Chapter Three #2
He usually ate his breakfast at seven o’clock sharp every morning, but it was nearing ten and he hadn’t had a bite to eat because they had left Lanark Castle at the break of dawn.
He had ordered his carriage driver to go slow because he feared to do more harm to Miranda’s ribs if she were badly jostled.
But this had almost doubled their travel time.
And now, he was frothing at the mouth and wanting to tear into everything in sight. Och, no wonder she must think him a barbarian.
Well, he supposed he was one.
Miranda stared at his plate as he sank into the chair beside hers and dug into his food.
“Miranda,” he said between bites, “I’ve taken the best suite at the inn. It is quite large and comfortable. Douglas and I dinna need all that room. Would ye and Gwenys prefer it? We can move into yers.”
“That is very generous of you, Your Grace,” Gwenys said, casting him a bright smile. “Shall we have a look at it, Aunt Miranda?”
Miranda quickly put a damper on the notion. “It isn’t necessary. We are fine just where we are.”
He nodded. “Perhaps later ye’ll have a look at it, as Gwenys suggested, and change yer mind.”
“I won’t,” she insisted, ignoring Gwenys’s groan.
“I am no’ trying to bribe ye, Miranda,” he said, swallowing another heavenly bite of his kippers. “I’m only thinking of yer comfort.”
She snorted.
Aye, the lady had a healthy distrust of him. Apparently, she had a healthy distrust of all men.
Who had hurt her to cause this?
He would pry the information out of Gwenys, for she was a pert, chatty thing.
Miranda, on the other hand, was completely closed up. Yet she could become someone quite wonderful if she ever learned to trust him.
But it was a stupid thought, because Miranda would never allow herself to get too close to him. No trust. Not ever. And she would never fall in love with him.
Why would she? He was a big oaf. He looked more like a brute than a proper duke.
Things might have been different had they not got off to such a terrible start. Mongo’s behavior had ruined any chances of forming a bond of affection with her. The idjit had put a taint on every Lanark male.
“Thank ye, Mongo,” Bram muttered.
“What shall we do today?” Gwenys asked, obviously eager to see more of Edinburgh and not at all understanding the depth of Miranda’s ordeal.
Perhaps it was for the best. Miranda did not appear to like being fussed over.
Bram noticed Douglas’s eyes brighten as Gwenys spoke, and knew the lad would not mind escorting her wherever she wished to go. Well, Douglas was more than a mere lad, for he was a man full grown at five and twenty years old. Bram had noticed the cleverness in him ever since he was a child.
And then there was his brother, Mongo. How was it possible those two were spawned from the same seed?
“What do ye have in mind, Gwenys?” Douglas asked, his smile broad as he responded to her question with one of his own.
“More shopping, if you are not averse to it.”
Douglas nodded. “No’ at all. It will be my pleasure to take ye around. Where would ye like to browse first?”
“I noticed some fine woolen shops near Edinburgh Castle. Would you take me there?”
“Aye, lass. Sounds perfect. We can return here in time for ye to share afternoon tea with yer aunt. They do it very nicely here. Then ye can show yer aunt the lovely things ye’ve purchased.”
Gwenys turned to Miranda. “Oh, would you not come with us?”
Miranda glanced at Bram, then shook her head. “No, love. I’m still a bit achy and would just like to rest here for the day.”
Gwenys’s bright smile faded. “Then I’ll stay with you. Never mind about the woolen shops.”
Miranda patted her hand. “No, you go off and enjoy yourself. I’m sure you’ll have a much nicer time without me to slow you down.”
After a little more coaxing, Gwenys agreed to go off with Douglas for the day. Once the pair had left the table, Bram leaned forward. “Do ye wish me to escort ye to the magistrate’s office, Miranda? Or would ye prefer I summon him here?”
Her eyes rounded in surprise. “Is this why you thought I wanted to remain behind? To report Mongo and his companions?”
He nodded. “Isn’t it?”
She let out a breath. “I haven’t decided yet.”
Bram had not expected her hesitation. He was pleased, but had no intention of stopping her if she chose to move ahead and contact the magistrate.
But it did delight him that her reconsideration about Mongo might mean she was softening toward him.
“Miranda,” he said gently, “I know what Mongo did was wrong, and I will impose a suitable punishment on him if ye choose no’ to tell the magistrate anything.
I promise ye, he will feel the consequences of his impetuous actions. I give ye my solemn word of honor.”
“Am I to trust your honor, Solway?”
“Aye. I may have many faults, but I am no liar. If I give ye my word, I shall always remain true to it.”
