How to Marry a Royal Highlander

by Vanessa Kelly

  Edie refrained from pointing out that her other daughter had been kidnapped and almost murdered in London just a few months ago.

  “That is exactly why everyone is staying inside until further orders,” Alec said in a voice that brooked no opposition.

  Lord Riddick nodded. “And I think we should post footmen and grooms at all the entrances, just in case.”

  “Excellent idea, sir,” Alec said. “I would also suggest that the ladies not wander too much inside the house. We’ll post guards on the doors, but there are simply too many ways to get into the castle unseen. The ladies should stick to their bedrooms or to the main family rooms until we get this sorted out.”

  Edie rolled her eyes. “We’re not the ones in danger, you are. You’re the one who shouldn’t go wandering about.”

  Alec scoffed. “I can take care of myself.”

  Edie only resisted the impulse to throttle him because someone else was already trying to do something similar. “Alasdair Gilbride, I swear I will drag you upstairs and tie you to your bed if I have to. And lock the door to your room.”

  He flashed her a dazzling grin. “Promise?”

  She gaped at him for a moment, and then decided she’d changed her mind. She would throttle him.

  “Really, Captain,” Mamma said in a dry voice. “This is hardly the time for that sort of jest.”

  “What the devil are you all talking about?” snapped Lord Riddick. “It sounds like a lot of blither to me.”

  “Yes, well, no need to worry,” Mr. Gilbride hastily interjected, looking rather red-faced. “I’m sure Alec can take care of himself.”

  Edie still had doubts about that, but Alec clearly wasn’t going to listen. She just had to trust that his skills as a soldier and spy would keep him safe until the villain was run to ground.

  Besides, she had every intention of sticking as close to him as possible. Perhaps she’d look for a working pistol among the battery of armaments on various walls throughout the castle. It didn’t hurt to be prepared for the worst.

  “I’ve got to speak with the butler, the housekeeper, and the head groomsman, and get some grooms off to Glasgow,” Alec said. “Grandfather, if you could work on that list of errands, I’ll send someone up to fetch it in a few minutes.”

  Lord Riddick nodded and reached for his pen. He was looking better, which Edie suspected was due to the fact that Alec had given him something to do.

  Mr. Gilbride came to his feet. “How can I help, my boy?”

  Alec rested an affectionate hand on his father’s shoulder. “You can escort the ladies up to their rooms for me.”

  “I’m not hiding out in my room,” Edie protested.

  “Well, I am,” said Mamma. “I have no aversion to stopping foolish duels, but I simply refuse to confront a cold-blooded murderer. I intend to lock myself in and have Davis stand guard at the door.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait to hear what Davis will have to say about that,” Edie said. “Are you also going to ask her to fling herself in front of any bullets?”

  “There is no need for sarcasm, Eden,” Mamma said in a frosty voice.

  “I think it’s a splendid idea for you to retire upstairs,” Alec said, trying to hide a grin. “Perhaps you can keep Edie with you.”

  “Mamma and I will probably come to blows if we’re locked up together,” Edie said, “which would defeat your intention to keep us safe. I’ll wait in the family drawing room for news, if you don’t mind. I have a number of letters to write, anyway. That should keep me occupied until you do what you have to do.”

  He looked like he was going to object to that eminently sane plan, until his father stepped in.

  “I’ll sit with Miss Whitney after I escort Lady Reese to her room,” said Mr. Gilbride. He smiled at Edie. “It will give me a chance to spend a little time with my future daughter-in-law. Get to know her better.”

  “I should like that very much,” Edie said, smiling back.

  Alec still wasn’t looking happy. “Very well, but Edie is not to leave unless you escort her personally back to her room, or I come to fetch her.”

  “You’re the one who needs the escort,” Edie retorted.

  “Children, please don’t argue,” said Mr. Gilbride. “Lady Reese, may I take your arm?”

  Mamma let out a dramatic sigh. “You certainly may. I feel another one of my headaches coming on and wish to retire immediately.”

  Edie shook her head at her mother’s dramatics, especially since she’d never suffered headaches until coming to Scotland. Then again, it was turning out to be a very aggravating day.

