Font Size
Line Height

Page 49 of A Rogue in Twilight (The Whisky Rogues #2)

“W e cannot fit another blasted thing into that carriage,” James said, surveying the shabby landau packed full of belongings, most of them not his own.

His breath misted in the chilly air and his boot heels crunched on packed snow.

“We may need a cart and another driver as well as MacKimmie with the carriage. Are you sure the loom is necessary?”

“Aye,” Elspeth said beside him. “If we agree to spend the winter in Edinburgh so you can deliver your lecture series, then I must have my loom to keep me occupied or I die of boredom.” She smiled impishly, beautifully, from under the brim of her dark green velvet bonnet, her gloved hands inside the ermine muff he had given her for Christmas just last week.

Inside her left-hand glove, he knew, she wore the amethyst ring he had commissioned for their wedding in November. She loved it for the joy it represented—and he knew she delighted in its fairy-gem sparkle.

“Please do not languish of boredom,” he laughed.

He felt good-natured despite the dismantled loom precariously strapped to the back of the landau.

Lady Rankin would no doubt call them gypsies when they arrived at the Edinburgh townhouse.

He would set about buying or renting another place as soon as possible.

He drew Elspeth under one arm. “I can think of ways to keep you well occupied.” He nuzzled her cheek, where pink bloomed from cold and a rising blush.

“I would like that,” she murmured. “But you will be so busy with lectures and writing and your beloved rocks. What will I do without my loom and my work?”

“Lucie Graham will be dragging you off to teas and parties to introduce her dear cousin, the lovely Lady Struan. You will have little time for your craft.”

“I want time for my craft,” she said. “When word goes round that the eccentric new Lady Struan would rather sit home and weave than attend parties, there will not be many invitations.”

“Nonsense. The eccentric, unique, brilliant, beautiful Lady Struan will make weaving the new rage among the ladies of Edinburgh.”

“We shall see. I also need the loom to finish a plaid for my husband. It is Highland custom. It should be woven in a Highland home, but we must make an exception.”

“You are always the exception, my girl,” he murmured.

“You promised we can be back at Struan House by spring. I hope the handsome, studious, dashing Lord Struan can find something to do until the university opens in fall.”

“I will have more than enough to do on this estate. And Angus MacKimmie will do a fine job looking after things until then. He is already arranging to have that old bridge repaired.” He nodded to Angus, who grunted, busy tying the last of the luggage to the back of the vehicle.

“But I have been thinking. This may be my last semester of lectures for a little while.”

“Is it so? Could we live year-round at Struan?”

“We still need to go south now and then. We must be pragmatic about that.”

“You are always pragmatic.” She pouted a bit, then smiled.

“Grandmother’s fairy book is nearly complete and will soon be in Sir Walter’s capable hands. And I must spend time in Edinburgh to work on my book about geognosy. After that, I want to write a new study of Scotland’s ancient rock layers. That would mean exploring the Highlands.”

Elspeth nodded. “Good. I want to be here for my grandfather.”

“Of course. Nor would I mind the life of a Highland laird much of the year. I can act as visiting scholar at the university rather than resident lecturer. I will have a word with the dean about that.”

“Thank you. With the fairy spell off his shoulders now, Grandda is slower at his weaving, and there is much weaving work at Kilcrennan, with the orders growing. I want to help him.”

“Donal has more on his mind than weaving these days, with his new wife.”

“Peggy will keep him happy. They both seem so content.”

“It is as if they’ve been married fifty years rather than two weeks. I hope we will be as happy as those two in our later years.”

“We will.” She laughed. “And if we are here, we could perhaps visit the realm where my parents live again. Donal could come with us.”

“Do not test my acceptance too far, wife,” he drawled very low, so only she could hear. “I am still not sure what happened on that mountain. I wonder if I hit my head on a rock that day, and dreamed all of it.”

“Perhaps you did.” She tugged on his hat brim and made a face. “What we have now is the best of dreams. Oh, here they come,” she said, turning. “They wanted to bid us farewell.”

James glanced there, but saw only the empty lane leading to the house. “Odd.”

“Coaches coming,” Angus called then. “A gig and a barouche.”

“Barouche?” James asked quickly.

“Black barouche, sir, very fine,” Angus said. “The one that was here before.”

“Nick,” James muttered. “What the devil does he want?” He walked a little along the lane beside Elspeth just as the coaches came over a low hill. “I see Donal’s gig, but why is Eldin here?”

“I cannot imagine. Since you refused to sell the property, I thought that might be the last we would see of him.”

