For the barest of seconds she thought it must be Aden, but the voice was a touch lower and didn’t have the smooth ease of the middle MacTaggert brother’s. As she turned, she found herself looking at a broad chest and a thistle cravat pin. “Lord Glendarril,” she said, craning her neck up and then offering a curtsy. “How are you this evening?” They’d barely exchanged a sentence in the two or three times they’d crossed paths, but any distraction tonight was welcome.
“Bonny,” he returned. “Do ye have a dance to spare? Nae a country dance; I dunnae like hopping about like a rabbit.”
“I… Yes. The next quadrille, if you please.”
“Aye. Do I have time to fetch myself a whisky?”
“Just.”
“Coll,” Eloise broke in, her eyes narrowed and her tone a warning.
The large Highlander frowned. “Ye’re my wee sister. I’ll nae have ye telling me what to do.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “And it was a figure of speech, ye ken,” he rumbled. “A man doesnae like to say he has a thirst for a dainty pink punch.”
His sister chuckled. “By the end of the night the punch may not be so dainty. Be wary, big brother.”
“Aye. A man’s a fool to trust any of ye Sassenach. Write me down on yer card, lass. Ye’ve a herd of pretty lads stampeding in this direction. They claim I’m a giant with nae manners, but they trudge about after me, anyway.”
Miranda glanced over her shoulder. She wouldn’t have termed it a stampede, but a dozen male acquaintances had gathered a safe distance away from the giant Highlander and were sending her hopeful looks. Apparently, Lord Glendarril being granted a dance had signaled that her card wasn’t yet full. And thank goodness for that. Theonly thing worse than dancing with Captain Vale would be standing aside for every other dance with nothing else to think about.
As she wrote down names and smiled, yet another MacTaggert arrived. The youngest brother, Niall—the one who’d eloped to Scotland with Amy Baxter—stepped to the fore and somehow avoided offending the three other young men he’d cut in front of. “I’ll wager Coll didnae want a country dance, aye?” he said with a grin.
“No, he didn’t. Something about rabbits.”
“It’s nae about him looking like a rabbit. It’s because when he jumps, those about reckon they’ve felt the earth shaking. I’ll take one of ’em, though. I’m more graceful.”
Chuckling, she added his name. “I have a suspicion,” she said, lowering her voice, “that Aden put you up to this.” Why, she had no idea, but she remained grateful, nonetheless.
“Ye’re to be part of the family. I reckon we should act like it, aye?”
Miranda’s heart leaped nearly out of her chest. A bare second later she realized he meant that she would be the MacTaggerts’ sister-in-law once Matthew and Eloise were wed. Of course.Silly girl.“Of course.”
“How many dances do ye still have free?”
Still smiling, she checked her card. “Not a single one.” If someone, Aden, say, had claimed her second waltz instead of it going to Captain Vale, she would have been willing to call this night nearly perfect. Ifs, however, hadn’t served her at all well lately.
“Then I’ll nae ask ye for another one,” Niall returned, nodding as he turned to claim his sister for a quadrille.
So the intent was to fill her dance card. Miranda looked down at it again. Between friends and MacTaggerts they’d accomplished just that. But Aden hadn’t taken a dance at all. She glanced up, looking for him. Now thatshe wanted a word with him, he, of course, was nowhere to be seen.
It made no sense. He’d tried to take a waltz, knowing full well that she was already spoken for. And now, when he’d had a chance to claim one, he’d vanished. Whatever he was up to, she wished he would enlighten her, because this was exceedingly frustrating.
At another time, and in a less public place, she might also have been askingherselfa few pointed questions. Accepting Aden’s continued offer of assistance had been both a relief and a logical thing to do; she’d had no other alternative but surrender to Vale, after all. That, though, didn’t explain why Aden MacTaggert had been the first person she’d gone looking for when she’d walked into the Darlington ballroom, and why her heart had practically leaped out of her chest when she’d heard his voice behind her.
She didn’t believe in love at first sight. For heaven’s sake, she’d been pursued by several exceedingly pleasant-featured young men over the past five years and hadn’t fallen for any of them. Aside from that, she’d disliked Aden before she’d ever set eyes on him. Her opinion hadn’t been entirely fair, of course, because Aden had never preyed on Matthew and her brother’s self-delusional gaming skills, and he’d been up in the Highlands when her uncle John had succumbed.
Now she’d become acquainted with him, and she’d altered her opinion. Not of wagerers in general, but of him in particular. Whatever happened at the end of all this, thus far Aden had been honest, helpful, and toe-curlingly arousing both to her body and to her mind. She couldn’t point to the moment when he’d become so… necessary to her, but there it was. And that was why she felt disappointed even with a full dance card and very limited chances for Captain Vale to approach her again tonightexcept for the one additional waltz he’d demanded. She wouldn’t be dancing with Aden.
Letting Aden know her thoughts would be a horrid mistake; if he somehow managed to help her then she would owe him a great deal without adding in her feelings and emotions. And he’d already expressed hesitation at the idea he might be taking advantage of her, as if she’d ever allow anyone to do that ever again.
Before she could begin to decipher what the devil was wrong with her, Thomas Dennison returned to claim her for a quadrille. Next was an old-fashioned reel, followed by a very vigorous country dance with the charming Niall MacTaggert. All of the quick-stepping and hopping and turning left her breathless and with a genuine smile.
Then, as she turned to find her next partner, Aden appeared in front of her. “Ye’ve been a popular lass this evening,” he said with a faint grin. “I reckon ye’re accustomed to that, though, aye?”
“Generally, yes,” she admitted. “I have a large and generous circle of friends. Honestly, though, I’d thought not to do much dancing tonight. I suppose I’m trying to avoid having to explain Captain Vale to my friends.”
“Dunnae explain him, then, is my advice,” Aden returned. “He doesnae deserve yer lies.”
“I agree, which is why I’ve been avoiding my friends. So why are you trying to see my dance card filled?”
