Chapter Twenty-Six

Saturday afternoon

Aaron stood with the dowager duchess at the front of the crowd, watching as Crystal mounted the small stage set up next to the statue of her father, which she had the honor to unveil. The mayor of Edinburgh was standing next to her, about to speak.

Just then, a lady dressed in an elaborately expensive gown and her mama pushed into the space in front of the stage to stand next to him. “Lord Lyle.” The lady gave a dramatic curtsy.

He frowned, trying to remember where he’d seen her. She was frightfully overdone, with her elaborately built-up curls under her bonnet, which crowded around her narrow face. And then she smiled at him, revealing those teeth. He forced himself not to recoil. “Why, Lady Honora. You are a long way from Devon.”

“Haw, haw, haw. You’re so amusing, Lord Lyle. You remember my mother, Lady Lynton?”

“Indeed.” What an unpleasant surprise. “May I present the Dowager Duchess, Sarah of Lomond.”

His grandmother deigned to nod her head and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Lady Honora and Lady Lynton called at Lomond House as guests of the duke. I believe you were in Edinburgh at the time.”

“Lomond sent me there to get me out of the way. What brings you both to Edinburgh?” the dowager asked, her tone clipped.

Lady Honora blushed, and Lady Lynton started. “We’ve come to pay a visit to our Scottish family, and we read about the unveiling of Earl Wilding’s statue,” Lady Honora said.

And the unfortunate broadsheet article, too, no doubt. The woman was tenacious. He’d give her that.

The mayor started his speech, and the hum in the crowd died down as he detailed the battles Earl Wilding and his Highlanders had fought in—their wins, losses, and the earl’s eventual death.

Crystal stepped up and looked out at the crowd. “I want to thank you all for being here. I’m new to the city, but I can see my lasses from the mill and their gracious employer, Mr. Macintosh, who allows them to study their letters and numbers. This wouldn’t be possible without Lord Lyle and the Dowager Duchess of Lomond, who pay the girls’ wages. I am so grateful.”

Her smile made his heart beat faster. “I wasn’t expecting a thank-you,” he said to his grandmother.

“Look around you, Lyle. Wilding Place is packed. See how many you and Lady Crystal are helping.”

“And you, too,” he said.

“I recognize quality when I see it,” the dowager said. “The lass is in the mold of her father. She’ll be a great lady one day. You mark my words.”

“To Earl Wilding, a Highland lord who gave his life serving his country,” Crystal said, pulling at the sheet covering the statue.

A roar of approval met Aaron’s ears, the clapping and cheering deafening. He smiled back at Crystal. Her gaze stayed fixed on him, and she nodded, but he could see the regard in her eyes. He swallowed, his throat dry, his body awake with need, but not just sexual need—his tendre had grown to so much more. His gaze moved to the imposing statue of Lord Wilding. How the tall, fierce-looking Highland lord had produced such a lithe, blond, delightful daughter, he didn’t know, but the spirit of the warrior was there. His grandmother was right.

Aaron had seen her display it many times for her cause and for him. When he was with her, it was like being in the aura of the sun. It was impossible to feel happier when she was in his arms.

He couldn’t bear to be without her.

“Is that the one the broadsheets were writing about?” Lady Lynton said loudly to her daughter.

Aaron turned and glared at her. “Do not besmirch Lady Crystal’s name in my presence, Lady Lynton.”

“Hush, Mama,” Lady Honora said, looking nervously at him.

“Excuse me,” Aaron said coldly. He took his grandmother’s elbow and walked to the side of the large courtyard, waiting while the townspeople congratulated Crystal. “Lady Crystal asked me to escort you upstairs so you may have a seat in her apartment. Her maid is waiting to receive us,” he said.

“She’s very thoughtful,” the dowager said.

“There are many who are grateful to her,” Aaron said proudly as he helped his grandmother up the four flights of steps before knocking at Crystal’s door. “You’ll be interested to know that the MacLeod laird has been charged with kidnapping and transporting his kin.”

“I’ve been fascinated by the case. Who ever heard of white slavery? Those poor people. Does Crystal know?” the dowager said.

“Aye, I was delighted to inform her. Now we must wait for a conviction. I suspect there are others in high places who have a part in this, but the man will give no one up but the captain. And that is not all the news. The Stuart laird has lost his council position with the prince regent for attacking Lady Crystal and falsely writing to him that she was consorting with troublemakers and should be arrested.”

“I presume you wrote to the prince regent yourself on the matter?” the dowager asked.

“Indeed. I insisted that all is peaceful in Scotland and we are his loyal subjects.” He gave her a tight smile.

“Well, as loyal as we Scottish will ever be to the English. Will there be a backlash from the Stuart?” his grandmother asked.

“I have no trust in him, but at least I am free from the leash that binds me to him.”

“Well, that is good news.”

The door opened, and Hilda greeted them with a curtsy and led them to the sitting room. “May I offer you a cup of tea and something to eat?” Hilda asked.

“A glass of Madeira,” the dowager said. “I’m strongly in need of a restorative.”

Aaron glanced at his grandmother, surprised. “At this hour?”

“I need to have a difficult conversation with you, Lyle, while we’re waiting for Lady Crystal,” the dowager said.

“In that case, a port for me,” Aaron said to Hilda. She curtsied and left the room.

