Questions for a Highlander

by Angeline Fortin

  Moira had never given up on him though. When she started to mature into womanhood, she practiced her flirting on Vin. When her figure blossomed, she did everything she could to make him notice. She made a fool of herself for him, but he never noticed.

  Now, in truth, Moira was almost terrified to see Vincent MacKintosh once more. She had followed him moony-eyed well into her teen years and, in retrospect, her obsession with him was humiliating to recall. Surely, he would remember it that way – how else could he remember it? - and Moira wasn’t certain she could face him. How mortifying it would be to have Vin return to find her a lovesick spinster still! Better she wed to spare herself a twice-broken heart.

  These past weeks, the need to marry in haste and flee Edinburgh before Vin returned spurred Moira into action. There was a perfect candidate for this plan. Lord Harrison Brudenall, the Marquis of Aylesbury. She met him the previous summer when he came up to Edinburgh on business. Richard brought him home for dinner one night when Moira was staying with them while Eve and Kitty went to New York for their father’s funeral. Without the trappings of Society surrounding him, Moira simply found the marquis refreshing and interesting company.

  They struck up a friendship of sorts that they renewed when she was in London to share in the Little Season before Christmas. He began courting her in earnest then. His attention caused quite a stir. Moira hadn’t known when she had first met him but Aylesbury was currently considered the most available bachelor in London

  What she knew now was that he was her perfect solution.

  “Lord Aylesbury has come up from London,” Moira said softly, still staring out the window of Eve’s private parlor at the Glenrothes townhouse on Carlton Terrace. Eve and Kitty were near the fireplace cooing over Eve’s newborn son, Preston. The sudden fall of silence told Moira she had gotten her friends’ attention with those words. She turned to face them with a tilt of defiance to her chin. “I saw him last night at the Guthrie dinner. It seems that he has come to town and is staying with Lord Gordon for the time being.”

  Both her friends’ eyes widened with the news before the close sisters shared a glance that spoke volumes. It seemed the eligible marquis had been more taken by Moira in London than Eve thought. Only a determined suitor would pursue a women to Edinburgh leaving London on the brink of the Season. However, Moira’s announcement was also a surprise because it signaled a change of heart regarding something both sisters had felt certain of.

  There was a long moment of silence from the trio while Eve and Kitty considered to how to respond. Kitty finally asked the question both sisters longed to hear the answer to. Indeed, they had been wondering about since Christmas Eve when they heard the news of Vincent MacKintosh’s return from the dead, as it were. “What of Vin, dear?”

  “That has little to do with Lord Aylesbury’s courtship,” Moira countered in response to the question with what she hoped looked like a careless shrug. Giving voice to the troubling epiphany she’d had, Moira added, “Vin was never interested in me that way before we thought him gone. I doubt time will have changed that opinion much.”

  “But Sung Li feels Vin is almost ready to come home,” Kitty argued having received several letters from her majordomo over the course of the past couple weeks. The old Chinaman had been sent down to London to help Vin in regaining his strength both in body and in mind before he came home. While an excellent majordomo, Sung Li was trained in traditional Chinese healing methods he felt would be useful to the injured Vin. Hearing of Vin’s condition, Sung Li had been eager to attend him. “Surely you aren’t planning on rushing into something before he returns?”

  Both women knew at twenty and seven, Moira considered herself little more than a desperate spinster but she was not as firmly on the shelf as she might think. Despite her age, Moira was the sole heir to an incredible fortune and two noble titles. She could have been an aged hag and men would still flock to her side. Despite dozens of proposals, however, Moira had never married. Something had always held her back.

  Both Eve and Kitty also knew that something had been Vincent MacKintosh.

  Now that he was within reach, she was planning to run away?

  “Are you certain, Moira? I should hate to see you act rashly,” Eve worried with her sister. “I know we had only a brief time in London for the little Season before I had to come back for the baby’s birth, but we have the whole Season coming up soon for you to find a match. Preferably a love match.”

