Highlander's Fallen Angel : A Steamy Scottish Historical Romance Novel

by Lydia Kendall

  “I think ye ought to be leavin’.” Without warning, Camdyn stepped into the conversation, dropping any pretense of a clipped Edinburgh accent. “Her Ladyship dinnae want ye here, and ye’ve got some stones, comin’ into her house and proposin’ marriage to her, when her husband has nae been cold in the ground for more than a year.”

  William whirled around, as though he had quite forgotten that Camdyn was in the room. “Excuse me? Who do you think you are speaking to?”

  “I’m speakin’ to an ingrate what’s upset Me Lady, that’s who,” Camdyn shot back, striding forward with his hands balled into white-knuckled fists. “So get out, before I hoof ye out on yer arse.”

  “Camdyn, stop!” Victoria cried, terrified that he would give himself away as a Jacobite.

  William stood sharply. “I am not afraid of you, whoever you are. You cannot evict me from my own property, and nor will you ‘hoof me out,’ as you so coarsely put it, until the Countess has spoken on the matter. I am offering a solution, and you are causing trouble. Be gone with you!”

  “I will nae be goin’ anywhere,” Camdyn growled back. “Ye dinnae come in here, lordin’ a title you have nae earned in Me Lady’s face. Ye dinnae upset her. And ye dinnae tell her that the only way to get back what’s hers is to marry ye, ye wretch!” He lunged for William, grabbing him by the scruff of his collar until they were nose to nose.

  “Camdyn!” Victoria hurried to her feet, not knowing what to do to calm the situation. If she tried to get between them, she feared she might get struck by accident, or spark a true brawl.

  William’s eyes widened to the whites. “Unhand me immediately!”

  “I will, when ye promise not to come back here,” Camdyn snarled. “She already told ye what she wants. She wants ye to go back to England, where ye can pretend ye’re lord of the manor around yer own kind of savages. I suggest ye listen, if ye want to keep yer head attached to yer neck!”

  William shoved against Camdyn’s broad chest, but the impact had no effect. “Release me at once, you vile guttersnipe!”

  “Call me that again; see how ye fare without the use of some of yer fingers,” Camdyn hissed, his body visibly thrumming with rage. “Ye is nae welcome here. So, take yer ill-gotten title, shove it up yer arse, and get yerself back to England while I’m still feelin’ lenient.”

  “I have n-never been spoken t-to so c-crudely in all my life!” William spluttered, as he tried to wrestle himself free of Camdyn’s fearsome grasp.

  What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?

  Victoria hurried toward the two men, deciding that risking her own safety was worth protecting Camdyn, to some degree. He had already exposed his accent, but she comforted herself with the knowledge that William was not privy to the suspicions of Vickers and the other militia men who had trespassed upon her house. Perhaps, that would be enough to keep their secret.

  “Please, Mr. Spencer, I really think you ought to depart for a time,” she begged. “You must not mind my personal guard. He is overly protective of me, and occasionally acts out of turn when he believes I am under threat. I know you were merely making a suggestion, so perhaps it is best that you leave, so we may calm ourselves.”

  William eyed her, as he wrenched himself away from Camdyn, tearing his shirt in the process. “I will go, My Lady, but not because this brute has told me to,” he panted through the exertion. “I will leave, temporarily, because you have asked me so genially.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Spencer,” Victoria gasped, feeling as though she had just prevented the strike of a tinderbox becoming a raging inferno.

  Smoothing out the torn sides of his shirt, William walked toward the door. On the threshold, he turned back, his cheeks red with visible irritation. “I will come back for you, My Lady. I will return to claim what rightfully belongs to me, and, next time, I shall come armed with a flintlock pistol.”

  With that, he turned on his heel and left the house, leaving a resounding slam in his wake.

  Victoria sank down onto the back of the settee, holding her head in her hands. “Oh Camdyn, what have you done?”

  Chapter 24

  “Would someone like to explain to me what the devil is going on?” Genevieve exploded into the old study, close to the drawing room, where Victoria and Camdyn had hidden away everything they intended to take with them when they fled Inverness.

  Camdyn had followed Victoria to the dusty room after William Spencer’s departure, where he had been desperately trying to get her to speak to him. As far as he was concerned, he had done nothing wrong. He had only been defending her honor, and the love they shared.

  “What was all the shouting about? What did Mr. Spencer want? Do you know him from England? I still can’t put my finger on why he looked so familiar,” Genevieve pressed, when Victoria gave no answer. The younger woman just continued to search through a crate, looking for something, though Camdyn did not know what it was she sought.

  Camdyn sighed. “Lass, will ye just say somethin’? Ye’re beaverin’ about like a madwoman.” Unable to bear her silence any longer, he walked to her and seized her about the waist, hauling her up to her feet and spinning her around so she had to look at him. “I ken ye’re cross with me, but ye need to stop and take a breath.”

  “Why did you have to attack him like that, Camdyn?” Victoria beat against his chest. “I would have asked him to leave of my own accord, and now you have put us all in very real danger. I understand you felt you needed to defend me, but gentlemen like him… They do not respond well to aggression.”

