The Pursuit (17 page)

K
IMBERLY
was annoyed with him. Well, in truth, steaming mad would better describe her mood. Lachlan had tried to cajole her out of it, but that didn’t work. Which didn’t surprise him. Concern for Melissa could make her very unreasonable, and she was very concerned after they’d received Ian’s note.

She had wanted to leave for London immediately to find out what was going on. He’d already adjusted his schedule to accommodate their planned trip the following week, had crammed everything that needed doing into that week, including several important meetings. The soonest he could leave would be the end of the week. That wasn’t soon enough for his wife, which was why she was mad at him.

She had even started to leave without him. He put his foot down about that, which only made her madder. Unlike her, he wasn’t that worried
over Ian’s note. It was probably no more than some silliness, the same as had happened at home when they’d chased off Melissa’s first suitors. Lincoln Burnett wasn’t like them. He’d met the man, liked him. And he knew that Kimberly’s brothers could and most often did overreact. Whatever was bothering them about Lincoln Burnett could be worked out, he didn’t doubt.

But that wasn’t Kimberly’s concern either. It was that Melissa was upset. That was the key word that had set her off. Her anger with him was nothing compared to her present anger with her brothers. They’d let their protective instincts get out of hand. They all shouldn’t have gone to London. Only Ian Six was to have been Melissa’s escort. And this time they’d upset her baby. Whatever they’d done, they shouldn’t have done it, and she was going to make sure they never did it again.

She’d said all that before she stopped talking to Lachlan. It had been an uncomfortable journey south. He sighed every once in a while. She ignored it. His Kimber all stiff, prim, and glaring was usually an amusing sight. He just didn’t like it when she got angry with him for something that her brothers started. A most frequent circumstance over the years, unfortunately. So he wasn’t too pleased with them at the moment either.

He’d often wished Kimberly’s father had never gathered all his bastards under his roof. Separate, they would’ve been rarely heard from. Banded together, they were a distinct pain in the backside.

Kimberly’s mulish expression didn’t change even when they rolled into London that afternoon. However, she was showing some signs of renewed impatience the closer they got to the St. James residence.

Ironically, they arrived to the sound of laughter—a lot of it—including Melissa’s, which they easily recognized. Hearing it, Lachlan gave Kimberly an I-told-you-so look. She snorted at him and moved toward the parlor, where the laughter seemed to be coming from.

The duke and duchess were there, along with their son, Justin, plus Melissa and Kimberly’s youngest brother, Ian. Devlin St. James had been regaling them with a few of the more amusing mishaps that had occurred during his long trip across Europe. He’d apparently only just arrived home himself.

Melissa squealed in delight when she noticed her parents standing in the doorway, and she rushed over for hugs and kisses. Ian Six was looking for the nearest exit, but they were blocking it. Only Lachlan noticed his obvious desire to be gone and wondered about it.

There was a round of greetings. Megan remarked in an aside to her husband, “What perfect timing. I was afraid you would get involved in the drama of Melissa’s courtship, but with her parents here now, you won’t have to.”

He raised a brow at her. “Why would I want to?”

“Because it’s quite a mess. Her suitor, Lord
Cambury, is severely outnumbered by her uncles, and I know how you love to champion the underdog.”

“I could have sworn that your sponsoring of her was to have been a simple matter.”

The duchess winced. “It was. But how was I to know that all sixteen of her uncles would come to town and start undoing my good efforts?”

While Megan filled Devlin in on what had transpired during his absence, Kimberly pulled her daughter aside, asking in a whisper, “You’re not upset anymore?”

“I am,” Melissa said with a contradictory smile.

Considering the smile, as well as the laughter they’d walked in on, Kimberly couldn’t be faulted for assuming, “Then it’s not really serious?”

“It is.”

Kimberly’s brow knitted in confusion. “So you’re just taking a break from being dejected?”

“Nae, I was just expecting you to show up soon, and I was thinking everything would be fine once you did.”

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you have such confidence, Meli. I could have used some of it myself this week. Now, what’s this all about? Ian’s note said only that you were upset and that he and the rest of my brothers were the cause of it.”

“They’ve been busy, your brothers. Ian Six figured out that they knew m’Lincoln personally, e’en though it’s been nineteen years since they’ve
seen him. He let the rest of them know, and they all came tae town wi’ their prejudice firmly in place. They’ve no’ given Lincoln a chance tae show them he’s no’like the lad they once knew.”

“What is it they have against him?”

“They think he’s crazy or, more precisely, capable o’ going crazy. That he seems perfectly sane doesna matter tae them. They’re basing their objections on ifs.
If
he gets angry, he could go crazy again.
If
he goes crazy, he could hurt anyone in his path, including me. And now that they’ve seen him fight and how good he is at it, they’ve changed that tae
if
he goes crazy, he could kill me.”

