by Louise Clark
At that Thea laughed while Isabelle colored. “I hardly think my sister and I have any special hold over the men of Edinburgh society, Mrs. Ramsey, but thank you for the compliment.”
Olivia shook her head. “You must not be so modest, Theadora.”
They were almost at the house. A broad terrace rimmed by a stone balustrade adorned the side that faced the expansive gardens. A man stood on the terrace, his hands placed squarely on the top of the balustrade as he surveyed the sculpted grounds. A tall man whose clothes bore the unmistakable stamp of the Continent in their fashionable tailoring.
“Did I mention that Mr. MacLonan has consented to be one of my guests?”
On the terrace, James straightened as he scanned the group. Then he made his way down the broad stone steps to the path where Olivia and her guests waited.
He walked with the straight back and crisp step of a soldier. Having spent her life in close proximity to the military, Thea knew that the gait could be drilled into any man, but in James MacLonan there was also the faint swagger of the officer in that swinging stride, mixed with an assurance that spoke of a born leader. An odd sensation, curiously close to pride, washed over her as he approached.
“What a fine-looking gentleman,” Olivia murmured, carefully keeping her voice low so that it would not carry to MacLonan’s ears. She tapped Thea on the wrist. “Now remember, my dear, you must not be naughty the way you were the other night. Mr. MacLonan is a very eligible gentleman… for a Highlander.”
Unfurling the fan that dangled from her wrist, Thea waved it with considerable force. “Mr. MacLonan would be considered a gentleman in any country. As to eligible, I suppose any one of the young women you have invited this weekend would not scorn his handsome features, gentlemanly manners, and honorable character.”
“Thea!” her mother said reprovingly.
Isabelle gawked at her.
Thea flushed. She wasn’t sure why she had defended him, because no matter how good-looking he was, or how much money his father had, he was still a pardoned rebel who had to fulfill the terms of that pardon. Yes, he was eligible, but not for all. But for some reason, defending him had been something she had to do, even at the risk of offending her hostess, Olivia Ramsey.
Then James MacLonan was standing before them, greeting his hostess, bowing over Arabella’s hand, smiling at Isabelle, then finally, dropping a lingering kiss on Thea’s hand. Thea’s color deepened with pleasure and a tremulous smile crept onto her lips.
“Well,” said Olivia, noting this exchange with interest. “Will you walk with us, Mr. MacLonan?” She set off back up the path with a brisk step, one arm tucked into Arabella’s, the other into Isabelle’s, leaving Thea no option but to walk alongside James MacLonan.
“It seems, sir, that Mrs. Ramsey has arranged this on purpose to leave us together.”
“I do believe you are correct, Thea.” His lips twitched. “Mrs. Ramsey is walking so rapidly that she is almost dragging your mother and sister along with her.” A teasing gleam entered his eyes. “All is not lost, however. I am capable of walking much more quickly. If you wished we could catch up with them.”
Thea laughed up at him. “By no means, James. I would much prefer to wander with you along these meandering paths. Besides, I would not like to disappoint Mrs. Ramsey when she has been kind enough to arrange for us to be alone together in a way that will not cause any comment.”
He stared ahead, his expression set. When he looked down at her and spoke, his tone was serious. “Have you received much criticism for spending time alone with me that night?”
Thea looked up at him and laughed. “James, our tryst has been the primary focus for Edinburgh’s gossips this past week. We are to be congratulated for providing them with a most interesting subject for discussion!”
For a moment he grinned at her sally, but then he was serious once more. “I hope I have not ruined your reputation.”
Thea was touched. “I think it will survive,” she said huskily. “Undoubtedly, I will be teased and criticized for a time, but soon the gossips will be bored with my transgression and will find another impropriety to condemn. I can manage until then.”
“I would not have you harmed because of me,” he said grimly.
Shaking her head, Thea smiled sweetly and said, “I appreciate your concern, James, but it is misplaced. I chose to take you to my father’s study, you did not drag me there. I wanted to talk to you, to see if we could begin again and this time learn more of each other, and I was not disappointed. I am not sorry we slipped away together.” Her mischievous dimple appeared. “And I would do it again, without a second thought.”
