Behind them, Megan cleared her throat and said, “So…I’ll put Duchy and Margaret to work on the wedding preparations immediately…all things considered.”
34
All things considered.
Kimberly’s cheeks were still burning as she rushed down the hallway. What a polite way for Megan to say she knew wherein Lachlan had spent last night. But that made it no less embarrassing. And to think the duchess had conducted that whole interview with Ables without letting on at all that she’d already heard the gossip.
“And where d’you think you’re running off tae?” a soft burr asked at her back.
Kimberly started in surprise. She hadn’t heard Lachlan following her. But she’d reached the stairs and didn’t pause.
“Running?” she tossed back over her shoulder. “Hardly. I’m hungry, starving actually. Does that tell you where I’m going?”
“Aye, but it doesna tell me why you’re running.”
“I amnot—” she turned to say, but stopped when she found him grinning at her.
Teasing again. The man had the worst timing for it, he really did. And obviously, he wasn’t going to let her go off about her business. He should be just as embarrassed as she. At the least, he should be upset that the love of his life knew he’d spent the night with another woman. But no, he stood there grinning at her.
“Did you want something in particular?” she asked in a tightly constrained tone.
“Aye, I’m wanting tae know how you concluded that Canston set the horse stealing up just tae blame me? No’ once did I think o’ him.”
So that was it. He still had the thieving on his mind, and his relief over being cleared. She’d had no time to relish her own relief, what with Megan’s mention of wedding plans setting her mind back to her own problems. But she allowed that he’d had a bit more to lose if the truth hadn’t come out about the theft.
So she shrugged. “I’m really not sure what made me come up with his name there at the end. Possibly because I’d finally thought ofeverythingthat had happened that day, rather than just from the theft on. And I included your punching him that morning.”
“One blasted punch and he wants tae see me in prison?” He snorted.
“Well, you see, I knew that hedidwant to press charges against you for it. I also knew that the duke talked him out of it.”
“St. James did?” he said in surprise, then derisively, “No’ on my account, I’ll warrant.”
She had to agree with that. “No, he probably did it to avoid a scandal among his guests,” she replied pointedly, since she could lay each of the scandals she had been and would be involved in at his door. “However, Megan claimed Howard was—well, she called it ‘pouting’ after that. But I never gave it another thought until today.”
“And that’s it? You save me from prison because the duchess claimed he was ‘pouting’?”
“Well…there were a few other things that when viewed all together, finally added up. Such as yesterday, when I was talking to Will Ables in the breeding stable, Howard showed up. He said he’d been told he would find me there, that he’d been looking for me to invite me riding, but—he seemed surprised, actually, when he first saw me there. It was more like he wasn’t expecting to find me there a’tall, and yet the only one else there was the groom.”
“So he was there to talk to Ables, but your presence stopped him?”
“Something like that. And then when we did go riding, I couldn’t help but notice how ill-used his horse was. Its hide was liberally laced with spur and whip scars.”
He lifted a brow at her at that point. “What has that tae do wi’ horse stealing?”
“Nothing, except when I was reviewing all the facts, I remembered Megan told me the horses had been left in that hut without any effort made to keep the stallion separate from the mares—”
“Faith, the beastie mun have had him a fine time, I’ll warrant.”
She glared at him. “I believe the duke was quite furious about the condition the animals were in as a result.”
“That mon is always in a fury, Kimber, or havena you noticed that?”
“I wouldn’t say always, more like only when you’re around. But I digress. The fact that the horses hadn’t been cared for properly suddenly reminded me of Howard, who also showed little care for horses. And to top that off, when we came upon that hut yesterday in the woods, and I wanted to examine it, he suddenly recalled an appointment that he was late for, and rushed us back to the mansion.”
Lachlan shook his head, grumbling, “’Tis no wonder I gave no thought tae the viscount in this matter. All these things you’ve mentioned, I wasna aware of.” And then he grinned. “’Tis well for me that you were on my side, rather than his, and were able tae piece it all into a whole picture ’afore my time ran out.”
“It still wasn’t enough to point a finger at Howard. It was merely a good guess, and fortunately, Ables was gullible enough to believe that the viscount might have confessed. And I wasn’tonyour side,” she stressed. “I just wanted the truth to come out.”
