Duncan took it all in good spirits. He didn’t think anything could possibly annoy him today, he was so happy. And then something did ...
He was in his room dressing for the wedding, or to be more precise, allowing his valet to dress him this once, to the little man’s delight. Archie was there as well to keep him company, or as he’d put it, to distract him from getting the usual wedding-day jitters. Not that Duncan was the least bit nervous, and he assured Archie of that.
Impatience was all he was still feeling, and it had increased abundantly because he hadn’t climbed the ladder to Sabrina’s room these last four nights. Not that he hadn’t wanted to, but she had stayed up late each of those nights with her aunts, going over all the last-minute details of the wedding, and he hadn’t wanted to exhaust her by keeping her up even later. But it hadn’t been easy, staying away, and now he sincerely hoped he could be patient enough not to drag her off to his room immediately following the ceremony.
And then Neville arrived.
The old man’s attitude had been much changed since Duncan had announced he was marrying Sabrina. Aside from a few grumbles that he’d have to be putting up with Alice and Hilary Lambert now on a regular basis, he seemed genuinely happy for Duncan. And Duncan’s attitude toward him had also undergone a change— at least on the surface.
He wasn’t as stiffly formal or cold when in Neville’s presence now, though that was entirely Sabrina’s doing. Duncan simply had no room for anger in his heart anymore, when she filled his heart with such joy. It didn’t mean that he had forgiven Neville for ignoring him for most of his life, just that he wasn’t going to let his bitterness over it interfere with his present happiness.
Neville didn’t stay long, had merely come by to warn that the hour was approaching, as if Duncan hadn’t been watching the clock diligently, and to offer a few words of wisdom. Now, whether he was joking or not was undetermined, since he said it with a straight face.
“My advice to you is what my own father told me when I married your grandmother. Love your wife, but don’t let her lead you around by her little finger. But if she does anyway, make sure you enjoy it.”
Archie laughed. Duncan grinned despite himself. But after Neville left, his expression must have reflected a bit of what he still felt toward that particular grandfather, at least enough for Archie to notice and remark on.
“I’ve come tae like that auld bastard, now I’ve seen for m’self that he means tae do right by ye. Dinna be telling him that, ye ken?” Archie said. “But I’m thinking ‘tis time I told ye a thing or tae that yer no’ aware o‘.”
Which was where Duncan got annoyed. “Now o‘ all days is no’ the time tae be talking aboot Neville.”
“Nae, I’m thinking there’s nae better time, lad, or am I wrong that ye’ve no‘ accepted him yet as close kin? And he is that, as close tae ye as I am.”
“Aye, but wi‘ a huge difference, Archie. You were there for me my whole life, there tae advise, tae cuff me when I needed it, tae teach, tae—”
He couldn’t finish. He was getting choked with emotion again, and appalled at himself for letting it still bother him so deeply, that Neville hadn’t cared enough about him to contact him, let alone meet him, before he was ready to collect his promised heir.
“Och, laddie,” Archie said as he came forward to put an arm around Duncan’s shoulder. “I didna ken that was the source o‘ yer anger. I thought ’twas only that ye had tae come tae live here.”
“Had I no‘ come here, Archie, I’d ne’er have met Sabrina, so I canna object tae that anymore. I’m e’en looking forward tae taking o’er my duties here. Idleness doesna suit me well at all, as you know.”
Archie nodded, but still added, “It wasna that Neville didna want ye here much sooner than now. He did. ‘Twas yer muther’s decision, that ye should hae the stability o’ knowing only one home whilst growing up. Neville would’ve preferred that one home be here in England, but yer father ne’er would’ve agreed tae that, and rightly so. Neville conceded, because it was in yer best interests.”
“We’re no‘ talking aboot tae homes so far apart the distance would make visiting impossible, Archie. You made the trip here, e’en at your age, and Neville wasna older than you when I was born. Yet he ne’er once came tae meet me, did he now? I didna exist tae him until ’twas time tae fetch me, just like one o‘ the bluidy art pieces he collects.”
