betrothed for Ines. “And now you have found her.”
“And we are anxious to take her home. My wife—her sister—is worried sick.”
“Completely understandable. Do sit,” she said, ignoring Draven’s obvious desire to be gone. “After all, you cannot start back tonight and on an empty stomach.”
Draven looked at Jasper, and Jasper shrugged then moved toward the table. The colonel gave Duncan one last menacing look and followed Jasper. Unwilling to relinquish Ines, Duncan held her tight as he hobbled back to the table then seated her in the chair beside his mother and stood behind her. He would not leave her side again.
His mother gave her new guests her best hostess smile, and then looked at Duncan and sighed. “Colonel Draven,” she said.
“My lady?” He had sipped from the glass of wine in front of him and still held the glass aloft.
“How long will it take for Mrs. Draven to travel to Scotland?”
“Mrs. Draven?” he asked. He’d removed his hat, and his red hair stuck up, mirroring the lift of his brows.
“She will want to attend the wedding, yes?” Lady Charlotte looked at Miss Wellesley. “And your own mother? We should send to her first thing.”
“My lady?” Miss Wellesley looked confused. “I am not sure I understand.”
Lady Charlotte lifted her own wine glass and sipped, slowly as though she had all the time in the world to explain herself. “For the double wedding, my dear. I plan to hold it here.”
Miss Wellesley stared; Stratford dropped the fork he’d been playing with. Jasper laughed, and Draven’s cheeks turned red before he nodded tightly. But Ines...Ines looked up at Duncan and smiled.
That smile was like the sun in the warmth it brought. Duncan smiled back at her then looked at his mother, who was watching them. Duncan thought he saw a suspicious sign of moisture in her eyes. But that couldn’t be, because Lady Charlotte never did anything so human as cried.
“Thank ye, Mother,” Duncan said.
“Anything for you, dear boy,” she said. “I only wanted to know that you loved her, that you would fight for her.”
“I do.”
“Then I do as well.” She raised a hand. “You must promise me one thing, though. You won’t go running off to England or to war again. I want you and Ines to live here.”
“You do?” Ines asked, her voice filled with shock.
“I do,” Lady Charlotte lifted the lace cuffs from the wooden box still before her. “I want you to be here when I wear these.”