She tsked at him. “You’re the one making too much out of it. Most young girls her age go through this; I did myself. Now I might have been nervous about it, but Meli really isn’t. She plans to have fun, to make some new friends, to be awed by such a big town as London is, and she even figures she’ll probably find a husband while she’s at it. But that’s not at the top of her to-do list by any means. She thought we wanted her to make a concerted effort to get affianced, but I’ve assured her if she does, that’s fine, and if she doesn’t, that’s fine, too. Maybe you should tell her the same before she leaves, so she can just relax and let what happens happen. Now have we covered all your last minute doubts?”
“Nay, ’tis still a huge undertaking tae be putting on the duchess on our behalf.”
“Would you like us to go as well for the whole summer instead of just a few weeks as we planned?”
He looked appalled. Just as she expected. “You said that wouldna be necessary.”
“Nor is it. We covered Megan’s willingness already. And furthermore, she isn’t planning any events herself; she merely has invitations lined up that she was no doubt going to accept anyway. Besides, she adores Meli and is an old hand at this sort of thing. She sponsored me, didn’t she? And had a hand in matching you and I to wedded bliss.”
That made him grin. “Is that what we’ve been having, darlin’? Wedded bliss?”
She quirked a golden brow at him and asked, “You don’t think so?”
He pulled her to her feet, then meshed her hips to his. “I’d be calling it heaven m’self.”
“Would you now?” She grinned back at him, then made a face. “Bah, you’re not going to get out of this subject that easily. Why are you really having doubts? And no more of these lame reasons that don’t wash.”
He sighed. “I had the hope remaining that our lass would end up wi’ a fine Scot brave enough tae ignore the legend and trounce any o’ your sixteen brothers that think tae bully him.”
“What an unkind thought,” she said, and smacked his shoulder before she moved away from him. “I love my brothers—”
“I know you do, Kimber, and I even tolerate them m’self, but you canna deny they deserve a trouncing or two for scaring off all o’ Meli’s suitors. If we didna have friends in England willing tae sponser her for a season there, the poor lass could end up permanently unwed, and I want m’ daughter tae be as happy in wedlock as I’ve made you.”
She chuckled. “Listen to that bragging.”
“True nonetheless,” he said with complete confidence.
“Perhaps,” she allowed with a teasing grin, but then grew serious again. “As for Meli and her future happiness, is the nationality of the man she loses her heart to really of importance to you? And before you answer, keep in mind that if you say yes, your English wife will be insulted.”
He laughed. “Half English wife, though one could wish yer Scottish half didna come from the MacFearson himself.”
She ignored the reference to her father this time. “Answer me.”
“Nay, darlin’, the hope was no’ that her husband be Scottish exactly, was more that he just hail from closer tae home than England is. I’m no’ looking forward tae our lass moving far away is all,” he ended with another sigh.
She moved closer again to cup his cheeks in her hands. “You knew that would be possible.”
“Aye.”
“You also knew that her prospects in our neighborhood were very slim. We don’t exactly live close to any towns up here, and the other clans nearby don’t have any sons of an age appropriate for our lass. And being the MacGregor’s daughter limits her choices even further.”
“Aye, I ken that as well.”
“So this is all just a father bemoaning the loss of his only daughter in marriage, even before she’s married?” she asked in exasperation.
He nodded with a sheepish look. She decided not to scold him for such silliness but said instead, “Lach, I’ll be just as unhappy to see her go, but we knew from the day she was born that she would be leaving us one day to start her own family, and even then we didn’t expect her to start that family near Kregora Castle. Granted, we weren’t thinking as far as England, but still—”
Kimberly amazed even herself when she suddenly burst into tears. Lachlan gathered her close and made all the soothing sounds appropriate to providing comfort. She finally pushed away from him, annoyed with herself.
“Don’t ask why that happened,” she mumbled.
He grinned at her. “I’m sorry, Kimber. I didna mean tae refresh all your own misgivings.”
“You didn’t. Unlike you, I’m delighted Meli has this opportunity for a season in London. I just”—she paused for a sigh of her own—“just had the same hope as you still lurking, though I thought I had given up on that long ago. And it is pointless. Even those few young lads who did come to call on her live miles away, which is probably why you weren’t all that displeased when my brothers ran them off.”
“Miles away is no distance a’ tall up here; they just didna impress me too much is all, and rightly so as it turned out. Look how quickly they turned tail when your brothers started in on them. That last one made his excuses after one wee warning from Ian Two that he’d be displeased if his niece was e’er made unhappy.”
“I think it was because he had a fistful of the poor boy’s shirt when he said it.”