Kimberly was seriously frowning by then. “What led to all these…ifs?”

“That thing that happened nineteen years ago. I’ve heard both sides o’ it and can see how it got out o’ hand. You and Da should hear Lincoln tell it. And I’m sure your brothers can’t wait tae be giving you their account.”

“Are they talking real crazy?” Kimberly asked. “Or just seems crazy?”

“O’er the deep end for real, tae hear them tell it,” Melissa said in disgust.

“I think I’d rather hear you tell it.”

“Nae, tae be fair tae them, I’m biased. I’ve heard it all, and I still want Lincoln for m’husband. But tae give you the gist, your brother Dougi was Lincoln’s best friend back then—his only friend. His da had died, his mother secluded herself because o’ it, so Dougi was all Lincoln had
in the way o’ companionship. But that ended when some teasing atween them went bad. Dougi took it wrong and started a fight that more o’ your brothers finished.”

“Bah. Now, why does that sound just like them?”

“Because it
is
just like them. And they beat Lincoln pretty bad. That should’ve been the end of end. It would’ve been for them. It probably would’ve been for Lincoln, too, ’cause he knows how they are. But they wouldna let him set things right wi’ Dougi. And that’s when it got out o’ hand, because in his mind Dougi was all he had.”

“Out of hand how?”

“There were a lot of fights, wi’ Lincoln taking on more’n one o’ them at a time and getting hurt worse and worse. He wouldna stop trying tae get tae Dougi. But they blamed him for that first fight and felt they had tae protect Dougi from him. He was angry by then, but in so much pain he doesna remember e’en half of it. Sae aye, he probably did seem crazy, when all he was was desperate to make things right wi’ Dougi.”

“How did that end?”

“He got sent tae England, where he’s lived e’er since,” Melissa said.

“So he never set things right with Dougall?”

Melissa shook her head. “Your brothers make a good solid wall when they’ve a mind tae.”

Kimberly sighed. “Aye, I know it. And how does your Lincoln feel about it now?”

“Bitter,” Melissa replied with a sigh. “He apparently
lost his mother o’er it as well, since she stayed in Scotland when he was sent off tae live wi’ her relatives. I dinna think he’s forgiven her for that.”

“So he hates them all?”

“If he didna hate them when they all showed up here just tae tell him he couldna have me for his wife, he probably does now.”

Kimberly winced, knowing her brothers, and asked, “What’d they do?”

“Aside from no’ telling me that they’d warned him off, sae I was waiting and waiting for Lincoln tae get on wi’ courting me, and didna know why he stopped coming around, they had him shanghaied, actually dumped him on a ship tae China.”

“Shanghaied!” Kimberly exclaimed.

Ian Six bolted out of the room upon hearing that, so when Kimberly turned around to pin him with a baleful look, he wasn’t there to receive it.

Across the room Lachlan excused himself from his chat with Devlin and came over to his wife and daughter to ask, “Is there something I should know about?”

Kimberly was too incredulous to answer him immediately. Melissa didn’t answer either, at least not his question. She put her arms around his waist, hugged him, and said, “After you’ve heard it all, Da—and you will as soon as m’uncles find out you’ve arrived—keep in mind that their worries are no’ based on anything current but on the past. And keep in mind, too, that Lincoln Burnett
is the only mon I’m wanting tae wed. I’ve heard both sides. I trust m’instincts, that he’d ne’er hurt me. But I’ll abide by your decision. At least—I hope I will.”

“D
’YE
realize that Melissa actually said she might no’ obey me?” Lachlan grumbled to Kimberly as they changed clothes for dinner that night, the first moment they’d had alone together since they arrived. “Ye did hear that? I wasna imagining it?”

“Do
you
realize that she’s been with us only eighteen years, but in all likelihood she’ll be with her husband three times as long at least?” Kimberly replied.

“And what has that tae do wi’ it?”

“Everything, or at least it puts the matter of ‘husband’ at a higher priority in her mind.”

“But she’s ne’er disobeyed me, Kimber. No’ once, no’ ever.”

“Of course she hasn’t. She’s a good daughter. We couldn’t have asked for better. But this is the rest of her life we’re talking about. And it’s not as if we’d disown her if she didn’t do as we say, like
my father—or rather—who I thought was my father—threatened to do to me. And besides, put yourself in her shoes—Well, maybe not you, since you weren’t all that eager to marry me—”

“I was.”

“You weren’t,” she insisted. “The decision sort of took you by surprise. It wasn’t something you thought about for the longest time.”

