“Wonderful—I mean, well, a scandal of that sort would be unfortunate, but I can’t imagine it being ruinous. Why, even the queen would take your side, as fond as she is of her Scottish subjects. Your father would more likely be condemned for his harshness and stubborn prejudice. If anyone would get the cold shoulder, he would. You would be—ah—well…”
“Pitied?”
Megan became flustered. “Well—no—”
Kimberly smiled, patting Megan’s arm. “It’s all right. It’s a moot point anyway, since I have no intention of falling in love with any Scotsman.”
Megan sighed again. “Quite right. But you know, I really can’t comprehend a father like yours. Mine spoiled me terribly. I can’t remember him ever denying me anything—well, except when I wanted Devlin dismissed. He did refuse to do that.”
“Dismissed? From what?”
Megan chuckled now. “Ah, but that’s alongstory, m’dear, and as late as it is, best left for another time. I should be getting back to the house, before Devlin sends a brigade of servants looking for me.” She bent to pluck one of the roses first, then added, “By the by, whatwereyou doing roaming about in here?”
Kimberly groaned inwardly. But there was no point in lying. The duchess, after all, couldn’t have missed the gossip making the rounds today. No one could have.
However, she still said, somewhat evasively, “I felt the need for a little solitude, but I couldn’t manage to find a room in the house that didn’t have someone already in it. I should have just retired, I suppose, but I didn’t feel like it at the time.”
Megan smiled in understanding and hooked her arm though Kimberly’s to lead her back down the aisle. “I get that urge myself sometimes, but in your case—you must know that the kind of gossip running rampant today can’t hurt you, m’dear. Actually, it’s beneficial. Shows the rest of the gentlemen how popular you are.”
Kimberly wasnotgoing to get into a debate, but so much for evading the subject. “I notice the gentlemen involved choose not to face it.”
Megan grinned. “Well, I have it on good authority that Lord Lachlan went off to our nearest tavern to get foxed. And Lord Canston spent the day with his solicitor. He was determined to bring the matter to the courts.”
“What?!”
“Oh, never fear, there won’t be any more food for the gossip mill on this count. Devlin managed to dissuade him from making matters worse, which that would surely have done. He’s been—well, pouting isn’t a very dignified word for a viscount, but that describes his temper very well—ever since.”
Kimberly couldn’t quite manage to envision the virile, athletic viscount pouting, she really couldn’t. “Is he planning to end his visit then?”
“No,” Megan replied, sounding somewhat disappointed. “I’m sure he’ll be back into the thick of things tomorrow. We’re having that fox hunt in the morning, remember? I know he wouldn’t want to miss that.”
Kimberly would be missing that herself. She’d never cared much for hunting of any sort, but she thought foxes were rather cute…
“Are you coming back to the house?” Megan asked as they reached the entrance to the conservatory.
“Shortly.”
Megan nodded, then glanced once more about the room. “You know, I ought to arrange a picnic in here. Yes, now that I think of it, that’s a splendid idea.”
Kimberly grinned, shaking her head as she watched Megan saunter off, her single, thorny rose in hand. Now thatshethought of it, it must be hell to play hostess to so many people, especially when you had to continuously think of ways to keep them entertained.
The duchess had been doing admirably in that respect though, and a picnic in here did sound like a nice idea. The air was moist, humid, but quite pleasant with so many floral scents floating about. If someone was going to have a picnic in the heart of winter, a warm conservatory was the place to do it, and the one here at Sherring Cross was larger than most. Yes, it actually sounded like fun and…
Got foxed, did he? Good, and she sincerely hoped Lachlan had one of those horrid headaches in the morning because of it. The wretched man deserved no less.
24
Some very loud pounding on her wall came first, then, “Kimber, are you awake?”
She was now. Wide awake. And she also couldn’t quite believe that Lachlan would make that kind of racket in the dead of night—once again. He’d been so quiet the past few weeks, she’d begun to think he’d been given a different room when they’d returned from London.
God, what time was it? The heavy drapes in her room were drawn closed, giving her no clue. Yet she recalled the difficulty she’d had in getting to sleep. Midnight had come and gone when she last remembered pounding her pillow…
“Kimber?”
The sound she made could only be called a growl as she tossed her covers back, shot to her knees to face the wall, and gave it a hard pound herself. “Be quiet in there! Have you lost your mind? Do you have any idea what time—”
“I’m…dying.”
