A Lass for Christmas (Tenacious Trents Novella) (9 page)

“But I do know, and I will not let you make
Brachton marry a bastard.”

Lachlan stared at her. Had the dowager
countess conceived another man’s child?

“I am ready to go home now.” She turned
toward Lachlan. “Thank you for saving me and your hospitality.”

Maddie swayed and closed her eyes for a
moment as if to get her balance. Mrs. MacGinnis struggled to keep
her upright. Lachlan rushed forward and scooped her up in his arms.
“Ye arena goin’ anywhere, lass.”

“I tried to tell her that but she insisted,”
Mrs. MacGinnis offered. “She is headstrong, this one.”

“And foolish,” Trent muttered.

“I am takin’ her back upstairs.” Lachlan
turned from them. He didn’t know what to make of the situation as
of yet, but he wasn’t ready to relinquish Maddie to the care of her
brother. Not until everything was sorted out.

“I will be taking her home,” Jordan yelled
after him.

“Her ankle is injured and she doesna have any
clothin’.” Lachlan returned. “Do ye have a carriage or do ye intend
to carry her back to yer brother’s home?”

Jordan’s fists balled and relaxed. Ah, he
didn’t have a carriage nor would one be able to travel in this snow
for a bit.

“Go and get her clothin’,” Mrs. MacGinnis
insisted. “Let yer family know she is well.”

Trent mumbled something Lachlan couldn’t
hear, not that he cared much. Without another look at his friend,
Lachlan continued up the stairs with a very silent Maddie.

“Come back tomorrow,” Mrs. MacGinnis
insisted. “Yer sister should be well enough to travel and ye may be
able to bring the carriage by then.”

“You want me to leave her here all night with
him?” Trent demanded.

“It is only one more night and he willna harm
her.” She insisted.

Lachlan didn’t listen to the rest of the
exchange and turned down the hall toward his room when he reached
the top of the stairs. Once inside, he set Maddie in the chair and
removed her cloak before taking off the one boot she wore.

“Why dinna ye put the other one on?”

“I couldn’t get it on,” she grumbled.

Lachlan lifted the injured foot. The bruising
was darker and none of the swelling had gone down. “I hope it isna
broken.”

“It is not.” She turned to look into the
fire, a dejected look upon her face.

“Let’s get ye back into bed.”

“I would rather stay here,” she mumbled. Was
Maddie actually pouting? He should be angry with her, but for some
reason he was not. He still needed to know why she was a bastard
and how the family had kept it from the lass.

“Yer foot needs to be up.” Before she could
protest, he scooped her up in his arms and carried across the room
where he deposited her onto the bed once again.

She rolled over on her side, putting her back
to him and pulled the covers up over her shoulders.

Why was she shutting him out now? Was it the
secret of her birth? “Is there anythin’ I can get ye?”

“No,” she whispered. “I would like to be
alone if you don’t mind.”

Madeline waited in silence. She could sense
that Lachlan still stood by the bed looking at her. Did he want to
yell at her as well? Lachlan must hate her, but he wouldn’t after
she assured him that he would not be forced to marry her. Even if
Jordan held a gun on the man, she would refuse to say the vows. It
was too unfair to both of them to do otherwise.

Oh, if only she could go back a day or two.
Then she would have knocked on the door to the library. She
wouldn’t have learned the truth. She wouldn’t have left the house,
fell in the lake, or met Lachlan. Though she didn’t truly regret
meeting him or kissing him. But their meeting only made her realize
what she would be denied the rest of her life.

A moment later, she heard him cross the room
and the door click shut.

She was finally alone, and the tears came.
They flooded her eyes and poured down her cheeks, and she couldn’t
stop them. She didn’t want to stop them. As much as she hated
crying and rarely cried, she didn’t care right now. A sob broke,
and her shoulders shook. After a good cry and rest, she would be
able to face the future and formulate a plan on how she was going
to go about it.

The bed dipped and a hand rested on her
shoulder. “Hush, lass.”

He was supposed to be gone! Nobody was to see
her like this. Her sobbing only increased. Oh, she hated being a
weak ninny, and Lachlan’s trying to comfort her only made it worse.
Her body shook with more tears.

He rolled her over, picked her up, and
settled her on his lap. She should move, get up, or push him away,
but all she could do was cry with her face buried in his shirt. He
smoothed his hand over her hair and whispered in her ear. “That’s
it. Let it out. Ye’ll feel better when it is done.”

Madeline wasn’t sure how this could be
better, but it felt good to cry.

After several moments, her tears stopped. She
sniffed, and he held a handkerchief up to her face. Madeline took
it and blew her nose.

She sighed and laid her head against his
chest. His heart pounded in her ear. He was warm and comforting.
She wanted to give up to oblivion, just stay there, and sleep in
his arms.

Lachlan leaned back, taking her with him.
They both reclined against the bed but he did nothing to move her
from his lap and Madeline didn’t want to leave.

She barely knew this man, yet she was
comforted in his presence. She wanted to cling to him, but it was
not to be. Tomorrow she would go home with Jordan, and Lachlan
would travel on to Scotland to find his Christmas bride.

“I am sorry,” she whispered.

“Ye’ve nothin’ to be sorry about.”

“I’ve upset your life.”

“Ye’ve caused all this snow?”

