“She would make Callum MacKenzie the perfect wife.”
Angus shook his head regretfully. “She is no’ what the duke has in mind.”
They had reached a square with a garden. An owl called out as Selina sat down on a bench and Angus sat beside her. He breathed in the summer evening while he waited for her to answer.
“I understand that,” she said. “But don’t you think it is for your young master to choose his own wife? I have seen the way he looks at her.”
“Mabbe, but she was a kept woman and her reputation will follow her over the border. It could turn out verra badly.”
But even as he spoke, Angus wondered if that was true. Luna had fallen in love with Maxwell and married him whenhe was only a gamekeeper, so surely Callum’s parents would understand what it meant to fall in love? Particularly if Callum chose a woman who was perfect in so many other ways. Could the duke and duchess overlook Penelope’s reputation? Angus suspected Maxwell would be the stubborn one there—he was set on the perfect lady for his son.
Selina went on a little desperately. “If they met her, spoke to her, they would see—”
“Aye, I understand what you say, Selina, but it is out of my hands.”
“Mine too,” she said drearily.
Angus added in a grumpy voice, “I just hope Callum will no’ get himself into mischief at the ball tonight. The lad seems to have the knack of getting into trouble wherever he goes.”
Selina patted his arm. “I’m sure he will be perfectly fine,” she soothed. “Miss Armstrong will keep him in line.”
There was a pause, and Angus heard himself blurt out, “I’m glad you are here with me tonight. I am lonely in this big place.”
He could have curled into a ball with embarrassment, but Selina laughed softly and leaned into him. “Then let us make the most of our night of freedom.”
Angus searched her face in the moonlight. She looked as if she would welcome a kiss, so he kissed her.
“Why areyouunwed?” he asked her, when he had regained his breath. “I canna believe you are not taken. A woman as kind and handsome as you.”
Selina gave him a sad smile. “I was engaged once. I was to be married. You have heard how Penelope’s parents died in a coach accident?”
He nodded. He had heard about that tragic event from Callum.
“My fiancé was also on the coach. He was Mr. Armstrong’s valet and he was aboard when the accident happened. He died,too. I think...” she swallowed. “I think Penelope forgets sometimes that I was affected, too. We both lost people we loved on that day.”
Angus didn’t know what to say. He wrapped his arm around Selina and pulled her in tight against him. “My poor lassie,” he murmured.
She took a moment to recover herself. “I do think of him sometimes—perhaps not as often as I once did—and imagine what my life might have been. We may have had children by now. I always wanted children.”
“You can still have them,” Angus said kindly.
But Selina shook her head. “I fear I am too old now. That door has closed, Angus.”
Angus was ignorant about such matters as a woman’s fertility but he hoped that was not so. Selina deserved happiness—she deserved to have her wishes fulfilled. As he bent his head to kiss her again, he wondered if he was the man to do it.
Chapter Fourteen
The house lookedrespectable enough from the outside, but once he passed the bruiser guarding the doorway, Callum could tell by the state of dress of some of the ladies that it was not respectable at all. He was glad his aunt was not by his side to see this—she would have dragged him home again. He was rather doubtful himself whether he should be here. His father, and certainly his mother, would not approve.
Callum averted his gaze from a woman whose breasts were all but bare. Was that a new fashion? He didn’t think it would catch on in Bonnyrigg.
“Apologies,” a breathless voice said at his side. “You are early, MacKenzie.”
He looked down at Penelope, relieved that she was here. She was wearing a gown the color of his mother’s favorite rose, a dusky pink, and although the neckline was lower than he had seen her wear before, it was certainly not as low as some of those here tonight. There was a sparkly necklace around her throat, and her hair was dressed with more sparkly stones, peeping out like stars from among her fair locks. A circlet of silk roses completed the look.
He wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked, but he found he had lost his words at the sight of her.
Penelope was casting glances about them at the assembly and now she pulled a face. “Iamsorry to have brought you here,but it was the best I could do. This is definitely not Almack’s, but at least you will be able to practice dancing and conversing.”
