She blushed profusely. She was still too new to lovemaking to accept easily the sight of him standing there across from her in all his masculine glory.
“Therewasno alternative, Kimber, no matter who hears of this. But I still havena heard you say you’ll marry me, and I’m no’ leaving until I do.”
That snapped her out of her shock. “Yes, I will! And I hope you’re satisfied, because you surely won’t be after all is said and done. When my father finds out—”
“I’ll deal wi’ your da, darlin’, never fear,” he said with complete confidence.
She started to correct the impression that he’d obviously gotten, that it was only an upset parent he had to face, rather than a prejudiced one. But she was too angry at the moment to get into that, and she’d given him warning. If he chose to scoff…
“You know, Kimber,” he continued as he located his clothes and started to dress, “it occurs tae me that they’ll no’ believe you if you tell them now that you were wi’ me the night the horses were stolen. They’ll think you’re just trying tae protect me. ’Twould seem we’ve no choice now but tae find the real thief.”
She was not feeling the least bit agreeable at the moment and so didn’t offer a reply. She just wanted him out of there and as quickly as possible, so she could go about the business of bemoaning her fate in private. But her look said, there’s no “we” involved here.
To her chagrin, his look said, there is now.
And there were only eight maids lurking about in the hallway when Lachlan finally walked out the door.
33
The summons came about noon, to join the duchess in her formal sitting room. Kimberly groaned. It certainly hadn’t taken very long for her shame to reach Megan’s ears.
But then Kimberly shouldn’t have been all that surprised. Just minutes after he left, Lachlan had pounded on the wall to her room to yell, “You were off by two, darlin’. I only counted eight maids.”
She’d thrown a book at the wall, wishing it were his head instead. And she was going to dismiss her maid the minute she dared to show her face. That wouldn’t help her predicament, but might teach the girl a thing or two about loyalty, though that was doubtful.
Kimberly arrived at the ducal rooms precisely on time. She was prepared for the most uncomfortable and embarrassing meeting of her life. She’d dressed in somber hues accordingly. She couldn’t have been more nervous if she thought her father was inside. Actually, she did expect Devlin St. James to be on hand, summoned from his vigil in the woods to lend his official displeasure to the proceedings.
As it happened, only Megan’s secretary was in the formal sitting room to let her in. The doors to the connecting rooms on either side of it were closed, though the secretary wasted no time in knocking on one now, and a moment later, Megan entered through it.
“Ah, good,” the duchess said, smiling at Kimberly. “Will Ables will be escorted here shortly, and I’ve got four Scotsmen waiting in Devlin’s room there.” She nodded toward the other connecting door. “I had a bit of luck in that, I’m pleased to say. My neighbor to the north, Mr. Kennedy, had his uncle visiting, and that gentleman has agreed to help us as well—you look surprised, m’dear. Didn’t you think I could arrange our little experiment this quickly?”
Kimberly’s mouth had dropped open. She forced it closed now. Surprised? She almost laughed. Her relief was incredible. Megan was merely giving her an inquiring look, certainly nothing in the way of condemnation. She obviously hadn’t heard yet about Kimberly’s disgrace.
Which wasn’t to say she wouldn’t be having the meeting she had expected later, but for the moment she was reprieved. And yes, surprised. With her current dilemma taking precedence over Lachlan’s problem, at least in her self-castigating thoughts, she had completely forgotten about Will Ables and the demonstration.
So she said, “I did think it might require a bit more time.”
“No, no, I arranged everything early this morning. The only thing that would have delayed us was if Mr. Kennedy hadn’t been at home. And I must admit, I’m rather excited about this. I had my doubts all along about MacGregor, you know, but my husband was so certain and—well, I do like to prove him wrong occasionally.” Megan grinned. “Keeps him on his toes. And I do have a good feeling about this, especially with the odds improved now against Mr. Ables being able to guess his way out of it.”
Kimberly nodded. That would be the worst luck, if it happened, but Megan was right, the odds were better now with four Scotsmen, rather than just three.
Ithadto work.
Lachlan was undoubtedly right about the thief’s not showing up at that hut again. With so many people involved in that vigil, he was bound to know it was a trap and stay away. Yet she was now personally involved, was going to have to marry the man accused of the crime. If he wasn’t cleared, well, there was yet another scandal to add to the other two. Two she might weather, but a husband in prison? She might as well pack her bags and move to another country.
Ithadto work.
But she couldn’t count on it. Ables could, in fact, get very lucky. And then what? Yes, this did seem to be their last hope, but if it didn’t work, then an alternate plan was needed. But what? Damn, she should have thought of something sooner.
Quickly, she put the known pieces all together again while they waited. Had she missed anything? She went over and over again each little thing from the day it happened and beyond, even the fact that the thief had so little care for the horses that he didn’t bother to try and separate them. The bashed head that wasn’t really bashed, the hour the theft had occurred, the fact that Lachlan was so sick with drink that night and why he was, the obvious lie from Ables, obvious to her and Lachlan…
One thing did finally stand out that she hadn’t really considered before. The very fact that someone of Ables’s social class had accused a lord, albeit a Scottish one. That seemed quite out of place, not something that someone like Ables would do, unless, of course, it was true. But since it wasn’t, it seemed more like something someone would tell him to do, someone who would have no qualms about accusing a lord…perhaps another lord?
“’Ere now, what’s this all about?”
Two menservants escorted Will Ables into the room. Apparently, they hadn’t told him why the duchess had requested his presence. At the moment, he was looking quite leery and nervous, which was a logical reaction possibly, except, if he had nothing to be worried about, wouldn’t simple curiosity be more appropriate?
Megan smiled to put him at ease. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Ables. This won’t take long a’tall, just a few questions and a brief demonstration, then you can get back to work.”