  Camdyn held onto her arms until she sagged against him, the fight draining out of her. “I let me anger get the better of me. I ken I did. I should nae have gone for him like I did, but I cannae change it. He were upsettin’ ye, and then he goes and asks for yer hand. I couldn’ae help what I did.”

  “He said he would bring a pistol, Camdyn, and you are without your broadsword. Do you expect me to stand by and watch him try to shoot you? I will not. I would stand between the two of you first,” she replied, her voice thick with emotion. “He will come back. If you had not riled him, I might have been able to purchase more time. Now, he could return at any moment to make good on his threat.”

  I do have me broadsword, lass, and I’ll use it if he tries to come back in here with a pistol in his hand.

  He had no time to dwell on his momentary guilt, as Genevieve grabbed Victoria’s arm and pulled her away from Camdyn. “Mr. Spencer asked for your hand in marriage?!” The shock rang like a tolling bell in her shrill voice. “And Mr. McKay attacked him? You had both better start talking, or I’ll fetch me cane and whip it out of one of you.”

  With her arm still dangling limply in Genevieve’s grasp, Victoria perched on an upturned crate and began to tell the tale. At first, Camdyn was not sure if she would mention their love affair, but his heart swelled as he heard her tell the truth.

  “Camdyn and I are in love, and I intend to keep us both safe from harm. We were intending to leave here with the money I was left, so we could buy land and property further north, where there are not so many English,” she said somberly. “We were going to leave by the week’s end, but now we must hasten our departure, with all the money that is left in the vault. Mr. Spencer may not realize it is missing, and if he does, we will already be long gone.”

  Genevieve looked as though her eyes were about to pop out of her head. “You… and Mr. McKay?!”

  “There is no time for a rebuke, Genevieve,” Victoria urged, as she continued on with the rest of the story, explaining how William had revealed himself to be the new Earl of Desiglow. She told Genevieve about Prestonpans, and how William had concluded by asking for her hand in marriage, so she could retain everything she currently possessed.

  “But I will not accept him, Genevieve. I lived for a decade not knowing that love was possible and enduring a stale union. Edward tolerated me, and I did in return, but there was no love. I served my duty as his wife, and I will not serve another sentence with
a man that I do not, and cannot, love.” Victoria exhaled, as though she had been holding her breath through the entire speech.

  Genevieve stared, speechless. “Were you planning to run away without me?” A note of hurt leaked into her words.

  “Of course not,” Victoria promised. “I could never go anywhere without you. We were going to tell you of our plan at the very last moment, and if you did not agree to come, then…”

  “Then I was goin’ to carry ye over me shoulder like a bairn what’s done somethin’ naughty,” Camdyn interjected, with a hopeful smile. He knew this was a lot for Genevieve to take in, and he could not read the emotion that collided across her aged features.

  After several minutes of tense silence, Genevieve sighed. “You’ll both be the death of me, I swear to the Lord.” She jabbed a finger into Camdyn’s chest. “And if you think I didn’t know there was something going on between the two of you, then you must think I’m blind… or hard of hearing. It’s no secret, I just thought you’d have more sense than to run off together.”

  Camdyn reddened. “I hope ye dinnae hear too much, Genevieve.”

  “If I could’ve torn out my ears, I would’ve done,” she scolded, prompting a smirk to lift the corner of his lips. In truth, he knew that he and Victoria had not been particularly quiet during their lovemaking. But one look at his love, and the smirk faded. Victoria was gazing at her confidante with heartrending sadness in her eyes.

  “Please do not ask me to consider Mr. Spencer, Genevieve,” she murmured miserably. “I do not care that Camdyn is no lord or even a gentleman. I am happy for the first time in my life, and I do not want to lose that.”

  Genevieve clicked her tongue. “I wouldn’t ask you to accept that wormy creature in a million years. What sort of supposed gentleman just strides into another person’s house and thinks he can walk away with everything in one fell swoop? No, I don’t like that Spencer man one bit. Something shifty in his eyes.” She flashed a pointed look at Camdyn. “Not that I’m so charmed with you, neither.”

  “Does this mean you will agree to come with us?” Victoria’s eyes brightened.

  Genevieve nodded. “Of course I’m coming with you. You aren’t leaving me here with Mr. Spencer and his arrogance. There wouldn’t be any room for me.” She cracked the slightest smile. “All I’ve ever wanted is your happiness, M’Lady, and if Mr. McKay is the one that’s keeping that smile on your face, then I’m not going to make a fuss about it.”

  “We must be swift in our escape.” Victoria’s demeanor changed in a split-second; a defiance etched across her beautiful face. “I do not know when Mr. Spencer will return, but he vowed to come back armed, and I do not want to be here when that happens. As such, we must divide the tasks among us, and try to be away from this house by nightfall.”

  Camdyn followed her lead and adopted his military stance. “We should nae bother with the cart and use the carriage instead. We might get a bit of trouble on the road, but I can worry about that when we come to it.”