  “Evie, I have spent the past eight years waiting for a match of any sort! Pops and Papa would not surrender my company for anything other than quick trips here to Edinburgh much less making the rounds of balls and other gatherings where I might meet an eligible man!” Moira reminded as she dropped into a chair opposite the pair. It was a falsehood Moira long used to cloak her true reasons for staying at the Tower with the two old men. It had been easy to disguise her reluctance to marry anyone but Vin behind an overprotective father and grandfather. Even now, the lie fell easily from her lips. “I still cannot believe they allowed me to stay with you these past nine months! However, I don’t want to wait any longer. It's time I married. I want to marry!”

  “We know you do, dearest,” Kitty reached over and squeezed her friend’s arm. “But we also know better than anyone how important it is to make the right choice.”

  It was quite an understatement. Before finding the truest sort of love this past year with Francis MacKintosh and Jack Merrill, Eve and Kitty both experienced horrible marriages. Marriage laws favored men and left women with little recourse if they married in haste and Moira could understand their concern. Having a marriage like either of those was certainly to be avoided at all costs. Regardless, should fear or worry stop a woman from moving on with her life?

  “Surely you have no worries of that nature regarding Lord Aylesbury,” Moira argued, refusing to cast Vin and her fears as a reason to allow the marquis to court her.

  Eve sighed heavily knowing she had no reasonable argument against Aylesbury and gave a shake of her head to her sister when Kitty, having not yet met the gentleman in question, raised a questioning brow.

  Lord Harrison Brudenall was a good man. He was in fact, nearly perfect. He was titled and wealthy, handsome and cultured. Well-liked and much sought after by all London’s ton. He was, literally, everything a woman might want in a man. He was clearly taken enough by Moira to follow her up to Edinburgh after courting her briefly over the previous summer and Little Season.

  “Do you think I should turn him down?” Moira persisted.

  “Has he asked?” Kitty cut in with raised brows.

  “No, not yet.”

  “We just want you to take some time to be certain,” Eve begged. “I want it all to be perfect for you. Do you love Lord Aylesbury?”

  “I…” Moira hesitated but knew that she could not so directly lie to these women who were her cherished friends. “I like him, Evie, very much. He is the dearest man and a wonderful friend.”

  “Friendship is important,” Kitty allowed, knowing that she’d found the same with Jack Merrill before falling in love with him, but added gently, “but love is more important.”

  Moira looked away. “I can’t, Kitty, you know that.”

  “And that is why we think you should wait and see what happens when Vin returns,” Eve reasoned.

  “How long? How long should I hold out for something that is never going to happen?” Moira asked sharply, feeling the fear and desperation catch in her throat. “My life is passing me by while I wait,” she choked against the emotion. “I waited for Vincent faithfully after he joined the Queen’s guards. Wrote him obsessively and he wrote me back often enough I thought things had changed. I waited almost five years for him to do something and what did he do? He practically engaged himself to Geena Campbell before I even had a chance with him! He thought me nothing but a friend! That’s what he told me on that last visit, I was such a dear friend! I had forgotten that all these years we thought him dead remember
ing only that I loved him, but he never loved me, Evie! Why would that change now? Better I take what I can now than wait for something that will never happen. Spare myself the disappointment.”

  The sisters shared a look of pity on seeing their headstrong friend brought low by fear – for that was clearly, what this was. It was understandable, of course. There would be some uncertainty when hopes warred against apprehension, but neither could they stand by and watch their friend leap into a decision that might cost her future happiness. “Moira…”

  Moira wasn’t finished. “I lost the two men I love most in the world when Richard came home alone,” Moira reminded with tears shimmering in her eyes. “I have lived without them these past five years, but I am done with that. I’m done with being alone. I want someone to love, someone to love me.” She looked down at the newborn sleeping in Eve’s arms feeling the famiar pang of longing. “I want babies of my own before it is too late.”

