Love Me Forever (18 page)

He bolted out of the door before he finished, overcome by his panic. The two menservants went after him immediately. Kimberly sank down in the nearest chair, her relief making her legs weak. The man’s wild guess had saved him. Hers, just as wild, had condemned him. Amazing.

And from the doorway to the duke’s suite, Lachlan remarked, “I’d say let him go, if I werena still feeling twinges as a result of the false words out o’ his mouth. But ’tis Canston I’m wanting.”

“I don’t blame you a’tall, Lachlan,” Megan re
plied, somewhat abashed. “But I really think you should let my husband deal with this.”

“Your husband hasn’t dealt well wi’ it so far, lass,” he reminded her.

Megan blushed. “He’s going to feel awful about this, I do assure you.”

“Aye, he will,” Lachlan agreed, then pinned Kimberly with his light green eyes. “And why did you wait so long tae mention that blasted confession?”

She stiffened, not liking his accusing tone. “Perhaps because there was no confession. I merely guessed about the viscount, the same as Ables guessed about you. But you should have had more sense than to pick the name Luke. You practically asked him to choose you.”

He blinked at her. Then he laughed. Then he crossed the room to lift her out of her chair and kiss her.

Behind them, Megan cleared her throat and said, “So…I’ll put Duchy and Margaret to work on the wedding preparations immediately…all things considered.”

A
ll things considered
.

Kimberly’s cheeks were still burning as she rushed down the hallway. What a polite way for Megan to say she knew wherein Lachlan had spent last night. But that made it no less embarrassing. And to think the duchess had conducted that whole interview with Ables without letting on at all that she’d already heard the gossip.

“And where d’you think you’re running off tae?” a soft burr asked at her back.

Kimberly started in surprise. She hadn’t heard Lachlan following her. But she’d reached the stairs and didn’t pause.

“Running?” she tossed back over her shoulder. “Hardly. I’m hungry, starving actually. Does that tell you where I’m going?”

“Aye, but it doesna tell me why you’re running.”

“I am
not—
” she turned to say, but stopped when she found him grinning at her.

Teasing again. The man had the worst timing
for it, he really did. And obviously, he wasn’t going to let her go off about her business. He should be just as embarrassed as she. At the least, he should be upset that the love of his life knew he’d spent the night with another woman. But no, he stood there grinning at her.

“Did you want something in particular?” she asked in a tightly constrained tone.

“Aye, I’m wanting tae know how you concluded that Canston set the horse stealing up just tae blame me? No’ once did I think o’ him.”

So that was it. He still had the thieving on his mind, and his relief over being cleared. She’d had no time to relish her own relief, what with Megan’s mention of wedding plans setting her mind back to her own problems. But she allowed that he’d had a bit more to lose if the truth hadn’t come out about the theft.

So she shrugged. “I’m really not sure what made me come up with his name there at the end. Possibly because I’d finally thought of
everything
that had happened that day, rather than just from the theft on. And I included your punching him that morning.”

“One blasted punch and he wants tae see me in prison?” He snorted.

“Well, you see, I knew that he
did
want to press charges against you for it. I also knew that the duke talked him out of it.”

“St. James did?” he said in surprise, then derisively, “No’ on my account, I’ll warrant.”

She had to agree with that. “No, he probably did it to avoid a scandal among his guests,” she replied pointedly, since she could lay each of the scandals she had been and would be involved in at his door. “However, Megan claimed Howard
was—well, she called it ‘pouting’ after that. But I never gave it another thought until today.”

“And that’s it? You save me from prison because the duchess claimed he was ‘pouting’?”

“Well…there were a few other things that when viewed all together, finally added up. Such as yesterday, when I was talking to Will Ables in the breeding stable, Howard showed up. He said he’d been told he would find me there, that he’d been looking for me to invite me riding, but—he seemed surprised, actually, when he first saw me there. It was more like he wasn’t expecting to find me there a’tall, and yet the only one else there was the groom.”

“So he was there to talk to Ables, but your presence stopped him?”

“Something like that. And then when we did go riding, I couldn’t help but notice how ill-used his horse was. Its hide was liberally laced with spur and whip scars.”

He lifted a brow at her at that point. “What has that tae do wi’ horse stealing?”

“Nothing, except when I was reviewing all the facts, I remembered Megan told me the horses had been left in that hut without any effort made to keep the stallion separate from the mares—”

“Faith, the beastie mun have had him a fine time, I’ll warrant.”

