Page 32 of Savage Kilted Highlander (Temptation in Tartan #9)

Two weeks later…

“Oh, Bane, I am so nervous, but excited at the same time,” Constance said, holding the hand of her betrothed tightly as the carriage turned into the long driveway of Ashbourne House.

“It’ll be all right,” Bane told her, squeezing her hand back as if trying to give her some of his calmness. She looked at him fondly, appreciating his steadying presence by her side. “I know I would be far worse if you were not with me,” she said for the twentieth time since they had set out on the long journey several days ago from Ferniehurst Castle, over the border, into Northumberland, and the thriving, familiar town of Hexham.

She looked anxiously out of the window at the surrounding countryside as they followed the winding drive through pastures and woodland on their way to the manor house. “It is so strange to be back here. Not just in England. I mean here, at Ashbourne Manor, where I grew up. Everything looks the same as it always did, but somehow different,” she said, biting her lip, wondering how Henry and Amelia might have changed in her absence. She had missed them so much, and she loved them as much as ever. But she could not help feeling that they might in some way blame her for the death of their father.

“’Tis bound tae seem that way. It always daes when ye’ve been away from somewhere familiar for a while. But ’tis nae really a very long time since ye left here, Constance,” Bane said.

“Yes, I suppose so,” she replied, her stomach turning somersaults as they crested a slight hill and rounded a corner and the manor came into view up ahead.

“Well, here we are at last,” she said as the carriage swept around a gravelled circle in front of the mansion and drew to a halt. Constance tried to quell her nerves as she gathered her few things. Bane got out and handed her down. She felt and heard the familiar crunch of the gravel beneath her feet and had to take Bane’s arm to steady herself. After many days in the carriage, she felt as though she had been on a ship and now had to get her land legs back.

“’Tis a very pretty place,” Bane admitted, patting her arm as it linked with him, looking around at the peaceful scene. The wind was fresh, but the leaves and buds of spring were filling the trees, a light dusting of green. “But very flat.”

She laughed, hearing the anxiety in it. “No mountains here, I’m afraid. I hope you will not be homesick.”

“I’ll manage, as long as I’m with ye,” he told her sincerely, and she smiled sweetly up at him, marvelling at how the callous brutal Scottish savage she had first encountered could also embody this loving, gentle man.

“Shall we go in?” he asked. “Are ye ready?”

She composed herself as best she could and nodded. “Yes, I am as ready as I ever will be. Let us go.” As the carriage rolled around the back of the house to the stables, they stepped towards the grand Palladian portico of the manor, with its fluted columns of white Italian marble. She was shaking, holding onto Bane for dear life as they drew nearer when, to her surprise, the enormous front door flew open and a slight, delicate vision in primrose yellow let out a scream, bolted down the steps, and raced towards them.

It was immediately followed by a little black and white terrier yapping excitedly as it followed in the wake of the primrose whirlwind approaching them on its comical little legs.

“Connie! You have come at last! Oh, I have been watching from the windows all morning, and I only went away for a minute to get a biscuit for Punch, and when I came back, the carriage was here.”

“Amelia!” Constance cried, opening her arms as her younger sister flung herself bodily into them and wrapped her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly and practically jumping up and down with obvious glee.

“Oh, Connie, I am so glad to have you back,” Amelia cried against her neck, almost choking Constance in her excitement. “You cannot imagine how we have missed you. It has not been the same since you left,” she babbled.

Constance, deeply moved at receiving such a warm welcome, did not bother to hold back her tears of joy at seeing her sister. “Oh, Milly, how happy I am to see you too. I have missed you every single day!” she sobbed, not caring at all that her eyes would be red from crying. The wellspring of emotion was simply too much to resist.

Finally, she managed to disentangle herself from Amelia’s embrace, upon which Amelia immediately laughed and pointed at Punch, who was dancing about their feet in a frenzy of canine excitement. “Look, little Punchie is glad to have you home too. I believe he has been pining for you, you know.”

Constance laughed between her tears as she bent down to pet the little dog, who expressed his delight at seeing her by jumping up on her and trying to lick her face. “I expect he has been missing all the biscuits I used to feed him,” she told her sister before addressing the dog directly. “Darling, Punch, I have missed you very much too. No, thank you, I do not want any kisses,” she told the happy creature, falling back into her old ways by scratching behind his ears. “I will give a you a biscuit later and take you for a nice run instead, I promise.”

