Marblestone Mansion, Book 1 (Scandalous Duchess Series, #1)

by Marti Talbott

McKenna rolled her eyes. “If you insist. I warn you, the place is not yet finished. There is much to do still.”

  “Have you heard?” Abigail could not wait to ask. “Charlotte secured a teaching position in town. I do hope you do not mind, McKenna.”

  “Of course I do not mind, I wish her every happiness. Which school? I read that a new one is being built north of town.”

  “I believe it is the new school,” Abigail answered.

  McKenna nodded. “How fortunate for her, I hope she will be very happy.”

  Maude Goodwin eyed Sassy for a moment. “Does this one not speak at all?”

  McKenna patted Sassy’s hand. “Constantly. She is a bit shy at first, but once she starts, we’ll not be able to stop her.”

  “McKenna, you did get an invitation to the ball, did you not?” Vivian asked. “It is in less than a week and we do so hope you will come.”

  “Aye, we are coming. My brother is hesitant still, but...”

  “We will tell everyone not to mention his wife,” Abigail interrupted. “I myself am on the decorating committee and it will be the best ball Colorado Springs has ever seen, especially if the MacGreagors are there.”

  “I am looking forward to it. Vivian, did you find a gown to wear?” McKenna asked.

  The conversation soon turned to other things and while Sassy concentrated on learning to sew, she never missed a word. She found talk of husbands and wives fascinating and wondered what a normal family was truly like. They all seemed so happy and it made her miss Cathleen that much more. Someday, when she had enough saved up, she fully intended to try her hand at a normal life.

  McKenna and Hannish were alone in the dining room, and they were just finishing dinner when Hannish asked, “How was your sewing circle?”

  “I enjoy these women very much and you will like them too, but brother, Sassy said little more than please and thank you. On the way home, she wanted to know what other rules there are. I think you may have frightened her when you sent Charlotte away.”

  “So that is why she has been so quiet lately. It was not my intention to frighten anyone. What can I do?”

  “I am not certain.”

  “What rules did you give her?”

  “I could only think of lying and stealing,” McKenna answered.

  “I can think of nothing else either. Perhaps we might plan something fun for them to do—an outing of some sort to let them all know I adore them still.”

  “Especially Sassy?”

  “Sister, she warms my cold heart somehow. I look at her and realize my troubles are small compared to what she has lived through. I would rather send myself away than see Sassy gone.”

  McKenna laughed. “I would rather give you up too.”

  He pretended to look pained. “I am deeply wounded. Alistair will be back tomorrow, she adores him and he will set the world right again for Sassy.”

  “Indeed he will.”

  *

  Olivia was tired of trains, tired of her small compartment aboard ship, and even more tired of dressing herself, and doing her own hair by the time the HMS Umbria docked in Liverpool, England. The voyage took all of six days, with half of the last day spent trying to dock the ship. After that, there was a train to catch to Glasgow, Scotland, but at least this ride was not across ten Godforsaken American states.

  At last, she was back with her own kind, in a world far more familiar and comfortable. She expected her driver to pick her up at the train station, but it appeared that was not to be. At the bottom of the steps, Cameron MacGreagor stood waiting. He looked a great deal like his brother when he tipped his hat, and then offered his arm. “Hannish wished me to see you safely home,” Cameron explained.

  “Did he? How kind of him.”

  He ignored the sarcastic tone in her voice. “Come, my dear, my driver will fetch the luggage and then we shall be off. I have much to show you.” Suspicion was in her expression, but he ignored that too. He had not liked Olivia from the moment he first met his brother’s wife, nor did she like him. That, at least, promised to lessen the small talk in the carriage, although he asked just enough questions to be polite. At last, they were moving and both of them were relieved.

  It was not until Olivia realized they had passed through Glasgow, and were heading the wrong way that she began to seethe. “Where might you be taking me?”

  “I wish to show you something.”

  “Now, when I am completely exhausted?”

  “I fear there will be no better time.”

  The carriage turned up a country road and then stopped in front of a modest estate. In front of the door, a butler and a cook stood waiting and as soon as Cameron helped Olivia out of the coach, the butler bowed and the cook curtsied. “Your Grace,” said the butler.

