by Lydia Dare
In the back of her mind, she briefly noted he’d never professed to love her back.
Thirty-five
The intrusive and obnoxious sun woke Ben the next morning as it filtered through the bedroom window. He blinked and raised his head, searching for Elspeth with his arm. She was gone. But he heard the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen again. He groaned and pounded the pillow with his fist.
“Sorcha, if that’s you, prepare yourself to be offended,” he called loudly. “In fact, I suggest you leave now to avoid the embarrassment.”
The clatter ceased. He rose, wrapped the counterpane loosely around his hips, and walked toward the bedroom door on bare feet. Scratching his stubbly face, he wished for his valet. He reached to open the door, but before he could touch the handle it flung open on its own.
“Sorcha?” a familiar male voice asked. “How many women do you have, Benjamin?”
Ben cracked one eye and squinted at the man who stood in the doorway. His brother William looked fit and healthy. His clothes were pressed and his hair combed. “Mornin’, Will,” Ben muttered.
“You look like hell, Ben.”
“Thanks” was the only response he could come up with before he closed the door and prepared to face the day. He sat back on the edge of the willow branch bed.
What the devil was Will doing here? He was here, wasn’t he? Ben hadn’t imagined it, had he? Ben stood up and crossed the floor again. He cracked the door open, peeking one eye through the hole.
No, he hadn’t imagined it. Will was sitting at the table, drinking what must be blueberry tea and nibbling at toast, while Elspeth prepared something that smelled dangerously like porridge. Ben groaned; he hated porridge.
Breakfast was the furthest thing from his mind. He hurriedly dressed, wishing for a sharp razor and strop, but more concerned about what would have brought Will all the way from London. He opened the door and padded across the cottage in his now stockinged feet. He wasn’t about to stand on ceremony with his brother.
Will glanced up from his tea, a wicked glint in his light blue eyes. “You growing a beard now?”
Before he could tear into his unwelcome sibling, Elspeth caught his eye at the stove. “It’s so nice yer brother came for a visit?”
“‘Nice’ wasn’t the word I was thinking,” Ben replied as he bent to kiss her quickly before sliding into a seat across from his brother. “What are you doing here, Will?”
His brother drummed his fingers on the table. “Imagine my surprise when I called on you at Alec MacQuarrie’s and was redirected here. What a lovely wife you have.”
Ben glowered at him. Will certainly hadn’t answered his question. Why was he being evasive? “Yes, she is lovely. The prettiest girl in Scotland.”
Elspeth placed a cup of tea in front of Ben, with a shy smile, and he captured her hand. “Sit, love.”
“Ye seem ta have things ta discuss. I can leave ye awhile.”
After the last week away from her, the idea was like a dagger to his heart. “Don’t be silly. You’ve barely met my brother, and I don’t believe he’ll be staying long.”
Will grinned at Elspeth. “Sadly, he’s not even the rudest member of the family.”
“Don’t try to charm her,” Ben said with a scowl. “You want something bad enough to come traipsing after me, so out with it, whatever it is.”
“I do not traipse.” Will frowned. “I do have a question for you, however, Benjamin.”
“Indeed?”
His brother’s hand stopped tapping out its rhythm, and his icy eyes pierced Ben with a dangerous stare. “Would you care to tell me why you’ve been writing to Prisca Hawthorne?”
Was that what this was about? Ben gaped at his brother, then he shook his head in disbelief. “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve come all the way from London—”
“Hampshire,” Will growled.
Ben squeezed Elspeth’s hand. It was that or punch his brother in the face. “Of course it’s Hampshire. Prisca isn’t in London this time of year, is she?”
“Why have you been writing her, Ben?” Will’s voice dropped menacingly.
“You could have saved yourself a trip if you’d just asked her.”
“I’ve come all this way because she begged me to find you and make sure you were all right, since you’ve not written a word to either her or mother for far too long.”
Elspeth’s eyes flashed to Ben’s. He was sure she’d have questions by the time this conversation ended. He’d have to explain all of it to her later. When Will wasn’t around. “I’ve been occupied, you may have noticed. You’ll have to ask them to forgive me.”