She glared at him. “I believe the duke was quite furious about the condition the animals were in as a result.”

“That mon is always in a fury, Kimber, or havena you noticed that?”

“I wouldn’t say always, more like only when you’re around. But I digress. The fact that the horses hadn’t been cared for properly suddenly
reminded me of Howard, who also showed little care for horses. And to top that off, when we came upon that hut yesterday in the woods, and I wanted to examine it, he suddenly recalled an appointment that he was late for, and rushed us back to the mansion.”

Lachlan shook his head, grumbling, “’Tis no wonder I gave no thought tae the viscount in this matter. All these things you’ve mentioned, I wasna aware of.” And then he grinned. “’Tis well for me that you were on my side, rather than his, and were able tae piece it all into a whole picture ’afore my time ran out.”

“It still wasn’t enough to point a finger at Howard. It was merely a good guess, and fortunately, Ables was gullible enough to believe that the viscount might have confessed. And I wasn’t
on
your side,” she stressed. “I just wanted the truth to come out.”

“Well, I’m thanking you, darlin’.” He took her hand and squeezed it very gently. “No matter the how or why behind it, you’ve kept me from the magistrate’s clutches—so I can remain in yours.”

She blushed. There was no accountable reason for it, other than he
always
seemed to make her blush. And there was a warmth in his light green eyes now that…

“Kimberly, might I have that private word with you now?” Lord Travers asked from the bottom of the stairs.

James
, she mouthed, and remembered…Good God, he was going to propose marriage to her—at least, she had assumed that was his intention. And if it was, she’d have to tell him about Lachlan. But it was going to be so unexpected for him,
such a blow, especially if he really had intended to ask her to marry him.

She groaned inwardly. Who would have thought she’d end up facing a situation like this, when she had come here doubtful of getting even one proposal?

She turned to face James. She offered him a smile, though it came out very weak.

“Certain—” she began.

“Nay,” Lachlan said behind her, cutting her off and placing his hands possessively on her shoulders. “Kimber and I have wedding plans tae discuss just now.”

“Whose wedding?” James frowned.

“Ours,” Lachlan replied, and Kimberly could almost feel his wide grin. “You’re now among the first tae be told, the lady has agreed tae marry me. So I’m thinking anything you have tae say tae her can be said in my presence—if it willna take tae long. We’ve much tae discuss.”

“No—it wasn’t important and…my felicitations, of course. This is rather…unexpected news.”

“Och, well, I’d been after asking her for some time now. Wearing her down was no’ easy, you ken, but my luck finally changed.”

If Lachlan hadn’t sounded so
happy
about it, she would have murdered him on the spot. She was still furious. And poor James was utterly shocked. He tried to conceal it, but he simply couldn’t. There’d been no call to tell him so abruptly.

She would have eased into the subject, prepared him, but no, she hadn’t been given a chance to say a word. And Lachlan had no right to be that high-handed with her—yet. Even when
he did have that right, she wasn’t going to meekly accept him speaking for her. He even knew her well enough to
know
that by now.

She tried to lighten the blow, saying, “I’m sorry, James,” but he had already turned away and was now hurrying off.

“Sorry, are you?”

She swung around, her eyes as stormy a dark green as they could get. “Sorry you shocked him! You didn’t have to do that. He could have been told more gently.”

“Nay,” he disagreed. “These things are best dealt with quickly.”

“How would you know?” she demanded, then, “Damn it, the man wanted to marry me himself. He had no idea that you and I—that we—”

“I am aware of that, Kimber.” Lachlan’s hand suddenly gripped her face. “But you’re mine now.” He kissed her hard while he held her thusly. “And I’ll be making sure anyone else who had designs on you knows it.”

She was dazed for a moment, but only a moment. “Do you realize that smacks of jealousy?”

“Do you realize that you’re going tae be mine forever?” he countered, his hand now caressing her cheek before he let go of her. “That you’ll love me forever? That I’ll—”

“Don’t say something that we both know isn’t sincere, Lachlan,” she cut in, sounding disgusted. “We’re both being forced into this marriage—”

“Speak for yourself, darlin’,” he interrupted right back. “I’m rather pleased that I’ll be marrying you myself. Now go feed that noisy belly of yours. Faith, but you’re a veritable termagant when you’re hungry,” he complained, though there was laughter in his tone.

