“The Countess of Kinmarloch, eh?” Phineas grinned. “Is she the third cousin you mentioned?”
“Yes.” Jack was curt.
Phineas had called after dinner, just as Jack had known he would. The earl’s curiosity would not have let him stay away. The two men were closeted in Jack’s study.
“And she doesn’t know you’re the duke?”
“No.”
“Mmmm.” Phineas stretched out, cradling his glass of whisky. “The two of you coming out of an inn in the middle of the afternoon. And I noted the lady’s cheeks had a pinkness to them. That rosy I’ve-just-been-fucked-by-Jack-Pike color.”
“Shut it about the lady, Phin.”
Phineas raised his eyebrows. “Well, all right, I’ll talk about you. You had a look about you.”
“What look?”
“Rather a guilty look. Never seen that on your face before, Jack. You must be friends with her husband.”
“She doesn’t have a husband. It’s not a courtesy title. She’s a countess in her own right.”
“No husband?”
“None.”
“Jack.” Phineas shook his head. “Jack, Jack, Jack. What happened to you up in Scotland? An unmarried woman? Has the apocalypse come and no one has made me aware of it?”
Jack gritted his teeth. “Don’t worry. I’m never going to Scotland again.”
“Because you didn’t like it?”
He hadn’t told Phineas his real feelings. That he had loved the wildness, the roughness, the brutality of the Highlands and Dunmore, specifically. That he had felt like he was on the ocean again, captain of his own ship, navigating beautiful but dangerous waters. That it had felt more like home than any other piece of land ever had.
But he had ruined it, now. He could never go back. He could explain away his pretense to the people of Dunmore. He could never explain it to Helen.
“You loved it up there.” Phineas leaned forward. “I can see it. I always knew you were more Scottish than you let on.”
Jack rubbed his jaw. “It’s . . . difficult.”
“The best things are.”
“Aye.”
Phineas laughed. “Oh, it’sayenow, is it? The MacNaughton in you is rising to the top. Well, it’s a great tribute to you to have a countess chase you clear across the island of Britain.”
Jack got up and paced. “She’s here because she wants to marry the Duke of Dunmore. She’s not here for Jack Pike.”
“Oh.”
“She has some fool idea she can woo the duke or seduce him and get him to marry her.”
“Well, she’s halfway there, isn’t she?”
“What?”
“Since you’re the duke. She’s clearly seduced you.”
“Women don’t seduce me. It’s the other way around,” Jack growled.
