Page 6 of Kilgannon #1

Louisa did not leave her room until late afternoon, and I wandered the house with Will and Betty.

When Betty excused herself after luncheon for a nap, Will and I at last had a chance to talk alone, and I looked at my brother with affection.

Often the buffoon, sometimes dictatorial and difficult, he was always a loving brother, and now he smiled at me.

I was grateful he was here. “Your Highlander has written a note asking my permission to see you,” he said, his expression curious as he fished a note from his waistcoat and handed it to me.

“Louisa has received one as well, so it seems he’s asking us both. What shall I tell him?”

“He’s not my Highlander, Will,” I said crisply, as I read Alex’s very proper note asking Will’s permission to become better acquainted with your sister. He wrote with correct English spelling, but I could somehow hear the Scot’s burr. “Tell him yes.”

“And what about Robert?”

I looked up at my brother. “What about Robert?”

“Do not be trying. Everyone assumes you are marrying.”

“If so, perhaps Robert should declare himself.”

His eyebrows rose. “You do not have an understanding?”

“He has not asked me to marry him, if that’s what you mean. ”

“But I thought—”

“Apparently, so does all of London. But a woman does not assume she’s marrying unless something a little more formal happens.”

“Then Robert’s a fool.”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps he is not as interested as you presume.”

“If he does not watch his back, Kilgannon will steal you away.”

“For heaven’s sake, Will, do I not have some say in this? Robert has not asked me to marry him, nor, dear brother, has Lord Kilgannon. But if Kilgannon wishes to be in my company and I wish it also, he shall be. And at this moment I wish it.”

After a moment Will threw his head back and laughed.

“Do you? I liked him too, which surprises me. I’d heard very different things of him than the man he appears to be.

Louisa admits he’s a bit of a surprise to her as well.

Of course, she hasn’t seen him in years.

I daresay we’ve changed since childhood ourselves. ”

“You haven’t,” I said, laughing.

“Well, perhaps you’re right.” He laughed with me. “But, Mary” —fee” leaned forward—“shall I really tell Kilgannon yes?”

“I’m not thinking of marrying him on the basis of one evening. Good heavens, Will, I just met him last night.” I sighed. “But he is a fascinating man.”

“You spent the night with him in the dining room.”

“Not exactly,” I said dryly.

“Everyone was talking.”

“Of course.” I shrugged, pretending to be unaffected. “But tomorrow they’ll be talking about someone else.”

“Probably.” He nodded, yawning, and then stood as Louisa swept into the room. She flitted around the table and at last faced Will, her hands clasped at her waist, her manner brisk.

“Mary and I are going to walk in the garden,” she said .

Will laughed. “I believe I have been dismissed,” he said and, bowing, left the room. Louisa gestured to me to follow her.

But in the garden she was silent. I walked with her through the roses, then sat with her on a bench. Still she said nothing, and I grew worried. When at last she did speak, it was in a bemused manner. “I hardly know what to say to you, Mary.”

“I am certain that you are angry with me, Louisa.…”

“No, dear, I am not angry.” She looked at me, her beautiful eyes serious and her tone quiet.

“I am afraid for you. When I sat you together, I thought Alex MacGannon would be an interesting diversion for you for the evening, a change from the men of London. I thought you would find him good company for a few hours while Robert was gone. I did not expect to see you gazing deeply into his eyes after a few moments of acquaintance. I have underestimated his charms, it would appear.” She frowned as she looked across the gardens. “And yours. I should know better.”

I flushed at her description of our behavior. I did not remember gazing deeply into his eyes. Or perhaps I did, I thought, as a sudden vision of Alex’s face appeared in my mind, his eyes brilliantly blue. I sighed. “He is fascinating.”

“So it would appear.” She glanced at me. “’But he’s Scottish.”

“Louisa, you married a Scotsman and were very happy.”

Her gaze grew distant. “I was very happy,” she said, nodding.

“But, my dear, Scotland is not England, and Alex is not your uncle Duncan. I was not joking when I told Alex that Scotland was too dangerous and too far away.” She sighed.

“I have known Alex since he was a boy, and he does not appear to have changed a bit. He was as straightforward at ten as now, but he told me only last week that he was not planning to remarry yet and I believed him.”

“Perhaps he’s not, Louisa. All we did was talk. He’s not proposing, nor am I accepting.”

She sighed again. “When I received his note today, I realized that he is considering courting you. I hardly know what to do.”

“There is nothing to do.”

“You mean there is nothing to be done.”

“Louisa, you are worrying too much. I’ve only met him once.”

