Page 49 of The Scot is Hers
His mother gave him another tight smile. “Ah, I see. As it happens, I had come by this morning to speak with Lady Giselle about the plans for the event.”
They both knew it for the lie that it was, but he decided to let it go for the sake of forgiveness. They would need his mother on their side when Giselle’s parents arrived.
“Thank ye.” Alec pressed a kiss to his mother’s cheek. “I bid ye both a good morning.” He winked at Giselle and then took his leave.
* * *
Giselle wishedshe could call Alec back. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a room with his mother, especially given how their last conversation had gone.
“I see my son is quite taken with ye.” The woman sounded more resigned than pleased as she stood in the doorway. Her pale blue day dress was smoothed of wrinkles, and her hair was pulled into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She wore a diamond necklace and white gloves. Giselle wondered if she woke before light to make herself so complete so early in the morning.
“And I with him.”
Lady Errol let out a lengthy exhale. “Then fighting it is futile on my part.”
Giselle didn’t say anything. Instead, she watched the older woman to figure out exactly what Lady Errol meant, or what she would do. While she waited, Giselle sipped her chocolate, which was lukewarm but still delicious.
“I wanted him to wed.” The dowager countess went toward the window, looking out on the grounds below. “And as his mother, of course, I want him to be happy.” She glanced back at Giselle. “Ye seem to be providing both of those things.”
“I am quite fond of Lord Errol,” Giselle said, the title sounding foreign on her tongue when she preferred the intimacy of calling him Alec.
Lady Errol nodded. “He is a good man.” There was a slight break in her voice when she said it. “I have hated to watch him suffer since returning from the Peninsular War, and the truth of the matter is that since he brought ye to Slains, I’ve never seen him happier. Or more devoted.”
Her future mother-in-law sounded genuinely surprised. Why was she struggling so much with being happy for them?
“Then I have to ask ye,” Giselle said, “Why would ye demand I leave?”
Lady Errol drew in a deep breath, her hands pinched together in front of her. She approached Giselle’s side. “I did no’ want to see him hurt.”
“So rather than wed a woman who genuinely finds his company pleasing, ye would leave him to the other vipers?”
Lady Errol frowned. “I think viper is a bit harsh.”
“They would no’ have wed Alec for anything other than the meal they’d make of him or because they were forced into it. Just as I would have with Joshua Keith, save I’d still be hungry in the end.”
The dowager’s eyes met Giselle’s then, and she stared at her for what felt like forever.
“I did hear something about Keith being low on funds. He’s got a bit of a gambling problem, I think.” Lady Errol was quick to add, “But ye did no’ hear such from me. I disdain gossip.”
“He’s got more problems than that.” Giselle sat up a little taller. “I would prefer us to get along, as ye are my fiancé’s mother, and I know he cares a great deal for ye, respects ye. I understand your actions and speech from last night were out of love for him.”
“He is all I have left.”
If Giselle’s vision wasn’t deceiving her, tears were gathering in the older woman’s eyes. “I will no’ hurt him. Ye have my word.”
Lady Errol straightened her spine, sucked in a breath, and seemed to give almost an imperceptible shudder as if she were shaking off her emotions. “Then I wish to congratulate ye again, Lady Giselle, for the first time I did so it was no’ genuine. I look forward to welcoming ye to my family.”
Giselle’s smile widened. “And I thank ye for it.”
Lady Errol retreated from the room, and this time when she left, Giselle did not feel the impending sense of doom she had before. She felt a bit renewed in her conviction and stronger too. She’d told Alec that together they would prevail, but now that they had his mother on their side, their victory was sure to be complete.
* * *
That sense of accomplishment,of strength and confidence, did not last long. When Giselle descended the stairs using her cane for luncheon, she was met by the shrill voice of her mother, the demanding outrage of her father, and even more so, the coolly cruel voice of Sir Joshua Keith. They echoed up through the grand foyer so loudly that she was surprised not to see them standing there before her, accusations and fingers pointing.
Giselle stilled on the stairs, trying to decipher where the voices were coming from. The parlor to the right, or the library to the left. Her stays felt suddenly tight, the boning digging into her ribs.
“I was wondering when ye’d come down.” Lady Mary smirked as she exited the parlor. “I was on my way to get ye.”