“Until my grandmother’s will is finalized, after my siblings and I all meet the conditions, he has no need to come here.”

Elspeth tucked her hand inside the crook of his elbow. “He did help search for us when they thought we were lost. Perhaps he cares and came to say farewell. He seems a lonely fellow, though he shows only a grumbly side.”

“Do not let him fool your tender heart. He wanted the treasure, so he joined the search. But only Donal and we two know where that is. The gem mine will stay secret.”

“It may be invisible to anyone else who enters those caves anyway.”

“I am not convinced of that,” he said.

She left his side to dash forward on the snow-packed road. James hurried along. His balance was much improved, and he managed without a cane most days. Highland air and exercise, he claimed. Fairy magic, Elspeth claimed. Whatever it was, his leg had nearly gained its original strength.

The gig carrying Donal and Peggy rolled to a halt, and they climbed down to wrap Elspeth in warm, loving embraces, and took James’s hands in excited conversation. He was happy to see them, though distracted by the approaching barouche.

“We will see you in Edinburgh,” Donal was saying. “I will be delivering new plaids there next month. What is that raven-hearted rascal doing here?” He turned.

“I do not know,” James said. He went to meet Eldin’s barouche as it rolled to a halt, wheels crunching on snow. A riderless, saddled horse was tied to the back of the carriage. He frowned, not sure what this was about.

“Eldin!” He waited as the coachman jumped down to open the door and his cousin stepped out. “Greetings. How may we help you this cold morning?”

Eldin doffed his tall hat in greeting. “It is I who has come to help you .”

“How good to see you, Lord Eldin.” Elspeth joined them and set her gloved hand on James’s arm. He did not take his gaze from his cousin.

“Lady Struan!” Eldin took her offered hand. “You look in fine health.”

“We are about to leave for the south, but would be happy to offer you tea before we go,” Elspeth said. “My grandfather and stepmother are just arrived too.”

“I regret I cannot join you, as I must return to Auchnashee,” Eldin said.

“The castle refurbishments are going well, provided I am there to supervise. I came here today to ask you to convey my best to Fiona. Please extend my invitation to her to stay at Auchnashee when she comes north. Free of charge, of course. We are cousins.”

James frowned, trying to discern a motive. “I did not know Fiona was going into the north.”

“In spring, I believe,” Eldin said with a tight little smile. James saw a flash in his cousins’s dark eyes, a glimmer of something he had not seen before. Hope or even vulnerability. Did he care for Fiona? But it was gone.

“We will be sure to tell Fiona,” Elspeth said.

“The other reason I came here,” Eldin went on, “is to offer you the use of my barouche for your journey. It is larger and more comfortable than your landau. I brought a horse to return to Auchnashee. My driver can wait here and be of use until your man returns with the barouche. You must arrive in the city in style and comfort. It will not do for Viscount Struan and his bride to travel like gypsies.”

“How did you know we were leaving today?” James asked.

“Lady Rankin mentioned in a letter that you might strap all your belongings to the old carriage like a pair of tinkers. She seems to think young Lady Struan is a simple Highland lass. But she does not know what a girl with fairy blood is capable of.” He tipped his head to smile at Elspeth. “I assured her I would help.”

“Thank you,” Elspeth said. “We are honored by your offer.”

“Grateful,” James said. “But it is not necessary.”

“Come have tea,” Elspeth insisted. Eldin relented, promised to leave the barouche and take the horse. Then he walked into the house with Donal and Peggy.

James stared after him. “What the devil was that about,” he muttered.

Elspeth slipped her arm around him. “We may never puzzle him out,” she said. “Let us go inside and have tea with our unexpected guests. Then we will take our tinker parade across the Highlands into the city in our gypsy landau.”

James laughed. “Honestly I would not mind the barouche. It is much more comfortable.” He took her in his arms in the snowy lane, his breath fogging. Elspeth’s nose was pink in the cold, and he kissed it. “I know you are in no hurry to leave here.”

“I would like to stay, but I will go anywhere with you, Lord Struan. Anywhere at all, city or hills, even if all you want to do is look for silly old rocks.”

He kissed her, taking time with it, tender and slow, and felt the heat rising in him, heart and body, despite the cold. “And I am grateful, truly,” he whispered.

“Do you really want to take Eldin’s barouche?” she asked, snuggling close.

“I would, though I would not put it past Cousin Nick to put some kind of spell on it. The fellow is a condundrum.”

“The only spell inside our carriage,” she whispered, “is the one we will set ourselves.” She kissed him again, took his hand, and led him into the warmth of their house.

Ad If ads affect your reading experience, click here to remove ads on this page.