  “We have nothing in the way of weaponry,” Victoria replied, her forehead furrowing. “How shall we defend ourselves? Is there a canon among Scots, where they will be able to recognize that we are not a target?”

  Camdyn gave a nervous laugh. “I can talk ‘em out of robbin’ us, and… I do have a weapon to defend us.” He rubbed his chin, feeling uncomfortable. “I dinnae dispose of me broadsword when ye asked me to. It’s still in the house, though it’s hidden good and proper so no soldiers could find it.”

  “What?” Victoria’s eyebrows raised slightly in confusion.

  “The night I went to get rid of it, I came across them soldiers. I realized after I got away that it were better to have somethin’ to fight with, even if it could mark me out as this ‘Devil of Culloden Moor’ they’re all talkin’ about.” He swallowed thickly. “I hope ye dinnae judge me too harshly for keepin’ it. It’s seen me through years of battle, and it’ll see us through this an’ all.”

  To his surprise, Victoria’s mouth spread into a grin. “Oh, thank goodness you did not listen to me! You must fetch it immediately, lest Mr. Spencer return unexpectedly.” She hesitated. “Although, do try not to maim him unless he attacks you first. I do not want you adding the death of an Earl to your supposed crimes against the King.”

  Camdyn smiled back. “I’ll do me best.”

  “In that case, we should begin transferring all of these items to the carriage at once. Genevieve, might you ask the driver to halt it behind the apple trees in the front courtyard, where it will be concealed from the road?” Victoria scratched her temple, as though it helped her to think straight.

  All yer little habits, lass. I’ll never get tired of learnin’ ‘em and rememberin’ ‘em.

  Genevieve headed for the door. “I’ll do that right away, and we can use the kitchen door to bring all of this to the carriage. That way, we won’t be seen loading everything, either.”

  “I knew there was a reason I adored you,” Victoria said excitedly, though Camdyn could feel the nerves shuddering off her. “If the staff ask where we are going, you should tell them that we are intending to return to England. If we do that, then none of them will be complicit in what we are doing, and I do not wish those dear souls to get into trouble because of us.”

  Genevieve performed a mock salute. “I shall see to it right away.” She paused on the study’s threshold. “Can the two of you be trusted to be alone in here?”

  Victoria chuckled shyly. “We can, Genevieve. We are not wild animals.”

  “You could have fooled me,” the older woman muttered, as she left the study to undertake her mission.

  Indeed, as soon as Genevieve was gone, Camdyn could not stop himself. After seeing her so angry and upset in the drawing room, he had wanted nothing more than to put his arms around her and comfort her, but she had hurried off before he had been able to. Now, with peace made, he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

  “So, ye really forgive me?” he said.

  She pressed her palms to his chest and gazed up into his eyes. “Try as I might, I simply cannot stay angry with you. You may appear tough on the outside, but when I look into those eyes of yours, everything else fades away.”

  “I’ll have to remember that for when I’ve really irked ye.” He chuckled and dipped his head to catch her mouth with his.

  His lips pressed against hers with an eager fervor, his tongue coaxing her mouth apart. She responded in kind, melting against him, as her hand ran up the side his neck and into his hair, urging his head closer, so he might kiss her more passionately.

  There was an undeniable thrill to the fact that they could be discovered at any moment, with the study door wide open. He would have liked nothing more than to lift her up onto one of the upturned crates and tear away her drawers so he could plunge into her silken depths and feel whole again.

  “Alas, my love, we do not have the time,” she gasped against his ear, as he gripped her skirts in his hand, intending to lift them to her waist.

  Knowing she was right, he let the skirts drop. “I’ll make up for it when we’re away from here, love. I promise, I’ll make ye cry out so loud that Genevieve will be askin’ for quarters in a different part of Scotland.”

  Victoria laughed. “I shall hold you to the promise.”

  “I hope ye do,” he replied, as he reluctantly broke away from her. “I’ll start takin’ these things to the kitchens. I dinnae want ye liftin’ anythin’ too heavy with them dainty hands of yers.”

  She lifted her palms. “That suits me perfectly, for I am about to steal from my own vault, and that will require expert daintiness.”

  “Kiss me before ye go.” He cupped her face in his hands, already looking forward to their life together, away from Inverness and all the unpleasantness of his past.

  She stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips, letting it linger for just a moment, before she pulled away. “I love you, Camdyn. Even if that man were to put a pistol to my
temple, I would not marry anyone but you.”

  “Dinnae say that, lass!” he protested. “If he put a pistol to any part of ye, he’d lose the hand holdin’ it.”

  She smiled. “This will soon be over.”

  “I hope so.” He dipped his head to steal one more kiss. “I love ye, lass, so much me heart is burstin’.”

  And yet, as she walked away from him to take the money from the vault, a troubling doubt gnawed at the back of his mind. No matter how far they went, or how quickly, he was not sure this conflict would ever be over.

  But I’ll fight anyone who tries to stand in our way, ‘til me last breath. I just hope I get a lot of years with ye, lass, before that last breath comes.

  The problem was, he knew that people like him rarely lived to see the winter of their life.