She straightened up, noticing that Amelia was now standing back a little, her hands clasped demurely at her waist, her cheeks glowing pink as she looked shyly at Bane from beneath her lashes. Bane smiled kindly at her, his hazel eyes twinkling.

Constance introduced them, seeing on her sister’s face a great deal of curiosity. “This is my betrothed, Milly, Bane Graham. Bane, this is Amelia, my sister.”

Bane bowed gallantly and kissed Amelia’s preferred hand with manners fitting a gentleman of the court. “’Tis a pleasure tae meet ye, Amelia,” he said in answer to her little charming little curtsey.

“Oh my! He really is Scottish,” Amelia exclaimed, giggling putting her hands to her cheeks and smiling winningly at Bane.

“Aye, I’m as Scottish as bagpipes,” he told her, setting her giggling again. Her laughter was infectious, and Constance and Bane soon joined in. Constance was secretly thrilled to see what an impression Bane had made on Amelia. She was enormously proud of him and enjoyed showing off her incredibly handsome fiancé whenever she had the chance. It tickled him to be thought of as handsome, and continually denied what she insisted was an unarguable fact. And when he smiled, as he was doing now at her sister, he was even more handsome in her eyes.

However, being English, Amelia had also been brought up to think of the Scots as uncivilized savages, and she had not been sure how Amelia would take to him. Clearly, though, he was a hit with her, for she gave a charming little curtsey and said, “I am delighted you have come to stay with us, Bane. We do not have any bagpipes sadly, but Mrs. Howarth in the kitchen has made some shortbread according to an old Scottish recipe she got from her sister in Shrewsbury, which we hope will help you to feel at home. I have already tried some and it is delicious.” She picked up Punch who was clamouring for her attention. “That is his way of saying he liked it as well,” she confided.

Bane laughed. “That is very thoughtful of Mrs. Howarth, I will make sure tae thank her personally fer her efforts,” he replied, appearing equally as charmed by Amelia as she was with him.

“Now you have come such a long way and here I am making you stand outdoors, silly me. You must forgive me, Bane, in my excitement, I quite forgot my manners. Come, let is go indoors, where it is warm, and have some tea,” Amelia told them both.

“Why you are the perfect little hostess, Milly,” Constance told her approvingly as they walked towards the front door. The were just going up the steps when a figure appeared in the doorway. Constance looked up, and her heart skipped a beat. “Henry!”

“Connie!” Henry ran down to her, grabbed her in both arms, lifted her off the floor, and swung her around, both of them laughing, and Constance crying a little at the same time.

“Sister, you are back!” He put her down and inspected her. “And how pretty you are looking. All that Scottish air must be doing you a world of good,” he said, beaming at her. He planted a big kiss on both her cheeks. “Welcome home. We have all missed you greatly.”

“As I have missed you too, Brother,” Constance assured him, in her joy at seeing him, dashing her happy tears aside with the back of her hand in what she knew as a very unladylike manner. But there was no one there to care or criticize. The atmosphere was one of joyful homecoming.

“And this must be Mr. Graham, your fiancé,” Henry said, smiling inquiringly at Bane and holding out his hand in greeting.

Bane took it and shook it firmly, returning Henry’s warm smile. “Aye, but naebody calls me Mr. Graham. ’Tis Bane.”

“Bane, I am very glad to meet you. Welcome to our home. We hope you will enjoy it here at Ashbourne as much I am sure we will enjoy having you,” Henry replied graciously, every inch the young, English aristocrat.

“Can we go inside now, Henry? I am freezing,” Amelia complained. So, in they went, and as Constance passed through the familiar halls of her childhood home, her former nervousness ebbed away. She felt enormous gratitude to her siblings for greeting both her and Bane so warmly. None of her fears, it seemed had been justified. She did not know if it was her imagination, but without the brooding unpredictable presence of her stepfather, the old house seemed warmer, lighter, and more alive.

However, as the siblings took them into the blue drawing room for tea, to sit before a good fire and enjoy Mrs. Howarth’s excellent refreshments, she was aware that the thorny subject of Lord Ashbourne and his untimely demise would arise soon or later, and it was not going to be easy to deal with.

