“Tae be honest, lad, I’d been hoping that auld bastard would die long afore now, and his solicitors wouldna know aboot ye. Surely he mun have some other kin somewhere, that they could’ve been finding tae give his damn title tae. But nay, he’s going tae bluidy well outlive us all.”
The last was said in such disgust, Duncan might have laughed if he weren’t at the center of this dilemma. And he hadn’t heard yet what Archie’s plan was, to get him out of it. But neither had Archie finished answering his question.
He reminded him, “And my mother? Why did she keep it a secret from me?”
“‘Twas ne’er a secret. Ye were just tae young afore she died, lad. She would hae told ye when ye were a bit aulder. She was no’ unhappy wi’ her promise. She was English, after all, and pleased that ye would be the next Marquis o’ Birmingdale following her da. She held much stock in titles, ye ken. Most o’ the English do.”
“Youshould have told me, Archie. You shouldna have let it come tae the day o’ collecting, wi’ me no’ knowing. And what am I tae do wi’ that wee Englishmon upstairs who thinks I’ll be going wi’ him?”
“But ye will be going wi’ him.”
“The devil I will!”
Duncan shot out of his chair so quickly, it toppled over to the floor, startling the cook across the room into dropping a knife, which caused her to shriek when it almost stabbed her toes. She cast Duncan a glare. He didn’t notice, glaring himself at his grandfather. Archibald, wisely, kept his eyes on the table.
“You canna sit there and tell me you’ve no’ figured a way oout o’ this,” Duncan continued hotly. “I willna believe it! Who’s tae manage here, then, if I go?”
“I managed well enough afore ye took o’er. I’m no’ sae auld—”
“You’ll drive yourself intae an early grave—
It was Archie’s chuckle, this time, that cut Duncan off. “Dinna think tha’ my giving ye the reins meant I was ready tae retire. Nay, ye just needed the learning, laddie, and hands on was the best way tae get it.”
“For what purpose then? So I could go off and be a blasted marquis instead?”
“Nay, sae ye’d hae firsthand knowledge tha’ ye could teach tae yer son.”
“Whatson?”
Seven
There had been many letters between the two old men—and much arguing. This was explained to Duncan that morning as he ignored the breakfast Cook set before him, and asked for a dram of whisky instead, ignoring, too, the stern look the old girl gave him for imbibing so early of a morn. The arguing had not been over whether Duncan would go to England, but over who would lay claim to his firstborn son.
“The one that’ll be taking o’er here,” Archie explained. “Nae one expects ye tae divide yerself, Duncan lad. We’ve tae many businesses here, and there’ll be tae many duties there in England for ye tae assume. That’d be tae much for any mon, and tae long a journey for ye tae be making constantly back and forth.”
They both wanted him wed posthaste so that he’d have a bairn by next year that would be farmed out—just as he was being. They didn’t care what he thought of their arranging his life for him. They’d already agreed between the two of them that with Neville getting him, it was only fair that Archie get his firstborn.
He had a good mind to board a ship to some far-off place and to hell with both of them. But he loved Archie. He was furious with him at the moment, but he still loved him and could never break his heart that way.
Yet he felt like his life had never been his to live. They’d decided long ago that he would do as he was told to do, and that was that. Perhaps if he’d been raised differently, it might not have bothered him at all, to be so controlled. But Scotsmen were a fiercely independent lot, and Highlanders even more so. Which was why hestillcouldn’t believe that Archie had ever had any intention of honoring that damned promise. Agree to it, aye, to keep the peace and get Donald his bride, but in the end, he should have ignored it.
Yet he found out why Archie was resigned to honor the promise when he’d asked him directly, “And what if I refuse tae go?”
Archie sighed and said forlornly, “I loved yer muther like a daughter. I didna think I would, her being English, but she was the sweetest lass, and she grew on me verra quickly. I realized long ago, afore she died, that I couldna dishonor her by breaking her promise. Even after she died, and the choice was truly mine, I still couldna dishonor her memory.”
“The choice ismine,Archie, no’ yours tae be making for me.”
“Nae, ye dinna hae any more choice than I did, because ye loved yer muther, tae, and wouldna put such a stain on her memory, would ye now?”
Duncan didn’t answer that. What he wanted to say stuck in his craw. Of course he couldn’t dishonor his mother. But he was hating her at the moment, for putting him in this despicable position, and that put another knot in his throat that was nigh choking him.
His silence, however, prompted Archie to add, “Yer no’ seeing the benefits yet, that I gained for ye by delaying yer going. Had auld Neville got ye when he wanted ye, three years ago, ye’d hae been at his complete mercy. Now he’ll find that he mun be careful in what he asks o’ ye, tha’ he could as easily get a nay from ye as a yea. For yer muther’s sake, ye’ll be taking over the duties she was sae happy tae dump on ye, but ye can accomplish wha’ needs doing in yer own way, no’ as Neville would hae it.”
As appeasements went, that one didn’t hit the mark for Duncan, when what he wanted was to kick Henry Myron on his way back to England—without him. That thought was so appealing, he almost left the kitchen to do just that. None of them, not his mother nor either grandfather, had taken his own preferences into account. He’d lived all his life in the Highlands. How could any of them think he could possibly want to live anywhere else? Title or not, great wealth or not, he didnotwant to live in England.
But if there was an easy way to manipulate Neville Thackeray as Archie had apparently done, he wanted to know it. So he picked up his chair and sat again, asking Archie, “And just how did you manage putting this off?”
Archie smiled then, proud of his accomplishment and how he’d gone about it. “First I pointed oout tha’ yer my heir as well, and since I already had ye, he’d hae a bluidy hard time getting ye away from me.”