He reached down to capture her hand and put it on his arm. Then he placed his hand over hers. Their pace slowed to a gentle meander. Ahead of them, Olivia Ramsey and Thea’s mother and sister disappeared around a bend in the path. To all intents and purposes, they were alone. James drew her to a stop.
He asked huskily, “Would you consider spending the afternoon with me, Miss Tilton, so that we could continue to learn about each other? I would like to know how Theadora Tilton thinks and what is important to her. In return, I promise to be as open and forthcoming about myself as possible.”
Thea didn’t care if others remarked on the amount of time she was spending with James MacLonan. Her response came without hesitation. “Yes, James, I would like that very much.”
They talked idly that day on subjects that expressed a great deal of themselves, but dealt little with the overriding political issues between them. Thea already knew she liked James very much, but at some point during that relaxed and delightful afternoon, she decided that she could also respect him for his values, his code of honor, the way he treated people. Should he care to ask, she knew she would be willing to spend her life with him.
That evening, when the company met for a light supper, Thea was keyed up. Waiting for James to make the next move was far more difficult than making the decision to accept his proposal, should he offer one.
After a fine meal created by the French chef Brendon Ramsey had coaxed from Paris, the men remained in the long dining room, drinking French brandy and discussing the events of the day, as was the custom, while the ladies retired to one of the many drawing rooms. It was not long, however, before the gentlemen tired of their debate and joined the ladies.
The Ramseys’ very modern mansion possessed every conceivable luxury skilled craftsmen were capable of creating. The furnishings had been made specifically for the house and none of the fireplaces smoked, almost unheard of in this region where keeping warm from the damp and cold was a constant battle. After a day of warm spring sunshine, a dinner of fine food and wine, and the comfort of deeply padded chairs, the guests were well content. Olivia Ramsey was delighted and did not hesitate to show it. She made it no secret that she liked to entertain and to show off her fine house.
“A wonderful party,” the Duchess of Argyll was saying in her nasal tones, carefully modulated to keep the Scottish burr from intruding. “You are to be commended, Mrs. Ramsey. It is a pity that my young cousin and I must leave on the morrow, we have enjoyed ourselves so.”
“You are always welcome, Duchess.”
“Alas, it is not possible to stay. We are committed to travel down to London to attend the duke. As it is, I have pushed the limit of our time. If we do not leave in the morning we cannot be sure of reaching London in less than a sennight, even with good weather and satisfactory road conditions.”
“But the roads are excellent to London!” Olivia paused in her needlework, surprised.
“Compared to what?” the duchess asked humorously, one eyebrow raised in polite query.
Olivia frowned. “Why, some of the roads into the Highlands, I expect.”
“Oh, the Highlands.” The duchess waved a disdainful hand. “I was talking of roads, my dear Mrs. Ramsey, not animal tracks.”
There was a moment of profound, uncomfortable silence. Then James sauntered over from where he
had been standing by the fire talking to Lady Tilton. He looked down at the duchess, his features showing no emotion, the expression in his eyes hidden by lowered lids. “Do you have some objection to the Highlands, Duchess?”
“None at all, provided I am not expected to live there!” She sniffed. “Fortunately, my dear husband, the duke, has never required me to spend time in any of his more barbaric castles.”
“Truly a profound loss,” James murmured.
Seated to one side, Thea was able to watch both James and the duchess. Even though his expression was polite, she thought she could detect a gleam of annoyance in his eyes and she sympathized with him. The duchess was a condescending, self-absorbed woman who insulted everyone she met.
“Quite so. These wild Highlanders would benefit from the civilizing forces the duke and I could bring,” the duchess was saying complacently, apparently under the belief that James was in agreement with her.
