Page 5 of The Duchess’s Absolutely Delightful Dream (The Notorious Briarwoods #14)

“I f you can make her happy, we’d all be positively thrilled,” a fellow named Archie declared. He was another one of Elspeth’s brothers.

Octavian stared at the set of incredibly large Scotsmen, who were up to their waists in the dark loch water, and considered turning tail and running.

The duke was there, along with Archie and two other massive brothers named Brodie and Leith. They were fair copies of each other. All over six feet. All russet-haired in fiery hues. All looking as if they had descended from the god Thor.

This all felt a bit familiar. It was absolutely something that Briarwood men would’ve done, and yet Octavian felt incredibly vulnerable.

He trusted his own family, and he even trusted the Duke of Rossbrea because he liked him.

They had hit it off, and Octavian had incredibly good instincts about people.

But these fellows were very large, and he was out in the country, far, far, far away from everyone.

Now, his own cousins were here.

If things got particularly sticky, they would come to his aid and rescue him, but he was fairly certain he understood what the big Scots were suggesting. After all, his own uncles had suggested it to his aunt’s husband. It had been done before. He could make a lady happy.

But he wanted to be clear so that there would be no confusion later down the road.

And this all felt incredibly awkward as he stood without his own clothes on in the freezing water.

Seals were swimming by, lounging on lichen-covered rocks, eyeing the lot of them as if they were all positively mad.

“I have to ask,” he said. “I want to be clear what you’re suggesting.”

The duke angled his head to the side. “Yes?”

And before the duke could reply, his own cousins, Laertes, Deimos, and Perseus, raced down the side of the hill, let out cries, and charged into the water.

Horrified, shocked breaths filled the air.

“It’s cold,” Perseus yelled. “It’s cold.”

“Of course it’s cold,” Rossbrea declared. “It’s Scotland.”

“We are accustomed to sea-bathing on the Isle of Wight. The water is not exactly warm,” replied Deimos, his dark hair the same shade as the skin of the seals swimming about.

“That’s the south,” Brodie said with his light burr.

“Tropical,” put in Leith.

“Positively hot,” Archie affirmed.

Laertes eyed them all. “This might as well be the land of ice.”

“Do you see any ice?” Rossbrea drawled as he bobbed up to his neck in the dark water. “This is a Scottish summer. This is very warm.”

“This is enough to make certain that you never have children,” said Deimos.

“Don’t worry, none of us are hunting for marriage partners and thinking of having children,” said the Duke of Rossbrea.

“We just need everyone to have a wonderful time. That’s what this summer is for.

We’re all going have an absolutely magnificent time because the world is going to the dogs, and we all just need to smile a bit. ”

The comment, Octavian felt, was a bit overdone. It was not inaccurate, of course, because the world was going to the dogs as far as he could see. Everything was a mess. Still, it felt forced and as if the duke was determined to make everyone feel happy, come hell or high water.

He supposed he was mostly in agreement with that, but it did make him a bit nervous. What if the duke and his brothers all turned on him? Suddenly, he had a great sympathy for his American uncle who had, well, had an affair with his English wife, though with the permission of the Briarwood family.

Was this that? Octavian was unsure.

“I think I should decline the offer,” he said, “to make your sister happy.”

“What kind of happy are you talking about?” the duke asked with narrowed eyes.

Octavian stilled. “I don’t know. What kind are you talking about?”

“Details should never be discussed when talking about ladies,” Leith growled. “And we mean you should attempt to make her smile. What else could we mean, you foul-minded Englishman?”

Ah. They did not mean what he’d thought. And he found himself rather disappointed.

“Don’t fall in love with her,” Brodie said merrily. “We don’t want an Englishman in the family.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Octavian assured quickly.

“Why? Do you think something is wrong with her?” Leith demanded.

“I haven’t known her very long,” he dared to tease. “Is there something wrong with her?”

Leith snorted. “Not a jot.”

Archie grinned. “But, of course, she’s our sister, so we think she’s extremely irritating to us.”

Octavian laughed. “I don’t have sisters, but I have many cousins.”

“Many,” Laertes bellowed.

“You see, I think I should be clear,” Octavian stated as he swam deeper into the freezing loch.

“I have no intention of marrying. I have no intention of falling in love. I have a very specific duty, and anyone who doesn’t understand that should be very careful.

I just want to be utterly clear on that point so that there’s no confusion, you see. ”

Rossbrea nodded. “Understood. And we aren’t looking to get her married. Or scandalized. We just want to remind her that men can be bonny, and she shouldn’t put herself on the shelf. The ladies love you,” the duke added.

“Yes, they do,” Octavian agreed, without any attempt at humility. “But this is different, isn’t it?”

“Are you not up to the task? Do you have to seduce ladies to get them to like you? Because if you seduce her, a new war between us and your lot will start.”

His jaw dropped open at the insult. “Of course I’m up to the task,” he said.