He then turned her about and gave her a soft whack on her behind, to send her on her way. Kimberly didn’t move a step, mortified that someone might have witnessed his audacity. No one had, but by the time she finished blushing and looked back, he was gone.

“B
loody hell!”

“Somehow I knew you’d say that,” Megan remarked from the doorway where she stood watching her husband pace back and forth in his study.

It was several hours after he’d been told about Will Ables’s breakdown and confession. Both men had already been turned over to the magistrate, with Howard protesting his innocence, of course.

In fact, he’d had the gall to ask, “You aren’t going to believe a servant’s word over mine, are you?”

As if that wasn’t exactly what he’d expected to happen when he’d set up Lachlan. And that was exactly what
had
happened.

Through it all, though, Devlin had contained his emotions quite admirably. But in order to do so, he had to revert to the duke of old, the stuffy, unflappable one who never lost his control, when Megan knew he’d wanted to tear into Canston
just as he had the Scot, if not more so.

The viscount, after all, had arranged a situation that allowed Devlin to release his fury on the Highlander, something he’d wanted to do but couldn’t—without a good reason. And now he was faced with making amends to a man he could barely tolerate, and that stuck in his craw but good.

But now that he was finally alone in his study, or almost alone—he wouldn’t count her—he wasn’t containing any of those emotions any longer. And Megan knew well enough that he’d be working himself into the dark side of a rage if he weren’t distracted very quickly. But that wouldn’t do at all, since Lachlan had been sent for and he would be arriving shortly for some of that amends making.

So she cleared her throat to get his attention. “Did you mean it, what you said earlier, that you were finished with this matter, that Canston and Ables could fight it out in the courts themselves?”

He didn’t bother to stop, just nodded curtly. “I have the animals back. I don’t intend to waste my time further. And besides, Canston has got some powerful relatives. I don’t doubt his uncle will endeavor to sweep this under the rug. But his family will know they now have an enemy in me that they’ll regret. They won’t let him off without
some
punishment because of that.”

“And that’s enough for you?”

“I made a bloody fool of myself, Megan. I would just as soon not be reminded of it further.”

“Well, perhaps this will make that crow you’re going to eat taste a little better.”

“What will?”

“The news that MacGregor seduced Kimberly.”

Devlin stopped his pacing so abruptly, he almost tripped. “He did
what
?”

She nodded now, and quickly clarified, “Seduced our Lady Kimberly, spent the night with her as well, and was found in her bed this morning.”

“Bloody hell!”

“Oh, come now, I thought that would make you feel a little less foolish.”

“What it means is I’ll have to explain to her father how I let it happen!”

“Nonsense,” she scoffed. “There wasn’t a thing you could have done. Something like that, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. It can’t be prevented.”

It could, of course, by simply separating the two lovers, as in kicking that Highlander out of his house as he’d wanted to do to begin with. But he didn’t say that. There was no point. His lovely wife would somehow counter whatever he said with some romantic drivel.

So he narrowed his eyes at her and demanded, “I suppose you’re delighted?”

“Well…I’m not disappointed. It would have been nice if they had gone about getting married in the acceptable fashion, but—I’m no hypocrite, Dev. We—ah, sort of did the same thing, if you’ll recall.”

A bit of color in his cheeks said she’d made her point. “He’s going to marry her then?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Seems rather happy about it, if you ask me. She doesn’t, poor girl. At the moment, she’s quite embarrassed.”

“As well she should be.”

Megan gasped. “Don’t you
even—
” she began to rail at him, until she saw the slight turning of
his lips. She finished with, “Wretch. We are the last two people who can cast stones. As for her father—”

“Yes, her father, who’s going to be in a fine rage and rightly so.” Devlin sighed.

“Ah—I think his rage might not be so fine, but a bit on the ugly side,” Megan confessed uneasily.

He raised a brow at her. “How so? What
else
do you know that I haven’t been informed about?”

“Just that the earl doesn’t like Scotsmen, any and all Scotsmen.”

“He’s prejudiced?”

She made a disgusted face. “Yes, very. In fact, he hates them so much, he’d probably disown his daughter if she married one.”

“Bloody hell!” Devlin exploded again at that little tidbit. “You’ve known about that and you still tried to get those two together?”

“I only learned about it the night the horses were stolen. I’ve hardly been matchmaking since that happened,” she added indignantly.

“I beg your pardon, then.”

