Seduced by a Scot
Page 28
She smiled. “We women have a way of patching things,” she said with a wee smile. “I wrote to Finella, aye? Ivan had no’ been told the truth about you, Nichol, but he wants to know the truth. He’s the baron now, he has nothing to fear, aye? He’s written to tell you.”
Nichol was astounded by this gift. By this woman. He pushed aside the gifts to take her face in his hands and kiss her. “It’s perfect,” he said, kissing her. “A perfect gift. Thank you, Maura.”
“Will you no’ read the letter, then?”
“In a moment. I’ve a gift for you, as well.”
“You already gave me a gift! I could no’ have asked for more than to see them all again, aye?”
He reached under the bed and withdrew the velvet box he had hidden there.
She looked at the box, then at him. “What is this, then?” She took it and carefully opened it. Tears instantly welled in her eyes as she removed the necklace from the box.
“It’s no’ your great-grandmother’s, alas,” he said, alarmed by the tears slipping down her cheeks. “That could no’ be recovered. But it is as near to hers as I could recall.”
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, holding it up.
“It’s no’ an heirloom,” he said, unnecessarily. “I had it made.”
She looked up at him with eyes shining with true love. “It is an heirloom, Nichol. This one, this is ours. We will pass it to our children, and they to theirs. This is the best heirloom, the only heirloom I shall ever want. This one is us.”
She presented the back of her neck to him to fasten the necklace. He hoped it was near the same as the original—a ring of small diamonds with a teardrop emerald that winked at him when he removed everything but the necklace from her body and made love to her.
When they had sated themselves, they lay in a tangle of arms and legs before the fire, her head on his chest, staring at the flames.
“I had almost forgotten it, but I’ve one last wee gift for you.”
“Nichol! You’re spoiling me! What is it, then?” she asked, and lifted her head.
He stroked her hair. “Remember last month when I went to Stirling?”
She nodded.
“I had a situation that required some inventive thinking, aye?”
“Who?”
“The Garbetts,” he said.
Maura gasped and sat up. “You didna tell me!”
“I didna tell you, no. I wanted to surprise you.”
“What?” she demanded, pushing on his chest. “Tell me everything!”
“Here you are, lass. Miss Sorcha Garbett was scandalized when Adam Cadell cried off their engagement.”
“The blackguard,” Maura muttered.
“And she had no other suitors.”
“Hardly a surprise.”
“So I did a wee bit of matchmaking. I would say I found her the perfect match.”
“Who?” she cried laughingly. “Tell me now before I perish!”
“Mr. Dunnan Cockburn. And his mother, naturally.”
Maura gasped loudly and stared at him in disbelief.
Nichol couldn’t help himself. He began to laugh at the thought of Sorcha and Dunnan. “And do you know the strangest part of it?” he said through fits of laughter. “They seem quite content.”
Maura dissolved into laughter, too, and the two of them lay there before the fire, giggling like happy children.
* * * * *
AUTHOR NOTE
IN 1759, CARRON IRONWORKS was started in Falkirk, Scotland. It was a partnership of three men—two Englishmen, John Roebuck and Samuel Garbett; and a Scot, William Cadell. The men imported the latest technology from England to Scotland, and put Carron Ironworks at the forefront of Scotland’s Industrial Revolution. I borrowed the company and two of the names (and assigned them new nationalities). I moved the company from Falkirk to Stirling to make my geography work, what with all the riding around on horseback. It would have taken too long for some of the transitions to have happened from Falkirk. And that, readers, is the beauty of fiction.
Another person mentioned only in passing here is Mr. James Ferguson of Rothiemay, Scotland. He was a real, self-taught Scottish astronomer and lecturer of note. He eventually moved to England to teach and make globes, needlepoint patterns and to paint pictures. A man of many talents.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Scottish Gaelic:
Bampot—a troublemaker
Boideach—beautiful
Criosd—Christ
Diah—God
Feasgar math—good afternoon
Leannan—sweetheart
Mo chridhe—my heart
Uist—hush
French:
Bonjour—good day
Bel—beautiful
Enchantée—nice to meet you
Mon trésor—my treasure
Mon Roméo—my Romeo
Pas avant que vous n’écoutiez ce que j’ai à dire—not until you’ve heard what I have to say.
Sortez maintenant, imbécile—get out, imbecile
Tout est bien—all is well
German:
Es ist nicht—it is not
Mir ist es gleich was Sie zu sagen haben—I don’t care what you have to say.
Schön—beautiful
Wollen Sie von hier fortgehen?—Do you want to leave here?
ISBN-13: 9781488079009
Seduced by a Scot
Copyright © 2018 by Dinah Dinwiddie
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