  Olivia’s eyes widened and she turned to see Cameron’s expression. “Your Grace?”

  “Did Hannish not tell you? He abdicated, this is your new home.”

  “He what?”

  “Dinna upset yourself, my dear; you shall be quite comfortable here. I had all your things delivered and should anything more arrive, I shall send them over directly. Hannish asked me to handle all your expenses. Of course, you’ll not need the kind of allowance you once had, now that...oh well, we need not discuss it just now.”

  “Hannish abdicated?”

  “I am afraid so. The title, the land and all the MacGreagor holdings in Scotland are now mine. It was that little matter of Mr. Graham and his failure to secure his own compartment on the voyage to New York.”

  “But...”

  Cameron checked to make sure his driver had unloaded her luggage and then said, “Good day to you, Olivia. Oh, and by the way, my wife is the duchess now.” He climbed back inside the carriage, closed the door and when it pulled away, Olivia was still standing in front of the cottage with her mouth open.

  “You’ve not heard the last of me, Hannish MacGreagor, of that I promise.” Olivia turned to survey the outside of the ugliest cottage she had ever seen. Abruptly, she glared at the butler. “Well, get my luggage!”

  “When I am ready, Mrs. MacGreagor.”

  Olivia clenched her fists. “What? Did you not hear me? Bring them in at once!”

  “The duke warned us you would be unkind,” said the butler. “He said to say if you hurt either of us, we are to call the constable directly and he will side with us. Who will the constable believe, you or the duke?”

  Olivia stomped up the steps, yanked the door open and disappeared inside.

  *

  Everyone was excited to greet Alistair and Dugan. They could not wait to hear how much trouble was had getting the duchess on the ship, plus they were eager to greet the rest of the Scottish servants. Hannish insisted on taking the carriage to the station, claiming Alistair deserved an easy ride after so much time spent traveling in the last month. That left everyone except the carriage and the wagon driver at home to wait.

  The train was apparently late again, for it was midafternoon before Keith saw the carriage through the trees and alerted everyone. Just as they had before, the servants lined up outside, only this time they were grinning with wild anticipation.

  Something was amiss.

  Alistair was seated in the wagon instead of being inside the carriage and everyone’s heart stopped. Could it be...was it possible the duchess was back? Hannish did not look pleased when he climbed out of the carriage, and there was definitely someone else inside. He held out his hand, a woman put her hand in his, and then began to step down. First, her black skirt appeared, then her apron...and then her face.

  For days, Hannish waited to see it, and when Sassy caught her breath and grabbed McKenna’s arm, her happiness was a sight well worth waiting for. A cry of joy escaped her lips and with tears in her eyes, Sassy ran to Cathleen and threw her arms around her little sister.

  They both cried and clung to each other for a long moment before Cathleen finally wiped her tears and complained, “Leesil, you are about to knock me over.” />
  Sassy giggled, let go and watched as Cathleen got a good look at the imposing mansion.

  “You put up here?” Cathleen asked.

  “And so shall you,” said Hannish, ‘if you’ll have us, that is.”

  Cathleen smiled at the tall stranger. “I’ll have you and be glad of it.”

  With tears of joy in her own eyes, McKenna finally turned to greet Dugan’s cousin. “Am I ever glad to see you again, Egan.”

  “Not as glad as I am to see you,” he said. The youngest of the men, Egan was also the shortest, with a stocky build and blond hair. “Mr. Cameron MacGreagor pleased me to see to Cathleen and keep her safe all the way to Colorado. She’s a mite fearful of most things and cried when the train crossed the mighty Mississippi River, but I held her hand. I hope ‘twas allowed.”

  “Of course it was. I am in your debt, Egan. Are you hungry? Jessie baked cookies this morning.”

  Egan rubbed his belly. “Jessie’s cookies? Yum.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Hannish leaned against the wall in the kitchen and smiled. Most of his loyal Scottish servants were there now, plus two orphans and the Americans. What’s more, Sassy was talking a mile a minute again, delighting everyone with her interpretation of life in the mansion. She still had not let go of her sister’s hand. “You shall sleep in a bed all your own, and you can have a bath everyday if you like, in a tub with clean water and no one else in it.”

