Elspeth turned to her. “I take it that ye ken these people, Keira,” she spoke calmly.
“What on earth are you doing here, Keira?” the Duchess of Murray asked while the Duke remained silent.
Keira knew her father’s words would not be as calm and composed as her mother’s. She could see the rage, the disappointment in his eyes, and she knew that he would probably never forgive her for what she had done.
“I… I came here on an invitation, Mother,” she replied, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to explain, although she was fully aware of the delicate situation she had found herself in. No, the delicate situation she hadplacedherself in. “I didn’t wish to trouble you or Father with the details. You see, I thought it would be but a brief visit, for the ball tomorrow evening.”
Up until that moment, Keira’s father, a stern and protective man, had decided to remain quiet. But the time for questions had arrived.
“An invitation from whom, Keira? And for what purpose?” he demanded to know.
“I do believe I can answer that question,” Elspeth interjected, her measured voice a welcome change from the voices wrought with apprehension and shock. “Yer daughter has been our guest, as per the request of me son, Laird MacCurtney. Like yer daughter said, we are goin’ to host a ball—or as we call it, a cèilidh—to celebrate…” She paused, and Keira knew exactly what that hesitation was caused by.
The cèilidh was meant to announce Raphael’s betrothal to Violet. Now, Violet was gone. There was no betrothal in sight. So, the cèilidh was simply a party, nothing else.
“To celebrate life.” Elspeth smiled, coming up with something at the last moment.
“Your ball may celebrate whatever you want it to celebrate.” Keira’s father was not appeased, nor would he be any time soon.“My wife and I have been informed of our daughter’s utterly shameful behavior, which is what has brought us here in the first place. She has been living here, with your son. I cannot even begin to explain how disgraceful that is for a lady of her standing.”
Keira frowned.A lady of her standing.Wouldn’t it be disgraceful for any lady? But her father always liked to emphasize their status, both in good times as well as bad.
“Let’s nae get ahead of ourselves here.” Elspeth was still endeavoring to diffuse the tension as she lifted her hands to the level of her chest, with her palms open, facing Keira’s parents. “Nothing sordid happened, I can assure ye, for I have been here the entire time.”
The Duke scowled. “Have you been with them every single minute of every single day? Have you slept in Keira’s chamber? Have you had your eye on her the entire time of her stay here?”
Elspeth had to admit that she had not. “Nae.”
“Then you cannot claim anything,” the Duke continued in a disgruntled manner, remaining steadfast in his effort to impose his views upon everyone. “This is something that will stain my daughter’s reputation forever. If she was considered a spinster before, she will be shunned from the ton after such a scandal.”
“You know I don’t care about that, Father,” Keira finally dared to say.
Their opinion did not matter in the slightest. They didn’t care whether she was happy or miserable. They only wanted her to behave in a certain way, to fall into a certain mold and behave like everyone else. She finally realized that she didn’t want that.
“How can you say such nonsense!?” her father exclaimed, shocked. “You are fortunate that only we found you here, but I’m sure that word will spread to London soon, and when it does, we won’t be able to count on Edward to marry you. I hope you are aware of that now.”
Keira’s nostrils flared up at the mention of the Earl. “You know that I never wanted to marry him in the first place!”
Her father didn’t respond to that. Instead, he turned to Elspeth again. “And your son, why is he not here to explain himself and his actions?”
Keira was wondering the same thing. The situation was more than complicated, especially with this unexpected appearance of her parents and her burgeoning feelings for Raphael, but she had hope that he would have been able to handle this with grace and diplomacy… if only he were here.
She longed for the opportunity to be open and honest with her family, to explain the depth of what had happened, but she knew very well that they would never understand why she did what she had done.
“Me son is a laird, and he has business to tend to,” Elspeth explained. “In his absence, I am here to answer all yer questions.”
“I wish to speak to the Laird right now!” the Duke exclaimed.
As if the Laird heard them, the door burst open, and he appeared in the doorway, his brows furrowed at the commotion.
“What is goin’ on here?” Raphael demanded to know as his eyes befell everyone in the room.
Raphael had been standing by the door for what felt like an eternity, although it could not have been longer than a minute or two. When he heard the man demand to speak to the Laird, he knew that was his moment to appear.
“Raphael.” His mother rushed to his side. “Please, explain to these people what happened. I believe they have the wrong idea.”
He didn’t care about these people at all. He cared about Keira, and he could see her worst fear unraveling right before his eyes. She was being accused of behaving disgracefully by her own family, something that might have devastating consequences for her as a young woman. He could not allow that to happen. He knew that he needed to take the blame for everything.
Raphael inhaled deeply, exchanging a meaningful glance with both the lady and the gentleman standing opposite him. The lady’s eyes were just like Keira’s. He could see a willingness to listen and comprehend even that which seemed incomprehensible at first. But Keira’s father was a man who did all the talking and very little listening.
