Highlanders

by Tarah Scott

  “I will muddle through,” he said.

  “I have never been on a ship before,” the younger sister joined in. “This should prove to be quite an adventure.”

  Erroll eyed her. “I would think you had had enough adventure for one day.”

  “I have, but bear in mind, sir, the only reason Eve ended up in Gretna is because Lord Halifax was angry with you. That means the duel you fought with him had nothing to do with us.”

  So the younger Miss Crenshaw was giving him a gentle but firm setback in payment for taking her to task over the suggestion they consummate their marriage in a carriage. The young lady had a bit of backbone.

  “I feel certain I could have caught him long before he reached Gretna had I not been…indisposed,” Erroll said.

  She gave an elegant cant of her head. “Of course. But you still would have shot him.”

  The girl would choose this moment to argue logic. “Perhaps,” he said, “but we three—we five—wouldn’t have ended up on this ship.”

  She laughed. “I imagine we would have found ourselves together in some fashion. Eve is quite determined not to marry you.”

  That she was. He clasped his hands behind his back. “I have a few instructions for you ladies.”

  “Instructions?” the younger asked, but the elder cast him a suspicious look.

  “You are not to leave this room. There are no locks on any of the doors aboard ship, so Oscar,” he nodded toward the brute, who stood nearest the door, “will remain stationed outside your room to ensure no one enters.”

  “Or leaves,” Miss Eve Crenshaw said under her breath.

  There it was. “Forgive me, madam, if I am skittish in regards to your ability to follow orders, but there is no room for shenanigans on this voyage. I do not wish a repeat of this morning.”

  “None of these sailors will try to kidnap me,” she said.

  Erroll stopped cold. “No. They would simply finish the job Halifax started.”

  Her mouth parted in a silent gasp.

  “We shall do exactly as you say,” Grace Crenshaw said. “But how are we to stay in this tiny, stale room for the next three days?”

  “I will arrange for you to take walks, but you will be escorted by either Oscar or Lord Somerset.”

  “What about you?” she asked. “Surely, you do not plan to abandon us the entire voyage?”

  “Count yourselves fortunate I did not abandon you in Gretna Green.”

  “Lord Rushton,” Eve said, “at this point, you must admit that the three of us are equally to blame for this mess. It really is unfair to snipe at Grace.”

  Hers was a rational and perceptive response. Why did that make him nervous? “Not wholly unfair,” he said, “but you have a point.” Erroll gave a small bow to the younger sister. “Forgive me, Miss Crenshaw. Now, let us begin anew. This ship is a collier, a cargo ship, and such vessels are manned by rough characters. You two ladies are not to leave this cabin without the escort of myself, Somerset, or Oscar, and only with my permission. I must know your whereabouts at all times. This, I promise, is for your safety. Understand?”

  Both women murmured agreement, which didn’t allay his concerns. “I understand this is a cramped space, and will arrange for two walks a day.”

  “Do you really expect someone to accost us?” Eve asked.

  “The crew could be exemplary. But I do not know them.”

  “If we could ask a favor,” she said. “Does the captain perhaps have any books we might borrow? It will be difficult doing nothing but staring at the walls.”

  “That is a reasonable request.” Too reasonable, in fact. “I will inquire.”

  “May we ask where you will be staying, my lord?”

  “We gentlemen will sleep with the sailors.”

  Her brow furrowed, but she said nothing. Surely she wasn’t concerned for their comfort or safety—especially not his.

  “The ship will make one stop in Belfast to unload cargo,” he continued.

  “Belfast,” Grace said in an excited voice, and Erroll realized what she had in mind.

  “Miss Crenshaw—”

  Oscar groaned.

  “Too late, my lord.” the elder sister shook her head. “Grace will badger you into an early grave if you do not capitulate.”

  Not if I’m absent, he thought.

  “Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can hide from her,” Eve Crenshaw said, clearly reading his thoughts—or the horror that must be expressed on his face at the thought of escorting the girl for a day. “You may avoid her during the trip, but you will have to face her once we dock in Scotland. You will not escape retribution.”

