Chapter Three
Merry shifted on the hard wooden bench, built like a church pew with shoulder-high sides on each end, trying to find a more comfortable position.
She and Serendipity had shared the space as best they could by propping against the sides and letting their feet meet in the middle with their cloaks covering them.
Unable to bear the cramped position any longer, but not wishing to wake her sister, Merry forfeited the bench to Serendipity by easing up to a sitting position against her side of the pew.
She smiled as Serendipity immediately wiggled into the extra space and buried her head in her arms. Poor Seri.
She’d had such a hard time with this. She deserved what little comfort could be found.
Merry pulled up her feet, hugging her knees in a most unladylike way as she indulged in a jaw-cracking yawn.
The frost-covered windows appeared to be growing lighter, their crystalized panes gleaming with an almost silvery glow from the rising sun.
It was then that she noticed Duncan watching her with an intensity that made her shiver.
“Good morning,” she said quietly, so as not to disturb the others. The common room still echoed with snores, sleepy grumblings, and shifting. Across the large space of the area, from the kitchen behind the bar, the faint rattling of pans and the stoking of fires could be heard.
“Morning, lass.” He shifted in the chair he’d positioned on her side of the bench, facing the room in case anyone approached their little corner.
Jasper had sat at Seri’s side, and Malcolm had placed his seat on the other side of the table directly in front of them.
“Did ye find any rest at all?” he asked so softly it felt like a caring touch.
“I did find some rest.” She refused to complain. Yesterday could have gone so much worse.
“Ye snore louder than yer sister.”
“I do not snore.”
“Aye, ye do.”
His weariness and tension seemed to have eased a little, but he still didn’t smile, making Merry wonder if he ever did. Handsome as sin, even with his sternly furrowed brow, how breathtaking would he be if he actually smiled?
She shooed away his teasing with a flutter of her hand.
“I was merely helping you remain alert. You said you wouldn’t sleep.
” And he hadn’t slept, as far as she knew.
Each time she’d shifted and opened her eyes, he had been slowly scanning the room, sitting there like a mighty god upon his throne with his arms crossed over his chest. The man had to be exhausted.
Concern for him plucked at her heart, making her worry.
“Will you be fit to travel after going without rest?”
With an expression of disbelief, he cocked his head like a dog surprised by a possible act of kindness from a cruel master. “Do ye worry for me, lass?”
“Well, of course I worry for you. You are my champion. My hero. I wouldn’t want any ill to befall you because of your taking care of me and Seri.
” She rose from the bench and stretched while rubbing the small of her back.
“Good heavens, one would think me well into my dotage with all this stiffness. I am ashamed of being so soft and coddled.”
“Merry, do be quiet. Some of us are trying to sleep. Go find one of the dogs or cats to talk to.” Serendipity curled her arm tighter over her face, covering her eyes.
Merry covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
Duncan arched a brow. “One of the dogs or cats?” he repeated in a rumbling whisper.
“My sisters and I insist on keeping Broadmere Hall well stocked with cats and dogs because we know it annoys my brother.” Moving forward, as far as the table in front of them allowed, she stretched and rolled her shoulders, trying to work the tight kinks out of her neck.
Good heavens, she had not weathered the sleeping arrangement well at all.
“Dinna be ashamed of being soft. Ladies should be coddled.”
She glanced back at him. He had risen from his chair and was stretching too.
“I do not wish to be a hothouse lily,” she said, “with short-lived beauty and no staying power.” She returned to the bench and knelt on it to scrape some of the frost off the window behind it.
“Mama christened me Merry Julianna Heather. She said that even as a babe, she recognized my independence and resilience.” The sad pang she always felt whenever she thought about Mama made her pull in a deep breath.
“I want to be like wild heather. Resilient and enduring.”
When he didn’t comment, she turned and looked back to find him staring at her with an expression she didn’t understand. “What is it, Duncan?” she asked ever so softly. “What is it that troubles you so?”
He almost seemed to shake himself, then nodded at the window. “The weather, lass. How much snow do ye see?”
She wanted to call him a liar but held her tongue.
After all, they had only met yesterday, and once they parted, they would probably never meet again.
That realization made her sad. “It’s hard to tell about the snow without walking in it to test its depth.
