Chapter 14
“S
o then, Father,” Cameron said briskly as the laird closed the door to the study behind him, “I take it you received the letters I sent in advance of my return?”
“Oh, aye, indeed,” Cawley growled, looking at his son balefully. “I could not help but note from the dates that they were dispatched just before your journey so that there would be no chance for me to respond in time.”
Cameron smiled uneasily. He had hoped that would escape his father’s notice, but he supposed he should have known better.
“My mind was made up by that point, and my course of action was clear.”
“Was it? To me, it’s as clear as mud and roughly as appealing as well.”
“Father…” Cameron began.
But Cawley held up a hand to silence him. “No. You wrote all you had to say on the matter, clearly, and now it is my turn to speak.
“I believe I was exceedingly clear regarding my expectations when I sent you to London. You were to spend an entire season there, and in doing so, woo and wed an English girl before bringing her home with you. Instead, you have defied my wishes by returning long before the season was complete and in the company of a woman you have yet to marry…which is to say that if she chooses not to marry you, the season and the opportunities it might have brought you will have been wholly wasted. You have entirely ruined my plans for you, Cameron. I am most displeased, I must confess.”
“I can understand that. However, I found your initial plan unfeasible in the extreme and altered it somewhat in order to bring a result similar to the one you had in mind.”
“Oh?” Cawley raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“And how will that end be served, pray tell? One look at the girl’s face was more than enough to see that she is entirely overwhelmed now that she is here.
From her expression, I would even venture to guess that she wishes she had not consented to this trip in the first place. ”
“Without it, Father, she would never have even considered marrying me,” Cameron insisted.
“Then you ought to have concentrated your efforts on a different lass!” Cawley shot back. “One who would have considered it!”
Cameron sighed. “You have, I think, rather an incorrect view of English noblewomen, Father. I think you may have been under the mistaken impression that they would accept me as some sort of equal and that I would be treated as other well-to-do lads are. This was not the case. The majority of them looked down on me and laughed up their sleeves at me.”
“What?!” Cawley thundered. “Impossible! How could they dare when I took such great pains to forge strong connections among their number? How could they sneer at one who is the son of a laird, for heaven’s sake?!”
“They show open disdain for Scotsmen,” Cameron informed him.
“I regret to inform you that Lord Harry is one of the worst offenders in this regard by far. However, it would have been improper for Lady Cora to travel without him. And as for finding a girl who would have agreed to marriage without such a trip…that, too, was rather fanciful thinking on your part. Putting aside the regrettable fact that a great many of them were little more than feather-brained twits, they were also far too entrenched in the comforts and luxuries of their lives in London. They would never have uprooted themselves thusly, not even for the son of a laird. Such distinctions matter little to them, it seems.”
“But Cora is different, is she?” Cawley grumbled.
“Yes, Father, she most certainly is. She seems genuinely taken with me, and more than that, she is apart from the rest of them in both wit and self-determination. She has a mind of her own and does what she will, unwilling to let herself be unduly influenced by such silly things as title and tradition.”
“You call such things silly?” his father asked darkly. “When title and tradition have served you in good stead your entire life?”
“Our traditions and titles are not like theirs,” Cameron corrected himself.
“Really, Father, if you had been there, you would have seen for yourself. Their idea of proper decorum is a lot of pompous nonsense. Cora agrees with me in such thinking, I might add, else she would never have agreed to come here and give any serious consideration to marrying me.”
“Well, then. How might we best persuade her to accept your proposal, then?” the laird inquired.
From the tone of his voice, Cameron could tell that he was winning his father over, albeit slowly.
“You may leave that entirely to me,” Cameron assured him. “Having seen firsthand the grimy and awful place she comes from, I have every confidence that she will fall in love with the natural splendor of Scotland and agree to marry me within the week. How could she not?”
“And there were truly no other viable options available to you, lad?” Cawley persisted. “No one you might go back and try to woo again if things here do not go your way? It would be difficult, perhaps, having lost most of the season, but even so, it could still be arranged if needed.”