  Alec took Edie’s arm and started her toward the door. “Come along, you. I want you safely out of the way and out of trouble.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “As I have said repeatedly, I am not the one in trouble.”

  “Trouble is your middle name.”

  Naturally, she objected to that, and they engaged in a vigorous little debate on the way to the drawing room. Most of the argumentation came from her, since Alec simply marched her along, only deigning to speak a few times. And when he did, it was more or less to tell her to stop acting like a nitwit.

  “I am not a nitwit,” she exclaimed when he hauled her into the drawing room. “I’m worried about you, you great Scottish oaf.” She stared up into his rugged face and cool gray eyes, and her throat suddenly went tight. “If anything happened to you, I would just die.”

  The determined set to his jaw softened, and he brought his hands up to cradle her cheeks. “Love, nothing is going to happen to me. I’m used to dealing with this sort of thing, as you recall.”

  She rested her palms on his hands. “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  He leaned in, briefly nuzzled her mouth, and then brushed his bristled cheek against hers. She let out a sigh of regret when he pulled back.

  “After I dispatch the men to Glasgow,” he said, “I’ll go down to the kitchen and talk to the rest of the servants. I want to know if they’ve seen or heard anything suspicious in the last few days. I’ll come for you as soon as I’m finished.”

  Edie clutched at his coat, not wanting to let him go. She’d never thought of herself as a die-away miss, but she couldn’t help feeling that something awful would happen if she let him out of her sight.

  “And you promise you won’t leave the house?” she asked anxiously.

  “Just to go to the stables. Now, stop worrying and write your letters. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  She reluctantly let him go. She heard him talk to the footman stationed outside the door, and then his quick steps sounded down the hallway, fading away. A hush fell over the room, broken only by the crackle of the fire and the tick of the long-case clock.

  Sighing, she headed to the writing desk in the corner and sat down to pen a missive to her sister. She hadn’t written to Evelyn in several days, which made her let out an odd little laugh. Leaving London, Edie had been terrified of life without her twin, fearing she’d be a wreck without Evelyn’s support. Instead, life had grown more interesting—if occasionally alarming—and more worthwhile with each passing day.

  As she wrote to her twin about all the events of the past few days and her hopes that the rest of the family could travel to Blairgal as soon as possible, the footman stepped into the room. He explained that Mr. Gilbride had been called to assist Lord Riddick but would come sit with her as soon as he could. Edie nodded absently and went back to her letter.

  Sometime later, as she was finishing her missive, the door opened again. When the footman ushered Mrs. Haddon into the room, Edie almost groaned out loud. She managed to swallow it and rise to her feet, pinning a smile on her face.

  “How do you do, ma’am?” she said as the pinch-faced woman swept into the room. “Mr. Gilbride is expected shortly. Would you like me to send for him?”

  Mrs. Haddon’s lips lifted in a slight sneer. “No, my business is with you, Miss Whitney.” She turned and glared at the footman. “You ma
y go. And see to it that we’re not disturbed.”

  The footman, one of the junior ones, cast an uncertain glance at Edie.

  “Would you like some tea, Mrs. Haddon?” she asked.

  “I hope I will not be staying long enough to drink it.”

  Edie let her eyebrows lift in silent commentary on the woman’s rudeness before nodding a friendly dismissal to the footman. He bowed and walked to the door but turned before closing it after him.

  “Just call out if ye need anything, miss,” he said.

  Edie smiled, taking heart at the unofficial vote of confidence. Clearly, she wasn’t the only person at Blairgal who didn’t like Mrs. Haddon. “I will. Thank you.”

  “Would you care to sit, ma’am?” Edie asked after they were alone.

  Mrs. Haddon’s sneer grew more pronounced. “Already putting on airs, I see. You clearly fancy yourself mistress of Blairgal already.”

  “I fancy myself a polite person, Mrs. Haddon,” Edie replied. “Since, however, we seemed to have dispensed with the pleasantries, perhaps you can tell me what you’d like to speak to me about.”