  “I know you do, but promise me to wait just a bit longer,” Eve begged, unconsciously squeezing the baby. She’d never thought to have another after her own first marriage. “The Season is fast approaching. The balls and dinners here have already begun and soon I will be able to chaperone you again. If Aylesbury is serious in his intentions, he can wait on a proposal until we return to London at the very least.”

  “But I cannot wait!” Moira insisted, feeling panic bubble up within her and hating herself for the weakness. “I can’t let him see me like this…”

  Kitty rose and drew Moira into her arms. “Moira, dear…” Kitty looked helplessly over her shoulder at her sister.

  “You say Vin never knew, Moira,” Eve soothed as she rocked her son wishing there was more they could do to ease Moira’s fears. “I know what you have been worrying about. I’ve seen it for weeks in the way you’ve responded to Aylesbury’s earnest courting. You must trust me when I tell you that no man, Vincent MacKintosh or not, could ever see you as a spinster…desperate or otherwise.”

  Moira looked at her friend knowing she should not be surprised that Eve read her so well. Kitty chimed in, “Goodness, no! Moira MacKenzie, you are a gorgeous woman. Everyone knows you can hold out for the very best. Men make fools of themselves over you because they know it as well!”

  “Are you certain he won’t see it otherwise?” Moira insisted worriedly.

  Eve choked on a laugh. “Moira, he’s already proven himself to be a blind fool! Of course, he won’t know! Just give him a chance to come to his senses!”

  “Very well, Evie,” her friend conceded, knowing there was no point arguing. Eve’s words however, sparked unbidden hope as well. What if Vin returned and could look on her with new eyes? Was finally able to see her as a man sees a woman? No, she couldn’t pin her hopes on that!

  But, still…

  No! She must not! She would be a fool to hope. “I will give you until we return to London next month but that is all.”

  “And you will enjoy yourself.”

  “And I will strive to enjoy myself."

  Chapter 4

  The Theatre Royal

  Edinburgh, Scotland

  A week later

  Harrison Brudenall carried Moira’s hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. “Are you enjoying yourself, Moira darling?”

  “I am, thank you.”

  This evening he had escorted her to the Theatre Royal to see one of the last local showings of Tchaikovsky’s opera Queen of Spades. They were in the Glenrothes private box with Abby and Richard while Eve stayed at Carlton Terrace with her new son. Even surrounded by the crowd around them, Aylesbury had a way about him that made her feel as if they were alone in a confidential conversation. She liked that.

  She liked his attentiveness. Liked the way he’d managed to take away the dread that filled her thoughts.

  Aylesbury was by her side at every event she’d attended this week, from balls to dinners to rides in the park. As Eve noted repeatedly, the marquis couldn’t be faulted for the earnestness of his suit. Moira, though, was still having difficulties viewing him as a suitor but adored the depth of friendship he offered. He was funny and caring. It would be impossible not to like him.

  And she truly did.

  Despite her insistence that she was on the hunt for a husband, it had not struck her immediately to consider Harry Brudenall for the position months ago when they had first met. Moira merely enjoyed his company, his wit and intelligence. Other than the men of the MacKintosh clan and Haddington, he was the first man she’d ever spent any time with so she treated him as she would those lifelong friends. Like a brother. Weeks of riding through the city’s parks and gardens together last summer led her to believe that he saw her in the same light.

  London’s Little Season showed a marked change in his approach to that friendship. It seemed the marquis had decided to do his best to sweep her off her feet. He charmed her with his sense of humor. Moira could also admit to his dashing good looks. Aylesbury was incredibly handsome with his hair as black as pitch contrasting with bright blue eyes that lit with more than affection when they landed on her. Now they lit with appreciation and tenderness as well. As the most eligible bachelor in town, his interest was noted and commented on. The consensus was they would make an excellent match, both wealthy and titled.

  “When do you suppose the countess might consent to let me meet your father and grandfather?” he wondered as they waited for the curtain to rise on the first act.