  The younger Miss Crenshaw beamed, clearly not the least bit chagrined at being cast as a harpy, and said with even more enthusiasm, “Papa always promised to take us to Belfast, but he never found the time. Now then, when we arrive, it will take the better part of the day to unload the coal from the ship. Why should we rusticate in this room when we can enjoy a day in the city?”

  “I did not realize you were acquainted with the coal business,” Erroll said dryly.

  “Am I wrong?” she asked without rancor.

  Sadly, she was not, and he said so.

  “Excellent. We must go into town. Eve and I require new dresses.”

  “New dresses?” he blurted, and didn’t miss the hard twitch of perverse satisfaction on the elder sister’s mouth.

  Grace Crenshaw said, “Indeed, Eve’s dress is torn, and we cannot wear these dresses the whole time we are away from home. Not to mention, it won’t do for us to arrive at Ravenhall soiled and dressed in rags.”

  They weren’t quite dressed in rags, but Erroll refrained from pointing that out.

  “What will happen once we reach Ravenhall?” Eve Crenshaw asked.

  “We will sort out this mess,” he said.

  “When do you think we might hear news of Lord Halifax?” she said.

  Erroll shrugged. “That depends on how quickly he dies.”

  Her brow furrowed into a ferocious frown. “Do not say that.”

  “We are deeply gratified you were not killed, my lord,” her sister said.

  He kept his gaze on Eve. “If I had been killed, you would be free of me.”

  “I shall be free of you soon enough,” she muttered.

  Erroll couldn’t deny a twinge of frustration at her staunch refusal to marry him. “There are any number of ladies who would thrill at the chance to marry me.” Though he wouldn’t marry a one of them.

  “Of course,” Grace Crenshaw chimed in. “Any lady would be thrilled to have you as her husband, my lord.”

  Eve Crenshaw rolled her eyes. “I imagine his title and bank account have a great deal to do with his popularity.”

  “I beg your pardon?” he said. “I am a very eligible bachelor.”

  “That does not make you a desirable husband.”

  “It could,” Erroll said under his breath.

  “Eve,” her sister said, “where are your manners? You should not talk so.”

  “Tell me, Miss Crenshaw,” Erroll addressed the elder, “how do you propose we extricate ourselves from this new tangle?”

  The younger sister waved a pretty hand. “Eve and I have discussed the situation. Tell him, Eve.”

  “You two discussed it?” Here might begin his reckoning.

  “You are a fortunate man,” Somerset said.

  “So it would seem,” Erroll agreed. “Pray tell, what did you two conclude?”

  “I wish I knew,” the elder sister muttered.

  “Really, Eve,” her sister recriminated. “You, sir, were defending Eve’s honor when you challenged Lord Halifax to a duel. Of course, by the time we return to England, everyone will know what happened but, as you and I will be married, everyone will understand what a noble thing you did in protecting your sister-in-law’s honor. Papa will be quite proud, Eve’s reputation will be saved, and all our problems will be solved.”

  Somerset laughed.
/>   Oscar muttered something unintelligible.

  The elder sister stared. “She almost makes it sound plausible.”

  “She does,” Erroll agreed.

  “Of course it is plausible,” Grace said. “You and I are meant for each other, my lord.”

  “Meant for each other?” he blurted, then couldn’t help asking, “Why do you think so?”

  “For many reasons, my lord. My beauty will compliment you in such a way that makes the envy of Society. This will, of course, guarantee that your heir will be a testament to you. I am well trained as hostess, so you will always shone in the best light, and you may rest easy that I will never take you to task for having a life—which means I would never embarrass you.”

  Like Laura Greenwood had her husband?

  “I am exactly the kind of wife you need,” she finished.

  And she was, he realized in astonishment. She had all the proper qualities and understood her duty as wife to a man like him. She only lacked the one basic element he demanded from his wife: honesty.

  This realization—along with the day’s events—frustrated him all the more. “Forgive me, Miss Crenshaw, we have all agreed to be friends—” Erroll stopped and looked at the other two men “—we have agreed?”