Will glanced at Elspeth. “Buying property and getting yourself married?”
“Property?” Elspeth echoed.
He was going to kill his brother. Was it possible for Will to keep his bloody mouth closed? Ben tilted his head to one side, looking at his wife. “That might be part of my surprise.”
A knock sounded at the door, interrupting the conversation. Elspeth frowned at him but rose from her seat while Ben avoided his brother’s questioning gaze.
A gasp sounded at the door, and Ben looked toward Elspeth. Sorcha Ferguson’s eyes seared him as she stood on the threshold and looked in. “So ye’ve come back, have ye? Do ye have any idea—”
“Sorcha!” Elspeth hissed. “No’ now. We have a guest.”
The young witch’s eyes grew wide when they landed on Will. “Oh, I see that.” She didn’t wait for an invitation, but stepped inside and went straight to the table. “Ye’re one of the brothers?”
Will nodded, a look of confusion on his face.
“Will,” Ben began, “this is Miss Sorcha Ferguson. Sorcha, this is my brother, Lord William.”
With a charming smile, Will rose from his seat. “Ah, Miss Ferguson, I believe my brother mentioned you this morning. It is indeed a pleasure.”
Sorcha sighed and Ben cringed. All he needed was the rest of the coven losing their hearts to Will. “Ellie, it appears I do need to have a conversation alone with my brother after all. Do you mind terribly?”
His wife shook her head, though a look of worry marred her brow. “Will ye be here when I get back?”
He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere without you, love.” Though she deserved much better than him, he wasn’t about to let her go.
Elspeth’s hands settled on his chest. “Good. I’m no’ through with ye, Ben Westfield.”
“Sorcha,” Ben called, “Ellie needs your help with some plant thing.”
“Some plant thing?” the dark-haired witch echoed. “Are ye tryin’ ta get rid of me, my lord?”
He couldn’t resist winking at the lass. “Pretty and smart, Sorcha.”
“Come along,” Elspeth said, draping her plaid around her shoulders and towing her friend toward the door. “I do need yer help with somethin’.”
As soon as the women were gone, Ben noticed the look of dismay on his brother’s face. “What have you gotten yourself into, Benjamin? I admit when mother and Prisca were worried about you, I thought this was a fool’s errand. But now—”
“But now?” Ben asked, sinking onto the old settee.
“Are you honestly married to that girl?”
Ben felt anger roil inside him. He didn’t like the arrogant tone of Will’s voice. “Yes, she’s wonderful,” he snarled.
“She’s lovely,” Will agreed, taking a seat opposite him. “But, Ben, MacQuarrie says you bought property here. You’re talking to John Burton about building a house?”
“Elspeth wants to stay here. It’s all she knows.” And with everything he’d done to her, giving her that happiness was the least he could do.
Will shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re serious. At least the two of you would get a fresh start in London, where no one knows the circumstances of her birth.”
He was going to kill Alec MacQuarrie at the first available opportunity. “Her father was a Lycan, Will. It’s not Ellie’s
fault he abandoned her mother before she was born.”
“A Lycan?” Will echoed. “Are you certain?”
“She has the mark.”
Will seemed to think about that and rubbed his brow. “Who was he?”
Ben shrugged. “She’s not sure. But we intend to find out.”
“So, then, she knows about you? About us?”
More than Ben liked. She knew all about what Lycan men were capable of. Yet she loved him anyway. The idea warmed him from the inside out. “Yes, she knows everything.”
“Well, you’re more fortunate than Simon, then.”
“Simon?”
Will took a sip of tea. “Blueberry?”
“Don’t ask. What about Simon?”
“I left his wedding breakfast to seek you out.”
Ben sat up quickly. Wedding breakfast? Simon? He didn’t believe it. Not for a minute. “You’re joking.”
Will shrugged. “Heard the vows myself.”
“Simon?” Ben repeated, dumbfounded. “Our brother who keeps respectable women at arm’s length? Our brother who would never let a woman near him during a full moon? That Simon?”
Will chuckled. “He didn’t plan it. He sort of got tangled up in one of Prissy’s machinations.”
