Tears filled the little girl’s eyes. Rory quickly bent and lifted her with his good arm.
“She’s spoiled.” Isabella leaned on him, not sounding terribly worried about that fact, which suggested to Rory she was also.
Isabella chatted, Meredith did the same. Rory made the appropriate noises and wondered how a man who did not collect people and avoided emotion had just spent time with his two sisters. He now had his niece leaning on him and her cousin in his arms. The hell of it was, he liked it. Loved that they looked at him with open and honest affection. Looked at him without fear.
He, the man others said was a cold-hearted bastard, was suddenly unraveling like Mrs. Radcliff’s shawl. Kate was now kissing another man.
“Do either of you know that man kissing Kate?”
The little girls looked. He wore a long overcoat, beneath which Rory could see polished black boots. He didn’t look like the other men, villagers; this one looked a great deal more prosperous.
“He’s Sir Spotty,” Isabella said so only Rory could hear.
“Pardon?”
“Daddy calls him that,” she added. “His name is Lord Scouty.”
“Why is he called Sir Spotty?”
“He has one on his nose.”
“Nose!” Meredith squealed.
“A mole,” Isabella added with a little snigger.
Children, Rory had noted, often heard a great deal more than adults realized.
“Good day to you, Miss Sinclair.” Sir Spotty said in a pompous tone that carried a great distance and set Rory’s teeth on edge.
“Lord Scouty, how nice it is to see you, and here at the fair,” Kate said.
“I was passing and a local told me about it, and as I had business in the area I decided to call in.”
Rory wasn’t sure how he was passing, as Crunston Cliff was on the way to nowhere.
“Oh well, how kind of you to join us.”
Surely she wasn’t fooled; it was clear the man was there for other purposes. Moving slightly to the side, he saw Sir Spotty was looking smug. If Rory had to guess, he’d say the man was here to see Kate.
He hated him instantly.
“I don’t like him.”
“Who?” He looked down at Isabella, who was tugging his coat.
“Sir Spotty. He told me to move out of the way when I was buying Kate’s fudge, as he wanted some.”
“Did he now? That’s not very polite. Maybe I should give him a lesson in manners.”
“I think you should.”
He watched as the man took both of Kate’s hands in his and pulled her closer. Kate looked uncomfortable with the gesture. He was just about to intervene when another man did so.
“Here now, there’s no need to be handling Miss Sinclair. A quick kiss is all you get!” the man second in line declared. He had a shaved head and neck that was thicker than Rory’s thigh. This was followed by murmurs of agreement from the other men in the line behind Rory.
“Miss Sinclair and I are friends,” Sir Spotty said, turning to glare at the men behind him. Rory saw the mole then.
“See!” Isabella hissed.
