Never Kiss a Laird (15 page)

Chapter Twelve

The Earl of Kane, having exchanged
his riding dress for a coat of blue superfine, biscuit-colored pantaloons and
gleaming boots, stood in front of his mirror putting the final touches to his
elaborate cravat.
 
A warm smile lit his
brown eyes, as he remembered the fate of the cravat he had donned earlier that
morning.
 
As a grin spread across his
face, a discrete knock sounded at the door, followed by the respectful entrance
into his bedchamber of his butler.

“Do not speak until I am finished,”
Hugh warned, as he finished tying his cravat, and looked carefully at the
results.
 
“That will do.
 
Now Carr,” he said, turning to this retainer.
“What is it?”

“Visitors, my lord,” Carr intoned
in dour voice.
 
“A Mr. and Mrs. Riding,
and their daughter have arrived from London,
sir.
 
They have a quantity of baggage
with them.”

Hugh’s eyes
widened in astonishment.
 
He had
completely forgotten about Clarissa Riding.
 
When he had left London,
could it only have been a few weeks ago?
he
had been
on the verge of offering for her hand.
 
Then he had arrived at Castle Kane, met Miss Sarah Denham and her scapegrace
brother, and had not given the blonde beauty another thought.
 
What on earth could have brought them to Scotland?
 

“Thank you, Carr.”
 

“I have put them in the blue
parlour
, sir.
 
Shall
I have rooms prepared?”

“Of course.
There can be no notion of their returning to London today.
 
I’ll be down to greet them immediately.”

In the Earl’s well-appointed
parlour
, Mr. and Mrs. Riding were having a serious dispute.

“What possible excuse can we give
the Earl for descending upon him without an invitation?”
 
Mrs. Riding demanded of her harassed husband.

“I have told you, my dear,” Hubert
Riding replied.
 
“We shall say that we
are travelling to meet friends, and hoped to break our journey for a night or
two.
 
Clarissa has become tired out by
all the demands of the Season, and is need of a spot of rustication.
 
Unless I miss my bet, his lordship will
invite us to stay here for a few days.
 
I
will leave it up to you and Clarissa to take it from there.”

“Papa,” the beautiful blonde girl who
had been gazing out the window, said plaintively.
 
“You make it sound as if I am trying to trap
the Earl into matrimony.
 
You must not
forget that I have not made up my mind that about whom I want to marry.
 
There
are
several
other gentleman pursuing me as well,” she reminded him with a complacent smile.

Her father gave an exasperated sigh
and ran a hand over the sparse hair on his head.

“None as plump in the pocket as the
Earl of Kane, my dear,” he reminded his daughter.
  
Hubert Riding was not a very clever man, but
he knew that his best and only asset was his beautiful daughter.
 
With his pockets pretty well to let, he had
been banking on the lovely Clarissa making a brilliant match to pull him out of
all his financial difficulties.
  
When
the Earl of Kane had begun paying court to his daughter, it seemed as if Mr.
Riding’s dreams of a generous marriage settlement were about to come true.
 
He had made sure that Clarissa was present at
every society event that the Earl was likely to attend.
 
He spent money he could ill afford to gown
her beautifully, and it had seemed for a while that his gamble was about to pay
off.
 
Hugh McLeod had paid his daughter
extravagant compliments.
 
He had sent
bouquets of flowers, and other small gifts to her.
 
He had solicited her hand to dance at every
ball.
 
And just when Hubert Riding was
starting to count on a marriage settlement that would save him from all his
monetary embarrassments, the young Earl and left London,
and hidden himself away in his castle in Scotland.

Determined not to let Hugh’s ardor
cool before he could be brought up to scratch, Mr. Riding had caused their
trunks to be packed, rented a travelling carriage, and headed north to the
wilds of Scotland.
 

His long-suffering wife knew that
her husband was as stubborn as a pig, and when he had made up his mind there
would be no changing it.
 
She only hoped
that this expedient would work.
 
Looking
at her daughter, she felt optimistic.
 
Clarissa Riding truly was a lovely girl.
 
From the golden hair that sprang in natural curls from her broad white
brow to her dainty feet, Clarissa was perfection.
  
Her eyes were a bright and unexpected green,
her straight little nose wrinkled enchantingly when she laughed.
 
Her figure was slim, her white arms graceful,
and appeared to extraordinary advantage when she played upon the harp, which
she did with proficiency.
 
She was a
good, biddable girl, her mother thought.
 
She was not bookish, a quality with gentleman abhorred, and she never
contradicted.
 
Yes, Mrs. Riding thought,
there was a very good chance that they would leave Castle Kane with a ring of
engagement on her daughter’s slim white finger.

“See that you don’t overplay your
hand, sir,” his wife advised.
 
“You leave
everything to me and we might just pull this off.”

Mr. Riding knew his limitations,
and he nodded agreement as the door opened and Hugh stepped into the room.
 
The Earl’s blue coat was fitted his broad
shoulder perfectly, the breeches emphasized his muscular legs, and he looked
very handsome as he stood with one eye brow raised.

“Mr. Riding,” he said in a
surprised voice.
 
“Mrs. Riding, Miss
Riding.”
 
Hugh bowed deeply, and then
walked further into the room.
 
‘What an
unexpected pleasure to see you.
 
I was
not aware that you had the intention of leaving London so soon.”

“Your lordship,” Hubert Riding
exclaimed, coming forward to take the Earl’s hand.
 
“We were just saying what beautiful country
this is.
 
Clarissa, come and make your
curtsey to the Earl.
 
You will see that
she is quite pale, but do not be alarmed, my lord.
 
