“The pleasure is mine, I assure you,” He put on an apron so he could peel potatoes without getting his uniform soiled. “And dinna burn yourself on the stove.”
“I won’t, I like these hands well enough myself.”
“See that you do.” He grinned finally and winked at Katie. “Give us a kiss?”
“Here…in the kitchen?” Malveen asked.
“Only Katie will see, and she’ll not tell.”
Malveen meant to only give him a peck, but he grabbed her around the waist, laid her back and kissed her until she beat on his arms to be let go. “Cad.”
“Cad is it?” he started to grab her again and made her jump back.
“They’ll be no potatoes for dinner if you dinna get to work,” said Malveen.
He pouted, sat at the cutting table and picked up a potato. Egan looked up just in time to see Alistair come in. “She is makin’ me into a kitchen maid.”
“Good, you’ve not done a lick of work since you got here,” said Alistair. “I have heard from the family. They are returning on the morning train.”
“And then…we leave for America,” Egan whispered. He didn’t have the courage to look Malveen in the eye when he said it, and he was not surprised when she turned her back and went to stir a pot on the stove.
“Mr. Hannish says the…particular problem we have been worried about, has been taken care of.”
Egan studied Alistair’s eyes and at length, understood what problem he was talking about. “I am greatly relieved.”
“As am I. Miss Malveen,” Alistair continued. “His Grace asks if you will play for us this evenin’.”
“He knows I will,” Malveen said. “Perhaps Egan and Katie will tend the cooking and let me practice for an hour or two.”
“Well,” said Egan, “I believe we can manage without you. What say you, Katie?”
“To hear her play again, I’d gladly cook standin’ on my head.”
Malveen laughed, shed her apron, hurried up the steps, and disappeared down the hallway. A few minutes later, the castle was filled with her divine music.
Egan closed his eyes and listened until Katie put a knuckle to his head. “Peel while you are listenin’, young Mister Egan.”
*
The trunks were loaded and the carriage door was open when Leesil put her hand on Cathleen’s slightly extended stomach. “How I wish I could be here for the happy event.”
“So do I. Sister, you must call me far more often.”
Standing not far away, Cameron took his older brother’s hand. “Do you forgive us for not seeing you off at the dock?”
“We completely understand. Cathleen needs her rest and we have taken you away from your shop long enough.”
“Give McKenna and the Judge our love.”
“I will,” Hannish promised.
Leesil was determined not to cry this time. “You will be happier here, now that Alistair sent William and Rosslyn away.”
“I know I shall, and I shall be far more forthcoming with my complaints.” She hugged Leesil one more time, and then watched her climb into the carriage. Even then, she reached for Leesil’s hand through the open door.
“He is still kissing her,” Hannish whispered to his brother just before he put Justin in the carriage and climbed in behind him.
Cameron looked and just as his brother thought, Egan and Malveen were still embracing. “Why does he not just stay? Surely he knows he is welcome here.”
Egan lifted Malveen’s chin so he could see her eyes. “Promise you will write and call when you can?”
“I promise,” Malveen answered. “And when I come to America…”
“I shall be there to greet you.” Egan glanced at the carriage, realized they were waiting, and kissed her once more. Then he slowly moved away, keeping her hand in his until the last possible moment, before he turned and hurried to the carriage.
The coachman closed the door, the driver slapped the reins on the backs of the horses and the carriage pulled away. Even then, Leesil leaned out one window and Egan out the other, furiously waving goodbye.
Holding back tears, Malveen went inside.
A footman brought his horse around, and Cameron took Cathleen in his arms. “Will you be alright? I promise not to stay late. My shop has been without me far too long.”
“I shall take a nap and before I know it, you will be home again.”
He lovingly kissed her, mounted his horse and he too rode away. She watched until he was out of sight, and then bowed her head. It would be a long time before she found a way to fill the emptiness her sister left in her heart, but a baby would help and there was Addie to care for. Even so, that old familiar loneliness made her more solemn than she had been in the days before Leesil came. She promised she would not cry for the baby’s sake, but fighting the urge was nearly impossible.
If only she had something more to do.
Cathleen looked up at the sky and watched as the dark clouds began to close the gaps between them. Across the glen, scattered rays of sunlight shown down, and when she looked toward the loch, a streak of light illuminated a patch of green, giving it that magical brightness Cathleen loved so much. Yet, there was something more.