“But I want to be absolutely certain you understand. I can make her laugh and smile. This won’t be any hardship.

But that will be it. I could die any day, and I’m not about to leave the battlefield because I fall in love or get married.

That would leave the woman I was in love with in the most terrible state.

I could not do that to anyone, and I especially could not do that to a woman like your sister. ”

Rossbrea’s merry look dimmed, replaced by sympathy.

“Like my sister?” Leith growled. “What are you trying to say?”

“She’s already been widowed once,” Octavian bit it out. “And you are very clear that she was very sad, which means she’s quite a reasonable, healthy person. But to do that to someone twice…” he said softly.

“You’ve thought about marrying our sister?” Brodie challenged.

“No!” he all but shouted. “Right, I just thought we should all understand each other.”

“Of course we do,” said Archie.

“We all understand each other,” added Leith.

“No Englishmen marrying into our family,” Brodie proclaimed before he shuddered in the water. “How horrible would that be?”

“You are just here for a few brief happy days in the Highlands,” Rossbrea said. “And you’ll be welcome back at any time.”

“And that’s not usually something that we’d say about the English,” Leith admitted.

“That’s rude,” Laertes said.

“But true,” Brodie pointed out.

Laertes cocked his head to the side. “Then you clearly don’t know enough of us Briarwoods.”

“You are wonderful guests,” Rossbrea said before his lips twitched and he swam along the loch’s edge. “I hear that a production is being put on.”

“Oh God, really?” Octavian asked, finally adjusting to the cold. “Just as long as Grandmama doesn’t ask me to play any of the fairies.”

A laughed boomed from the duke’s lips. “I bet you would look marvelous in wings.”

“I do,” Octavian agreed. “That’s what you need to understand. I do look marvelous in wings, and if Grandmama has her way, we’ll all be on stage, including you, Your Grace.”

The duke dunked under the water, then came up, his fiery locks glistening as he grinned. “I don’t suppose it would be the worst thing in the whole world, as long as we don’t do the Scottish play. It’s a terrible propaganda piece,” he said.

“Oh no, no, no. We won’t be doing that. At times like these, Grandmama prefers comedy,” Laertes informed. “So look out for that.”

“Life should be full of comedy,” Octavian said.

“Because it’s so terrible,” the duke replied. “Right. A good time for everyone. Especially my sister. But not too much of a good time.”

Octavian sighed. “I shall consider it,” he said. “It’s what friends are for, after all.”

“That will do,” the duke said. “I’m glad you understand.”

And he did. He had family he loved and would do anything to help them. Really, he was quite honored Rossbrea trusted him to help his sister out of a tricky period.

Some might have been offended. He knew better than that.

Octavian dived under the water. The water was cold. Very, very cold. It cleared his head, and he loved it.

As he reemerged, he watched his cousins swim up and down the length of the loch.

Memories of many joyous days they had of swimming in the Thames along Heron House came to him. It was a tradition for his family to dip together into the waters of that famous river. But here, something else entirely was happening.

It had to be the cold water.

Yes, the cold water had stolen everyone’s wits. It was the only way such a conversation could actually take place between two sets of men from two different families.

He wondered if she would like this conversation. He had a funny feeling that she would not. She seemed to be quite independent and quite strong and would not like men arguing over how she should be entertained or made happy.

He smiled despite himself. She was interesting, she was wonderful, she was beautiful, and that was the exact reason why he should probably climb out of the loch, put his clothes on, find the nearest horse, ride to the closest town, and take a coach out of the Highlands.

But as he looked around at the beauty about him, the seals lounging about or swimming through the dark water like magical creatures, then up to the hills, which soared out of the water and seemed to strike up to the sky like God’s own land, Octavian realized he didn’t want to go.

He wanted to stay. He wanted, as she said, to let this land heal him. But what if he made the wound worse? What if he made her wounds worse?

He was being an idiot.

He was allowing himself to indulge in a sort of melancholy nonsense that the Briarwoods did not believe in. His Grandmama would be appalled. Likely, he just needed to seek her out, have a good conversation, and forget all this nonsense.

He hadn’t been joking when he’d discussed war with the young, widowed duchess, Elspeth.

The truth was that life could be very bad, and one could either succumb or one could find the best out of all of it.

And she was the best. Even her family was the best, just after the Briarwoods, of course.

They’d found him and given him this chance of a beautiful stay in the Scottish Highlands to enjoy life before he had to return to war.

And the war was accelerating, in his opinion.

The armies were circling. He felt it in his bones that one truly great battle where thousands and thousands of men would meet, and thousands and thousands of men would die in one day, was coming. He didn’t know when or where, but it was definitely coming.

Yes, that blood-streaked battlefield was on the horizon, calling his name.

And he might, at last, be one of the men who did not get up, who did not rise again, who did not escape the fate of a grave in a far-off land. So, he was going to enjoy himself here, he was going to make Elspeth happy, and he was going to make himself happy too.

And a little bit of happiness would be enough.