  “I’m not certain, Harry.” Moira cast a speculative look at Abby and Richard to make certain their attention was fully engaged and they wouldn’t overhear before she lowered her voice adding, “I will share a secret with you but you must promise you won’t speak of it to Abby and Richard.”

  “Of course,” the marquis agreed, curious at what Moira might share with him that she wouldn’t share with her closest friend.

  “Do you recall last summer when I spoke of my brother and Richard’s brother, Vincent, being taken prisoner in Egypt?” she asked.

  Indeed, he did remember. How could he not? Moira had been full of stories when they first met of her brother and friend. She shared stories both wistful and humorous. Stories that one told of loved-ones long gone when they might be remembered happily rather than with sorrow. “I do. You shared many marvelous memories with me. You hadn’t mentioned either of them again since my return, however.”

  Peeking once again at Abby, Moira leaned in closer. “Vincent MacKintosh has been found alive and is to return home soon.”

  Brudenall blinked and leaned back. “But that’s wonderful news, Moira! Why wouldn’t you share such a blessing with Richard?”

  “Vin has been very ill since his return,” Moira explained. “Glenrothes thought it best to allow him some time to recover before he was reintroduced to his family.”

  “Of course,” he nodded, understanding the unspoken inference having met most of the MacKintosh siblings the previous year. They were an unruly lot to be sure. For one attempting to recuperate in peace and silence, it would indeed be best to remain apart from the attention of so many. “Moira, darling…what of your brother, Jason?”

  Moira shook her head tightly. “Glenrothes had no such news about my brother. I hope to speak with Vin about it when he returns.”

  “Do you think..?”

  She laid her hand on his arm and he covered it with his own. “I cannot allow myself to hope, can I? Jason and Vin have been assumed dead for more than five years. We mourned for them. My brother. Both my friends.”

  My love, her heart cried silently before she pushed the thought ruthlessly aside. “It is a miracle that Vin has been found alive, but asking for more than that would be too much.”

  Brudenall squeezed her hand and let the question lay. Moira would hope, he knew. She had adored them both, her stories told him that much. Perhaps Vincent MacKintosh’s return would give her back a brother. Not the one of her own blood but a brother of her heart nonetheless.

  He was thrilled for her. She was a s
pirited woman. Her bright and brazen humor had caught him from the first, her intelligence and caring had drawn him even closer. Moira lived life with fire that drew men like a moth to the flame and Brudenall admitted he was just as attracted. The only shadow that ever dimmed her lightheartedness was speaking of her brother and, her friend, Vincent. Reminders of their deaths were the only thing ever to lower her lively spirit. He would be glad to have even a portion of that misery erased. She deserved it. “You will at least have your friend back.”

  With a careless shrug to mask her thoughts, Moira changed the subject. “You see then that Eve will not consider traveling to visit Papa just yet?”

  “Naturally, you should all be here to celebrate his return,” the marquis agreed.

  Moira nodded vaguely allowing Harry to assume the reason that Eve would not allow their courtship to move forward. “Eve has been a dear friend for many years. She asks very little of me.”

  She asks the world of me! her heart argued. Asking her to put her heart on the line once again so Moira could prove that her lifelong love had always been nothing but a one-sided crush.

  “You are blessed with good friends,” he told her.

  “You are one of them,” she said softly.

  “I would like to be more.”

  That was the biggest problem with the marquis. He wasn’t looking for friendship or even a marriage of convenience. Unlike most any other nobleman she knew, Aylesbury was determined to marry for love and affection and it seemed, since his return to Edinburgh, he was intent on finding it with her.

  He would demand her heart – her whole heart – if they wed.

  Oh, he was everything a woman could ask for in a spouse and he truly seemed to care for her. She had come to love him in return…perhaps not in the way that Abby loved Richard or Eve loved Francis MacKintosh, but it was real and steadfast. Aylesbury was a friend, much as her brother had been, and he filled a gap in her life that had been empty since her brother had disappeared. Since Vin had disappeared.