Page 26 of Return of the Scot
“No doubt.”
“I wish they would leave me alone. Ye might have gotten away with coming if they weren’t obsessed over me.”
“This will pass when the next bit of scandal sweeps the ton by storm.”
Jaime was skeptical. With the duke in town and their issues unresolved, it seemed as if it would be quite some time before anyone had their fill of the Andrewson and Sutherland drama. “Ye risk much by coming here. What about your prospects? Will they back away?”
Giselle waved away the warning. “I’ll wed when I find a man who is worthy of my attention. Thus far, they’ve all been sadly lacking.”
“Are ye no’ worried your mother will force the issue?” Especially now.
Giselle smiled ruefully. “The countess is no’ the only stubborn woman in the Hepburn household. Enough about me, Jaime. I came to talk about ye.”
And back to this again. Jaime set down her tea, stood and went to the window. “Looks as though the street is clearing out.” It wasn’t. But she was ready to be finished talking about herself.
“Please, do no’ shut me out. I’m worried.”
Jaime let out a long sigh and turned back to where Giselle perched on the settee. She’d so missed having a friend to confide in, and here was one right in front of her. A dear one who used to hold all her secrets. Perhaps now was a good time to open herself up and let her worries out. She had to talk to someone. Her insides were so coiled into knots, she was afraid she’d wake up twisted. “I am too. I have no’ heard from Shanna, and she’s about to become destitute again.”
“Is that why ye went to see the duke and he ye?” Giselle edged cautiously to stand beside Jaime.
“Partly, aye. He also wants his castle back.”
“That was quite a coup.” Giselle grinned, obviously having taken pleasure in reading about the sale.
Jaime frowned. “An illegal one, it would seem.”
Giselle peeked out the window. “What really happened all those years ago—between the duke and your sister?”
Jaime had only been sixteen when her sister was defiled and betrayed by the duke, and Giselle only thirteen, understanding even less. Their parents hadn’t shared much, and as young lasses do when denied the confidences of older debutantes and society ladies, they made up whatever came to mind from the bits and pieces they’d heard. The stories Jaime had heard, repeated by Giselle, were outrageous, and if she’d been in a better mood, quite hilarious. One such rumor had been that the duke had decided to run off with a traveling circus, and another that Shanna had discovered him in flagrante delicto with not one but three ladies from the theater. Of course, none of these came close to the truth.
“Plain and simple. They were engaged to wed, and he convinced her that his promise of marriage alone was enough for them to consummate their union. But as soon as she was with child, he left her. End of story.”
Giselle wrinkled her brow. “That is odd, is it no’?”
“It is the worst kind of betrayal.”
“But do ye no’ think it strange? Why would he propose to her, spoil her and dump her? He’s a duke, after all, and a member of Parliament. A war hero. Why would he risk so much of his reputation to get into her skirts when he could have had any woman in Scotland and England—or in the rest of the world, for that matter?”
Jaime pursed her lips. No one had ever put so succinctly into words the very thought she’d had more than once.
But she came back to the same conclusion each time. “I have to trust my sister’s word.”
Giselle nodded. “Aye, for why would she lie?”
Another question Jaime had asked herself and come up empty. “There is no doubt that she had a child. Gordie is proof of that. And I think he looks the spitting image of the duke.”
“Oh, my. Then he is most certainly the father.”
“Aye.” There was no doubting it. Yet, the prickling questions that had been gnawing at Jaime for years never seemed to rest.
They returned to the couch, each of them picking up a scone to nibble.
“Have ye ever thought—never mind.” Giselle gave a little laugh, putting a spot of clotted cream on her scone.
“Thought what?”
“I was going to suggest asking the duke for his version, but it would be quite improper. Or perhaps ye already have.”