Cameron shook his head vehemently. “She is the only one in England for me, and besides that, I would rather be beheaded than go back to that loathsome place for any extended period ever again. I do my best to honor you in all things, Father, but the experience of being trapped there while searching for a bride was atrocious beyond measure.”
“Very well,” his father answered with a mild shrug.
“I had to ask. I only hope you know what you are doing, my boy, and that things turn out as you wish them to. The time will come—and sooner than you think, I assure you—when it will be time for you to succeed me as laird. When that happens, you must have a wife and son by your side. Your legacy must be assured so that none may dare challenge you for it.”
Cameron frowned. “But surely, Father, that will not happen for some time yet?”
Cawley’s shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly, and he sank into his chair with a soft grunt as though he had been carrying a heavy load.
“My health…is not what it was, my son. I grow tired far more quickly than I used to, and with each day, I find that my breathing grows more labored and my hands become less strong.”
Cameron could scarcely believe his ears. This was certainly news to him. His father had never seemed to be in poor health. He supposed that was a testament to how hard the older man had been working to hide his symptoms from others so that he would not be perceived as weak.
“What is the nature of the ailment?” Cameron demanded. “What do the healers say?”
His father laughed mirthlessly. “That it is beyond their power to cure. They can only slow its progression, it seems, and make me comfortable enough as it becomes worse. Its effects will surely become more evident in the coming year, they say.”
“Which is why you have pressed me so,” Cameron realized. “To be married, and to choose an English bride in an effort to strengthen our alliances there in case they will be required against future enemies.”
The laird nodded. “Now you see. All that I have insisted upon has been for your benefit and the good of the clan as well. Now armed with this new information, my son, tell me truly: Do you still maintain that Lady Cora is the best person to remain by your side during this imminent transition? Do you feel that she has the heart to support you in the ways you will require it? For if not, then it is not too late to reverse your error.”
“If anything, this has convinced me even further that she is the right one for me,” Cameron said firmly. “I shall require someone with cleverness and strength of character, and she possesses both in abundance.” He paused, then added, “And more than that, Father… I love her.”
Cawley gave his son a tired smile. “Yes. I can see it in your eyes, hear it in the fervor of your voice. She has snatched your very heart from your chest, and having done so, I pray that she will treat it well.”
“I believe that she will,” Cameron insisted. “As for your malady, does anyone else know?”
“Not yet,” Cawley admitted. “Normally, I would never ask you to lie to your siblings. However, I do hope you can indulge me, if only for a short while longer. When they do learn of it, I know that they will weep and worry and that their eyes will hold anxiety and pity when they look upon me. I am in no hurry for that, my son. Please, let me enjoy their company just a bit more before revealing such a dreadful thing.”
Cameron thought of how difficult it would be to keep such a secret, especially from Logan, who was not only his brother but his best friend in the world. It felt like a betrayal on some level, but it was also the fervent wish of his dying father, and he found he did not have the heart to deny it.
“Very well, Father. If that is what you wish of me. As long as you promise that you will not wait too terribly long to tell them. They will wish to be told how limited their remaining time with you will be so that they may value it all the more dearly. If they find that they have been robbed of that and that I was privy to this information when they were not, they will be upset indeed. They may find it difficult to forgive me for such a thing. I would if our situations were reversed.”
“I understand,” Cawley replied with a nod. “Indeed, I will not wait overly long to reveal it. But you must do all you can to secure your position with Lady Cora so that happy news might cushion the blow somewhat.
“Now, shall we join the others for supper so that we might get to know them better?”
Cameron grinned ruefully. “I am pleased that you will become better acquainted with the woman I adore. Her sister-in-law is perfectly pleasant as well. Her brother the viscount, on the other hand, can be somewhat more difficult to deal with.”
“Well, we shall endeavor to make him feel as welcome as possible,” Cawley chuckled.
Easier said than done, Cameron thought, wincing inwardly.