She took a sip of her tea and then set the cup down on the table with a slight tremble to her hand. “Would the same apply to your wedding vows?”
Was she now considering his proposal?
He did not think he stood a chance with her.
But it was all madness, wasn’t it? He’d proposed to her within minutes of meeting her and still felt he had the right of it. She was someone remarkable, someone he could love forever.
No logical reason for it. No passage of time to confirm his feelings. He’d just been struck by her at first sight.
“Aye, ye can always rely on my word. If I promise to love, honor, and protect my wife, I would do so to my dying day.”
“And be faithful to her?”
He noticed Miranda’s hands were still trembling.
“Aye. I would no’ still be a bachelor if those vows meant nothing to me. Perhaps I take them too much to heart, for I have never found the one lady I could hold in my heart forever. Because of this, I did no’ think it right to marry.”
She frowned. “And yet you proposed to me. Oh, I know it was more of a bribe to keep me quiet than a true proposal. What would you have done had I accepted and held you to your promise to marry me?”
“I would have been a true husband to ye. And I did no’ offer for yer hand thinking to bribe ye or control ye.
” He shook his head and sighed. “Dinna ask me why it felt right to ask ye in that moment. I hardly understand it myself. But when I saw ye hurling those vases at Mongo, my heart suddenly opened up.”
She glanced up at him and laughed softly.
“Och, aye,” he said with a grin. “I should have been angry, but I could no’ find it in me.
Ye were magnificent. A beautiful virago, so beautiful ye stole my breath away.
In that moment… I dinna know exactly, for it was a roil of feelings ye stirred in me.
Ye showed such courage, and I thought such a brave woman would always protect our children with all her heart and soul.
Ye showed such fierceness, and I thought it would be wonderful if a woman could love me that fiercely. ”
“You wished to have objects tossed at your head?”
“Nay, Miranda. I’ve said it badly—what I thought in that moment was that our bonds of love could be fierce and our union unbreakable. We could have a true marriage if both of us were able to feel love that deeply.”
Miranda’s eyes widened, and then she shook her head and laughed softly once again. “I was trying to maim your kinsmen. You must have a very strong death wish, if this is what attracted you.”
He gave a jovial chuckle. “I hope not. I rather enjoy breathing.”
She smiled, but soon sobered. “Whether you consciously understood it or not, what felt right to you was doing whatever you needed to protect Mongo from my wrath. That’s what really compelled you to propose to me.”
“No, Miranda. I—”
She raised a hand when he sought to protest, for he truly had not been thinking of Mongo at all, at least not that he was aware. He had been thinking with his heart, which was instantly stirred by the sight of her—and his manly parts were not silent, either.
“Let’s not fight over this, Solway. I have decided not to say anything to the magistrate.”
He let out a gust of air. “Truly? Thank ye, Miranda.”
“But I fully expect you to impose a suitable punishment on him.”
“I will. I promise ye. I’ll write to Gordon this very day and instruct him on the punishment. He can be trusted to carry it out. Ye recall him, he’s the elderly kinsman who hurried to wake me.”
“Yes, I recall. He also brought in tea and food for me.”
“Aye, that’s him.” He reached over and gave her hand a light squeeze. “Gordon will handle it ably. This is better than Mongo and his companions deserve, and I am most grateful for yer mercy.”
He frowned a moment later. “Yer hand is cold even after taking that hot tea. Ye worry me. Was the trip from Lanark Castle too much for ye? Shall I help ye to yer quarters?”
“I am fine and have no intention of sleeping through the day.”
“Then would ye like to select a book from the inn’s library? Ye might find it comfortable to read in bed awhile. Shall I summon a maid to assist ye?”
She shook her head. “I am not a child nor an old woman to require assistance or watching. But I like the idea of reading in the library. That’s what I shall do. It is too confining to stay in my room, even though it is lovely and the innkeeper does his best to provide us with all the comforts.”
“Too confining? Will ye no’ take me up on my offer of the Royal Suite, then? Ye’ll be more comfortable there, Miranda. It is quite spacious and has its own small parlor, so ye will no’ be squeezed into a bedchamber.”
“No, Gwenys and I are perfectly fine where we are.”
“Very well, but the offer stands open should ye change yer mind.” He set aside his breakfast plate, having eaten his fill.
More than his fill, truth be told. But Miranda left him famished for more than mere food, and he had compensated by taking in food when what he really wanted to do was take her in, drink her in. Taste her. Kiss her.
But that was not going to happen. He had to stop thinking that it might.