  “Indeed,” Somerset said.

  The brute gave a small bow. “As you say, my lord.”

  “I am gratified you are on our side, Oscar. You as well, Somerset, but I cannot forget that Oscar brought me down with one heavy blow. I had not thought I was that old just yet.”

  “It wasn’t easy,” Oscar offered in consolation.

  “That helps,” Erroll said, then returned his attention to Miss Grace Crenshaw. “We have all agreed to be friends, so I won’t take you to task. But I haven’t forgotten that you lied about me.”

  She shrugged. “It was an innocent fib.”

  “Pray, do not plead innocence. I dislike fools as much as liars.”

  “I daresay the ladies you compromised would say you have been less than honest,” she retorted.

  “They may say what they will,” he replied. “But I never promised them anything, and they were not innocents to be compromised.”

  “When a gentleman takes liberties, it is implied that he intends to marry the lady.”

  He laughed. “Is that what your mother told you? If you believe that then you are naïve. Though I am beginning to suspect that is not the case.”

  “Sir—”

  “Enough,” Erroll said, in no mood for further argument.

  The full weight of their situation—and the unexpected knowledge of what he might want in a wife—pounded into him like Thor’s hammer.

  Chapter Ten

  Eve lay awake most of the night, the gravity of her circumstances setting in after the shock and fear of Lord Rushton’s possible death during the duel had faded. After these recent events, only one gentleman of character would now consider her a lady of character: Lord Somerset.

  If she returned home unmarried, it wouldn’t matter to her father that Lord Halifax had kidnapped her, or that she was guilty of conspiring to kidnap Lord Rushton. Her father would make a dawn appointment with the intention of killing the earl.

  Eve felt deep in her bones that Lord Rushton wouldn’t accept the challenge, but she feared her father’s determination—and his aim. The man, bless his determined soul, loved her and Grace, and believed with all his might that a woman’s life could be ruined by scandal. He was more right than she had ever considered. She had no other choice. She had to accept Lord Somerset’s offer of marriage.

  The unloading of the coal began at dawn and Lord Somerset informed them that their time to leave would be ten o’clock. The hour arrived, and Eve was helped up on deck by the viscount.

  She pulled her cloak tight against the spring chill as she got her first look at Belfast, glistening in the morning sun beyond the teeming docks. She didn’t see Lord Rushton, and breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to endure his company for the day. Lord Somerset grasped her elbow on one side and Grace’s elbow on the other, and helped them across the deck to the gangplank.

  “Wait here,” he instructed Eve, and proceeded down the steep gangplank with Grace.

  Eve caught sight of a waiting carriage with Lord Rushton and Oscar standing beside the vehicle. She had the ridiculous urge to whirl and flee back to the cabin, but the earl turned and looked at her. She couldn’t read his expression, but she knew if she returned to her cabin now, he would believe she had run from him. It was best she met him head on.

  Eve started down the gangplank alone. She took four steps and slowed when the gangplank lifted with the rolling sea. For an instant, she feared she would lose her balance and topple into the murky water without a railing to prevent her fall. She took another cautious step and looked up to find Lord Rushton hurrying up to her.

  He reached her side and grasped her arm. She was chagrined to have to lean into him for fear of stepping too close to the edge of the gangplank as it lifted and then fell with another gentle swell. He led her down the gangplank with the steady legs of an old seadog and they reached the wooden dock without mishap.

  He released her. “The Irish Sea is mighty cold this time of year, Miss Crenshaw.”

  His tone remained light, but Eve didn’t miss the censure. “When is it not cold?”

  “Never,” he replied, which she interpreted as ‘never do that again.’

  Lord Somerset waited beside the carriage as they neared.

  “In you go, Somerset,” Lord Rushton said.

  The viscount complied.

  “Come along, madam.”

  Lord Rushton reached for her hand and warm fingers closed around hers. An unexpected flutter in her stomach caused her knees to weaken. She managed to lift her skirt and cloak as he handed her into the coach, but she nearly fell into the seat beside Grace in her fervor to free her hand from his. Curiosity flickered in his eyes in the instant before he sprang inside the compartment and settled beside Lord Somerset in the opposite seat. Oscar closed the door and the carriage listed slightly as he climbed atop the carriage with the driver.

