“Did I hear right? Is Rory going to London to stay with your Aunt Jennie?”
“Yes, he is.” Callum looked up at the canopy above the bed. “I told him you could give him some lessons in etiquette but he said as he wasn’t hanging out for a wife, he did not need any.”
“Then why is he going?”
Callum guffawed. “He doesn’t want me to be the only one to conquer the English.”
Penelope could have said some things about that, but she decided not to. She snuggled closer. “I am so glad your aunt employed me. I cannot imagine my life without you in it.”
“Nor me.”
He bent his head to kiss her, and their kisses occupied them for some time.
“Selina is very happy with her new husband,” she said at last, sleepily. “I am glad I did not have to leave her behind.”
“It has worked out verra well for us all,” Callum said smugly, as if it was all his doing.
There was that rustle again, and he flicked her a nervous glance. “’Tis only the blind squirrel,” he soothed her. “She was afraid, and I could not leave her out there. Tomorrow I will build them a better place, I promise.”
“I will hold you to that,” Penelope said sternly.
“The headmistress voice,” Callum groaned and rolled over, his mouth on her throat, and then he began kissing his way south.
“I cannot have you disobeying the rules,” she went on even more sternly, but she was trying not to laugh.
He pressed his face between her legs, his tongue busy, and she arched up with a gasp of pleasure. No more words were spoken as he brought matters to a pleasurable conclusion.
Penelope forgot about the animal under the bed, drawing his face up to hers again, as he pushed himself inside her, deep and deeper still.
They had spoken about children, and it was something she dearly wanted, but for now she was happy just to have Callum as her husband and to settle into life at Bonnyrigg.
Who would have thought that she would be so happy? The girl who had taken an improper proposal for the sake of her brother, and then fought her way back to respectability. The girl who had taught the unteachable how to succeed in society, and married her student despite the reasons she should not.
The woman who was so loved.
Callum was looking down at her, amusement warming his dark eyes. “Where did you go?” he asked.
Penelope stretched up to kiss his lips. “Nowhere. I am right here where I belong.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The first yearof married life for Callum and Penelope, and their first year at Bonnyrigg, had flown by with so many joys to celebrate. Despite her doubts, Selina had sailed through her pregnancy and birthed a healthy baby. Now here she was, holding the child wrapped in a fine new blanket, as Angus leaned protectively close, smiling like the proud father he was. Callum smiled too at the sight of them. They were both besotted, and the guests in the little chapel cooed and sighed at the sight as the sun shone through the stained-glass window. This baptism was the first for Bonnyrigg for some time, and everyone was making the most of it.
Penelope had told Callum that Selina still called her baby a miracle, and Callum laughed and wondered aloud what they would call it when the next one arrived.
“I think one is probably enough,” she had replied, grimacing at the memory of her friend in labor.
Callum placed a gentle hand on his wife’s belly, which had grown rather large in the past few weeks. According to Luna, their baby was due very soon now. Maxwell was worse than Callum when it came to worrying about it. He was forever insisting Penelope sit down or setting a stool for her to rest her feet on. He would have rubbed them, too, if Callum had not taken on that role.
No one would ever have believed his father had ever been against their marriage.
“Where is Rory?” Maxwell said now, frowning about at the congregation.
“He promised he would be home for the birth of Penelope’s baby,” Luna whispered.
The MacKenzies’ standing had improved since Penelope had come to stay. She had the knack of drawing the neighbors together, and the oatcake competition had been so successful it was now to run every year, with contestants coming from near and far. Sir Hector’s and Luna’s cakes had been declared a draw, but they both vowed to win next time.
Callum loved his wife more each day, and the thought of their child made him smile every time he thought of it. He had been worried at first, Penelope was so small, but his mother had reassured him.
