Chapter Seven
Bram retired to his quarters feeling glad they were to spend an extra day in York for several reasons.
First, Miranda needed to rest her injured ribs despite her stubborn denials.
Second, he did not want to be riding to London at the same time as the Lawsons because he had no desire to encounter them again and again.
There weren’t many coaching inns that catered to the Upper Crust, so it would not be surprising to wind up in the same lodgings as they traveled south.
He undressed, careful to set his clothes properly over one of the chairs in his bedchamber so that they would not wrinkle, and then fell naked into bed.
He employed a valet in London because these English looked for any excuse to dismiss the Scots as uncouth and unworthy.
But in Scotland, he mostly took care of his own dressing and grooming because they were much less formal at Lanark Castle.
Besides, he was often out with his kinsmen toiling in the fields, shearing sheep, or repairing whatever buildings or fences needed repair.
“Och, Miranda,” he whispered into the hollow darkness of the night. “Will ye ever trust me?”
She had been so worried about the Lawsons damaging Gwenys’s confidence that she had neglected the damage they had done to her.
How was he to help her mend that broken heart of hers?
He saw the looks she cast him whenever she thought he wasn’t looking, and knew she felt desire for him.
But lust was not the same as love. Miranda was too proper ever to act on her feelings of lust. Nor would he desire to take her into his bed as anything less than his honored wife.
He refused to use her for a quick tumble.
Well, he hoped to have the fortitude to refuse should the situation ever arise.
Sadly, he knew he would be helpless to resist because he fiercely ached to bed Miranda. The mere thought of her sweet body wrapped around his while they were in the throes of passion had him responding with manly need.
He fell asleep thinking improper thoughts about her. And his dreams were filled with fantasies of acting on those improper thoughts.
The sky was dark and covered in thunderclouds when he arose early the following morning, stirred awake by the howling wind and his rattling windows. He checked his pocket watch for the hour and saw that it was just coming on six o’clock.
Groaning, he rose, hastily attended to his necessaries, and then washed and dressed.
It was not yet seven o’clock by the time he strode to the dining room to have a cup of coffee.
He would wait until Miranda and Gwenys joined him before having his breakfast, even though his stomach was already rumbling.
Lord Lowery and his new son-in-law marched in as he finished his first cup, and they immediately hastened toward him. “Good morning, Lowery. Montrose.”
Montrose greeted him warmly. “My bride and her mother insisted on breakfast being brought up to our rooms.”
“Understandable,” Bram said, rising to acknowledge them. “This will allow them to dress and finish packing at their leisure.”
Montrose nodded. “The journey to London has been hard for them, and they are finding it harder and harder to rise each morning. But we’ll soon be on our way. The carriage is being brought around now. I hope you and the Lawson ladies in your party had a pleasant rest.”
“I did, and expect they did as well. I will call on them in an hour or so, if they do no’ make their appearance sooner,” Bram said with a nod. “I wish ye an easy journey.”
He said nothing about the impending storm because he wanted Gwenys’s family out of here for Miranda’s sake.
“We’ll need to speak further about your heir and my daughter,” Lowery said, looking uncomfortable because no doubt his wife had prodded him into saying something about Gwenys’s courtship. “You must understand that I cannot simply give her over to you.”
Was that witch hoping to undermine Gwenys’s happiness? Bram did not doubt that she wanted to pile misery on her stepdaughter, for such women always chose hurting others above any good result that she might accomplish for herself in securing a connection to a duke.
Bram had encountered bitter women like her. Wasn’t Lady Wharton such a one? Bile and envy controlled such people.
“We shall speak when the time is right,” Bram said.
Lord Lowery cleared his throat. “Then your heir is not really serious about my daughter? My wife was concerned about this.”
“Oh, he’s quite serious. But Miranda has been preparing Gwenys for her come-out and wishes her to experience the balls and musicales ye in the ton seem to enjoy so much.
I think it is wise. Let yer daughter be certain of her affections for Douglas.
As for him, he would marry her tomorrow if the choice were up to him. ”
“Are you saying my daughter is fickle?”
Was this more bile his shrew of a wife had put into his head?
Bram tried not to get riled over it. “No’ at all, but she has looked forward to making her debut for months now. Why deprive her of the enjoyment? I’m sure she will have young men standing in a queue outside Miranda’s home.”