By the way, where will you go from here?
” She knew it was none of her concern, but she didn’t care.
She wanted to know. After all, she might like to write to him.
The prospect of never seeing him again troubled her.
“Were you going home? Where might that be?”
“Galkirk is my family seat. Northwest of Gretna Green.” He resettled his footing, shuffling in place as if uncomfortable with the conversation. “Malcolm and I were headed there.”
“I see.” But she really didn’t. She didn’t know all that much about the Scottish Lowlands other than Middlebie, where Lady Middlebie lived.
“During the off-season, if you ever find yourself in the Lake District, do stop in at Broadmere Hall. We would be most honored to receive you, and should you ever visit Mayfair, Broadmere House is on St. James’s Street.
You and your brother would be welcome guests at either place.
” Thank goodness Serendipity was still asleep.
If she witnessed such forwardness, she would surely have a choking spell and topple off her judgment perch.
He didn’t comment on the invitation. Not even a polite thank you. His aloofness to her offer for him to pay her a call disheartened her. She sensed with a sad feeling of finality that she would never see this man again.
Turning back to the window, she wiped the fog away and allowed herself a resigned sigh. Apparently, a deeper friendship with the moody Lord Kirkston was not to be.
“Malcolm often goes to London,” he said after the stretch of silence between them became almost too heavy to bear. “I rarely make the trip.”
“I understand, my lord.” She would not beg him for his company. “I merely wished to make it known that the invitation was there.”
“And I thank ye for that, lass. Truly, I do.”
Again, she wanted to call him a liar. Instead, she nudged Serendipity.
She was tired of trying to coax Duncan out of his mood, which shifted directions with the unpredictability of a rising windstorm.
“Seri, time to collect ourselves. If Jasper thinks the roads are passable, we must make arrangements to lease a carriage.”
With a barely audible groan, Serendipity pushed herself upright and sat there blinking like an owl as she rubbed her neck. “What is the hour?”
“Dawn or a little after.” Merry propped her chin on her fist and stared out the window at the blinding whiteness of the new day, not seeing a thing.
Why did Duncan not wish to come calling?
Apparently, their rescue was an annoyance he was eager to be shed of.
It wasn’t as though they had blocked the road. He could have kept riding.
She flinched at the unreasonableness of her shrewish thoughts. No, Duncan was not cruel. He was just oddly melancholy and had managed to push her into an unpleasant mood before she had even had a decent cup of tea.
The marquess nudged his brother. “Wake yerself and order breakfast before too many others do the same. I am going outside with Jasper to see if travel is possible.”
Jasper was already on his feet, yawning and stretching.
“Them Suffolks can handle a good, heavy snow as long as we get a sturdy carriage.” He scrubbed his forehead while aiming a tight-jawed scowl at the floor.
“And I know the roads better now that we be back in England. I can handle them in this weather.”
Merry turned from the window and seated herself properly on the bench. “We trust your judgment, Jasper. Have a look and let us know what you feel is most prudent.”
“Yes, my lady.” The man bowed and hurried out, leaving Duncan standing there glowering at Merry.
“I shall add my assessment to yer driver’s, Lady Merry,” he said with the stiffness of wounded pride.
“And my sister and I shall ultimately decide what is best for us to do, Lord Kirkston.” He had turned her uncharacteristically sour with his thinly veiled refusal of her polite invitation to come calling, and she could not—no, she would not—let it go.
How dare he be so pompous after making her believe they might enjoy a lovely friendship, maybe even more?
Good heavens, where had that inclination come from? She primly shoved the thought away. No, Lord Kirkston had made it quite clear that she was of no interest to him.
Duncan snorted, shrugged on his heavy greatcoat, then stormed outside, leaving Merry with Malcolm and Serendipity. They turned and stared at her as if she had sprouted a second head.
“Merry?” Serendipity reached over and covered her hand with her own. “What happened?”
Malcolm jumped up from his seat and bowed. “Excuse me, ladies. I shall go and order our breakfast.”
“Coward,” Merry said under her breath. “Just like his brother.”
“Last night, you and Lord Kirkston were on a first-name basis. He even called you lass several times. Did he behave inappropriately after I fell asleep and left you unguarded?”