As she started to walk toward it, the enormous black stallion began to slowly come to her. With a smile on her face, she continued until at last, he stopped and she could stroke his forehead. “Hello, I have missed seeing you.” The horse stood perfectly still for a few moments more, but as she moved her hand down his neck, the stallion moved until he was behind her, and then he gently nudged her back.
Cathleen giggled. “What?” The horse nudged her a second time, so she began to walk toward the loch. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, glancing back. At that, the horse went around her and trotted a ways more before he stopped and turned to face her.
“Very well, I am coming,” When she arrived, she again tried to pet his forehead, but the horse moved his head to the side as though he was looking at something. It took a moment, but when she followed his gaze, she finally understood. There, in the tall grass near a tree were three, round, furry puppies trying to nurse from a mother that was obviously dead.
“Oh, you poor little darlings.” She knelt down and picked them up one by one, cuddled them and let each lick her neck. “Thank you,” she said slowly getting back up. “‘Tis just what we need.”
Cathleen looked all around, but the horse was gone. The streak of sunlight was gone too, and it was beginning to rain, so she hurried back to the castle. She was almost to the front door, when she spotted a rider coming swiftly up the rode and turned to watch him. Closer and closer he came, until at last, she realized who it was.
“Egan!” she breathed.
*
Malveen put the ham in the oven and tried not to let her broken heart interfere with her duties. Katie was showing a new kitchen maid around, and she was grateful for a few moments alone. There were people to feed, a new cook to finish teaching and the next day, she would be off to play her first concert in front of hundreds of people. Maybe that would take her mind off Egan, but she doubted it. She was not supposed to fall in love, but it was too late and now, she couldn’t imagine life without him.
She was busy gathering ingredients for a sauce, when he came in and she almost didn’t notice him. When she did, she halted.
“I forgot to tell you something,” Egan said.
“You came back?”
“Aye.” He went to her, took the box of cornstarch out of her hands and set it on the table.
“What?”
“I love you.” Instead of kissing her, he folded his arms and stared at the floor. “I am well aware I am not suited, and that occasionally I must be left behind, but this is my home and I am welcome to wait here.” When he cautiously looked, she was grinning ear to ear, but he kept his serious frown and began again. “I’ll not like letting you travel the world alone, what husband would? While you are busy, I shall be forced to while away the hours re
ading books or perhaps playing poker, but I think I can manage. And then, when we have children…”
Suddenly, she had her hand on the side of his face. “How many children?”
“One a year should be plenty. As I was saying…”
“Egan, are you askin’ me to marry you?”
“I must be, but…”
“Say it. I shall not say no.”
He cleared his throat. “Malveen MacGreagor, I dinna deserve you, but are you willin’ to share your very important life with me?”
“I am, I am, I…” She lifted her lips to his and let the joy of his kiss take her to a place where nothing else in the world mattered, not even her beloved music.
CHAPTER 11
If it had not been for a man who offered to let her ride on the back of his wagon load of hay that afternoon, the duchess would have been forced to walk several miles. Even so, she was beyond humiliated. She simply could not understand why Liam took her to Scotland instead of back to England. Without a farthing or a jewel to her name, she slept in the woods the first night, although exposed to the elements the way she was, and without a blanket, she slept very little.
The next day, she caught a ride with another farmer. This time, she was allowed to sit up front, but she had to put up with the smell and abominable squealing of caged piglets. By the time he came to the end of his journey, she was exhausted and famished. There was not a morsel to be had, not even a berry in the open grassland where she bedded down the second night, but sleep came far more easily.
On the third day, she stole a meat pie cooling on a windowsill, and somehow found the energy to run away and hide. She walked, caught two more rides and by the time she reached London, her ball gown was tattered, her hair was a tousled mess and she looked more like a street urchin than a lady. At last, she opened the door and climbed the stairs to the second floor, hoping Solicitor Crisp had not already gone home for the day.
She turned the knob, found the door unlocked and breathed her relief. Yet, in the dim light of evening, what she saw was the worst shock of all. Both the outer and the inner offices were completely empty. Gone were the desks, the chairs, the worn out rugs and…the manuscript Crisp was writing. Her hope of survival was gone with that manuscript.
It was the last straw and the duchess finally sunk to her knees and wept.
Morning came abruptly to the duchess. Lying on the floor of Solicitor Crisp’s empty office, a man stood over her shouting something she did not quite understand.
