Page 54 of Scandalous: Family Ties and Spies

“Oh, Julian, please don’t be angry. I wouldn’t have done so if…”

“If what?”

“Jamie and I…we both saw the same thing.”

“Ye and Jamie, eh.”

The quiet response was more one of contemplation than anger. Patience stared up at her husband with a mix of trepidation and bemusement. Julian’s handsome, chiseled features were unreadable, his gaze focused on a point over her head. Lips twisting slightly with pained regret, her heart sank when she failed to assess his mood.

Bewildered by his continued silence, she didn’t take her gaze off the tall Scotsman who demonstrated daily how much he loved her. At the moment, she was uncertain as to whether she was worthy of him doing so. A second later, her confusion tripled as he stared down at her and a slow smile curved his mouth.

“Ye made the right decision, mo ghràdh.”

“I did?” she breathed.

“Aye. If ye had told me this three weeks ago, I would nae have been happy. Ye know how hard it was for me tae force Amalie’s hand.”

“But…I don’t understand.”

“Sommerville is either in love with the lass or about ready tae fall. I’ve nae doubt Amalie will lead the mon on a merry chase, but he will do whatever it takes to win her heart.” Julian’s smile slowly widened into a grin. “Something that will be easier for him to do than he thinks.”

“Exactly what are you talking about?” Baffled, Patience eyed her husband with exasperation at his unusual reaction to her meddling. Julian gave her a quick kiss before arching an eyebrow.

“Do ye think ye were the only one who saw Amalie avoid Val every time he came near her? Do ye think a father does nae ken when his daughter has lost her heart tae a mon?”

“But why didn’t you say something?” Her question made Julian shrug sheepishly.

“I thought ye might think I was being daft.”

The embarrassment in her husband’s words made Patience press her body into his and clung tightly to his hard body. Strong arms wrapped around her in a silent promise never to let go. She lifted her head, and Julian’s mouth covered hers in a long, deep kiss filled with emotion. They’d almost lost each other more than fifteen years ago after the fire at Westbrook Farms, and she gave thanks every day that her proud Highlander had never stopped loving her. When Julian raised his head, Patience frowned.

“Wait. How do you know Val is in love with Amalie?”

“The night of the Turnbridge party, I threatened tae tear the mon apart, limb by limb if he ever did anything tae hurt our lass.”

“Oh, Julian. Why on earth would you do that? Val’s an honorable man, he’s already sworn to Jamie that Amalie will never want for anything.”

“Except love. Did he promise tae love our daughter?” Julian shrugged again, as another grin curved his mouth. “The mon already does, the eejit just does nae ken it.”

“Val is not an idiot, Crianlarich,” Patience admonished her husband sternly. “You would never have agreed to let our daughter marry an idiot.”

“I said it with amused affection, mo ghràdh. Ye ken I have always liked the lad, which is why I was so furious to find Amalie with him that night. I believed he’d betrayed my faith in him. But I was wrong, and I told him so the night of the Turnbridge affair.”

“It shouldn’t have even taken you that long,” she scolded. “The only reason you didn’t endure the same hell my brothers and brother-in-laws did until this past week is because I felt guilty for not telling you what I believed. But none of that explains why you think Val is in love with Amalie.”

“Because after I threatened tae destroy him if he ever hurt our daughter, he solemnly said he would always treat her with respect and kindness.”

“But he’d already—”

“The lad also said Amalie was everything a man could want in a wife, and that she would do him credit as his countess.”

Stunned by her husband’s words, Patience met the gaze of her beloved Scotsman. Relief spiraled through her with the same fast flowing strength of the Eas Falloch waterfall when the winter snow was melting. She’d never enjoyed keeping secrets from Julian. There had been too many when their marriage had seemed as if it would never survive.

“Perhaps I should have allowed ye to stew a little longer, my lady. It might teach ye a lesson or two nae to meddle.”

“You know I cannot resist the urge to see others as happy as we are, Julian. It would be like asking me not to eat rumbledethumps or tablets.”

“Aye, I suspected as much,” her husband heaved a world-weary sigh before he kissed her again. When he lifted his head, he smiled at her. “Now, go tae Amalie. The lass is nae doubt sharpening those talons of hers tae sink into Val the first chance she gets. But we dinnae want her tae make them too sharp. We want the lad tae have incentive tae chase the lass, nae to be ripped apart and thinking he has nae hope of winning Amalie’s heart.”