“Finlay…”
He held a hand up to stop the denial that was sure to spill from her lips. “What makes ye happy. No matter what ’tis, that is what I shall do.”
She pursed her lips together and nodded, an odd look brightening her eyes. Finlay was unsure what to make of it, but he did not get the chance to dwell on that. As they exited the box to leave, a pair of women approached calling Willamina’s name.
“Willamina!” A red-headed woman waved her gloved hand in the air to draw her attention. A brunette at her side matched her stride as they stopped in front of them. “We thought that was ye.”
At his side, Willamina stiffened, her lips forming into a thin line.
“We wondered what had happened to ye. Ye disappeared in such haste. Who do we have here?” the brunette asked, eyeing him from head to toe.
He frowned. Though they clearly knew each other, it was obvious that Willamina was not happy to see them. He was getting ready to skirt them around the two women when she spoke up.
“Clarice, Viola, it has been some time since we’ve last seen each other.”
“Indeed it has. Ye left in such a rush. Are ye no’ going to introduce us to your companion.”
Willamina sighed. “Clarice,” she waved her hand in the direction of the woman with red hair. “Viola,” she nodded to the other woman and then her gaze met his.
He gave her a small smile, assuring her that he was here for her. He gave her hand a squeeze of reassurance.
“This is Lord Primrose,” Willamina continued.
The women’s eyes rounded. “Lord Primrose?” Clarice said, and both women dipped into a curtsy.
“’Tis a pleasure to meet ye both. If ye will excuse us, we were just on our way home.”
“Home?” Viola asked. “Ye are living here now, Willamina?”
“Have ye remarried? So soon?” Clarice chimed in.
Straightening her shoulders, Willamina addressed the women, her tone curt. “I havena, though Lord Primrose and I are engaged to be married. As ye both are well aware, my time of mourning has passed and I served it fully.” She turned to him. “I shall like to go now.”
“Of course, my dearest. Ladies, ’twas a pleasure.”
“I would be wary of your finances around this one, my lord,” Clarice said snidely.
He narrowed his eyes at the woman. “Pardon?”
She covered her mouth feigning shock. “Did she no’ tell ye? I’m no’ surprised,” she whispered conspiratorially to Viola. “If I was run from my home and labeled a fraud, I wouldna tell anyone either.”
He rounded up to the woman. “I would watch your tongue if I were ye. This isna Inverness, but I can have ye sent back there quickly enough,” he whispered harshly, not wanting to draw any more attention to them than necessary.
He maneuvered Willamina around the two women, his hand firmly on the small of her back, which she kept ramrod straight until they were outside of the theater. She took a deep breath before hissing it out between her teeth.
“Hell’s teeth. Pardon me for saying. What a couple of unpleasant harpies. Do I dare ask what that was about?”
“Och, those were two of my former friends from Inverness. One of them was one of my former husband’s many lovers. The other abandoned me in my time of need.”
He frowned. The two seemed full of vitriol. He knew there were things from her past that she had not spoken about. He also knew her cousin brought her to Edinburgh to find a husband. There had been no mention that she was forced to leave Inverness, or that she was a fraud.
Her arm rested in his as they waited for his carriage to pull up. He wanted to ask her about what they were referring to. To dig deeper into her past, but that was a conversation to be had outside the perimeter of prying ears.
Once inside the carriage, they sat side by side and he thought about the best way to broach the subject.
“I ken ye have questions. Rightly so,” she said, wringing her hands in her lap.
He got the feeling that there was much more to the story than Clarice had mentioned. He considered himself a good judge of character. Willamina struck him as loyal and true. A fraud was the last thing that came to his mind when he thought of her character.