  “No,” Cathleen gasped. Her hair was a lighter auburn than Sassy’s with more red showing through, but her eyes were the same color of blue.

  At last, Hannish took pity on a wide-eyed Cathleen and interrupted, “Alistair, did you manage to get my wife on the ship?”

  “Aye, Sir.” He raised an eyebrow and looked at Sarah. “She could not find her brush, and demanded I get off the train to buy her a new one in Kansas City. You’d not know what happened to it, would you?”

  “We need it for firewood this winter,” Sarah proudly announced. “I intend to burn it myself.” She grinned at him and watched Alistair’s frown turn to a smile. It was good to have him back, very good indeed.

  “We saw her,” said Egan.

  “Saw who?” Hannish asked.

  “The duchess. Her ship was sailing just as we were coming to port.”

  “They came a day early,” Alistair explained. “‘Twas a good thing I checked before we left the dock.”

  “Did Olivia see you, Egan?” Hannish asked.

  Egan nodded. “It began to snow and Cathleen wanted to be out in it, so we stood along the railing. The duchess saw me through a window in her ship and she looked none too happy about it.”

  “I don’t suppose she did.” Hannish thought for a moment. “It matters not, she’ll be a little forewarned, perhaps, but she’ll not guess what is to come.”

  “Forewarned of what?” McKenna asked.

  His smile was wide when he answered, “I have abdicated.”

  Alistair’s mouth dropped. “You are no longer a duke?”

  “Indeed not, I passed it to my brother.”

  “Then the duchess is not...” Alistair began to grin.

  “Not any longer.”

  Alistair deeply bowed. “You have my greatest admiration, Sir.”

  Cathleen had no idea what they were talking about and leaned a little closer to Sassy. “The constable come and took Old Mrs. Forthright away for stealin’. And after that, people brought food and they vowed not to let us be hungry ever again. I seen clean clothin’ comin’ too, though I left afore I could get any.”

  “What’s this?” Hannish asked.

  Sassy’s eyes glistened. “You did it, Mr. Hannish, you saved the children in the orphanage.”

  “’Twas my brother who managed it, Sassy.”

  “What about James?” Sassy asked, turning back to Cathleen. “Did I hurt him when I stood on his shoulders?”

  “Nay, a man come and took him to work in the cotton mills.”

  “Came,” Keith corrected.

  “Who came?” Cathleen asked. Everyone laughed, which perplexed her even more.

  Sassy frowned at Keith. “Never mind him, sister. He is a plague to us all.”

  “How old are you, Cathleen?” Millie asked.

  “Fourteen.”

  Halen wrinkled her brow. “Are you twins? You do not look that much alike and Sassy is fourteen.”

  Cathleen turned to stare at her sister. “If Leesil says we are.”

  “I dinna say I am fourteen, they guessed and I dinna correct them,” Sassy explained.

  “How old are you, then?” Jessie asked.

  “I dinna care to say,” Sassy answered.

  Sarah wondered too. “We are family, you can tell us, Sassy.”

  Afraid to lie, Sassy took a deep breath and looked Hannish in the eye. “I am twenty-one.”

  Keith gasped, “Twenty-one?”

  She instantly turned her glare on him again. “Dinna be getting any fanciful ideas, Keith, nor you either, Dugan. I dinna need a husband, leastwise not yet. I’ve a lot of growin’ up yet to do.”

  Keith was so completely embarrassed, he huffed and left the room, but Dugan was not in the least put off and only smiled at her. McKenna, on the other hand, saw something in her brother’s eyes she did not expect to see. He was not at all surprised by Sassy’s confession, and she wondered just how long he had known. Not only that, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Sassy. “I imagine we should call you Leesil from now on. You are too old to be called Sassy.”

  “I agree,” said Hannish.

  “I dinna mind. I rather like you callin’ me Sassy, it suits me very well.”

  “I like it too,” said Cathleen. “She always be sassin’ me around.”