“I received a letter from Lomond today,” the dowager said, settling herself on a comfortable chair. “It was very unsettling. I’ve never had such a terrible missive in my life. It seems I am not to encourage you in your relationship with Lady Crystal, who, Lomond has discovered, speaks on subjects not suitable for a lady. He is tired of my interfering, and I am to stop. I am forbidden to drive off any prospective match. How could he write such a nasty letter? I don’t interfere.”

“Harumph!” Aaron coughed into his hand. “I hardly see how my interest in Lady Crystal is your fault.”

“I wrote straight back and told Lomond he was wrong about Lady Crystal and that you should marry her.”

“Lady Crystal doesn’t wish to marry.”

“So she claims. Lyle, you have to change her mind,” the dowager said.

Aaron took a stiff parchment out of his coat pocket and unrolled it. “You’re not the only one who received a message. Lomond has ordered me to do my duty. I am to call on Lady Honora and propose marriage. His grace has supplied her Edinburgh address. It appears Lomond and the Duke of Devonshire have already started work on the contracts.”

“What? That dreadful overdressed creature with teeth like a beaver?” his grandmother asked, looking horrified.

Hilda returned with a drinks trolley. “Leave it, Hilda. I’ll look after us,” he said, taking the Madeira bottle off the tray, filling his grandmother’s glass, and passing it to her.

“If I don’t, Lomond says he will never receive me again.” A wave of distress overcame him as he poured his port.

“I’ll never receive you if you do. That laugh alone would send me to Bedlam. She sounds like a wheezing donkey.”

Aaron drank deeply. “You really have a way with words.”

She gave him a wicked grin. “I do, don’t I? Now, what are you going to do?”

“I have learned a thing or two from your methods of driving prospective brides away,” he said.

…

Crystal entered the sitting room with Lady Honora and Lady Lynton. “Look who I met downstairs. They say they are dear to you, Lord Lyle, so I invited them up for a drink.”

Aaron stood and bowed stiffly. “We are not friends. I have met Lady Honora and her mother, Lady Lynton, but once. According to the letter I received from the duke this morning, Lady Honora is to become my wife.”

“Indeed,” Lady Lynton said. “The contracts are being drawn up as we speak.”

The Dowager Duchess of Lomond looked at the two ladies. “That would require a proposal first.”

“Haw, haw, haw.” Lady Honora laughed nervously as her gaze darted from Lord Lyle to the Dowager Duchess of Lomond.

“Why do you laugh? I see nothing entertaining in a forced proposal,” the dowager duchess said to Lady Honora.

Crystal gasped at the restrained fury in Aaron’s face, and her cheeks flamed. “I had no idea… This is difficult. I do apologize, Lady Honora, Lady Lynton. Lord Lyle, I think you need to discuss this matter in private.”

Good God! He was to marry. Why did he not tell her about the contract? Sheer, sharp pain struck her heart. She had known this would eventually happen, but not today!

Please God, not today. Oh, she couldn’t bear it. She wanted to weep.

“No. I want this out in the open so Lady Honora understands what life will be like if she marries me.” Aaron turned to Lady Honora. “You do realize, Lady Honora, that I cannot love you, and you will not be able to love me, because my heart belongs to someone else.”

“I knew it! This woman is your mistress,” Lady Lynton accused, pointing rudely at Crystal.

“Lyle, how could you?” Crystal cried. The man standing before her was not the gentle, sweet individual who had helped her with her classes, who made love to her tenderly at night. It broke her heart that he could treat her in such a way. “I haven’t agreed to be your mistress. I couldn’t— I can’t. How dare you?”

“Honora knows what is expected of her,” Lady Lynton said, stepping forward and standing up to Lyle. “No one has ever pretended this marriage is based on love. It is a contract that is very advantageous to you. If you intend on being so frank, you should know we are paying well for this to happen.”

“Mama. No! I didn’t know Lord Lyle’s affections lie elsewhere. I don’t want this,” Lady Honora said, backing away with tears in her eyes. “I want a husband who will love me.”

“I don’t care what you want, Honora. You will do as you’re told and marry the marquis,” Lady Lynton snapped.

“Lyle, I insist you leave,” Crystal said. “Your statement was utterly heartless both to me and to Lady Honora. I have never heard you say anything so cruel.”

“But this is what our life will be like, Lady Crystal, unless you agree to marry me. Upon my heart, I will never be able to live without you. I cannot love a woman chosen by my father; I can only love you.” He got down on one knee. “Will you do the honor of becoming my wife, Lady Crystal?”

Lady Lynton gasped.

Lady Honora wailed and stamped her foot, but their protests died as Crystal stared at Lyle, shocked by his proposal.

Tears sprang from her eyes, and her whole body started to tremble. She couldn’t sacrifice her life to become a woman of leisure when so many depended on her. But she realized she loved him. “I can’t give up my teaching. These girls need me, and I want to devote my life to helping them. It’s what I believe in.”

The tension left his face, and his expression gentled. “I love you. I would never ask you to give up teaching. I expect you to continue, and I know the dowager will help you, and I will, too. We are good together, my darling. We can achieve so much and help so many.”

“Then I say yes. Yes, yes, yes.” She looked at him in wonder, seeing him for the first time as it sank in that he wouldn’t try to control her as her father had done.

Her future husband rose to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “You make me happy, as only you could.”

In the background, the Dowager Duchess of Lomond clapped her hands. “Why, Lyle, I trained you well, after all.”