“Kimber, dinna ye dare tell me I didna want tae marry ye. Once I realized I did, getting ye wed was all I could think about.”

“Faugh, you didn’t let me finish. I was going to say ‘at first.’ Which is neither here nor there. My point was, what would you have done if a parent—yes, I know, yours were no longer around—but if you still had one at the time, would you have stood for being told to forget about me and find someone else?”

He scowled at her. “The choice was mine tae make, either way.”

She narrowed her eyes on him. “Because you’re a man? Your parents wouldn’t have interfered because of that?”

He gave her an aggrieved look. “Ye know it’s different for a woman, Kimber. There’s no point in arguing about that. She’s only eighteen. And if for some reason she’s set on a mon who really isna right for her, then it’s our duty tae see that she makes the right choice.”

She scowled at him now. “You know how I feel about this, Lachlan. My mother made the wrong choice, obeyed her parents and married a man
she despised rather than the one she loved. Because of that she lived her life miserable until the day she died. I do
not
want that happening to my daughter. I named her after my mother as a sort of second chance for her,
not
to have history repeat itself. So be very,
very
careful in your decision about this young man she wants.”

“Ye’re saying ye’ll side wi’ her if I forbid the match?” he asked.

No comment, but she did present her back to him to get her dinner gown fastened, which meant, in her mind, she didn’t think it was going to come to that. He didn’t think so either, but then, he hadn’t heard yet what had her brothers so set against Melissa’s choice. Kimberly knew, but when he’d asked her for a full account, she’d merely told him she hadn’t been given one, just a few facts, so he should wait and hear what her kin had to say. Since they were going to be chewing his ear off over the matter, he didn’t need to hear it a dozen times or more.

She’d added only, “Melissa has heard both sides and still wants the fellow. That’s a lot in his favor, you must admit. And remember your own first impressions of him. You
did
give him permission to court her, after all.”

Lachlan had said no more on that account, because he hadn’t wanted to admit that his first impression of the lad had been influenced by his own preferences. Lincoln was a Scot, and he had an estate nearby, which meant Melissa wouldn’t be moving so far away, at least not permanently.
That alone had put Lincoln Ross Burnett in his good graces.

He didn’t know enough about the man to judge him by anything else. He’d given him his blessing to court his daughter, leaving it to her to decide if she wanted him or not. And that would have been the end of it if Kimberly’s brothers hadn’t found something wrong with him.

Once Kimberly finished fastening her gown, Lachlan put his hands on her shoulders before she could move away. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Are we done fighting?” he asked.

“Yes, I do believe we are,” she replied in her prim, English manner. But then she turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. “We weren’t really fighting, you know. I just couldn’t
stand
not being able to help our daughter. It’s the first time we weren’t able to fix immediately something that upset her.”

“This ‘upset’ doesna come close tae the upsets she had growing up, Kimber,” he replied cautiously. “This is one we may no’ be able tae fix.”

“I know.” She sighed. “And that’s part of it, that she’s grown up and the problems she has now aren’t the kind that can be soothed away. This is such a far cry from what I expected. She’s a pretty girl. She had a sponsorship other girls could only dream about. I expected us to come to London, give her ‘choice’ our blessings, and go home and plan a wedding. The thought of not approving her choice never once occurred to me.
She’s a sensible girl. How could she
not
make the right choice?”

“We dinna know yet that she hasna. Just because all o’ yer brothers dinna like the mon—”

“But that’s just it, Lachlan,” she said in a worried tone. “They overreact, true. They go overboard. But when have you known them
all
to agree on something? There’s always a few dissenters and reason for them to be fighting among themselves. But they’re
all
opposed to Lincoln Burnett. That doesn’t say much for the man.”

“Except that Meli still wants him anyway.”

“Well, yes, there’s that.” She leaned back, frowned at him. “Did we suddenly reverse our positions?”

He laughed at her. “Nae, we just see eye tae eye where our daughter is concerned. We’ve both the same worries. We both want what’s best for our lass. If this Scot-turned-Englishmon isna right for her, we’ll know it and agree on it, I dinna doubt. There’s no need tae be arguing o’er it afore it comes tae that.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for taking my worry out on you,” she said, giving him a hug.

“Ye didna. Ye bottled it up instead,” he scolded lightly. “Next time spill it out as ye should, so we can mop it up.”

She chuckled. “Let’s hope there isn’t a next time. And let’s hope my overprotective brothers show up for dinner, so we can get this matter settled and done with.”

“I’m all for ‘settled’,” he said and kissed her cheek, then the side of her neck. “Are ye sure ye were wanting this gown fastened?”

“Well, now that you mention it…”