  Sassy abruptly let go of her sister’s hand. “You dinna miss me, then?”

  “Not at all, you taked up way too much room in the bed.” It was a moment before Cathleen smiled and everyone knew she was teasing. “Might I have that bath now?”

  “Of course she can and I will help,” said McKenna. “Cathleen will also need to be measured for her new frock,” She got up and led the two of them out of the kitchen.

  “New clothes too?” Hannish heard Cathleen ask as they walked down the hall.

  “And a new ribbon for your hair,” Sassy said.

  “Is he a put-her?” Cathleen asked.

  “Nay,” Sassy answered.

  Once he could no longer hear them, Hannish turned to the others and asked, “A put-her?”

  Alistair answered, “They prayed God would give Mrs. Forthright the boot...put-her out, you see.”

  “I do see. I am happy not to be a put-her in that case.” Hannish noticed a tear in Sarah’s eye and became concerned. “What is it, Sarah?”

  “Sassy bought that ribbon for her own hair. Now she gives it to her sister. I have never seen such love.”

  “Nor have I.” Hannish considered it for a moment. “Prescot, the next time you go to town, bring back new ribbons and I shall give one to each of our ladies.”

  “With pleasure,” said Prescot.

  “How did Cathleen do on the voyage,” Hannish asked Egan.

  “She was terrified and not at all convinced I was taking her to her sister. I don’t think she believed it until just now. A kind lady washed her up and gave her the maid’s dress to wear. She was a pitiful sight, dirty and far too thin. Mr. Cameron took us straight to the ship, and gave me extra to see she had plenty to eat. Cathleen was so happy to have the maid’s dress, she could not keep from feeling the soft cloth all the way here. Mr. MacGreagor, I never knew ‘twas so awful for the orphans.”

  “Nor did I,” Hannish admitted.

  “None of us did,” said Alistair.

  “Do not fret,” said Halen, “me and Jessie will fatten her right up.” She nodded and so did Jessie, her new best friend.

  Hannish wrinkled his brow. “What happened to the other servants? I expected more to come.”

  “They run off as soon as the duchess
was gone. I would have too, except I wanted the pay she promised to give when she came back.”

  Hannish again found the lack of servant’s pay sickening. “You shall have your pay and then some. Tomorrow, will you come to the study and help me remember their names so I can have my brother see they are all paid?”

  “Aye, Sir.”

  “I am greatly humiliated by what my wife has done. Have you any idea why she kept the servant’s pay?”

  “Nay, Sir, none at all,” Egan answered.

  “Alistair, did she gamble?” Hannish asked.

  “A time or two.”

  “That must be it then,” said Hannish. “She gambled and lost... and a lot more than she could have imagined she would.”

  That night, before she went to bed, Sarah quietly opened the door to Sassy’s room. One bed was empty and at first she panicked, until she opened it a little wider and noticed two heads in Sassy’s bed. Sassy had her arms around her little sister and still had a smile on her face. At the foot of the bed, the puppy watched Sarah with one eye open.

  Just as quietly, Sarah closed the door.

  *

  The next day at Marblestone Mansion was anything but uneventful. Cathleen got lost. She leaned against a wall in the back staircase, it suddenly opened and she found herself trapped inside the hidden room. While a frantic Sassy wrung her hands in the parlor, everyone searched outside, and then inside every room, every closet and every cupboard, although no one believed she was intentionally hiding in a cupboard.

  An hour later, there was no place else to look, and when he put an ear to the secret door, he could hear the puppy barking inside. The existence of the secret room would not be a secret any longer, he supposed. He expected Cathleen to be terrified, but she was more angry than frightened when he opened the door.

  “Cathleen,” he asked before he showed her how to get out, “have you ever given your pledge?”

  “Aye, I gave it to James once.”

  “Did you break that pledge?”

  “Nay, Sir.”

  “Then if I ask you to pledge not to tell anyone how to find this room, will you do it?”

  “Not even Leesil?”

  “Not even Leesil. ‘Twill be our secret alone, and I shall be ever so grateful if you keep it. I like to hide here occasionally.”