She patted his cheek. “I’m only happy that you are happy. Sophia is in the back garden, waxing silently poetic over the view of Ben Lomond.”
That sounded like his Sophia. He’d seen her love for this land in her eyes long before they’d first spoken. “I’ll be back shortly.”
She simply smiled. “Take your time, son.”
Sophia was, indeed, precisely where Mother had said he’d find her. And her gaze was, as predicted, fondly focused on the mountain Duncan had spent his childhood memorizing.
“’Tis a lovely sight, is it not?”
Her head jerked in his direction. Immediately, a smile curved her lips. “Duncan, you’re here at last. How did your day go?”
Duncan dropped onto the bench beside her. “Haddington House is in turmoil.” He wasn’t hiding his glee at their former employers’ distress. “There has been a coup.”
Her mouth dropped open a moment. “Good heavens.”
He could hardly sit still, he was so excited to tell her all that had happened. “Knowing Mr. Haddington for the snake he is, I couldn’t imagine that you were the first or only member of the staff he had imposed upon. A few subtle, vague questions in the right ears revealed the horrid enormity of his conduct.”
Her sudden pallor concerned him.
He took her hands. “I did not ever mention you, nor your situation. I swear to you.”
But she shook her head. “That was not my concern. I hate the idea that he has caused other people pain.”
“Mrs. Haddington has been rather horrible as well. She makes a practice of forbidding those in her employ from moving freelyor attending certain activities. And the entire family are terrible to the animals, as well.”
Sophia’s mouth and brows turned down. Life inside the house was likely even more miserable than it had been in the stables.
“I have spent the last two weeks finding new positions for my stable staff as well as the gardeners,” Duncan said. “The housekeeper and butler heard whispers and began searches of their own, finding new positions for the household staff.”
“Did they?” Amazement lit her expression. “What did the family say as this all came about?”
“They didn’t have the opportunity to say much. Only I remained behind long enough for comment.”
A triumphant smile tugged at Sophia’s mouth. “What didyousay?”
“A great many things. Suffice it to say, Haddington now knows that if he mistreats his staff, should he manage to hire any and I hear about it, he’ll find himself in dire straits—more dire than a mere loss of staff.” It had been an extremely satisfying exchange, actually.
Sophia stretched and placed a kiss on his cheek. “You are a good man, Duncan Buchanan.”
“Yes, I am.” He settled his arm around her and pulled her next to him. She laid her head against him, her gaze forward once more. “My mother tells me you’ve been enjoying my mountain.”
“Ben Lomond is yours, is it?” The songlike quality her voice took on when she was amused had quickly become one of his favorite sounds.
“Not the entire mountain, just this view of it,” he said. “But I might be willing to share.”
“Which is a good thing, because you will be here often now.” She shifted in his arms, looking up at him. “Won’t you?”
“Every day, love.”
She leaned in to him once more, settling there as naturally as anything. There was really only one thing for a man to do when a woman held him that way. He wrapped his arms around her as well. Heavens, she felt good in his embrace.
“We have missed you so much,” she said.
“We?” he pressed.
“Nothing is the same without you. I hadn’t realized it until I came here, but your presence at Haddington House was what made life there bearable. Seeing you, if only from my bedchamber window, was a gift and a joy. I have missed that, and I have missed you.”
Hearing things like that from the woman who’d stolen away his heart did a man’s pride a world of good. “Spied on me from your window, did you?”
