Page 109 of My Highland Rogue
She didn’t get a chance to ask on what, when he spoke again.
“I’m asking your permission to marry Jennifer, Mrs. Thornton.”
She had the decided feeling that Gordon truly didn’t give a flying farthing if she approved or not. That fact made her like him a little more. Evidently, she gravitated to iconoclasts, witness her union with Colin and her growing affection for this man.
“Well, I know you already love her,” she said, sitting on the end of the sofa. “Now is the time to ascertain whether or not you can support her.”
“Would you like my financial statements?”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Would you send them over?”
“Yes, if it meant that you’d approve of the marriage. I don’t want Jennifer upset.”
“I’ve heard good things about you from a number of people, Gordon, and I have made it my business to ask. However, I know that no one is perfect. Tell me your worst failing.”
One of his eyebrows arched upward, but he didn’t protest the question.
“I’m impatient. Idiots bore me. I haven’t the tact I need occasionally.”
He truly did remind her of Colin. And Alex, as well. His father had been exactly the same way, only perhaps not as aware of his drawbacks.More than once, she and Mary had commiserated about Alex. When he thought someone was being foolish, he didn’t hesitate to express his opinion. More than one person had left a gathering at Adaire Hall because of Alex’s words.
“Will you be a good husband?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tolerate my presence in your life?”
Now he smiled. He was a handsome man, but smiling gave his face another dimension. Perhaps it was charm overlaid on top of his good looks.
“I shall attempt to tolerate it, Mrs. Thornton.”
“I think, in light of what’s happened, that you should begin to call me Ellen, don’t you?”
“Thank you, Ellen.”
“There’s only one thing that concerns me, Gordon. Although I visit London periodically, I prefer my home in Edinburgh. I would be remiss if I didn’t urge you to return to Scotland.”
“I completely agree, Ellen.”
They smiled at each other.
“Good, now that’s settled, go home before you scandalize Davis even further. Come back later today and we’ll plan a wedding.”
She watched him leave the room, feeling a warmth that came solely from happiness. Although she was not given to addressing Colin’s ghost, she did so now, looking up at the ceiling as if he were floating in the corner.
“You would like him, my love. He’s very like you. But Jennifer is woman enough for him. Just as I was in your case.”
In her mind, he laughed in agreement.
Chapter Forty-Four
Winter, 1870
Edinburgh, Scotland
When Gordon was told a guest was waiting for him in Mrs. Thornton’s study, he assumed it was one of the innumerable people Ellen had invited to their wedding.
To his surprise, however, it was Richard McBain who sat there. He hadn’t seen the man since that night he’d been banished from Adaire Hall.
