Chapter 22 #2
“And Hamish!” Theo hugged Hamish around the waist. “I’m so glad you’re here. Mabel is very boring, and strict. I don’t like her.”
“Lord Ellingham!” The maid joined them, looking flustered and annoyed, her face flushed. “You shouldn’t run away like that! And you shouldn’t be embracing strangers!”
Theo scowled. “They’re not strangers! They’re my friends.” He made a face at Cormac. “She doesn’t like me having friends.”
So this had to be Mabel. Taking Theo’s hand, and feeling the comforting squeeze from the little boy’s fingers, Cormac stood up and gave Mabel a nod.
“Theo’s a neighbor of mine. I haven’t seen him in a while.”
Mabel sniffed. “I know all of our neighbors, and you’re not one of them.”
“In Scotland,” Theo said, sounding as if he was talking to someone who was slow. “Cormac and Hamish are my friends from Scotland.”
Mabel raised her eyebrows. “Do you make it a habit of following your neighbors to another country?”
“Do you make a habit of speaking like that to an earl?” Hamish said sharply. “The Earl of Ravensmuir doesn’t need to be questioned in such a way by a servant.”
Cormac glanced at his friend. He’d never heard Hamish speak like this before, but he was grateful for it. He’d not been spoken so brusquely by a servant before. Mabel’s face went bright red, and Theo giggled loudly.
Then he noticed Rosalind. She was walking toward them, holding onto the arm of the gentleman who’d been at Corrieden. Cormac noticed immediately that Rosalind was different.
Her bonnet was up and mostly hiding her face, and her hair was arranged underneath to hide her scars. She kept her eyes down, staring at the ground as she walked. Her shoulders were hunched over, and the confidence he’d come to know from her had vanished.
She was like a shadow of her former self. Whatever had brought her out in Scotland had been taken away in England. Rosalind looked miserable, and it made his heart ache.
“Where are the kittens?” Theo asked, turning to Hamish. “Did you bring the kittens?”
“What happened to Dinnsear?” Hamish asked. “Didn’t you bring her with you?”
Theo shook her head sadly. “Uncle Julian told me to keep her at Corrieden, that Mrs. Rivers would look after her. I wanted to take her with me, but he said no.”
“Oh, no.”
“I spent most of the journey crying.” The little boy wiped at his eyes. “I miss her.”
Cormac squeezed his hand. Mabel cleared her throat.
“I think you should let go of the viscount, my lord. He’s got a busy schedule today.”
“He’s seven. What can he have that is important?”
“It’s my orders from his uncle, his guardian.”
Cormac frowned, looking over at Rosalind as she and her gentleman friend got closer.
“I thought Lady Ellingham was his guardian. It was made clear in her husband’s will.”
“She’s given control over to Mr. Ellingham. That’s all I know.”
Cormac exchanged looks with Hamish, who appeared to be equally unconvinced. Julian Ellingham had stormed into their lives and taken over. It seemed Rosalind had been made to hand everything over to him. Now she was getting married, and from the way she walked, it didn’t seem to be of her choice.
Why wouldn’t she tell her brother-in-law no? Why not say she didn’t want it?
What did Ellingham do to scare her into compliance? Cormac wondered what had happened there.
He gave Rosalind a smile as she and her companion joined them.
“Lady Ellingham! It’s a delight to see you again.”
“What do you want, my lord?” the gentleman said as Rosalind raised her head. “Why are you bothering my son?”
Theo scowled at him. “You’re not my father!” he declared. “My father is dead.”
“Don’t you need to marry his mother for that title, anyway?” Hamish asked, his tone icy. “It sounds like you’re getting ahead of yourself, Lord…”
“It’s Sir Crispin Vane,” the gentleman replied stiffly. “And Lady Ellingham and I will be married soon. Lord Ellingham is my son in all but name.”
“You shouldn’t be so presumptuous.”
“And you shouldn’t get ideas above your station. Aren’t you the steward?”
Hamish shrugged, his eyes flashing as his jaw tightened. “I’m just saying it like I see it. And young Lord Ellingham has an opinion about it.”
“They’re treating me like a baby,” Theo whined, still holding onto Cormac’s hand. “It’s like I don’t exist anymore. And Uncle Julian is going to send me to boarding school. I said I don’t want to go, but nobody listens to me.”
Cormac noticed Rosalind flinch at that, and she looked ashamed. Mabel let out a heavy sigh and beckoned Theo to her.
“Come along, my lord. Leave Lord Ravensmuir alone. You’ve got your lessons to do.”
“But I did them this morning!”
“Well, you’ve got more to do. We want to be sure you can keep up with the other children when you go.”
But Theo shook his head defiantly and turned to Cormac.
“Mother’s going to a grand concert tomorrow night. It’s going to be big and special, apparently. And I’m not allowed to go. I have to be in bed very early instead.”
“Theo!”
Everyone jumped and stared at Rosalind, who was pressing her lips tightly as if she was trying not to cry. Then she beckoned Theo to her. Reluctantly, Theo went to her, slowly releasing Cormac’s hand. Sir Crispin sniffed and shook his head.
“Children shouldn’t be around people at this age. They’re very opinionated.”
“I think that’s perfectly fine,” Cormac said staunchly. “It’s a good characteristic.”
“Coming from someone who is a long way from home, and is apparently a social recluse, that’s something I find surprising.”
“Even a man like myself can come out of solitude.” Cormac glanced at Rosalind. “Especially if it matters enough to him.”
Rosalind blinked at him, and from the look in her eyes she seemed to realize what he was saying. She glanced away, and Cormac noticed how Sir Crispin barely glanced at her before quickly looking away. He hadn’t looked at her directly since they crossed paths.
He was ashamed by the woman he was going to marry. Cormac could tell he wasn’t happy with marrying someone who had Rosalind’s physical features, and that made him angry. Ellingham and Sir Crispin were treating Rosalind like a commodity.
What did Sir Crispin get out of it? He was clearly an acquaintance of Ellingham’s, so Ellingham had to be using him to marry Rosalind off.
Even if he didn’t like it.
Rosalind didn’t look at him as she stepped around them, holding tightly onto Theo’s hand. Theo waved at Cormac, giving him a smile, and Cormac waved back. He got a scathing look from Mabel as a result, and the maid hurried after the trio, keeping a respectable distance.
Hamish shook his head. “I don’t like this at all. He’s working on separating the two of them already.”
“I know.”
“What are we going to do?”
Cormac had already made his mind up about that. He turned and walked away.
“I’m going to be at that concert. I’m not going to let an opportunity like that slip out of my grasp.”