Page 80 of The Last Debutante
Charity rose. “Only that I hope you have not come to esteem himtoogreatly. Your future is very bright. But your future is in England.”
“I did not say—”
“No, you said not a word. But I know you rather well, Daria. I see the look in your eye when you speak of him. I would not like to see you compromise your future because of a charming captor.”
Daria couldn’t help but laugh. “Perhaps you should take your own advice. Your feelings for Mackenzie are quite obvious, Charity. Worse, you willingly went off to Edinburgh with him. What do you think that will do foryourhappy future?”
She regretted the words the moment she’d said them. Charity’s future had been compromised beyond repair years ago, when she’d borne her daughter out of wedlock.
But Charity merely smiled with deep satisfaction. “I may have found my happy future,” she said. “But if I have not, it is hardly the same case, is it? I was never capable of making a great match. But you are, Daria. You could marry a titled man.”
Daria shook her head. “I doubt that is true. I have been kidnapped and held for ransom.”
“But don’t you see?” Charity said, crossing the room to take her hands. “That makes you exciting! The circumstances were beyond your control. One cannot dare to questionyourcharacter in being kidnapped. When word reaches Hadley Green, you will be quite sought after to tell the tale of your adventure. Women will envy you and men will admire you.”
Daria thought of all the lords in London she had long wanted to attract, but felt no stir of excitement.
“Shall we go and find what Lydia has done with the bags?” Charity asked. “I brought you two new gowns from Edinburgh that are very lovely.”
Twenty-four
CAPTAINMACKENZIE WASthe antithesis of who Jamie imagined would come for Daria. He was a Lowlander and, Jamie suspected, something of a scoundrel. Nevertheless, Jamie liked him; he had a certain charm. Yet he did have one habit that Jamie found vexing, and that was his insistence on naming Daria’s highborn connections.
Jamie thought it entirely unnecessary, as Mackenzie had readily agreed the ransom ought to be paid and did not question the facts surrounding the kidnapping. He was a fellow Scotsman, after all. So why, then, did he feel compelled to present to Jamie that Daria was a “close and personal confidante” of Lord Eberlin of Tiber Park, as well as Lord Ashwood, and therefore, by extension, of the powerful Duke of Darlington?
Darlington was the only name familiar to Jamie in the list of lords who would, to hear Mackenzie tell it, take up arms against Dundavie if a Campbell so much as gazed in Daria’s general direction.
Jamie wasn’t intimidated by Mackenzie’s remarks; they amused him. “Do you honestly think your words strike fear in me, man?” he asked, after Mackenzie had talked about Darlington’s power in the House of Lords.
Mackenzie chuckled. “I had hoped,” he admitted. “In the event you have any thoughts of keeping her,” he added with a sly smile.
Jamie’s gut tightened and he looked down at his tot. “The lass will be free to leave Dundavie when her ransom is paid.”
“It will be paid,” Mackenzie said as he helped himself to another tot of whisky. “If her parents haven’t raised it, Miss Scott and I are prepared to remit.” He offered the decanter of whisky to Jamie, who shook his head. “But there is one condition,” Mackenzie said, returning the decanter to the table.
“Aye? And what is that?”
“I should like to accompany Miss Babcock to her grandmother’s house. To see with me own eyes that she is well.”
Jamie considered that. “My man will accompany you.”
“Aye, of course,” Mackenzie said with an easy smile. “But you need no’ waste a good man on us. I give you my word as a fellow Scot that she will be returned so that you may collect what is owed to your family.” He inclined his head as if he had just offered something very noble.
Jamie grinned. “Then you will understand, as a fellow Scot, that I donna trust you completely.”
Mackenzie laughed heartily and lifted his glass in a toast. “Aye, that I do.” He tossed the whisky back.
DUFF HAD SPENTthe better part of the day finding the mysterious man Mrs. Moss had met in the glen.
“English,” Duff said, his distaste obvious.
“Another one.” Jamie sighed.
“Aye. Lives in the old MacKreegan fortress. I had thought it long abandoned, but he’s done a bit of repair to make it habitable.”
Jamie had thought the place long abandoned, too. Once a military outpost, it was far back in the hills. There was nothing else there, and the land was unsuitable even for cattle. “Anyone else?” he asked curiously.
“Didna see another.”