“I must differ, Duchess, unless you can show me a civilization that has left barbarity behind.” The whiplash contempt in James’s voice made even the self-centered duchess stare. He shrugged, aware that the conversation was entering dangerous ground. “If you will excuse me, Duchess.” He spun around, almost blindly seeking an escape. Thea smiled up at him. Gratefully, he held out his hand. “Miss Tilton, would you consider taking air on the terrace with me?”
“I would be delighted, sir.” As she took his hand and rose from her chair, Thea was keenly aware that all eyes were upon them. James draped her shawl over her shoulders to keep off the night chills. In accepting his hand she had somehow passed through a door and closed it firmly behind her. Where she had gone, where she would end up, she wasn’t sure, but she had put the Duchess of Argyll and people like her on notice. Where James MacLonan was concerned, Thea was firmly on his side.
Chapter 6
The moonlight bathed the terrace and the grounds beyond in a soft, pale light. Thea leaned against the balustrade. The stone was chilly beneath her skin and she shivered.
“Are you cold?” James asked, his voice husky.
She looked over at him and smiled. “Perhaps a little.”
He took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders. “Thank you.”
She snuggled into the velvet, which was still warm from his body. James stood very close, leaning against the stone railing, his back to the gardens. He was watching her, his expression impossible to read.
“I went to Oxford University some years back,” he said. “That was where I met Staverton. Did I tell you that?”
Thea shook her head.
He continued in a meditative way, “People knew I was a Scot, of course, for my accent was stronger in those days. At first I was accepted as any other, until they discovered I was from the Highlands. Then the jokes would begin, the cruel comments that were based on nothing but blind prejudice. I ignored them for the most part. I still do, until I meet a smug woman like the Duchess of Argyll, who should know better.” He straightened and took Thea by the shoulders, turning her so that she was facing him. “You will have to endure that, Thea, if you marry me. I hate it, I would not have you subjected to it, but there is nothing I can do to stop it. Do you think you could bear it?”
Thea began to laugh. “James, is this a proposal?”
His fingers flexed, tightening on her shoulders. “I guess it is. It isn’t quite what I’d planned, butâ”
Thea lifted her hands to cup his face. “Then begin again, James, and ask me as you’d planned to ask me.”
“I had thought to do it in the sunshine,” he said softly, “out of doors, amongst the trees and plants where I feel most comfortable. Or perhaps in your parents’ drawing room where you would feel most comfortable. I would talk to you then, and ask you about your hopes and dreams. If I was satisfied that you would be happy with me, I was going to go down on one knee, thus,”âhe suited action to wordsâ“and beg you to consider spending the rest of your life with me.”
Thea sank down until their eyes were level. The stone was cold and hard beneath her knees. “James, beg me to consider. Let me answer you.”
“Will you marry me, Thea, and spend the rest of your life with me?”
“Yes, James, I will.”
Smiling, she looked into his eyes. There were no words of love spoken, but when James caught her face in his hands, then bent to seal her promise with a kiss, his embrace branded Thea in a way that made her soul sing with pleasure.
When he eventually raised his head, he smiled at her. “I think we shall deal very well together, Thea.”
It was a sentiment she echoed wholeheartedly.
*
Of necessity the marriage took place quite quickly. The terms of James’s pardon stated he had to be married within four months of his return to Scotland, or the pardon would become void. As he had been back for almost two when he asked Thea to marry him, there could be no long betrothal period. Both James and Grant MacLonan wanted the union celebrated and consummated well within the four-month period.
It was agreed that the wedding should take place three weeks later, at the end of April. That was not very much time to organize a wedding, but Arabella understood the necessity, so she agreed and immediately set to work. The family threw themselves into the preparations, which seemed to take enormously more time than expected. Thea had hoped for more opportunities to be with James, but her days were filled with wedding plans, leaving her with little leisure time. It was in the evenings, at social gatherings, that they were able to meet. Then they were the center of attention, feted by well-wishers who saw the marriage as evidence of more positive relations between England and Scotland.