“Get out!” the man demanded, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet.
“Unhand me,” she growled.
He ignored her, pulled her out the door and nearly shoved her down the stairs. Just in time, she reached for the railing and caught herself. Furious, she turned and looked at him. “Do you know where John Crisp has gone?”
“Australia, the last I heard. Be gone with you. We do not tolerate the likes of you in these parts.”
“The likes of me?” she muttered. She wanted to argue, but instead she continued on down the stairs and went out the door. Every bone in her body ached, but she kept walking and tried to think what to do next. There was no point in going to Crisp’s home. Obviously, he had sold the manuscript, kept her half and was long gone.
“Australia,” she moaned. “How could he?”
Yet, nothing a man ever did surprised her now. What she needed was a new name and a plan, but what plan could she possibly make this time? Laura Bayington wouldn’t help her, that was for sure, and now that Lord Okerman knew the truth, her chances of reentering London society were nonexistent. Stealing clean clothing would not be a problem, she was accustomed to stealing, and once she did that, she could find a public bathhouse somewhere. Suddenly, she remembered – with any luck, the hotel still had her things.
With renewed vigor, she walked and walked, until at last, the hotel came into sight. She burst through the door and marched to the counter. “Mr….
“Yes,” the manager asked. When he turned around, he was appalled by the appearance of the woman standing in front of him.
“Do you not recognize me?”
“I’ve never seen you before in my life. Be gone with you, I run a respectable establishment and…”
“I am Alexandra Sinclair.”
He narrowed his eyes and gave her face another look. “I see no resemblance.”
The duchess gritted her teeth. “All I want are my clothing.”
“All I want is the money you owe me.”
“Then you do remember me.”
He leaned halfway across the counter and glared, “I remember your things fetched just enough to pay what you owed. Be gone with you before I call a constable.”
The duchess slowly backed away, turned and left the lobby.
Why did nothing ever go her way?
Out on the street again, the duchess felt like crying, but she didn’t have enough energy left to do even that. She pushed dirty, stringy hair off her face and continued to walk down the street, ignoring the rude stares.
There had to be something she could do…some way to start again. Perhaps she could go to Paris. That’s it, Paris had always been kind to her and wealthy men from all over the world went to Paris to gamble. Getting there and having the proper clothing was just a minor inconvenience.
At last, she found a barrel alongside the busy street to sit on and rest.
“Jedediah,” she whispered. It had been a while since she thought about him. If he were alive, he would take care of her. For a fleeting moment, she considered going back to Colorado to see if she could find the money he stole in the train robbery. That idea passed quickly. Yet, there was a lot of other money in the world, all she had to do was find it and get her share.
There was a way, there had to be.
That old familiar lost feeling invaded her mind. Suddenly she was a duchess again, dancing round and round at a ball in the arms of the tall, handsome Duke of Glenartair. Round and round they danced, in her glorious new ball gown, where everyone could admire and love her.
Just as abruptly, she gritted her teeth, “This is all Hannish MacGreagor’s fault!”
~the end~
Read book 6 of the Marblestone Mansion Series, Learn more at www.martitalbott.com
More Marti Talbott Books
Pick up Marti’s latest book – The Billionaire’s Will – a clean mystery/romance.
Marti Talbott’s Highlander Series, (books 1 – 13) is a continuing saga that spans four MacGreagor generations, and sees them through plagues, wars, kidnappings, poisonings, and the day-to-day challenges of love and survival.
The first five books contain twenty short stories, while the rest are complete novels. They include: Betrothed, Book 6, The Golden Sword, Book 7, Abducted, Book 8, A Time of Madness, Book 9, Triplets, Book 10, Secrets, Book 11, Choices, Book 12, Ill-Fated Love Book 13, and The Other Side of the River, Book 14.
The Viking was written after the first twenty short stories, yet it is a prequel that explains how the clan came into being.
Marti’s Marblestone Mansion (Scandalous Duchess Series) follows the MacGreagor clan into Colorado’s early 20th century.
Other Marti Talbott Books include: The Promise, (Carson Series, Book 1), Broken Pledge, (Carson Series, Book 2), and Seattle Quake 9.2.
Marti is currently working on The Viking’s Daughter and book 7 in her Marblestone Mansion Series.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
~the end~
More Marti Talbott Books
Marti Talbott, Marblestone Mansion, Book 5
Marblestone Mansion, Book 5 Page 19