  Whatever it was, Edie intended to say as little as possible. She doubted that there’d been time for rumors to spread about the shooting at the lodge. And whether Fergus was the culprit or not, it was neither Edie’s responsibility nor right to inform his mother of their suspicions.

  “I wish to know if you intend to carry through with your scheme to supplant my daughter from her rightful position in this family,” the woman said in a voice that vibrated with emotion.

  Edie hesitated, eyeing her almost manic expression. Mrs. Haddon was certainly prone to hysterics, but now she seemed on the verge of coming unhinged. That wasn’t entirely surprising, given that her son had tried to shoot her nephew in a duel, and her daughter had decided to enter a nunnery.

  “Mrs. Haddon, I don’t wish to supplant anyone,” she said. “Your daughter is clearly an intelligent woman who knows her own mind, and it seems that she made up that mind this morning.”

  “Because you forced her to,” the other woman spat out. “You preyed on my poor nephew and seduced him. What other choice could Donella make to preserve her dignity and reputation?” She let out an angry sob and clutched her large reticule to her waist. “My darling daughter burying herself in a convent for the rest of her life, when she should have been Countess of Riddick. I cannot bear it.”

  Edie let out a sigh. “Mrs. Haddon, I truly am sorry that this has caused you pain, but I assure you that I never seduced your nephew. His decisions are entirely his own, and I believe he’s made it clear for quite some time that he didn’t wish to marry your daughter. Nor, it would appear, did she ever wish to marry him.”

  “What choice did Alasdair have once you lifted your skirts to him?” Mrs. Haddon said contemptuously. “And now an English slut will be walking the halls of Blairgal Castle, lording it over the rest of us. It is not to be borne, I tell you.”

  Definitely unhinged.

  Edie wrestled to hold on to her temper. “Mrs. Haddon, I see little point in discussing this any further with you. If you wish to wait here for Mr. Gilbride, I will gladly leave, since you obviously find my presence distressing.”

  “I find your presence disgusting.”

  Edie clamped down on a scathing retort and started for the door. Mrs. Haddon stepped in her path, blocking her.

  Sighing, Edie crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes?”

  Mrs. Haddon glared at her, her face dead white except for two blazing red patches on her cheekbones. Her green eyes glittered with hatred. “I want you to answer my question. Are you really going to marry Alasdair?”

  Edie debated whether she should answer or not, given the woman’s emotional state. But it was time to stop feeling guilty about how things had turned out. Aside from the fact that Donella had never wanted to marry Alec in the first place, Edie had not seduced him. In fact, she’d done everything she could to push him away until that fatal moment when she’d succumbed to him.

  “He has asked me to marry him, and I have said yes.”

  Mrs. Haddon seemed to freeze into the proverbial pillar of salt. Although she was staring straight at her, Edie got the distinct impression she was seeing something else.

  “Ma’am, why don’t you sit down?” Edie said in a gentle voice. “I’ll fetch Mr. Gilbride and have some tea sent up.”

  The woman blinked a few times and then sucked in a harsh breath. Her gaze focused on Edie with a cold fury that seemed almost inhuman.

  “No, Miss Whitney,” she said in a calm voice. “You’ll stay right there and not move or make a sound until I tell you to.”

  Edie huffed out an exasperated breath. “Mrs. Haddon, I fail to see the point in any further discussion. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”

  Her words caught in her throat when Mrs. Haddon extracted a pistol from her reticule. And not one of those charming but inaccurate little guns that ladies sometimes carried. No, this was a large, lethal looking weapon, and it reminded Edie of the one Fergus had almost fired at Alec this morning.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” the older woman said in that ghastly calm voice. “Except to hell.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Edie had to struggle to get her brain to kick into action. “Don’t tell me you’re the one who fired on us at the hunting lodge,” she finally said on a gasp.

  Mrs. Haddon let out a chuckle that Edie could only describe as evil incarnate with a good dollop of madness stirred in. “My mind is not disordered, you foolish woman. I do not ride around the countryside trying to shoot people.”

  “Then who did?” she cautiously asked. “Was it Fergus?” Her heart sank at the idea that both Mrs. Haddon and Fergus were plotting to kill Alec. One murderer in the family was bad enough.

