Chapter 11
“N
ow you must promise that you won’t run off like you did the last two times you came out with us,” Harry told his sister sternly, “or I shan’t ever invite you to go anywhere with us again.”
“If only I could believe that,” Cora retorted. “Alas, at this rate, I fear you will continue to drag me to these wretched events long past the hour of my death. My poor corpse will still be propped up in chairs in people’s drawing rooms and forced to make idle conversation with half-wits.”
“It is so lovely to see the two of you getting along better,” Matilda remarked dryly. “I can already tell that I am going to have a simply fabulous evening in your company.”
“Do you truly mean to tell me that you are not the least bit humiliated by the way she’s behaved at the last two social gatherings?” Harry demanded hotly. “That it affects you not in the slightest?”
“The only person who can embarrass me is myself,” Matilda informed him, raising an eyebrow. “Your sister is a grown woman, and she may act as she pleases, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Speaking of people who act as they please,” he grumbled, “see now who approaches us.”
Cora looked in the direction he was gazing balefully and saw that Cameron was approaching them.
She was happy to look upon his handsome face again and to see the affection that shone in his eyes whenever he looked at her.
But even so, she feared that his presence would complicate things for her tremendously that night.
And yet…
Was that not, on some level, why she had chosen to let Harry “talk her into” attending the ball tonight?
She had made a great show of being reluctant when he’d first broached the subject, insisting that it would be a golden opportunity for her to redeem herself in the eyes of polite society.
She had little interest in that, of course, and what’s more, she knew full well that his own concerns had more to do with his reputation than hers.
But some small part of her knew that Cameron might attend in another attempt to sway her to his proposal of marriage.
And there was, without a doubt, a part of her that wanted to be swayed.
She could scarcely believe it, let alone understand it.
She barely knew him and the thought of agreeing to be his wife after such a short span of time felt like madness.
Yet it was undeniable. Her feelings for him were far stronger than she was prepared for, and she found that she desperately wanted him to say all the right things that would sweep her away entirely.
But what sorts of things might those even be? What would it take for her to abandon all reason and return to Scotland with him?
She wasn’t certain. In that moment, all she could think of was the tenderness and infatuation in his eyes as he gazed at her.
When he reached them, he bowed at the waist. “Lord Harry, Lady Cora, I wish to formally and sincerely apologize for my conduct at the opera the last time we encountered each other. I meant no offense, but I realize now that my decorum was sorely lacking, and I hope you will both allow me an opportunity to make a more favorable impression.”
Cora glanced at Harry, who seemed genuinely astonished. “O-Of course,” he replied, clearing his throat uncomfortably. “Your ways are not ours, and so you must be given some added consideration in such matters.”
“I am doing my best to learn your ways, though,” Cameron went on, “in order to show my respect for you and to demonstrate the seriousness of my stated intentions.”
Cora gave him an incredulous look. “So you still intend to marry me, then?”
Cameron gave her a winning smile and offered his hand. “I had rather hoped to have a dance with you beforehand, at least.”
There was no denying that he was trying.
She could plainly see the effort that he was putting into this little performance on her behalf, and she was not only tickled by it, she appreciated it as well.
Learning new things could not be easy for one such as him, she knew, who came from a place where long-held rural traditions were everything in life.
Then again, those traditions at least appear to be more plain and direct than the rather Byzantine codes of decorum our kind cling to, she thought wryly.
Out loud, she said, “It would be my pleasure.”
She accepted his hand and allowed him to lead her to the center of the room, where they joined the other attendees in a complicated gavotte.
She expected Cameron to falter here and there, but to her delight, he seemed to have mastered the dance down to its last step.
Indeed, his grace and lightness on his feet surprised and charmed her.
“How very impressive!” she complimented him. “It cannot have been especially easy for you to have learned such a thing in a short span of time!”
“I’ll admit, it flummoxed me a bit at first,” he told her with a smile, “but then I began to think of it as being similar to the footwork I learned as a lad to be used in dueling.”
