Unlaced by the Outlaw (Secrets in Silk) (31 page)

Margaret took a deep breath and nodded. “It has been. Mother means well, but I am weary of staying inside.”

They walked together until they reached the bottom of the hillside. Toria linked her arm with Margaret’s.

“What really happened while you were gone?” her sister asked. “I promise I won’t tell Father or Mother.”

She risked a glance at Victoria, and decided that there was no reason to keep any secrets. “Cain saved my life, and we spent over a month together.” A month that had been both dangerous and thrilling. “He kept me safe.”

“Did you . . . ?” Her sister left the question unfinished, but Margaret knew what she meant.

“Yes.” She couldn’t stop the blush, but she forced herself to meet Toria’s gaze openly. “And it was wonderful. He asked me to wed him.”

Her sister gaped at that. “Did he? Is that . . . what you want?”

“I don’t know.” She hastened her pace, her steps crunching along the gravel pathway. “Honestly, I never imagined any of this would happen.” But the longer Cain was away, the more she missed him. His roguish smile and the way he teased her had brought a lightness into her existence. Despite his demanding personality, she’d enjoyed the moments she’d spent with him.

And at night, she was lonely. She’d grown accustomed to sleeping beside him with his arms around her.

“Cain is a good man—that I’ll agree with,” Victoria said. “But you and he are so different. You’re so proper and he’s not at all a man you could mold into a gentleman.”

Was that what Toria thought? That she intended to reform Cain Sinclair into another man? “I don’t see the need to change him.”

“Then how would you attend family gatherings? If Mother and Father host a supper party with guests, how will he know how to behave?”

“He knows how to behave,” Margaret countered, remembering the supper party at Mr. Barnabas’s house. “He may be poor, but he’s not a barbarian.”

“You sound as if you’ve already made your decision,” Victoria said.

And it startled Margaret to realize that she had. After these weeks alone, she’d come to know how much she cared about Cain. He might have been overbearing and demanding, but as he’d said—
I’ve walked through fire for you.

Victoria’s expression grew worried. “Are you in love with him?”

Was she? If love meant that it hurt not seeing him each day, then yes. But Margaret couldn’t quite bring herself to voice the words. She took her sister’s hand and started walking back toward the house. “We fit together in a way I never expected.”

Over the years, Cain had always been there for her. Even when she’d been betrothed to Viscount Lisford, he’d tried to protect her. “He might not be a gentleman, but he’s always been good to me.”

“How will you live, if you do marry him?” her sister asked. “I doubt if Father will let you have your dowry.”

“I have Aphrodite’s Unmentionables,” she countered. “We can continue the business, and if we’re discovered, I will take full responsibility so that none of the scandal harms any of you.” Thus far, she had remained confined within the house, and she’d had no means of filling her days. It was no life at all, and Margaret had grown weary of it. She could not deny the fierce need to break free and do as she pleased.

Her sister started to laugh. “I would love to see the look on Father’s face when you tell him that you plan to marry a Highlander.”

Margaret kept a serene smile upon her face. “So would I.”

“Where are you going?” Jonah demanded. He’d believed they were going to see Viscount Falsham, the former Dr. Fraser. But now it seemed that MacKinloch had another quest in mind. He had continued tracing Lord Strathland’s path over the past few days, though Jonah didn’t know why.

“I’m going out to play cards,” the man replied. “It’s late, so ye should stay in our room and get some sleep.” He tucked a pistol into his belt, the one Jonah had given to him. It had been his father’s favorite weapon, and the wood was polished to a high sheen with his initials carved upon it. MacKinloch hid it inside a fold of his plaid, and Jonah’s worry intensified.

The man had been following Strathland’s path ever since they’d heard his coach was here. Jonah suspected MacKinloch was seeking revenge for what had happened to his sister.

“Why are you taking my father’s pistol if you’re playing cards?” Jonah asked.

The man crossed his arms. “It’s for protection, lad. Now go to sleep and stay here.”

“You’re no’ playing cards at all,” Jonah guessed. “You’re trying to find Lord Strathland, aren’t you?” When MacKinloch didn’t answer, his suspicions were confirmed.

“Wait here,” the older man said. “And don’t be doing anything stupid.”

But Jonah strongly suspected that MacKinloch was the one about to do something rash. And with his father’s weapon, no less. No, he couldn’t stay behind. He had to try and stop the man. Especially since Strathland would likely kill MacKinloch if he dared to threaten him.

“I’ll go with you,” Jonah said. “I promise I won’t interfere. I’ll stay hidden in case you have need of me.” And perhaps if he was brave enough, he could stop the man.

“You’re four-and-ten,” MacKinloch reminded him. “You’re of no use except to get in the way. Stay behind, and that’s final.”

“What will you do?” he asked.

“I’m going to talk with the earl about what his men did to my sister.”

Jonah didn’t know what to say, for it sounded like he most definitely intended to kill Lord Strathland. “You’re no’ going to—”

“Why do ye think I was going to London?” MacKinloch demanded. “For him. I wanted to make sure Strathland was suffering the way I suffered. And now that I find out he was set free?” He shook his head. “Nay, the man won’t breathe another breath, if I’ve anything to do with it.”

No’ with my father’s weapon,
Jonah thought. He couldn’t allow that to happen. “You willna be able to find him,” he protested. “It’s too dark.” It was a last, desperate plea for the man to see reason.