  “Was it really necessary to bring Oscar along?” Eve asked as the carriage rolled forward with a gentle lurch.

  Amusement appeared in Lord Rushton’s eyes. “You feel for poor Oscar, but care nothing for what Somerset and I must endure?”

  “Oscar is not the one who insisted we take this voyage,” she replied. Though he had stood with Lord Rushton in his insistence they go.

  “So Lord Somerset and I are to suffer for our chivalry?” the earl asked.

  “I imagine you and Lord Somerset will suffer a great deal before this is over.”

  “Nothing less than we deserve?” he asked softly.

  “I suppose not.”

  “I doubt Oscar would have let us leave without him, in any case,” the earl said. “He has appointed himself the protector of you and your sister. Along with Somerset, of course.” Lord Rushton gave him a nod.

  “More like Judas,” Eve muttered.

  “Judas?” He looked horrified. “Somerset, I do believe you have been demoted in Miss Crenshaw’s estimation.”

  “Not Lord Somerset,” Grace said. “Oscar. Eve is angry because he sided with you in getting us onto the ship.”

  “I see.” Lord Rushton looked at Somerset. “You can rest easy, Somerset.”

  “I doubt that,” he replied.

  “Propriety would have been satisfied had we hired a maid and let Oscar take us home,” Eve said.

  Lord Somerset snorted. “Propriety fled our company long ago.”

  Fear lanced though her. Was Lord Somerset angry? Had he changed his mind about wanting to marry her?

  “Well said, Somerset,” Lord Rushton laughed.

  Suddenly Eve felt less like a trip into the city than she had earlier. “I think I would rather return to the ship.”

  “We are already on our way,” he said.

  “Never mind Eve,” Grace sa
id. “She didn’t sleep well last night.”

  Eve looked sharply at her sister. Grace had barely stirred throughout the night and had woken bright-eyed and in excellent spirits, a testament to a restful night. How did she know Eve had lain awake, eyes wide in the darkness?

  “I am sorry to hear you didn’t sleep well,” Lord Rushton said.

  “You slept like a baby, I presume?”

  “I barely have my land legs back. The roll of the ship always lulls me.”

  He almost sounded wistful.

  “Where will we go first?” Grace asked.

  “To the bank,” Lord Rushton answered. “I sent word that I would be arriving.”

  Grace beamed. “Very wise of you, my lord.”

  “Thank you,” he replied, and Eve was sure he was thinking that if he hadn’t made sure to procure funds Grace would have mutinied. “After the bank, we will break our fast,” he went on. ”Then I hope to deposit you ladies at a boutique where you can find everything you need for your stay in Scotland.”

  “How long a stay do you anticipate?” Eve asked.

  He flashed a smile. “If you are asking how much money you can spend, spend to your heart’s content.”

  “How generous of you,” Grace cried. “Is he not kind, Eve?”

  “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,” Eve muttered.

  His brow lifted. “I am no Greek.”

  “Oh, but you could be.”

  “Never fear, my lord,” Grace said. “We promise not to send you into penury.”

  He canted his head. “That is much appreciated.”

  “Have you been to Belfast before, my lord?” Grace asked.

  “I have.”

  Of course, he had, Eve reflected as Grace quizzed him about the city. Belfast was an easy stop on the voyage between England and the Isle of Mull. He likely knew the banker, the dressmaker…the dressmaker. He would know the dressmaker if he had brought other ladies there. She cut off the thought. Lord, she’d lost her mind. Who cared why he knew anything or anyone.

  He pointed out landmarks as they appeared. He spoke in soft tones and Grace replied in kind. He smiled when she clapped in delight at the sight of a confectionary shop he promised they would visit on the return trip to the ship. He explained how Belfast had become a center for the manufacture of linen and Grace…well, Grace was actually listening with seeming interest. And Lord Rushton seemed to like her interest.