A Scottish Duke for Christmas (The Duke of Strathmore Book 4)

by Sasha Cottman

  Caroline didn't want him in her life. She wasn't prepared to forgive him. Perhaps it was time to move on and find a woman who would make a sensible wife. A woman who would take on both the role of Duchess of Strathmore and stepmother without fuss. He could settle for the traditional ton marriage. He would be a comfortable husband with a comfortable wife.

  He picked up the glass and poured the remainder of its contents back into the whisky decanter. Getting drunk wouldn't solve any of his problems.

  ‘I’m not done with you Caroline.’

  The fight was not over.

  Chapter Seventeen

  With only a matter of days until she intended to depart, Caroline decided she must take her leave on better terms with the Radley family.

  Discounting how uneasy the situation with Ewan currently was, there was a real danger that if she wasn't able to come to an amicable accord with David's family, she may never see her nephew again. If she had to swallow her hurt and pride, to ensure she remained part of his life, then that was what she would do.

  'Do you have a moment?'

  Lady Alison and Aunt Maude, whom Caroline suspected were joined at the hip, were seated reading in the castle's library.

  'Yes, of course, my dear, come in, take a seat,' Lady Alison replied.

  Caroline sat down on a long dark brown leather couch and rested her hands in her lap. During the night she had come up with a plan, which hopefully would go some way to repairing matters.

  'I have been led to believe that you don't celebrate Christmas as such in Scotland.'

  'Yes. Well, the church here has had some issues with it. When we are in residence at the castle at this time of year, we reserve our major celebrations of the season for Hogmanay at New Years. Pity you can’t stay long enough to see them. Why do you ask?'

  'I would like. If you are agreeable. To visit the village and arrange to purchase Christmas gifts for you all. While I myself, will not be here on the day in question, it would make me happy to know that you at least have a small reminder of me at that time. I, in turn, shall drink a toast to your good health at my family's Christmas Dinner in Kent,' replied Caroline.

  Aunt Maude put down her book. She was out of her chair and had taken hold of Caroline’s arm before Lady Alison had the opportunity to reply.

  'A capital idea, Caroline. I shall go and get my cloak,' she said.

  Less than an hour later, Aunt Maude led a warmly dressed, but slightly bemused Caroline out of the castle and across the huge wooden drawbridge. Trips to the various shops in London were usually planned days ahead of time, but having found herself caught up in Maude’s carpe diem attitude to shopping, Caroline decided to go along.

  They headed down the narrow road which led to the nearby village of Strathmore.

  There had been a heavy snowfall during the night. Snow was piled up on the embankments on either side of the road.

  As the warmth of the morning sun slowly melted the snow, sections of the road turned into large water-filled potholes.

  'Mind how you go lass, this road can be a wee bit treacherous after a snowfall,' cautioned Maude.

  Caroline deftly sidestepped one hole but failed to miss a second. After several of these mishaps, her walking boots were both soaked through.

  'I don't suppose you are used to these sorts of roads in England. It pays not to wear your good clothes when you are out and about hereabouts. I myself save my nice slippers for the season in London, and my good old Tackety boots for winter here.'

  Maude lifted her woolen skirts to reveal a pair of mud-covered, black hobnail boots. She was the epitome of practicality.

  ‘We should get you a pair.’

  Caroline laughed. She liked Aunt Maude immensely. A good plain-speaking Scottish woman with a heart of gold. Maude's sudden insistence on being the one to accompany Caroline to the village was an unexpected, but welcome surprise.

  They reached the end of the road and entered the main street of the village of Strathmore. Aunt Maude stopped outside a long stone building with a bright green shingle hanging outside.

  'Welcome to Dunn's. If you cannot get what you need here, I'm afraid you will have to go to Edinburgh.'

  Caroline followed her inside.

  Within a short time, she had found most of what she needed. Fine lambswool with which to knit new scarves for the ladies. Some heavy cotton fabric to make clothes for David, who was rapidly outgrowing the clothes she had purchased for him in Manchester. That only left Ewan.

  She wandered around the store for some time, picking up and putting down various items.

  She was close to buying Ewan a collection of poems by Robert Burns, which she suspected he already owned when Aunt Maude came to her rescue.

  'If you are looking for something for himself, then you could always make him a shirt,' she said.

  Caroline considered the suggestion for a second. A shirt made perfect sense. It was practical, and being skilled with a needle and fine thread she knew she could manage to make a quality garment within a matter of days. In the time left, she could embroider some fancy work on the cuffs.

  'Thank you, Maude, that is just what I shall do.'

  After paying for her purchases and having them wrapped in brown paper she and Maude made their way out of the shop. As they left, Caroline missed seeing the secret smile that passed between Aunt Maude and the proprietor, Mr. Dunn.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As soon as they returned to the castle, Caroline set about making her Christmas gifts. With good humor and best wishes in every stitch, she soon had completed two long elegant scarves. One each for Lady Alison and Aunt Maude.

  Two days later she began to cut the linen for Ewan's shirt, but oddly found herself in tears every time she set the shears to the fabric. Eventually, she put the shirt to one side and set about making David's gift.