She knew that her siblings, being the honest, open people that they were despite their father, would not shy away from tackling it. No sooner were they settled in the drawing room with their tea, with Punch happily reclining on Constance’s lap, Amelia brought it up in a roundabout way.

“Of course, much had changed in the short time you have been away, Connie. Henry is the Viscount now, and a Member of Parliament, and a Justice of the Peace for Hexham. Can you imagine? He can even hang people if he wants to.”

“Milly! Do not say such things. I have not hung anybody, and I do not intend to if I can help it,” Henry complained, biting into his shortbread. “And please do not remind me of the thousand responsibilities I now have on my shoulders. Do you know, Connie, I have hardly had any time to see my friends since we got the news that father had died. Being a peer of the realm and all that sounds nice, but when you actually have to do it, it can be very tedious.”

Constance stiffened and cast Bane a nervous glance. But he sent her a subtly encouraging look. “Henry, Milly, I am so very sorry about what happened to your father. I-I was there when he died, and so was Bane. And it was… very shocking. It was in a battle, but you know that, of course.”

“Aye, me condolences tae ye both,” Bane put in in support.

“Thank you, Bane, that is very kind. Yes, we know all about it, Connie. You told us some of it in your letter, but we also learned quite a lot of the details from Lord Lionel. He came to tell us the news almost as soon as it became known here in England,” Henry explained. “It was naturally a great shock to us both at the time.”

“Yes, I admit, at first, I could not take it in at all. I kept expecting him to come in through the door. I think I am only getting used to the fact now that he is not coming back,” Amelia said.

“I know what you mean, Amelia. It has been very shocking to me also. I am sorry if I am intruding on your grief, my dears, but I admit, I have been very worried about how you would take the news. I did not know if you would hold me partially responsible for his death,” Constance confessed, glad to be able to speak the words that had weighed so heavily on her for the last two weeks.

To her surprise, they both looked at her in puzzlement. “Why on earth should we blame you for any of it, Connie?” Amelia asked. “If Father had not wanted to marry you to that awful earl, none of this would have happened. He went a little mad after you left, did he not, Henry?”

“Yes, he was furious that you had gone and seemed absolutely set on getting you back and making you marry Lord Belton. Of course, there was a lot of money and prestige riding on it. That was always Father’s thing, as you know. We never told him we knew the truth about your birth and that you have a twin sister or Mama’s infidelity, and he never told us either. I suppose it all got a bit mixed up in his head, the need for revenge and the money and all that. He was never one to like being thwarted. Good grief, we could never have let you marry that awful man, Connie, whatever happened.”

“And as you described in your letter, he attacked your father’s castle in an attempt to get you back,” Amelia pointed out. “If one’s home is attacked, one defends it, and if there is a battle, you are liable to get killed, that is the way of it. I believe he threated your life, Bane, in the attempt. I am dreadfully sorry. I hope you have recovered from your injuries.”

“Aye, more or less, thank ye,” Bane said rather awkwardly, clearly amazed at the conversation.

“He held a knife to Bane’s throat to force me to come back to England with him,” Constance explained. “My father had no choice but to fight him, and he won.”

“Yes, we understand, Connie. They were trying to protect you, quite rightly. We are both very grateful to them for that,” Henry said. “I do not wish to sound cold hearted and pretend we are not sad about it. And to learn the manner of his death was shocking, of course. We are mourning him in our own way. I do not wish to speak ill of the dead, but it has to be admitted that he could be quite wicked at times. Look at the way he treated you, Connie. No, I have come to terms with his loss. He chose his path, and no one could sway him from it. That is all one can really say.”

“Absolutely,” Amelia agreed, getting up and coming over to her sister. She put an arm around Constance’s shoulder and kissed her cheek. “So, you see, Connie, none of it was your fault, and you must not blame yourself for any of it for a single second.”

“Not a second,” Henry echoed.

Deeply moved, Constance burst into floods of tears, whereupon Henry went to sit at her side as well, and he and Amelia hugged her and comforted her, while Bane looked on in quiet but satisfied amazement.

But there’s more…

There are still things happening between Bane & Constance and their story is not finished yet. Constance is yet to marry him and who knows who is going to attend the wedding. Have her siblings forgiven her? And what is going to happen with Tav?

If you want to have a glimpse in their future and see all new things happening in their lives…