“Why isn’t Robert here, the fool? I should not have listened to the Duchess. I’m afraid’I’ll lose you to Scotland.”

I shook my head. “I intend to marry no one at the moment. And besides, if I married Robert I might live in Scotland.”

“No, dear, if you married Robert you would live in London or at his estate, and you’d visit Scotland once a year as I did, and no matter what happened in that strange country you would be safe in England.

If you marry Alex you will live in the back of beyond, and I might never see you again.

It is well-known he is devoted to his sons.

He comes with a ready-made family and many responsibilities.

And apparently—whether he knows it or not—he is seeking a wife.

” Her shoulders slumped. “I have been very foolish.” She drummed her fingers on her lips and straightened.

“I shall tell him he may not see you. Then he will go home and marry some Scotswoman with rough ways who will suit him infinitely better, and you and Robert may continue your eternal courtship. That will solve the problem.”

My first reaction was anger, then I paused.

The fact that I was reacting so strongly meant she was right to worry.

Perhaps my interest in Alex was a sudden infatuation that would fade upon further acquaintance.

Perhaps I had simply been dazzled by a handsome newcomer in foreign dress.

But never to see him again? I could not bear it. I would not. “Louisa—” I began.

She put up her hand. “I knew you would object. Very well. We’ll tell him he may come. But you will not be left alone, and I will speak to him. Mary, you do not know what his life is like at Kilgannon. Being an earl in Scotland is hardly the same as here. ”

“How can you say that? Duncan was a Scot, and you were happy.”

“Duncan was not a Highlander. He was very civilized.” She leaned toward me, her eyes bright. “My dear, I thought of Alex as a companion for the evening, not for life.”

I straightened my back. “Don’t you think this has gone extremely far for one evening’s conversation? We’ve talked once. Perhaps I will think differently of him when I see him again. But, Louisa, I will see him again.” Our eyes met, and she sighed.

“I was afraid you would say that. Oh, dear, how I wish your uncle Randolph were here. I have been very foolish.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I am responsible for my own behavior, Louisa, and Alex for his. We have done nothing but talk. I may never see him again.” But in my head I heard him saying that we’d talk further if we both liked what we saw. And I liked what I saw.

She nodded with a frown.

As the day drew to a close, I tried to pretend that it did not bother me that neither Louisa nor Will had mentioned if they’d sent a return note to Alex.

We dined simply, the four of us, and were about to leave the table when a maid brought a note for me.

Louisa’s eyebrows rose, but she said nothing as I reached for it.

I did not recognize the writing or the crest that sealed the letter. It was, of course, from Alex.

“Another apology, do you suppose?” Will asked.

“What do you mean?” I said as I broke the seal.

Will laughed. “Your Highlander apologized profusely to Louisa for monopolizing you last night. I believe it’s the only reason he still breathes.” Louisa protested, but I ignored them as I read Alex’s letter.

Dear Miss Lowell, Alex had written. Your aunt and brother have been good enough to allow me to see you again.

I would like to call upon you in the morning and introduce my cousins.

If this is not acceptable, please send a reply.

Yours, Alexander MacGannon. He’d enclosed his address. I read the letter aloud.

“He certainly is persistent,” said Louisa sharply. “We shall receive him, I assume?”

“I shall,” I said, turning to my brother. “Will?”

Will nodded at me. “Of course. When will Robert return?”

“Tomorrow, I believe,” I said, keeping my tone as light as his. “Perhaps we’ll see him.”

“Perhaps.” He smiled, his eyes merry.

I excused myself and wrote the note quickly, giving it to the tall young man who had waited so patiently.

He was very fair and very handsome and looked so much like Alex that I knew he must be a relation.

I asked him when I brought my note to him, scandalizing Louisa’s butler, Bronson, who believed that young ladies should never speak directly to strangers and certainly not to strangers’ messengers.

Bronson thought me much too bold. I ignored him as much as possible, and he me.

“Aye, miss,” said the young man when I asked him.

“I’m Matthew MacGannon, Kilgannon’s cousin.

Alex is outside waiting for yer answer.” He was younger than he had first appeared and very earnest, and I smiled at him, fighting the impulse to fling open the door and see Alex for myself.

Ellen, one of the maids lingering in the hall, laughed behind her hands as she met my eyes.

“Tell him good evening and that I will see him in the morning,” I told Matthew, trying to ignore Ellen’s laughter.

“Aye, miss. Good evening to ye,” Matthew said, bowing awkwardly, and turned on his heel. I stood for moment looking after him and then exchanged a smile with Ellen.