“Go soak yer head, Mrs. Giswell.”
She didn’t react to that, but he could swear he heard her faint chuckle as she retreated down the hallway to her own room. She could cackle if she wanted, but she wasn’t going to win.
Cowen pulled open the front door, and Brendan appeared out of the morning room to join him in the foyer. “Ye’re off to the Cracked Hearth, aye?”
“Aye.”
“I dunnae ken why Ewen Sturgeon’s scared to come to Garaidh nan Leòmhann,” his brother continued, walking beside him as Graeme approached the stable. “If he’s brave enough to marry Kitty Howard, coming to get yer permission should be easy.”
“There’s naught wrong with Kitty Howard. She’s a tall, healthy lass.”
“And Ewen’s thin as a rail. Maybe he’s worried he’ll be crushed.”
Graeme chuckled. “I dunnae want to hear ye saying that anywhere in their hearing. And I reckon Ewen would’ve come up to the hoose if I’d asked. But he says tall buildings make him dizzy, so we agreed to meet at the inn.”
“I’ll come with ye.”
“Ye wouldnae expect to find a certain good friend of Kitty coming along with her, would ye?”
Brendan flushed. “I might.” He squinted one eye. “Ye’re going to marry Lady Marjorie.”
Graeme stopped just short of the stable door. “I was going to marry her all along, if ye’ll recall.”
“Aye, but this time ye mean to ask her proper.”
“I do. If she’ll have me, after all this mess. Do ye have any difficulty with that?”
His brother kicked a clod of half-frozen earth. “Is it because ye dunnae dislike her now, and she’s ruined because I kidnapped her? Are ye saving her reputation?” He lowered his shoulders. “Mrs. Giswell told me I was a ruffian, going aboot ruining women by taking them from their companions.”
“Have ye kidnapped any other women?” Graeme asked, trying to stifle his amusement. Perhaps Mrs. Giswell would be handy to keep about the Lion’s Den.
“Nae. Dunnae be ridiculous. But is that why ye mean to marry her?”
“I mean to marry her because I love her. And I’ll ask ye once more, do ye have an objection?”
“Ye’d only throw me in the river if I did, but nae. She… She’s nae what I expected from a Sassenach.”
“She’s nae what I expected, either.” Graeme elbowed his brother in the ribs. “But dunnae expect me to thank ye fer grabbing her. Even if it does rescue the property.”
Finally Brendan grinned. “Och, ye’re grateful. Ye just cannae say it.”
Well, that was true enough. What Brendan didn’t realize was that Marjorie had done more than givehimlove and hope; she’d also helped Brendan and brought him back to his previous good-natured self. Two miracles, wrapped up in one precious, extraordinary, remarkable female.
***
“I’m nae looking fer orphaned rabbit kits,” Connell declared, bending to turn over a rock. “I’m looking fer orphaned mice.”
Oh, dear.“Mice? What does Graeme think about you rescuing mice?”
The boy shrugged. “I havenae asked him.”
“Connell, he’s been very good about your menagerie. But you can’t go looking for things to bring home without asking him first. It’s one thing to rescue a young goose from an attack. It’s another to go take an infant from its parents.”
“I suppose that makes sense.” Changing direction, he clambered down the slope to the edge of the river. “I can find river rocks, though.”
“Of course you can. We’ll use them for your arithmetic.”
“At least that’s better than Dùghlas using his fingers. I dunnae mind counting rocks.” Straightening, he looked up at her. “Are ye going to go back to London?”
