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“Dinna be shy,” Lizzie urged. “They dinna bite, and we all have pasts that arena the purest.”

Jocelyn raised an eyebrow, curious of what Lizzie referred to. Two of the women that sat in front of her were duchesses. Certainly, their pasts were squeaky clean.

“I dinna ken she believes that, Lizzie,” Clarissa pointed out. “Ye have spent the most time together. Did ye tell her how ye met Malcolm?”

She had. “Yes, they met at a ball,” Jocelyn answered.

The women burst out in laughter.

Willamina clutched her stomach as she laughed so hard, tears shone in her eyes. “Aye, and I met Finlay at a garden party.”

“Well, actually,” Gwen said, “that is true.”

Jocelyn laughed nervously. “I’m sorry, I fear that I am not privy to all of the background information you are.” She turned to Lizzie, hurt a little that the person she had believed was fast becoming her friend, had lied to her. “You didn’t meet at a ball?” she asked quietly.

Lizzie threw an annoyed look to Willamina. “We did meet at a ball, just no’ in the conventional sense, I suppose.”

“Did he not ask you to dance?”

Lizzie laughed. “He most definitely did not. He found me in the chamber of the viscountess that was hosting the party.”

Jocelyn was confused. It still sounded to her as if they met at the ball.

“Malcolm was there to work. He was hired as security to ensure no one stole the viscountess’s jewels. He found me with my hands in her jewelry chest.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock. “You were stealing from the viscountess.”

Willamina barked out a laugh, and Clarissa and Gwen shushed her.

“Nay. I was retrieving the jewelry of my grandmama that had been stolen from my family.” She emphasized the word retrieving.

“Anyhow, he didna believe me when I said they were mine. I did manage to convince him to follow me home to Stonehaven though, so I could prove it. Which I did. But I did meet him at a ball.”

That was a lot of information to take in. Jocelyn couldn’t imagine being mistaken for a thief. She would have been scared to death of losing a hand. Or being thrown into jail. Forced to work hard labor to pay back the sum of what she’d stolen.

“Um,” Jocelyn muttered, scratching her ear. “I really don’t know how to respond to that.”

Giggles filled the room. “We all have our stories,” Clarissa chimed in. “I was enamored with Alexander, much to my brother’s chagrin and he did e’erything in his power to keep us apart.”

“Nicholas caught me stealing flowers from his garden. And aye, I was really stealing them,” Gwen confessed.

Once again, Jocelyn’s jaw dropped.

“And Finlay and I did meet at a garden party, verra briefly. But we soon realized that we both had problems that needed solving, and the only solution was to get married right away.”

“Did you love each other?”

Willamina slapped her knee with a guffaw. “I found him quite attractive, but love came later. And then I found out I was married twice.”

The women laughed, and Jocelyn found that she couldn’t stop herself from joining in with them. They weren’t lying when they said they all had their own stories. She wanted to hear the gritty details of each one.

“I must admit that all of you are the opposite of what I expected. And I mean no offense by that whatsoever.”

“See, ye were fashing for no reason,” Lizzie offered.

“Now ye need to tell us how ye met Gunn,” Gwen urged. “Ye ken all of our dark secrets.” She rubbed her hands together, a wicked glint shining in her eyes. “Now we need to ken yours.”

“Agreed,” Willamina said, her hand drawing slow circles on her belly.

Jocelyn took a deep breath, and let it out in a huff, her hands resting on her knees. “I fear my story is nowhere close to all of yours when it comes to excitement.”

“We shall be the judges of that,” Clarissa laughed.

“I’ve run away from my husband,” she blurted, and everyone but Lizzie, who already knew, gasped.

“Jocelyn!” Clarissa exclaimed. “How scandalous. Does he ken where ye are?”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe so. Otherwise, he would have appeared. There was a reason I ran. I didn’t just do it for fun or because I was bored.”

“There’s always a reason driving us forward in what we choose to do,” Gwen said gently and Jocelyn got the feeling that she had been through a lot.

“’Tis how we handle ourselves when the time comes that is important.

To me, it sounds like ye did what ye had to do at the perfect time, leading ye to Gunn. ”

“I agree. However, I am still married, and this,” she paused. What was it that she and Gunn were doing? What label did they give themselves? “Well, whatever it is that Gunn and I are doing goes against every vow I spoke when I married my husband.”

On the sofa, Willamina straightened. “I believe I can speak on this as the only other one of us that has been married more than once. Ye need to do what is right for ye. Your husband was a cruel man, aye?”

Jocelyn nibbled at her lip, nodding.

“Mine was, too. In so many ways. When he died, I mourned him as was proper. But it wasna in a way that I missed him. It was as if a burden had been lifted. If I’m no’ mistaken, I believe that is what ye are feeling now, is it no’?”

Jocelyn pondered her words. Relief had flooded her after the first night she’d left. Up until that time she was terrified that Victor would show up out of the blue, no matter where she was. When he hadn’t, it was like light at the end of a long tunnel that she had to fight her way through.

The Thistle & Pig became her respite. Gunn her support.

“You’re right. The time since I’ve left has been amazing. Gunn has been a big part of that, for which I will be forever grateful.”

“If ye ask me, your arrival saved Gunn,” Lizzie proclaimed.

“Well, I don’t know about that.”

“’Tis true. Ye dinna see him before. He was miserable. Grumpy all the time. Ye brought happiness and light back into his life. He needed that. Deserved that. And it sounds like ye did, too.” Lizzie reached over and squeezed her hand.

“Och, look at the time,” Gwen announced. “I suppose we should get ready for dinner. Mayhap after we can gather for games in the parlor?”

A round of ayes filled the room, along with Jocelyn’s yes. It was funny how two countries, connected by land, had such different languages. She guessed it was the same for France and its nearby countries.

The women slowly exited the room, splintering off to different sections of Leyson depending on where their rooms were. She paused, trying to gain her bearings and remember which direction she needed to go to get to her room.

“Are ye lost?” a low voice rumbled behind her.

Gunn.

She smiled, turning and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Stepping up on her tip toes, she kissed his cheek.

“I must confess, I have no idea where I am or how to get back to my room.” She stepped back, wetting her bottom lip with her tongue and looked up at him through her lashes. “Can you help me with that?”

He growled and nipped the air with his teeth. “I can definitely help ye.”

With a warm hand at her back, he turned her in the opposite direction of where she thought she needed to go and led her down the hall and up the stairs.

“Your room is next to mine. I wanted ye to be close.”

There was no denying what he meant by those words.

And lord above, forgive her, but she was excited by the thought of what was to come. Couldn’t wait for it to happen.