She has been trotting a little too hard and
her mother and I decided to take her out of London to get the bloom back in those pretty
cheeks.”

Mrs. Riding deemed it time to step
in.
 
“My dear Earl,” she said
calmly.
 
“You are looking well.
 
It is to be hoped the clean air of the
country will do the same for our Clarissa.”

Hugh bowed politely, and ushered
the little family over to a set of sofas.
 
“Please sit, while I ring for refreshments.”
 
He pulled a velvet ribbon, and a few minutes
later Carr appeared in the doorway.
 
“Tea, Carr.”
 

“Very good, my
lord.”

Hugh turned to the lovely girl
standing by the window, who was trying to look pale and interesting.
 

“I am sorry to hear that you have
been unwell, Miss
Riding
,” he said, indicating a chair
and waiting until she was seated to do the same.
 
He scrutinized her closely.
 
“You appear to be much recovered
already.”
  
He raised her hand and kissed
it, saying, “As lovely as ever.”

“Your lordship,” Clarissa chided
gently.
 
“You must not say such things.”
 
She lowered her eyes, looking demure and
lovely.

“Even if it’s true?” he challenged.

Mr. and Mrs. Riding exchanged a
hopeful glance, and refrained from comment.
 
They waited with bated breath.

“Oh, sir.”
 
Clarissa eventually produced, with a modest
smile.

 
Hugh was aware of a mild feeling of boredom
creeping over him.
 
He tried to remember
the last time he conversed with the beautiful Miss Riding, and realized that
the majority of their interactions had been in the ballrooms of various
parties.
 
She certainly sparkled when
dancing, laughed politely at any witticisms. He shook away these thoughts and
turned to her parents.

“My housekeeper is having rooms
prepared for you.
 
You must break your
journey here tonight.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Mr. Riding
exclaimed.
 
“That is most generous,
indeed.”
 
He came perilously close to
winking as he continued, “But I know that you will have your own reasons for
keeping us close just now, eh?”

Hugh felt his face freezing, and
tried to keep his look affable.
 
He was
rescued from commenting by Rupert, who entered the room at that moment saying,
“By Jove it’s a beautiful day, Hugh.
 
I
think I’ll go for a ride, if you won’t miss me for an hour or so.
 
I say, I didn’t realize you had guests.
 
Forgive me!”
 
Rupert stopped, bowing politely to the Ridings.

“Rupert,” Hugh approached the young
man, and put an arm around Rupert’s shoulders, drawing him inexorably into the
room.
 
“Please let me make you known to
Mr. and Mrs. Riding, and their daughter, Miss Clarissa Riding.
 
The
Honourable
Rupert Denham.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Rupert bowed
again.
 
As the full impact of Clarissa’s
beauty struck him, he crossed the room to take her hand and execute a graceful
bow.
 
“How do you do,
Miss Riding.”

“How do you do, sir,” Clarissa
dimpled enchantingly, a rosy flush rising to her cheeks.

A maid entered the room with a
tea-tray, and Rupert, after handing a cup of tea to Clarissa, accepted a cup
for himself, and settled himself beside the blonde beauty, an infatuated smile
upon his handsome face.
 
Mr. and Mrs.
Riding were not pleased with this arrangement, but short of pulling him away
and ensconcing the Earl in his place, had no option except to engage the Earl
in conversation.

“I say, Hugh,” Rupert interrupted
their desultory conversation a moment later.
 
“Miss Riding says she would love to go for a ride.
 
Do you mind if I steal her from you for a
bit?”
 
He smiled engagingly at the
Ridings.
 
“You won’t object to her
accompanying me, will you?
 
We’ll stay
within the immediate grounds of the Castle, of course.”

Mrs. Riding bit her lip.
 
This was definitely not what she wanted.
 
However, this young friend of the Earl was
expensively dressed, and she had not missed the large emerald ring on his
finger.
 
Mrs. Riding had an almost
perfect knowledge of all the eligible young men in London, and as far as she could remember,
Rupert Denham could be at best the younger son of the Viscount Denham.
 
As she could not think of any reasonable
reason to say no, Mrs. Riding nodded her acquiescence, earning a glowing smile
from Rupert.

Hugh gave a discrete sigh of
relief.
 
He stood as Clarissa left the
room to go don her riding dress.
 
“Let me
just go give instructions to my groom,” he said, excusing himself.
 
“There are only a few of my horses that are
used to side-saddle, but I can mount your daughter on a safe ride, one of my
mother’s favorites and a very sweet goer.
 
Rupert, you of course, may have your pick of any of my stable.”

Hugh left the room, and walked
slowly out to the stable.
 
The arrival of
the Ridings was a complication he did not want.
 
His existence was complicated enough right now.
 
He raked his fingers through his hair,
then
rubbed his eyes.
 
What on earth was he doing?
he
asked himself
sternly.
 
Sarah Denham was a genteel
young woman, with whom he had no business carrying on a dalliance, if that’s
what it was.
 
A vision of Sally as she
had looked this morning drifted before his eyes; the smile on her face sated
and happy, her soft skin pale and creamy.
 
No, he could not regret it.
 
But
never before had he indulged in a tryst with a woman of quality.
 
He remembered her response to his attempts to
hold back, the passion that had lit her eyes, the response to each other’s
proximity that had made resistance futile.
 
He knew a strong urge to return to
Whitethorne
cottage.
 
His departure had been rushed
because of the return of Sally’s maid, and he had had no opportunity to discuss
their situation.
 
What were Sally’s
feelings, he wondered, after making love with him? Was she having second
thoughts?
 
Regrets?
 
Or was she as caught up in the wonder of it as
he was, and eager to repeat their reprehensible behavior?