“Not Prisca?” Ben couldn’t think of two people less suited than his oldest brother and their pretty young neighbor.
Will scowled at him. “Lily Rutledge. Now, Benjamin, I am waiting for you to tell me the nature of your letters to Prisca.”
Which he wouldn’t get from Ben. He was not about to admit to keeping the girl appraised of Will’s exploits. His brother would kill him on the spot. “You can bare your teeth at me all you want. I won’t break her confidence. If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you herself.”
Will’s frown darkened. “Does your wife know the nature of your relationship with Prisca?”
His brother was definitely reaching. “The only woman in my life is Elspeth.”
“I have half a mind to tear your head off, you disloyal mutt.”
He might welcome the punishment at the moment. “If you spent half of that energy talking to Prissy, you might be a whole lot happier, Will.”
“Go to hell.”
“You first, brother.” Ben rose from his seat and started toward the stove. He looked in the abandoned pot. It was porridge. Yuck.
“So what is your plan, Ben?” Will called from his seat. “You just going to stay in Edinburgh and play house? Forget you have family and a life in England?”
He didn’t have anything to return home to. “When I want your advice, William, I will ask you for it.”
Will scoffed. “As well thought out as always, I see.” He rose from his seat. “I’ll be at Alec’s if you decide your older and wiser brother may actually be of help.”
Elspeth groaned and stuck her fingers in her ears as she walked down the lane beside Sorcha. She said loudly, “I’ll no’ hear another word about Lord William, Sorcha. No’ one more word.” Then she hummed a tune to block the rest of her friend’s gushing.
Sorcha finally tugged violently on her arm. She removed her fingers from her ears and said, “Aye, Sorcha?”
“Nothin’,” the youngest witch sighed. “I’ll find out for myself.” Her eyes lit with mischief.
Elspeth shook a finger at the girl. “Ye’ll no’ find out anythin’ about that man. Ye’re much too young for him.” The girl just skipped along. “Keep it up and I’ll tell yer papa that ye’ve set yer sights on him.”
That finally got the young witch’s attention. “Ye wouldna dare!” she gasped.
“Aye, I would.”
“Marriage doesna set well with ye, Elspeth. It makes
ye grumpy,” the girl muttered. “What did ye want with me this mornin’? I’m sure ye dinna need me for a walk in the woods.”
Elspeth reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of foolscap. Inside lay several small seeds. “I need ye ta make these grow for me. Right away.”
Sorcha shook the seeds into her hand and brought them to her nose to smell them. “Hyssop?” she asked. When Elspeth just nodded, she continued. “What need do ye have for hyssop? Ye have nothin’ ta be sorry for.”
“It’s no’ for me, Sorcha. It’s for someone else.”
“It’s pretty powerful,” Sorcha hedged.
“I ken that it’s powerful. That’s why I need it.”
“What does Ben have ta be sorry for?” Her gaze rose sharply. “He dinna hurt ye, did he?” She clutched Elspeth’s arm, her nails digging into the skin.
Elspeth winced. “No, he dinna hurt me,” she groaned. “I wish I could say the same for ye.”
“Sorry,” the girl mumbled.
“So can ye grow the flowers?”
“Aye, the seeds are alive. Did ye get these from yer mum’s collection?”
She simply nodded. “How quickly can ye do it?”
“Today,” Sorcha said, shrugging her shoulders. “Why the rush?”
“They’re the flower of forgiveness. And I may need forgiveness for what I plan ta do.”
“Elspeth Campbell, ye will tell me what ye’re speakin’ of. And stop the riddles.”
Elspeth closed her eyes tightly and spit it all out in one breath. “I’m going ta London ta find my father. I’m leavin’ Edinburgh.”
The girl blew out a relieved breath. “Is that all? Havers, I thought ye were goin’ ta kill someone or do somethin’ despicable.”
“Ye doona think leavin’ the coven is despicable?”
“No. Because I ken ye’ll be back.”
But Elspeth wasn’t so sure.
Thirty-six
Ben huffed past Alec MacQuarrie’s harried butler and called up the stairs, “Will, where the devil are you?”