But MacKinloch sent him a thin smile. “There’s only one road, lad. And a nobleman like the earl is no’ likely to go on horseback. I’ll find him, rest assured of it.”

Her family was falling apart before her eyes. Beatrice had never seen Henry so furious. Though it had been many years since he’d served as a colonel in the British army, he appeared ready to wage war this afternoon. He’d held his anger back at first, until Margaret had given orders for her belongings to be packed. Both of them were certain she intended to follow Cain Sinclair, since he had not returned in over a fortnight.

The moment their daughter walked down the stairs, he rounded the corner. “Where do you think you’re going, Margaret?”

Beatrice suppressed a sigh. Her husband’s temper was on edge, and it wouldn’t take much to ignite his fury.

“I am going to Falsham to visit with Juliette,” she said calmly. “Is there something wrong with that?”

Henry reached out and took Margaret’s hand. Without asking, he guided her into the parlor. Beatrice followed, closing the door behind them. There was no need for the servants to witness the storm about to happen.

“You’re going after Sinclair, aren’t you?” he said.

Oh dear. This wasn’t going to go well at all. And yet, Margaret didn’t seem to care about his bluster. There was a soft glow to her, of a woman in love.

“I am going to stay with Juliette,” she answered. “And I don’t know if I will see Cain. It all depends on if he is there.” She lifted her chin as if she weren’t a bit ashamed of it.

“I don’t believe you’re visiting your sister at all,” Henry said. “You’re trying to find
him
.”

Margaret merely raised her eyes to her father’s in open defiance. When she didn’t deny his insinuation, Beatrice’s heart sank.

“Don’t you care what others will say about this family?” Henry demanded. “They will believe the worst of you. And how will you ever find a proper husband then?”

There was a secretive smile on her daughter’s face. “I don’t need to find a proper husband, Father. Cain already asked me to marry him.”

Was she honestly considering a marriage to Cain Sinclair? Beatrice felt the blood draining away from her face. No, it wasn’t possible. Margaret was a good girl, a young woman who had always intended to marry a man of noble blood. “You’re not serious, are you?”

Margaret adjusted her gloves, her expression serene. “Indeed I am. And if I choose to visit my sister or if I visit Cain, it is my right to do so.”

“No,” her father intervened. “This, I will not allow. You may have had an,” he paused to find the right word, “an
infatuation
with Cain Sinclair. But you certainly will not go chasing after him. You’ve been under a great deal of duress, and I know you are not thinking clearly.”

Margaret let out an exasperated sigh. “I am not a child anymore, Father. And it is my decision to make, not yours.”

“God help us all,” Henry muttered.

Beatrice agreed with her husband. She couldn’t even imagine such a situation, where her proper-minded daughter would conceive of such a marriage.

“I’ve known Cain Sinclair for years,” Margaret continued. “I trust him, and I believe I could be happy with him.” Once again, a wistful look crossed her daughter’s face.

Beatrice leaned back against the wall, watching Margaret surreptitiously. Regardless of what Henry thought, there
was
a difference in their daughter. She had the quiet confidence of a young woman who had endured hardship and had overcome the worst.

“Do you feel that you
have
to marry him?” she asked her daughter, wondering if Margaret had been seduced by the Highlander. Although Cain Sinclair was rough-mannered, he was wickedly handsome. Beatrice didn’t doubt that a man like him knew how to pleasure a woman in her marriage bed. Was that why her daughter was considering him?

“I am not with child, if that is what you’re asking,” Margaret answered quietly. But from the way her daughter held herself, Beatrice no longer doubted that the two of them had been lovers. The old Margaret would have insisted up and down that she was virtuous and had never allowed Sinclair to lay a hand upon her.

But her daughter’s cheeks were flushed, revealing a different story.

Beatrice eyed Henry. He’d not shared her bed in a very long time. Ever since he’d gone off to war, the distance between them had heightened. And when he’d returned, he’d been so outraged that they had begun Aphrodite’s Unmentionables, that it had driven another wedge between them. After her daughters had worked so hard to earn money for the family, Beatrice was proud of their success. She wasn’t about to order them to stop, simply because Henry was embarrassed by it.

Then, after Margaret’s disappearance, they had grown so far apart, she had only pieces of her marriage remaining. She thought back to the days when she’d been so buried in melancholy, she could hardly get out of bed each day. Henry had tried to console her, and she’d pushed him away. As Beatrice studied her husband, she questioned whether or not they could rebuild their own marriage.

Right now, he was in the midst of lecturing Margaret, his face tight with anger. And their daughter was blithely ignoring every word.

“If I choose to marry Cain, I will do so,” she said. “If you would like to host a formal wedding with guests, I’m certain we can arrange that, once Cain and his brother have returned.”

“I won’t stand for it,” her father said. His face was red, and Beatrice rather thought he might explode with anger.

“I do not require your permission,” Margaret pointed out. “We can marry at any time in Scotland. With or without you.”

“It sounds as if he ran away and left you.” Her father rubbed at his chin as if seeking wisdom from a higher power. “Margaret, why would you do something so impulsive? You’re behaving like Amelia.”

Their youngest daughter was known to act first and regard the consequences later. But Margaret didn’t seem to care. She sat down and smoothed an invisible wrinkle from her gown. “Am I? That’s refreshing.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.” Henry sat across from her, and Beatrice guessed that he wanted her beside him, in silent support. He reached for her hand and held it. Beneath his bluster, she knew that he was trying to do what was best for Margaret.