Even though Thea knew that James was marrying her because of her nationality and her political connections, she still found comments of this sort disturbing. She thrust the concerns aside, however, and continued on. Marriage would not change her life greatly. She would continue to live in Edinburgh, and for a few weeks after their marriage she and James would even remain in the Tilton household. There was time enough then to learn more of the man she had married.
The wedding was a sumptuous affair, with St. Giles Cathedral filled with guests. The bride wore a gown of silver tissue, while the groom was dressed in gold and white. The groom said his vows in a strong confident voice, while the bride spoke more quietly, but with no less certainty. When the ceremony was over, the guests left the old damp stone church for the cold rain outdoors. There was much laughter as people watched James and Thea depart, then sought out waiting sedan chairs to return to the Tilton house in comfort. There they were to feast the bride and groom and generally enjoy themselves.
*
Daylight flooded the large bedroom, shining through the broad opening in the bed curtains, as Thea raised heavy-lidded eyes. She yawned and rolled from her side onto her back, blinking the mists of sleep from her eyes. Her brain was telling her she must get up, that the sun had risen hours ago and that she was late. Her body countered with the objection she hadn’t got enough sleep last night, and demanded she roll over and catch up on the rest she so badly needed.
Her eyelids drooped and she yawned again. Just a few more minutes, then she would get up. Not if your husband visits you again. Her lovely brown eyes snapped wide open at that thought, as the events of the previous day and night came alive. Her heart gave a leap, then began to thump, and she had to swallow hard to subdue a sudden onslaught of emotions.
Marriage. She looked around her bedroom; the fireplace in one corner, the large square sash windows, the dressing table, its surface covered by a fine linen cloth. There she had sat last night preparing for her new husband, anxiously peering into the square, guilt-framed mirror as she wondered if she appealed physically to him or not and whether he would be gentle when he bedded her.
This morning, everything about her room was the same, but she was not. Absently, she pushed away a stray strand of golden hair that was tickling her nose. A memory of James slowly loosening her thick hair from
the braid she always twisted it into at night warmed her body with remembered heat. He had run his fingers through the rich, silken mass and murmured soft words in a language she couldn’t understand.
Stretching his long form above her, he had tipped his head toward her neck while she lay stiff and cold beneath him, unsure what she should do. Ladies do not respond to a man’s touch, she’d heard time and again, although her mother had always blushed when Thea had asked her if she agreed.
The sensation of James’s teeth on the tender skin at the base of her neck had created a craving that was new to Thea, tantalizing her. She began to move, in ways that certainly wouldn’t be considered unresponsive. She looked up at James and saw that a small, satisfied smile curled his lips. He said softly, “Does my touch please you, pretty one?”
Slowly, without thinking, she brought her fingers up to stroke along his ribs. He sucked in his breath and shuddered. She immediately dropped her hands.
“No, don’t stop.”
Very unsure of herself, Thea lifted her hands to his face. “What you are doing pleases me very much, but I am not sure how I shouldâor what I shouldâ”
“Don’t think, Thea. Let yourself be guided by me. I will not harm you, I promise you.”
Her eyes searched his face, then slowly she nodded. His teeth nibbled her earlobe. Then the tip of his tongue stoked the same area and some of the stiffness melted out of her. James made a satisfied sound, and reached down to push the fine, virtually diaphanous bed gown from her shoulders with one hand. As she felt his fingers stroking lightly on her rib cage near her breast, she tensed automatically. Her eyes sought his, looking for reassurance. “Jamesâ”
“Trust me,” he whispered. His hand closed over her breast and the thumb gently caressed the sensitive peak.
Thea arched upward, her body seeking more. But her mind resented the liberty he was taking, and with a small moan, she whispered, “I would, but…” as heat seared from her breast to her loins.
“You are lovely, Thea. You respond to me with the promise of such fire.” His free hand tangled in her hair, tightening to hold her head still as he kissed her soundly on her still-parted lips. When his tongue invaded the warmth of her mouth she resisted, but he was stronger, and after a moment the strangeness of the sensation gave way to pleasure. Without conscious thought her body began to move beneath him.