A Lass for Christmas (Tenacious Trents Novella) (12 page)

“I need to be here more than there.”

Dougal had been right. They left after Maddie
had quit his house and made it home ten days before Christmas. It
was good to see his mother, brothers and sisters again but there
was an emptiness inside that Lachlan couldn’t understand. He’d
never felt this way when he left England behind and walked into the
manor home he had grown up in. So why did he feel that way now?

At first he thought it was restless energy
from the carriage ride and anxiousness to be home. Since his
arrival, he had rotated the wood barrels used to age the whisky,
helped bottle them from the casks that were ready and packed crates
to take back to England. None of it helped reduce the agitation and
hollowness he was experiencing. He had even traveled to Edinburgh a
day early and now he was at his third ball in as many nights, and
all he wanted to do was leave.

This is what he had wanted. Since the last
Season his plans had been centered on this week of balls. He was
going to find his bride and have matters settled by Christmas, but
none of the ladies appealed to him. Not that they weren’t
attractive enough, because they were. Some were beautiful and could
make a man forget his purpose. But not Lachlan. None of them had
the perfect shade of blond hair, light green eyes or rose petal
skin. None of them were Maddie.

Lachlan tried to block the lass from his mind
and concentrate on the Scottish ladies before him. But Maddie
continued to plague him and he found himself comparing each lady
and miss to whom he gained an introduction to Maddie. None of them
could begin to compare.

It wasn’t even midnight and he was ready to
leave the MacFie’s annual Christmas ball. This was the place he was
certain he would find his bride, but she wasn’t here and he knew it
wasn’t simply because there was a crush and he hadn’t seen her yet.
Lachlan knew his future bride was not in the ballroom.

Dougal followed him out, but neither said a
word until they were settled into the carriage and it moved into
traffic.

Lachlan beat is fist against the seat. “Why
canna I find her?”

“Perhaps ye’re lookin’ too hard,” Dougal
offered from the corner from the other side of the coach.

“It isna possible to look too hard.” Lachlan
snorted. “I’ve met practically every available woman in Edinburgh
but none of them will do.”

“Maybe it is because ye already met her and
left her in England.”

Lachlan’s gut tightened. Each time a similar
thought had crossed his mind he pushed it away. “She rejected
me.”

“I doona understand why. I thought she was
smitten with ye.”

Lachlan snorted again.

“Surely ye discussed yer mutual attraction,
perhaps a fondness for the other.”

“Of course not.”

“Ah.”

Lachlan’s head snapped and he looked at his
friend. “What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what did ye tell Lady Madeline when
ye proposed?”

“I dinna ask for her hand because I thought
it had already been decided.” He shrugged. “But I did tell her that
I was resigned that we should marry.”

“Ye bloody arse!” Dougal berated. “No wonder
she rejected ye after such a romantic proposal.”

Lachlan’s face heated. Thank goodness it was
dark in the carriage. “I dinna ken what to say. Everythin’ was
happenin’ so fast.”

“And now that ye’ve had time to think?”

“I’ve barely kent the lass three days. How
can I make a decision about my future in such a short time?”

Dougal stared him in the eyes. “Ye were
convinced ye would find a Scottish bride in almost as short amount
of time.”

Lachlan turned to stare out the window.
Dougal was right. He had planned on settling on a bride in no more
than a week. But that was before he met Maddie, when everything was
clear and he knew what he wanted.

Did he know her well enough to marry her? No.
But he wanted her. Though innocent, she had responded with a
passion he didn’t think was possible for a gently bred English
lady. He had only kissed and caressed her breast and she was
moaning. What would she do when he kissed her from lips to toes and
took her? The thought had him shifting in his seat, his breeches
unbearably uncomfortable.

She also knew her mind and what she wanted.
So many misses would have allowed themselves to be forced into the
marriage and they would be husband and wife now had she not
determined her own fate. For that alone, he held much admiration
for her. Especially given her situation. It was likely she might
never marry, but she gave up what could very well be her one and
only chance, and she knew it as well.

It wasn’t her fault she was born on the wrong
side of the blanket. Nor did it make her mother any less a lady.
They had both been deceived by the former Earl of Bentley. Lachlan
had met the Dowager Countess several times and she was not a woman
who would have entered into a union unless she was certain it was
legal. But, she had been duped and Maddie would be the one to pay
if anyone learned. And they would. Society always learned the ugly
secretes, even if it took years to come out, they still learned and
this would be hanging over Maddie’s head until the truth was known.
Of course she couldn’t’ marry a lord, and lie to him as her father
had done to the dowager.

He had to give her credit because it would be
easy to make a match, secure her future and feign ignorance when
the truth came to light.

Unless she married a gentleman who didn’t
give a fig about society and what they thought.

Lachlan straightened. He didn’t care and it
didn’t matter to him what side of the blanket she happened to be
born on. If anyone could help her weather the brewing storm, it was
him.

The restlessness and agitation he had been
experiencing since he returned home began to ease only to be
replaced with a new kind of anxiousness. Maddie is what he needed.
She is what he missed. No matter where he was, if she was not with
him, he would be plagued with these uncomfortable feelings and
emptiness.