She laughed. “Surely it can’t be as similar as that?”
“The steps are different indeed,” he conceded, “but the stakes are almost equally high, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Oh? How can learning a dance be nearly as important as learning footwork which might save your life someday?”
“When the dance may decide who I am to spend the rest of that life with.”
His words were spoken so simply, yet with such deep conviction, that it was Cora who stumbled slightly during the next step of the gavotte. Particularly since she had the sense that those dancing around them were eavesdropping on this conversation, making her incredibly self-conscious.
“You cannot possibly believe,” she said uncertainly, “that my decision to marry you or not will be based upon how skilled a dancer you are.”
“No,” he agreed, “but even so, I wish to show you that I am capable of learning new things in the name of proving my love to you. I can be more than I am if that is what you require of me.”
“More than you are?” she giggled. “For heaven’s sake, you are the son of a Scottish laird! One day, you will inherit that title yourself and rule over an entire clan! How can a fellow possibly wish to be more than that?”
“By being your husband,” he told her. “To me, that would be greater than all the crowns and thrones and lairdships in the world.”
“Are you truly so enamored with me as to believe that?” she asked softly.
“Aye. With every fiber of my being, I believe that we are destined to marry. I have felt that ever since our very first encounter, and though the compulsion seems strange to me, I find myself powerless against it. Let me take you back to Scotland with me as my bride, I beg of you.”
“I cannot commit to such a thing,” she answered. “I cannot pretend that your offer does not tempt me, but even so, I cannot imagine uprooting my entire existence from this place where I have lived my entire life and agreeing to live somewhere I have never been.”
“You would find it marvelous, though!” Cameron assured her.
“It’s such a green and lovely place, so tranquil and wide!
When you see the rolling hillsides, the immensity of the sky above…
when you see how good and decent and honest the people of my clan are…
you will fall in love with it all, I have no doubt! ”
“You do make it sound magnificent,” she admitted.
“And you have been very much on my mind ever since our first meeting. Being with you feels…right, somehow, in a way that is difficult to describe. It is simply too big a step for me to take right now, especially knowing that the longer I delay in such a decision, the longer you will remain in this city you find so deplorable.”
“Then why not travel there with me before you make your final decision?” he urged. “Spend some time at our family’s castle and allow me to show you the lands and people! Once you’ve seen the glory of the place, you will never wish to leave!”
Well, that was a reasonable enough offer, wasn’t it? Cora tried her hardest to come up with sensible reasons to decline, yet none occurred to her.
It would be an adventure, journeying to such a far-off land—and on the arm of a handsome young nobleman! Like something from a storybook!
“Very well,” she agreed. “That would be delightful. As long as you agree that I am under no obligation to marry you simply by making the trip and that if I decide otherwise, you will allow me to leave without attempting to stop me.”
The look in Cameron’s eyes at this news—the glow in his face, the boyish glee in his smile—made him seem like the happiest man in the world.
“However,” she went on, “it would not be prudent at all for me to make such a trip without supervision, you understand. I would need to have my brother with me, and no doubt his wife would wish to come as well.”
“Splendid!” Cameron laughed. “Let them have a taste of good Scottish hospitality! Let them see for themselves that my intentions are wholly honorable and that I come from a fine and noble family!”
He smiled and bent over and kissed her. Cora didn’t expect his lips would meet hers in a way like this.
His taste was sweet and fruity. She touched his hair and surrendered to the passion of the moment.
When she realized that Cameron, the handsome Highlander, was kissing her passionately, she stepped away.
She had a lot of things to think about before leaving for Scotland.
“Is everything all right, Cora? Have I done anything wrong?”
“No, no, Cameron. It’s just that I have a lot of things to think about.”
“Like?”
“Like my sister-in-law and my brother’s opinion about my decision. Matilda will be easy enough to persuade,” Cora said dubiously. “Harry, on the other hand, might be another matter altogether.”