“Exactly my point. Will you not be outraged if she desires one of them over your heir?”
Bram took a sip of the coffee that a maid had just poured to replenish his cup, for he needed a moment to compose himself and not shout at the man.
“I doubt yer daughter will have a change of heart. But if such a thing were to occur, then I am certain the man she chooses will be of the finest quality. Gwenys, as I am sure ye know, is no’ only beautiful and kind but also very intelligent.
However, I am no’ concerned that she will ever change her mind.
Her heart has spoken. Despite what yer wife whispered in yer ear last night—or was it this morning?
—yer daughter is no’ in the least fickle.
She is a gem and we Lanarks will be pleased to take her in as one of our own, hopefully before the year is out. Go report that to yer wife.”
Lowery blushed. “Now, see here…er, she’s my daughter and I need to look out for her.”
“Why now, Lowery? Ye were quite at ease leaving her in Lady Miranda’s care for all these years. She’s done an excellent job of raising yer daughter. And ye needn’t concern yerself about Gwenys, for she is under the protection of the Lanarks now, and we do no’ shirk our responsibilities.”
Blast. That was rude of him. He hadn’t meant to make an enemy of this man.
Sighing, he extended a hand. “Truce, Lowery. We may be kin someday soon. Let us get off to a friendly start.”
Gwenys’s father accepted his offered hand, as Bram knew he would, because the man was obviously one who avoided confrontation. “Yes, I would like that, Solway.”
“And tell yer wife to keep her nose out of our business. The matter of their marriage, which shall be discussed at the proper time, is up to us men and nobody else.”
Montrose stifled a grin. “I’ll make certain to advise Louisa similarly.”
“Thank ye. My best wishes to yer family, Montrose. I’m sure to see them in London.”
“Aye. My uncle will be particularly pleased to share a drink with you at White’s when you arrive in Town. Chatting with you is one of the few pleasures he has these days. He hasn’t been doing too well lately.”
“Sorry to hear it. I’ll make certain to call upon him soon.”
Bram next turned to Lord Lowery. “I wish ye a smooth journey.”
He now dismissed the pair, for he had no desire to have them seated at his table. He might have no choice if and when Douglas and Gwenys married, but he wanted his peace and quiet until then.
Those two had no sooner repaired to a table close to the breakfast salvers when Miranda walked in.
Gad, she looked breathtakingly lovely, with her hair drawn back in a loose bun at the back of her slender neck, and wearing a travel gown of softest forest green whose only adornment was a lace fichu to modestly hide her cleavage.
Of course, since he’d endured agonizing dreams of desire over Miranda last night, his gaze was on the ample bounty that lay beneath the lacy strip of cloth and not the fichu itself.
She spared a moment to greet Lowery and Montrose, then came toward him with a smile that melted his cynical heart.
He realized it would not do to sit there like a dolt and gawk at her splendid bosom, so Bram rose to greet her. “I thought ye’d sleep in on this miserable day.”
She nodded. “I meant to, but I was too restless.”
“Why?” he asked, although he already suspected the reason.
She glanced over at her late husband’s relations.
“Because of them. Well, because of their wives, to be precise. I wanted to see them off and make certain that if they had anything rude to say, they would say it to me and get it out of their system. I do not want them hurting Gwenys any more than they already have.”
“Ye have my word of honor, I’ll no’ let them harm the sweet lass.”
She cast him an endearing smile. “She already adores you, did you know?”
“And what about ye, Miranda?”
She nodded. “I appreciate the way you are protecting both of us. It feels nice. Truly nice. I have been on my own for so long, I’ve forgotten what it feels like to have someone looking out for me.
But do not make too much of my admission.
I am too set in my ways to change the life I have made for myself. ”
He refused to believe she was closed off to love. She was not set in her ways so much as afraid of opening her vulnerable heart and having it crushed, as her husband had done all those years ago.
“Is Gwenys awake yet?” he asked, preferring to change the topic, since it would only upset her and they were in public.
Miranda shook her head and gave a soft laugh. “No, she’s still sleeping. She’s quite the sound sleeper, as I’ve come to realize after Mongo abducted me and she was not even aware. But I am grateful she was fast asleep when Douglas arrived to assure her that I was safe.”