Page 3 of The Scot’s Seduction (Heirs & Spares #2)

But then again, nothing here was as he’d expected. Not since he’d left his comfortable home in Achnasheen, certainly.

The servant herself was most definitely not what he would expect. For one thing, she was wearing trousers, which he’d never seen on a female except in the fields during harvesttime. And another was that she seemed to be nearly as opinionated as her mistress.

“That would not be possible,” Lady Drusilla said in a gentle tone of voice.

“I do help young ladies such as yourself, I will admit, but my purpose is to help them avoid having to conform to what Society wants, such as marriage. There are few people like your uncle, in fact,” she said, giving him a quick nod.

“It is admirable that he wishes you to know more about your potential betrothed and that he is willing to give you time to make your decision. I commend you, my lord,” she said. She sounded sincere.

He froze for a moment, then stammered out a murmured thanks in her direction.

Emily folded her arms over her chest and looked petulant, but she offered no rebuttal.

“Well,” Murdoch said after a few moments’ silence, “we should be going home, Emily.” Where he could soak in a hot tub and try to wash away his ignominious afternoon—not to mention the soreness from where the servant and Lady Drusilla had grasped him.

“Fine,” Emily said, jerking to her feet.

“I will be on my way, but I have to say I am disappointed. All of you,” she amended, sweeping her frustrated gaze over them.

“Thank you for your interference, my lady, even if it ultimately means nothing.” She sounded so mournful that Murdoch’s chest ached, and he wished he could figure out a way to explain to Emily just what he intended and that with his current behavior he was determined to ensure her a happy future.

But of course he couldn’t, because he was him, and she was as stubborn as any other member of the Campbell family, even if she lacked the accent and the general curmudgeonliness.

Emily bent down to pet a kitten, this one black and white with little white socks that made it seem as if the kitten were awaiting a set of shoes.

He nodded toward Lady Drusilla, then the servant in the corner, before turning to Emily. “We shall be on our way, then,” he said gruffly.

His niece didn’t reply, just raised her head in a pointed display of annoyance and walked out of the room, Murdoch following.

“W ell,” Drusilla began as the door closed behind them, “that was unexpected.”

Joey came and sat in the chair Miss Emily had been sitting in, crossing her legs and resting her ankle on her knee.

“I’ve never seen you at a loss for words, Lady Dru, but when that tiny fairy creature announced she wanted to marry—you looked as though someone had made you drink turpentine instead of tea. ”

“As I said,” she replied with a grin, “it was unexpected. But at least we don’t have to go toe-to-toe with that behemoth.” Even though the thought was appealing, at least in a supine way. She imagined he might be just as vehement in bed, but there his decisiveness would be quite welcome.

“It was that rare to hear a man say he wants a lady to wait for marriage,” Joey continued. “I hope he can restrain her from saying yes to the first knob who asks her—it would be a shame for someone to toss her life away so quickly.”

Drusilla looked over at her friend. “It’s not everyone who sees marriage as a prison.”

“Only the smart ones,” Joey snapped back.

“Good point,” Drusilla replied. “But they are not my concern. Before we were interrupted, you were telling me about a family, I believe? How can we help?”

After she’d taken Joey in, the two had begun hearing about other women who were in need of assistance.

Society ladies sometimes, yes, but more often than not people in less fortunate circumstances.

Often the women only needed money, which Drusilla’s own fortune could supply; other times their rescues were more complicated, requiring things such as lodging, work, food, and education.

Drusilla’s town house, which she had inherited from her parents, was large, well able to accommodate nearly everybody who needed a place to stay.

But Drusilla knew there were more people out there who needed help.

Her dream was to purchase a building that would be suitable for some sort of business on the ground floor, with rooms above for the workers and their families.

But while she had money, she didn’t have enough to pay for that as well as her ongoing projects.

And she couldn’t deny anyone help if they needed it, even if there was a good reason to be saving her money.