The bitterness was spilling out now in Duncan’s tone and expression, impossible to mistake. Archie had known it was there, buried deep, had even been somewhat pleased that it was, not wanting to share the lad’s affections. But he had come to see how selfish that was of him.
Archie said simply, “He came, lad, more’n once.”
Duncan went very still. “When? When I was tae young tae remember?”
“Nae, he ne’er actually reached the Highlands. The first tae times he tried, the weather turned him back. The third time, the weather did him in. He got sae sick he nearly died. He’s no‘ been able tae get anywhere near cold weather again, no’ e’en the paltry cold they hae here. Ye dinna think he likes these hot rooms he mun suffer, do ye? Nae, he finds them as uncomfortable as we do, but his doctors hae given him nae choice in the matter. And all because he wanted tae visit and get tae know his only grandson.”
“Bedamned, why did he ne’er say so!” Duncan’s emotion exploded.
“Possibly because he didna ken that that’s what was bothering ye, and I didna help matters by telling him ‘twas coming here that had ye in such a lather. But he’s always had ye uppermost in his mind, lad. Yer muther diligently kept him apprised o’ all aspects o‘ yer growing up, and if I didna do the same in the later years, he hounded me aboot it.”
“I’ll be back,” Duncan managed to get out through the knot that had grown extremely large in his throat as he headed for the door.
“I’ve a wide shoulder—” Archie started to offer, but was cut off.
“Faugh.”
Archie chuckled, pleased with himself for getting that misunderstanding cleared up, and thinking the lad just needed a few moments alone to get his emotions back in hand. But Duncan needed more than that.
He found Neville just leaving his sitting room to go downstairs for the ceremony. The old man started to say something, but Duncan didn’t give him a chance. He gathered that frail body in his arms as he would a child and hugged him carefully, if fiercely, all of his pain and anger and bitterness washing away in that simple contact.
Neville was surprised, so much so that he didn’t know what to do with his own arms at first, and then he did, so overcome with emotion that moisture gathered in his eyes. He wasn’t a demonstrative man, but that hug meant more to him than he could possibly say.
They were neither of them embarrassed when they separated; they were in fact both grinning. It was simply such a relief to own up to the simple fact that they cared about each other. No words were necessary at that point to say it any plainer.
But Duncan did say, “I wish I had known you sooner. I’m going tae feel cheated when you’re gone.”
Neville smiled. “Then let me borrow one of Archibald’s more colorful phrases and tell you not to fash yourself over it. I’ve decided to live for a few more years.”
Duncan chuckled at him. “That was your decision to make, was it?”
“Well, actually,” Neville admitted, “for a very long time now I’ve had no reason to cling to life. I’m beginning to think that that’s been part of my decline, and why my health continued to deteriorate to the point that I wasn’t expected to live out the year.”
“I take it you’re feeling better?” Neville winked at him. “Don’t tell Archie this, but I’m quite determined to outlive him now.” They both laughed.
Chapter Fifty-six
They were married amidst family and friends, and quite a few sentimental tears were shed that day. Quite a bit of laughter, too. It was a joyous occasion for all concerned, and Sabrina’s aunts even managed not to bi
cker—too much.
Hilary was heard to tell Neville after her second glass of champagne, “Well, if you hadn’t refused to let her see us after the scandal broke, it might not have had such an impact.”
“My daughter was sick that summer, you twit. She wasn’t seeing anyone but her doctor.”
“We couldn’t have been told that? Instead of having the door slammed in our faces?”
“Bloody hell, you women exaggerate to extremes. No doors were slammed on you, though I swear, I’m going to make sure Jacobs learns how to do just that.”
Hilary huffed off, but Sabrina caught her smirk as she did. So did Alice, who remarked next to her, “She’s going to delight in tweaking his goatee on a regular basis now. Be good for the old coot, to get some spice added to his life.”
Sabrina grinned. “Speaking of spice, I noticed Archie had you blushing quite a bit earlier. I think he likes you, Aunt Alice.”
