“How exciting!” Christina said.
“It is!” Lady Balmossie nodded. “Aedan has been corresponding with Her Majesty.”
“Just the queen’s secretary,” he clarified. “The queen and her consort will preside over the opening of the Glasgow Waterworks soon, and then ride north over the new road—which should be finished by then,” he added. “They plan to stay here for one night, then tour the Strathclyde hills the next day, and head north to Balmoral.”
Lady Balmossie whisked her fan. “Will the house be ready in time? The painting and carpeting must be completed, and we must find an artist soon!”
“Artist?” John Blackburn asked.
“To decorate the dining room,” Lady Balmossie explained. “My late brother’s vision for the house included murals on the walls.”
“Ah, murals,” John said, glancing at his sister.
Amy touched Aedan’s arm again. “Aedan, do come with me later to look at some things. I so value your thoughts, even though you can be such a grump about the changes. We are putting our heads together to plan the house,” she told the Blackburns.
Aedan frowned. That sounded uncomfortably matrimonial. “I am grateful for all the help my cousin and my aunt are both providing here.”
“The house is beautiful,” Christina said. “John and I would love to see more of it.”
“Amy could give you the grand tour,” Aedan said.
“Mrs. Blackburn, you would especially enjoy the library, I think,” Meg told Christina. “You must ask Sir Aedan about the book collection. He knows the library best.”
“Sir, are you a writer and a scholar like your father?” Christina asked.
“Not like he was, certainly. I am an engineer by education and by trade,” he went on. “But I helped my father organize his library years ago, so I know it well. Feel free to use it while you are here, Mrs. Blackburn. As a scholar, you will especially appreciate the collection.” He smiled politely even as he thought of her interrupted mission last night.
Clearly she thought of it too, for he glimpsed a flicker of awareness in her eyes. “Thank you. I consider myself an amateur scholar, though I often assist my uncle, the Reverend Walter Carriston, who is an accomplished antiquarian. I also help at the museum. Sir Edgar asked me to examine the discovery here at Dundrennan.”
Aedan nodded. “So I understand. Sir Edgar described you as an antiquarian. You should take the credit.”
“She should, I agree,” her brother said. “She was very helpful when our uncle, Reverend Carriston, wrote his history of Scotland.”
“Ah, is thatA History of Celtic Scotland,in four volumes? We have the set here, as it happens. My father thought highly of his work.”
“That is his,” Christina Blackburn confirmed. “How wonderful that it is in your collection!”
“I have not read it, I confess,” Aedan said.
“My sister is a fine historian,” John Blackburn said. “Her theory about Arthurian Britain helped to shape our uncle’s research and conclusions in his magnum opus.”
The young woman’s cheeks went bright pink, Aedan saw. He reminded himself then that she had come to Dundrennan to cast an expert eye on the stones he had uncovered. That quiet little beauty had the power to ruin his career and cause him to lose Dundrennan.
That, and the so-called laird’s curse here, were sharp reminders to distance himself, even if she was the girl in the painting that had captured his affection. He smiled and felt it go thin. She saw, for she glanced down, cheeks flushed, hands fiddling in her lap.
“My sister is modest about her expertise,” John was saying. “But I like to show it off.”
“John—” she began.
“Please do, Mr. Blackburn,” Aedan said over her. “I am curious to know.”
“She reads and speaks Latin, French, Greek, and Gaelic, and she can read Old Irish too. She can make sense of any old medieval text, I think. She has taught English to Highlanders as part of her charitable work, and she has published scholarly work under her own name. She is also kind and humble.” He smiled at his sister, who pinkened further.
“And lovely too,” Meg, Lady Strathlin, said.
“Mrs. Blackburn is a paragon,” Amy said coolly.
“And yet she looks a green young lass for all that,” Lady Balmossie said bluntly. “I thought a lady antiquarian would be a crabbit auld thing!”