  She was busily marking out the pattern for a smock for David, skillfully using tailor's chalk, when there was a knock at her bedroom door.

  'Just a moment,' she called out.

  Picking up the smock, she quickly stuffed it into a drawer. While she wouldn't be present when the gifts were opened, she still wanted to know that they would be a surprise for all their recipients.

  The door opened, and Ewan stepped across the threshold.

  'Oh, hello,' she said.

  They stood in awkward silence for a moment, before he finally spoke.

  'I came to apologize.'

  She shrugged her shoulders. He had already tried to apologize, and things had not turned out well.

  'I know things will never be right between us again, and I accept full responsibility for that unfortunate situation. But.'

  'But what?'

  He puffed out his cheeks.

  'I need your help. I promise I wouldn't be here if there was any other way. And, since it does directly involve David, I thought you might see your way to put the other matters to one side and assisting me.'

  The look of desperation on Ewan's face reminded her of when he begged her to come to Scotland. A man floundering in a predicament. He didn't want to ask for her help; but having explored all other options, he was now left with no other option but to ask for her assistance.

  'I'm listening,' she replied.

  The fact that she had not said a flat out no, seemed to spark his mood. He gave a small sigh of relief.

  'My mother has arranged for a group of young ladies from Edinburgh to visit the castle tomorrow. Hopefully, from that cohort, a suitable nursemaid for David will be selected. For some reason known only to herself, my mother has recused herself from the interview process. How she could possibly have chosen the candidates and then claimed a possible conflict of interest, I do not understand. And before you ask, Aunt Maude has suddenly come down with some form of mystery illness and is also unable to assist with the interviews,' he said.

  Caroline pursed her lips. The knowledge that she was even further down the list of suitable helpers than unwed Aunt Maude was an unexpected blow t
o her pride. It was she, not Aunt Maude, who had nursed David for most of the days since they had rescued him from the boarding house in Manchester.

  You did decide to put your own interests aside and do what is best for the child. Why else would you have agreed to come to Scotland?

  Her wounded pride would have to heal itself. There was a job to be done.

  ‘Yes, of course, I will help.’

  'You do realize that between the two of us, we have little to no experience in hiring a nursemaid, let alone raising a child. I still cannot fathom why Lady Alison didn't wish to partake of the interviews, she at least has had the experience of being a real mother,' said Caroline.

  Ewan sat his cup of coffee down. While he couldn't understand his mother's reasoning, it at least afforded him the opportunity to spend some precious time with Caroline. Time, he knew was fast running out.

  ‘Well we shall just have to make the best of things and hopefully one of the girls will be suitable. With eight to choose from, the odds are favorable,’ he replied.

  In the end, he was more than relieved that it was Caroline who he managed to press into service for the interviews. He quickly discovered that she and he were much alike as to the qualities they were seeking in a nursemaid for David.

  All afternoon they sat side by side, in the main sitting room, interviewing the prospective nursemaids. As the last of the eight candidates walked out of the room, they looked at one another and shook their heads.

  'I know Mama did her best to source the girls, but not one of them appealed to me. I wouldn't want any of them raising my son. What do you think?' he said.

  The day had been long and at times confronting. Two of the prospective candidates had taken their leave when they discovered that they would be nursemaid to an illegitimate child. One had even suggested that she could catch something unholy from a bastard.

  It had taken all of Ewan's self-control not to strike the woman when she told him his son was the product of the devil's sin in the world.

  Caroline shifted in her seat and looked at him.

  'I must confess I am in complete agreement with you. You may need to go to Edinburgh yourself and source the right woman. Time is becoming of the essence. If Hannah and I are to make it back to Hastings Hall for Christmas, we shall need to leave within the next few days. Your mother may need to step in and assist with David’s care,' she replied.

  The afternoon had been a complete waste of time with regard to sourcing a nursemaid, but at least matters between Caroline and himself had settled down enough for them to be able to speak pleasantly to one another. Not settled enough though, that he felt able to once more tread the dangerous ground of telling her he loved her.

  The poor showing of the candidates only delayed her departure. At some point, a suitable nursemaid would be found, and he would be left facing the inevitable goodbye. Caroline had made her position regarding their relationship all too clear.

  As Caroline went back to her room, Ewan headed out into the castle courtyard. He needed some fresh air to clear his mind and humor.

  The eight unsuccessful nursemaid candidates were milling around in a circle awaiting final preparations of the Strathmore travel coach which would take them back to Edinburgh. The last horse was being harnessed as Ewan arrived.

  As he drew closer, Ewan noticed an odd thing. Each of the girls was holding a small coin purse in her hand. All eight-coin purses were identical in color and size. Upon his arrival at the assembled group, hands and coin purses quickly disappeared under cloaks. Not one of them dared to meet his gaze.

  Realization slipped quietly into his mind.

  Ewan smelt a rat.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The rat, or rather the pair of rats in question, he sensed, would be found in his mother's sitting room. He marched angrily back into the castle keep.

