Page 37 of The Scot is Hers
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The following morning, Giselle woke to her maid bringing in breakfast and Volume II in the Anonymous Woman’sPride and Prejudicenovel. She couldn’t have been more delighted. With the scent of bacon and sweet scones, she dove right into the novel.
Without words, Alec was showing a side of himself that she could have never dreamed of. Cooped up in this room no longer felt like a torment but a treat.
After breakfast, her maid returned, finding Giselle deep in the novel, which she reluctantly set aside to get ready for the day. Fortunately, Jaime had brought enough clothes with her to stay a month, and so there was plenty for Giselle to wear. Perks of being a duchess.
As a bonus, Giselle’s ankle didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had the day before, though it was still sore. A small bruise surrounded the injury, but it looked like a lot of the swelling had gone down.
After getting ready, she settled in the window seat to read, watching out the window as those in the party went for a stroll in the sunshine and again when the men went out for a hunt. By mid-afternoon, she’d completed Volume II and was getting ready to fashion a crutch from her bedpost in order to find the library when her tea arrived with the final volume of the novel on the tray.
“Please thank Lord Errol for me.”
“Aye, my lady. I will.”
By evening, the men had returned from the hunt, and Giselle could hear a conversation going on downstairs. A knock sounded at her door, and she straightened up, wondering if it was Alec, but Jaime popped her head in.
“Oh! I’m so glad to see ye,” Giselle said.
“I’m sorry I have no’ been by yet today.” Jaime smiled brightly and rushed in to sit beside Giselle in the window seat and grasped her hand. “Can ye keep a secret?”
Giselle leaned forward, all of her attention on her friend. “Aye, of course.”
“I’ve been a bit under the weather today.” Jaime’s large smile did not convey the correct emotion for being ill.
Giselle frowned, recalling how the night before, Jaime had looked suddenly ill in the parlor and dashed out. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. “And ye are well now?”
Jaime nodded emphatically. She touched her hands to her belly. “I believe I’m with child.”
“Oh, my goodness, that is marvelous news.” Giselle wrapped her arms around Jaime and pulled her in for a hug. Until that moment, she’d never really thought about being a mother, or even Jaime being a mother, but the prospect was exciting.
“I’ve missed two courses now and just started getting sick the last couple of days.”
“I hate to wish ye ill, but in this circumstance, it is a good thing,” Giselle said with a laugh. “Does Lorne know?”
“No’ yet, I want to surprise him.”
“My lips are sealed.” Giselle made a motion of locking her lips closed.
“I’m so glad I could tell ye this secret. I was nearly bursting all day in my chamber.”
“I have news for ye too.” Giselle grinned. “I am to be married.”
Jaime’s smile fell. “Ye decided to go back to Sir Joshua?” She frowned and shook her head. “And how could ye possibly be happy about that? As your friend, I must advise—”
Giselle squeezed Jaime’s hand and interrupted her. “I assure ye, I’m no’ daft. Alec proposed to me last night—well, sort of proposed—and I agreed.”
“Sort of?” Jaime cocked her head to the side.
“It is more of an agreement.” The kiss they shared flashed into her mind, and a blast of heat flooded her veins. It had felt like a lot more than an agreement.
“An agreement?” Jaime asked.
Giselle shook her head, trying to force the thoughts of kissing from her mind. “Aye. He will marry me to keep his mother from meddling, and I will marry him to get me away from Sir Joshua.” She didn’t mention to Jaime that this would also help Alec settle an age-old score with Joshua. She was well aware of the implications of their marriage on the two men’s past discord.
“Ah.” But Jaime didn’t look thrilled; she looked sad.
Giselle stilled. “What? Is he no’ a good man?” Every bone in her body denied that.