The carriage barely came to a halt before
Lachlan jumped out. “Doona go anywhere,” he yelled up to Ceard, his
driver.”

“At least let the man pack a bag,” Dougal
said as he exited the carriage.

Lachlan stared at him. How did Dougal know
his plans?

He shook his head. It didn’t matter. He
turned back to the driver. “Ask Mrs. MacGinnis for food, and pack
your belongings. We are returnin’ to England.”

“Tonight?”

“Aye, tonight.”

Lachlan turned and rushed up the steps to his
door. Dougal hurried after him. “Should ye not at least wait until
mornin’?”

“I doona have time.” Lachlan threw open the
door and bounded up the stairs. “Pack my bags while I change
clothes.”

“Will ye be needin’ yer nightshirts?” Dougal
called with a laugh.

“Hopefully never again.”

Mrs. MacGinnis was standing in the foyer,
basket in hand when Lachlan came back downstairs. “This should see
you through a good portion of the trip. That way you willan have to
waste precious time at postin’ inns.”

“Thank ye, Mrs. MacGinnis. I hope to be at
Brachton Manor by the twenty-fourth.”

She frowned at him. “Why are you goin’
there?”

“I assumed ye kent. I am goin’ after
Maddie.”

“But she is at Danby Castle.”

Lachlan was halfway out the door when the
words reached him. He stopped and spun.

“She told me that she and her mother were
goin’ to be leavin’ for Danby Castle on the twenty-third, to spend
time with her other brother.”

Thank goodness he had spoken to Mrs.
MacGinnis before he left or he would have wasted almost a full day
traveling.

“Thank ye for tellin’ me.” He raced down the
steps toward the carriage. His driver was already in his seat and
his two sons stood by. He couldn’t have Ceard take him all the way
to England and leave his family. Family was more important to him
than anything, though he would be missing them this year, but it
was for a good cause and they did have each other. But it was
unfair to ask the same of others.

Ceard turned to look at him. “If you doona
mind, Lord Brachton, I thought the boys could come along. They are
old enough to help me drive. One can sit beside me and the other on
the back.”

The two boys were Ceards only family as the
man’s wife had passed on five years ago.

“I doona mind at all, but nobody is ridin’ in
the back.” One of the sons rushed forward to open the door.
“Whoever isna drivin’ can be in here with me and rest until it is
their turn. With any luck, we will only need to stop long enough to
change horses.”

Both sons grinned at him as did Ceard.

“We will all be at Brachton Manor in time for
Christmas.”

“Wait one moment, Lord Brachton,” Mrs.
MacGinnis called out

What could she need and why should he have to
wait?

A moment later the cook rushed down the
stairs carrying a small satchel and wearing her cloak. “All the
fires are out,” she announced.

“What are ye doin’, Mrs. MacGinnis?” He
hadn’t asked her to come along. It was unfair to ask that of
anyone, especially so late at night. He only ordered Ceard because
he needed him to drive the carriage.

She pulled open the door and stepped inside.
“Who is goin to cook for all of you?” She sat down beside one of
the boys. The seat could not hold another person. “I doona want to
be sittin’ up here wonderin’ if the six of ye are starvin’ or
not.”

“Six?” There would be only five of them, once
he married Maddie.

“Dougal will be along in a moment. He wanted
to get a note off to your mother.”

Lachlan hadn’t even thought to send word to
his family. Maddie had muddled his mind, but as soon as they were
married he would be able to think clearly again.

Madeline wandered the lower floors of Matt’s
house. Nothing interested her and she could not sit still. She had
no patience for needlework and none of the books in the library
held her interest. She was anxious and despondent at the same time.
What was wrong with her?

She tried to focus on the future and come up
with some sort of plan, but she could not think beyond Christmas.
Had Lachlan met is Scottish wife already? Was he married yet?

Pain knifed through her heart at the thought
of him holding and kissing another woman. It was a good thing she
would not be attending the Season this year, or ever again. She
would not be able to stand by, watching him at balls with his
undoubtedly beautiful wife.

Perhaps she should look for Adele and Julia.
It would give her something to do and it was better than sitting
around, waiting and wondering when they would make an appearance.
And, it gave her something to concentrate on besides whether or not
Lachlan had married yet.

Madeline stopped in the foyer and looked
around. She had to get out of this house. There was not one room
she could go into without running into a servant or family member
and each one of them looked at her with sympathy. She hated it. She
did not want to be pitied. She just wanted to move on with her
life.

Rushing up the stairs she grabbed her cloak
and put on her boots. A walk. That is all she needed, and then she
could relax.

This time Madeline watched where she was
going and paid attention to her surroundings. She didn’t want to
end up in a lake again as she probably wouldn’t be as lucky this
time. Right past the bend in the road was a drive and though she
knew she shouldn’t trespass, Madeline walked up it anyway. This was
Brachton Manor. How soon before Lachlan returned with his bride?
Not until after the first of the year at least and possibly not
until spring. Luckily, she would be gone by then but she would have
to make sure to find out if he was in residence before she visited
Matt and Grace again. She didn’t ever want to risk running into
Lachlan. Not seeing him was difficult enough. Coming face to face
with him would surely shatter her heart.