Plus, there was the little matter of making certain she would actually be able to open such a place. It would need a steady infusion of funds—more than what she had—as well as the approval of various Society people who would then, hopefully, provide the funds.

Currently, Drusilla had her permanent guests—Joey; Cook; a few stablemen who’d been in Her Majesty’s Army; Bertha, the housekeeper and occasional lady’s maid; and Bertha’s daughter, Priscilla.

Bertha had been tossed out on her ear when it was discovered she was with child—that it was the gentleman of the house’s offspring, and that Bertha had not welcomed his attentions, were beside the point.

There were also the kittens—Drusilla wasn’t certain how many of them were in the house, just that the kitchen cat had escaped one evening and had birthed a litter a few months later. Joey had taken on the task of distributing them where they would be well cared for.

Drusilla had the suspicion, however, that at least two of them would become permanent. Priscilla had taken a liking to the kittens, naming one Tina and the other Other Tina.

They looked different from each other, but Drusilla still couldn’t remember which was which.

Because of Drusilla’s unusual approach to philanthropy, she was a common topic in Society, she knew that.

But then again, she didn’t much care about Society in the first place.

She went to a few parties because she did have friends who circulated in that world, and it was also convenient when she wanted to find a new lover.

Usually she was too busy with her concerns to fuss about what she might be missing, though there were times she wished she was the type of woman who could just ignore others’ problems and concentrate on her own life. But that was impossible.

For the moment, it was enough that Society tolerated her as an eccentric. It would make it easier for her to approach the people who could fund her ventures when she required it.

“I’ve got the letter here,” Joey said, reaching into her pocket to withdraw a ragged piece of paper.

“She says—a Mrs. Green—that her husband is a sailor, but that his ship returned and he wasn’t on it, and nobody will tell her what might have happened to him.

She’s got four children, the oldest is fourteen, and she does slopwork at home so that she can keep an eye on them, but the rent is due.

” Joey looked up at Drusilla. “One thing you could do is don one of your fancy dresses and go sweet-talk some lord to see if he can figure out where Mr. Green is.” Another reason Drusilla needed to stay on the right side of Society.

“And if Mr. Green is never coming back? If he’s deserted his family?” Drusilla said sharply.

Joey’s expression shifted to sympathy. Something Drusilla did not want. “Not everyone is like your fella,” she said.

Drusilla snorted. “He deserted his family and pretended he wasn’t married at all when I met him.

How many other blackguards like that are out in the world?

” More than should exist, she knew. That was the biggest reason she’d taken on helping other women with such fervor—she couldn’t bear the thought that a woman’s ability to survive was dependent on a man.

She hadn’t confided in anyone but her sister, Diantha, and Joey about what had happened with Mr. Wallins, and it still hurt, nearly ten years later.

“At least we know that Scottish brute isn’t married,” Joey said with a wink. “Do you imagine he’d be in that kind of pickle if he had a wife to assist with that English rose’s debut?”

Drusilla laughed, as Joey meant her to. “Although, if he was married, then that English rose would see firsthand what marriage was like and maybe not be as keen on the idea.” She sighed.

“It’s such a shame that a girl as young as she is would be so bent on shackling herself to another person for the rest of her life. ”

“How old were you?” Joey asked slyly.

Drusilla glared at her friend. “Not old enough. Thank God he was already married, or I would have made the worst mistake of my life.”

“I imagine that Scottish lord’s wife would be pleased in one area, at least,” Joey continued, with another wink.

“Like you would even entertain that idea,” Drusilla shot back.

Joey shrugged. “I wouldn’t, but I saw how you looked at him. All that raw strength? Makes you think.”

“I did not!” Drusilla exclaimed.

Joey just stared at her as Drusilla felt her cheeks start to turn a fiery red. “As I said,” her friend replied in a smug tone.

“Oh, do be quiet. Let’s go be of some use,” Drusilla said grumpily.

Joey just shook her head and laughed.