  Upon entering his mother's sitting the room, he saw that the previously indisposed Aunt Maude was happily tucking into a large piece of eel pie and some cold meats. Seated beside her on the couch was his mother, enjoying an early afternoon brandy.

  They were celebrating.

  He closed the door behind him, and strode into the middle of the room. With hands on hips, he stopped and faced them.

  'Ewan my dear boy, how did the interviews go?’ asked Lady Alison, nonchalantly.

  He would have laughed at her pathetic attempt at disinterest if he hadn't been so furious. By meddling in matters, his mother and Maude were only making the situation with Caroline more precarious.

  'Yes, did you choose one?' added Maude, before stuffing a piece of eel pie into her mouth. She sat back on the couch and smiled at him.

  Ewan had to give Maude her dues. She was at least attempting to call his bluff. He of course wasn't having any of it.

  Between the two of them, the Radley women had somehow managed to bribe the potential nursemaids, and ensure that every last one of them had thrown the interview.

  'I am not here to play games ladies. I know what the pair of you have done. I saw the coin purses. Did you really think I wouldn't unearth your scheme? The smart plan would have been to wait until they got back to Edinburgh before you paid them off.'

  The women exchanged an uneasy look. Lady Alison took a leisurely sip of her brandy before setting the glass down with slow purpose.

  'We were only trying to help. You don't seem to be making much headway in getting Caroline's agreement to stay, so we decided you needed a little nudge,' she replied.

  Ewan growled. He understood that they had good intentions. What they did not seem to appreciate, was that Caroline wasn't a woman to be manipulated. If she had any inkling as to what Lady Alison and Aunt Maude were up to, she would be on the first coach out of Strathmore Castle and he would never see her again.

  He had barely made headway with her since the incident in the woods, and the thought that his mother and aunt were trying to play cupid had his blood running cold with fear.

  'I must insist that you cease and desist from trying to help forthwith. This situation is a far more complicated and delicate one than either of you seem to comprehend,' he replied.

  The two women looked down at the floor, crestfallen.

  'We are truly sorry,' they replied in unison.

  Ewan felt a cad at making his mother and Maude apologize. Their intentions had been for the good. He made a mental note to make it up to them as soon as he could.

  His greatest concern at this point was ensuring that Caroline didn't discover the truth of the afternoon she had wasted.

  'Thank you, ladies. I shall leave you to your brandy and vittles.'

  He turned on his heel and marched from the room, intent on making sure that the travel coach to Edinburgh left without further delay.

  As soon as he was gone, Lady Alison turned to Aunt Maude.

  'Well, Ewan couldn't have been plainer in his speech. We are to stay out of matters that do not concern us.'

  Aunt Maude brushed the pie crumbs from her fingers and picked up her glass of brandy. After slurping down a large gulp, she held it in her hands.

  'So, what do you suggest we do now?' she replied.

  A sly smile danced its way across Lady Alison's lips.

  'Since the matter of my grandson and any future grandchildren of the Radley line directly concerns me, I feel it well within my rights to meddle. We are going to move onto the next part of our plan. Caroline has one obvious weak spot and we need to fully exploit it. It’s time we rolled out our biggest weapon onto the battlefield.'

  The sound of the two brandy glasses being clinked together sounded in the room.

  'Let us drink a toast to David Radley and the hope that he can tip the war in our favor.'

  Chapter Twenty

  Ewan lay in his bed in the early hours of the morning, listening to the storm which had sprung up during the previous day and had continued unabated. Gale force winds lashed heavy rain against the window. It was not unheard of for these storms to continue for days on end at this
time of the year. Heavy snow would soon follow. Roads would become impassible and no one would be traveling from the castle.

  As he rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep, he muttered a single prayer.

  Lord let it rain for forty days and forty nights.

  The rain eventually subsided later that morning, sparing them all from a great flood. The roads around the village and castle, however, did not escape unscathed. The bridge on the main road leading back to Falkirk was partly washed away. When his steward returned to the castle later that afternoon, he was the bearer of bad news.

  'It will be days before anyone can get near to pulling the piers back into place, your Grace. The ground around the bottom of the bridge is a quagmire at best,' his steward announced.

  'Yes, and the clouds have changed from being rain clouds to low snow bearing ones. We may have a long wait before we can get those repairs done,' Ewan replied.

  He would not risk the lives of his workers trying to fix the bridge. The village and castle had plenty of provisions and winter stores of food. If they had to last well into the new year being cut off from the rest of the world, it wouldn't be the first time.

  After his steward took his leave, Ewan stood and looked out the window. He looked up at the clouds which sat over the top of Strathmore Mountain. They were so low, that the top of the mountain had completed disappeared.

  He bowed his head.

  'Thank you, Lord, I will not waste this blessing.'

  'How long did you say?'

  Ewan did his best to keep calm.

  Caroline's reaction to being told that the bridge near Torwood was gone; and that she may be staying at the castle indefinitely, was not unexpected.

  'Is there no other road I could take?'

  'I'm afraid not, the only other road leads toward the Highlands and that is already covered in several feet of snow. It will be impassable until the Spring. You must grant that we are a long way from the cobbled streets of Edinburgh or London,' Ewan replied.