  “Certainly not,” Mrs. Haddon said, “although I suppose you all think so. Fortunately, Fergus is in Glasgow today and will not be held accountable for any of this.”

  Edie couldn’t keep her eyes from bugging out. “He tried to kill Alec in a duel this morning, or had you forgotten?”

  The woman’s brows pulled down with irritation. “I always knew he wouldn’t have the nerve to go through with it. My poor Fergus is a sweet, gentle boy. He would never be able to kill Alasdair, no matter how much he might want to.”

  From what she had seen this morning, Edie suspected Mrs. Haddon was probably correct. Which left one, big unanswered question. “Then who did shoot at us today?”

  “Shoot at Alasdair,” Mrs. Haddon corrected. “Not both of you. The man who did so is in my employ. He was a groom at Blairgal but was let go some months ago. There was quite a bit of bad blood and resentment over the incident, especially toward Lord Riddick. That made Ewan perfect for my purposes.”

  “Was it him at Mugdock Castle, too? When the section of the wall came down on us?”

  Mrs. Haddon’s mouth thinned with displeasure. “Ewan was trying to make it look like an accident, which was exceedingly foolish of him. He had a clear shot from the top of the wall, and yet he failed to take it. I am most disappointed in him.”

  Even though Edie had broken out in a cold sweat and her knees were threatening to knock, she almost let out a startled laugh. “Yes, I suppose you are. But how did this Ewan find us in the first place?”

  Mrs. Haddon shrugged, although the pistol barely wavered from where it pointed at Edie’s chest. “I knew Alasdair would stop for a few days at Breadie Manor. I had found Ewan some weeks ago in Glasgow and set him to watching the manor until you arrived. He had his instructions to take advantage of the first opportunity to kill my nephew.”

  Edie pressed her fingertips to her temples, trying to think—and praying desperately that Mr. Gilbride would come into the room. But not Alec. Anyone but Alec since the deranged woman would likely shoot him immediately.

  “I don’t understand,” she said. “If you wanted Alec to marry your daughter, why did you try to kill him before he even arrived at Blairgal?”r />
  Mrs. Haddon’s eyebrows went up, as if to suggest that Edie was an idiot. “Do you think I didn’t know my daughter had no real desire to marry him? She is the light of my life. I know her every thought.”

  That clearly wasn’t true, given that Mrs. Haddon had been caught off-guard by Donella’s decision to enter a convent.

  “Besides, why would I want my innocent child to marry that faithless whoreson?” Mrs. Haddon continued. “Like mother like son, I always said, not that Lord Riddick would ever hear a word against his precious Fiona. If I could arrange for Alasdair to be killed before he returned to Blairgal, Donella would be released of her obligation to marry him. And Fergus would take his place as the rightful heir.”

  “But he did return,” Edie said. “And your daughter did decide to honor her vow to marry him.”

  “Yes. My dear daughter wished to honor her sacred vow to her papa. Nor was there ever any doubt that she would make a splendid Mistress of Riddick.” She gave Edie a cold smile. “But there was no reason to think I wouldn’t have had the opportunity at some point to get rid of Alasdair, which I concluded had certain additional advantages. My daughter would have been a wealthy widow and have the title. With a large dowry and her beauty, she could have then made an even more illustrious marriage. And Fergus would still inherit the earldom.”

  Edie had to swallow several times to keep her stomach from crawling into her throat. “You’re insane,” she said in a hoarse voice.

  Mrs. Haddon shrugged. “I do what is necessary to protect my children.”

  Edie tried not to feel desperate. But where was everyone? “Your children will be destroyed when they find out their mother is a murderer.”

  Mrs. Haddon laughed as she switched her pistol to her other hand. “Why would they find out?”

  Edie gaped at her. “Because you’re going to shoot me?”

  “Only if I have to.”

  Well, that made no sense. “If you just talk to your daughter—”

  Mrs. Haddon took another step forward, waving the pistol in a menacing fashion. “I’m through talking, Miss Whitney. Now, turn around and go out those doors.”