Alec’s head popped out of the study doorway, one eyebrow arched. “For God’s sake, Ben, have you suddenly lost all your manners? You don’t walk into a gentleman’s house and bellow.”
The butler sniffed loudly from behind Ben as though to say, Next time, remember that.
“Alec, I don’t have time for manners. Where’s Will?”
“Your lovely wife came for him awhile ago.” Alec shrugged. “She said something about blueberry pie.”
“It’s a wonder I don’t bleed blueberry juice,” Ben muttered as he dashed back toward the door.
He didn’t even stop when Alec called, “Nice to see you, too, Ben. Do come again when you can stay longer. And have better manners!”
Over his shoulder, Ben made an obscene gesture in response. He heard Alec chuckle as he closed the door behind himself.
Ben jogged back to the cottage he shared with Elspeth. As he neared the house, he slowed and finally came to a stop outside the door, where he could listen to the voices of his wife and brother.
“I’m quite glad ye’ve come, William,” Elspeth said softly. “I’ve been worried about him.”
Of course she’d been worried. He’d nearly mauled her like the wild animal he was right before the moonful.
“Understandable,” Will replied. “Ben has always been a bit odd.”
Odd? What a nice way to speak of one’s brother. He snorted.
“Elspeth, what are you doing with him? You could do so much better.”
“Better?” she echoed.
“Hmm. Me, for example. I’d love to get you naked,” Will said huskily.
Elspeth gasped as Ben flung the door open.
He had Will pushed up against the wall within seconds. “How dare you speak to my wife that way?” he growled.
Will smiled, a sparkle in his blue eyes. Elspeth giggled from behind him. She patted his shoulder. “He was but teasin’ ye, Ben. He heard ye as ye came down the walk.”
“I believe you forget that I have the same senses you do. And you shouldn’t eavesdrop, little brother. It’s ill-mannered.”
First Alec and now Will. Ben was in no mood for a reprimand about his manners. He grunted and removed his arm from beneath Will�
�s throat. He turned and kissed Elspeth quickly. “I missed you,” he said as he tucked a loose curl behind her ear.
“I have good things in store for ye later,” she said quietly. “After ye tell me about the land ye purchased.” She raised one eyebrow and he nodded.
“I look forward to it.”
Elspeth began to set the table and smiled at his brother. “Will ye join us for dinner, Lord William?”
“I would love to, but I have an appointment in town with a lovely young woman I met at the Thistle and Thorn.”
“An appointment?” Elspeth asked innocently as she sat down beside Ben. “At the inn? But I thought ye were stayin’ with Mr. MacQuarrie.”
“Love, I don’t think you want to know the nature of Will’s appointment.” She colored prettily as Ben caressed her knee beneath the table.
“Oh,” she replied quietly, realization dawning in her eyes.
Will laughed. “Well, I can’t stay around you two for long anyway, or I’ll get singed by the sparks.” He bowed slightly toward Elspeth then glanced toward Ben. “See you tomorrow. We’ve some things to discuss.”
Ben nodded, avoiding his gaze.
After finishing their cock-a-leekie soup, Elspeth cut a slice of blueberry pie and placed it in front of Ben. Dinner had been a rather muted affair, as her husband seemed consumed in his own thoughts. “What’s it like havin’ brothers?” she wondered aloud. All her life she’d wanted siblings, and though Ben and William had done nothing but bicker since Will had arrived, there was a comfort in their exchanges.
“Irritating,” he growled.
She reached out her hand to him. “Ye doona mean that.”
He nodded. “I do, but I suppose it’s nice, too. They do come in handy at times. Like when you’re in the middle of a brawl in a rowdy pub.” He chuckled at her expression and chucked her chin. “Don’t worry, love. No more rowdy pubs for me.”
“Tell me about the land ye purchased. What’s yer intention with it?”
“I thought you might want to stay here.” He looked everywhere but at her.
Had he really planned to stay in Edinburgh? “But what about London? Ye promised ye’d take me.”
“Oh, I will. I want to take you to meet my mother, though she’s not in London this time of year. She resides at her family’s ancestral home, Hampton Meadows, in Surrey; but it’s not far. I know she’ll love you.”