“As well you should,” she retorted. “And besides, this isn’t a case of wanting to get married and having the earl withholding his approval. It’s a matter of
have
to get married. The man will just have to see reason about this, and I’m sure you’ll help him to that end.”

“Me?!”

“Certainly. You don’t expect me to do everything, do you?” she asked huffily, then turned on her heel to flounce out.

But she nearly collided with Lachlan, who had come up behind her. Her eyes narrowed on him.
“How long have you been standing there, MacGregor?”

“Just,” he replied with a curious look.

“Well, do go in then. But don’t keep my husband long. I don’t want him late for dinner. I’ll be serving a large helping of cro—”

“That’s enough, Megan,” Devlin growled.

She turned and gave him a tight little smile. “Certainly, dearest.”

Lachlan closed the door behind her, remarking, “I wish my Kimber were that agreeable.”

“No, you don’t, MacGregor, believe me you don’t,” Devlin mumbled.

That said, they each recalled, at exactly the same moment,
why
they were having this meeting. Lachlan crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. It was a devilish smile, full of anticipation and no small amount of gloating. Devlin leaned back against his desk with a sigh, his own expression mirroring his self-disgust.

“Lord Canston and my stable groom have both been arrested and charged.”

Lachlan stiffened. “Before I could get my hands on him? D’you think that’s fair, mon, considering—?”

“Considering you started the whole bloody thing when you attacked him that morning?” Devlin interrupted. “Yes, I’d say you didn’t need to take him on again, especially when you aren’t quite in any condition for it, and he’s in the best of health, and a bloody Corinthian at that.”

Lachlan started to protest again, but allowed the duke might have the right of it. It wouldn’t be all that satisfying if he ended up the loser again because he wasn’t completely healed from the last bout.

Devlin continued on a different note, “The horses have been recovered.”

“Aye, I was aware o’ that yesterday.”

“There were enough teeth marks to indicate the stallion enjoyed his sojourn in the woods,” Devlin said, his anger rising. “Both mares’ breeding programs have been ruined, of course. Neither was to mate with that particular stallion.”

“D’you think that breaks my heart?”

“No, but it might interest you, since I’m giving you the animals. The stallion is an unsure stud. His offspring tend to be either mediocre or outstanding, so there’s no telling what those mares will produce. But he’s a proven racer. He’s won quite a few championships here in England. In that he’s like my Caesar. I guarantee he’ll beat anything your Highlands have to offer.”

“So you think tae pay me off, d’you?”

“I prefer to think of it as a small amount of amends. Even if you don’t want to breed the animals, that stallion will win you many a purse.”

“
If
I take him,” Lachlan replied. “But I dinna want your horses, mon. You’re no’ going tae clear your conscience that easily.”

Devlin stiffened at that. “Then perhaps I’ll give them to Lady Kimberly—as a wedding gift.”

That pointed reminder of the new predicament that Lachlan had got himself in should have put him on the defensive. Instead he laughed, saying, “Dinna be thinking I’m regretting what was done, or feeling guilty for it. I
want
tae marry the lady, St. James. And now I’ve got her agreement, I’ll no’ be giving it up for any reason.”

“Her father may have something to say about that,” Devlin said.

“Dinna fash yourself. I’ll deal wi’ her da. ’Tis
no concern o’ yours. And now I’ll be having your apology, or were you thinking you could avoid it?”

Devlin’s lips curled in a taut, humorless smile. “No, obviously not. You have it then. I apologize for the whole bloody mess, and for taking my fists to you without—current provocation. You weren’t given a fair hearing, and believe me, I do regret that.”

“Verra nicely done, but I canna accept.”

Devlin came off the desk with a low growl. “The hell you can’t.”

Lachlan raised a brow. “You really mun do something about that temper o’ yours. If it werena so hot, you’d no’ have tae be apologizing. And I wasna finished. I canna accept your apology—yet.”

In a flash, Lachlan drew back his fist and let it smash against Devlin’s mouth. The duke fell back against the desk and half across it. When he lifted his head, it was to see Lachlan grinning at him.

“
Now
I can. And ’tis lucky for you, St. James, that I’m in such a good mood because o’ the lassie, or we’d still be discussing your apology.”

After that parting shot the door closed behind him. Devlin rolled slowly off his desk, back to his feet. He brought his fingers to his lips. They were numb, but he tasted blood. And suddenly he laughed. The gall of the man. If that damned Highlander didn’t watch himself, Devlin was going to start to like him.