“Humph, that man would flirt with anything wearing a skirt, I’m sure,” Alice replied, though there was a sparkle in her eyes as she said it.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Sabrina continued to tease her. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Aunt Hilary finds herself living quite alone soon, poor dear.”
“Now, don’t you worry about my sister. She made the decision years ago that she’d live life to the fullest, which included experiencing more of it than an old maid would.”
“You don’t mean—?” Sabrina couldn’t quite manage to say it.
Alice nodded. “She’s been seeing that nice widower Norton Aimsley from over Manchester way for years. In fact, I don’t doubt that they were quite put out when you moved that ladder to your side of the house recently.”
Sabrina blushed, and not just over imagining her aunt Hilary having trysts with lovers. Alice’s remark meant that her aunts hadn’t been fooled in the least about the roof needing repairs.
“Why don’t they get married?”
“Because she won’t leave me, and I refuse to live with her and her husband. But I expect that we’ll be rearranging our priorities now that we’ve seen you so nicely settled.”
This was said with a grin, and Sabrina didn’t doubt that Alice was thinking about Archibald MacTavish again. She was thinking herself that if those two did happen to get married, Alice would see to it that Archie came often to England to visit, and she knew Duncan would like that.
But before she could tease her aunt about that, her husband came by to claim her attention— goodness, how nice it was to think of him as her husband now—and drag her out of the ballroom where the ceremony had taken place and refreshments were now being served.
She got the distinct impression that he was actually going to leave the celebration with her, to sneak off as it were, so they wouldn’t have to go through yet another round of congratulations. But it was still the middle of the day! They were expected to remain in attendance for at least a few more hours.
But he was indeed heading straight for the stairs. So he was quite chagrined to find both his grandfathers sitting there on the bottom steps— she was amazed herself that they would sit mere of all places. They were having a friendly, or not so friendly—it was hard to tell—disagreement over something.
That something was easy enough to figure out when Archie, noticing Duncan with Sabrina’s hand in his, said to his grandson, “Tell him. Ye’ll hae the first bairn afore the end o‘ the year.”
“Sooner than that if you’ll be getting oout o‘ m’way,” Duncan replied.
Archie chuckled and stood up. Sabrina blushed profusely. Neville rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.
But that wasn’t all Duncan had to say on the subject. To his grandfathers’ surprise, at least to Archie’s, he added, “No‘ that it will matter all that much when the first bairn comes along. ’Tis time you both know that I’ll no‘ be dividing my family as you were planning for me tae do. You both have created these empires, and you currently have one heir quite capable o’ seeing tae it all. When one o‘ my heirs is ready tae share some o’ the responsibilities will be soon enough for him tae do so. So stop your worrying aboot it, and let me do the worrying from now on.”
He didn’t give them a chance to argue with him about it. With Sabrina’s hand still in his, he passed between them and marched up the stairs with her.
But behind them, they could hear Archie say, “I told ye he was quite capable o‘ being our only heir.”
“You said no such thing, but as I recall, I did,” Neville replied smugly.
“Well, I thought it,” Archie protested.
At the top of the stairs, Sabrina whispered to Duncan, “That was nicely done.”
Duncan paused long enough to kiss her, a possessive kiss, a teasing kiss, a kiss that was very— arousing. “D’you think so?” And then quite huskily, “Then I wonder what you’ll have tae say aboot the rest o‘ what I’m meaning tae do just now, because, lass, I have missed you.”
“But you’ve seen me everyday,” she pointed out, quite misunderstanding.
“Nae, I’ve seen you, but I havena seen you.”
The “rest” wasn’t just more kissing. No, the “rest” began when he tossed her over his shoulder before he continued on the way to his room.
Sabrina wasn’t going to say it aloud, but that had been rather barbaric of him. Then she chuckled to herself. It was going to be interesting, having a Highlander for a husband, interesting and so very wonderful. And the only wondering that she actually did, was if she would ever get over the amazement that her dreams really had come true.
The Heir Page 28