She felt herself smiling and pulled away.
“Had I not gone for a walk last night, you would have had a
peaceful evening at home.”

Madeline glanced up and sucked in a breath.
His left eye was swollen and turning an ugly reddish purple color,
as was the bruise on his jaw. She brought her hand up to soothe
him, but he winced at her touch. She shouldn’t have touched him. It
probably hurt like the dickens, and it was all her fault.

“I am sorry,” she said again. “I’ve never
seen Jordan so angry.”

“Me either, lass.”

She laid her head back down. “I’ve never seen
any of my brothers strike anyone. Only my father struck out.”

“Was he fond of spankin’?” His voice rumbled
in his chest.

“Willow switch.”

Lachlan stiffened. “On his sons?” he asked
hesitantly.

“All of us, though I am fairly certain he
only used his hands on Mother.”

Lachlan muttered something she couldn’t
understand. She wasn’t even sure why she confessed this part of her
childhood to him. She had never told anyone, and the only person
who had ever seen the scars across her bottom was her maid.
Jordan’s anger had frightened her, but he was fighting a man over a
perceived injustice. Lachlan had not fought back when Jordan hit
him after he came in the room. As Lachlan acquired another bruise
after he left and Jordan had no marks on his face, she assumed
Lachlan had not fought her brother. She admired him for that.

“I should have told you who I was.”

“Aye, ye should have.” He leaned forward and
kissed her forehead. “But I would have still fished ye out of the
lake, stripped ye of yer clothin’, and slept with ye last
night.”

Madeline’s cheeks burned with
embarrassment.

“You wouldn’t have kissed me though.”

He frowned. “Probably not, though the
temptation would have been a difficult one to fight.”

Madeline pulled away and slid to the side of
the bed. She shouldn’t be on his lap, and certainly not like this
in his bed.

Lachlan did not let her go, however and
pulled her to his side and rested an arm around her back and
waist.

“Why don’t you tell me what this business is
about being a bastard?”

She sighed. She didn’t want to tell anyone,
but he did have a right to know. So she recounted everything she
had overheard in the library.

“How is it possible they could rule that the
two died without bodies?”

“The carriage went into a swollen, rushing
river. Some of their belongings were found along the shore and the
river emptied into the sea. Everyone assumed their bodies had been
washed away. Somehow Father created the entire scene so he could
hide the fact that his wife had left him.”

“Yer father is the one who is the bloody
bastard,” Lachlan ground out.

“I don’t know what is to become of me,” she
finally said.

“The same thing that was to become of ye
before.” Lachlan squeezed her shoulder.

“I can’t have another Season or marry a
gentleman,” Madeline argued.

“Another Season?” Lachlan pulled back and
looked at her. “Ye werena in London last spring. I would have
remembered.”

“I wasn’t there. I was in mourning.”

“Ah, now I remember.” After a moment, he
asked, “Were ye there the year before?”

Madeline chuckled. “I was, but did my best to
hide.”

Again Lachlan pulled away and looked down at
her. “Why would ye try to hide? Ye could have easily married
then.”

“That was the problem.” She sighed. “Father
was trying to match me with someone he considered a perfect lord,
someone his own age with children close to my age. It was all about
the connections that could be made. I wasn’t particularly
interested in marrying someone that old, or who anyone was remotely
like my father.”

It sickened Lachlan to think of Maddie being
married to a man old enough to be her father, though he witnessed
it happen time and time again. Yet, he could not recall her from
that Season. There is no possible way he would have not noticed her
had she walked into a ballroom.

A memory floated across his brain of Trent
pointing out his sister. The girl was a mousy blond with a sallow
complexion. She looked too thin and sickly. Maddie had certainly
changed in the past couple of years.

“I think I do remember ye now.”

“I certainly hope not,” she giggled.

“Well, ye are much prettier now.” He didn’t
want to say anything that could hurt her feelings.

Maddie grinned and looked up at him. “Thank
you. I was trying to appear as unattractive as possible.”

“Why, lass?”

“So none of Father’s cronies would be
interested in furthering our acquaintance. I knew he wouldn’t
entertain the thought of a younger lord so I thought to be as
unappealing as possible.”

Maddie was unlike any English lady he had
ever met, and Lachlan was finding that he admired her.

“Mother and I intentionally picked fabrics
that were horrid for my coloring and the dresses were cut a little
large so that my shape would be disguised.”

Lachlan found himself laughing.

“It was the only way Mother knew how to defy
Father.” Maddie sighed. “She said that I deserved what she had not
been given the chance for. Her marriage was arranged by her
father.”

“What did she want ye to have, lass?” Lachlan
pulled her close, enjoying the feel of her against him.

“To have a husband who was young enough to
still remember passion and love.”

The words were barely a whisper but they cut
to his heart. Isn’t that what he wanted in a bride himself?

“She was only sixteen when they married and
never got a Season or a chance to be courted.”

Lachlan would never understand men you took
such young brides. He could barely tolerate the debutants in their
first Season. What kind of man wanted to marry a lady over twenty
years younger?

Maddie looked up at him, staring at his lips.
“Would you kiss me again?”

He would like nothing better than to oblige
her, but danger lay in that direction. “It is not wise, lass.”

She nodded and laid her head back against his
chest. “I understand.”