A Lass for Christmas (Tenacious Trents Novella) (8 page)

“Lachlan had to cut it off of ye last night.
He couldna leave ye in the wet clothin’ or ye would have caught yer
death.”

So that was why she was in this nightshirt,
far too large for her body. It must belong to Lachlan. “He cut my
clothing off?” Goodness. That meant he saw her naked. Nobody,
except her maid, had seen her without her clothing.

“From what I understand from Dougal, he dinna
look,” Mrs. MacGinnis assured her.

“How is that possible?” Madeline
squeaked.

“He put a blanket over ye first, after he cut
the back of yer dress. And then felt his way around.” She smiled.
“He wanted to preserve yer modesty. So doona be gettin' all upset
with his lordship by thinkin’ he was takin’ liberties.”

“Upset? I am embarrassed. Mortified.” It
never occurred that he may have taken liberties. But, they had
slept in the same bed.

“There is no need to be embarrassed, lass,
especially given the circumstances.” Mrs. MacGinnis insisted. She
placed the used dishes on the tray with the teapot. “I’ll be back
in a moment with fresh tea.”

“I need to find somethin’ to wear. Jordan has
come for me.” She couldn’t remain here. Not now. Brachton probably
hated her. Was he angry that she hadn’t admitted that Jordan was
her brother? Though it shouldn’t make a difference one way or the
other, should it?

“By the time those two finish, they will
agree it is best ye remain here.”

Madeline found that hard to believe. After
Mrs. MacGinnis left, Madeline left the bed. There must be something
in the chamber for her to wear. She found her cloak had been hung
up in a closet; however it was a bit damp. So she spread it out
before the fire.

Her dress wasn’t anywhere, nor her shift, not
that they would have done her any good since Lachlan cut them from
her body. Thank goodness she had not been awake or she would have
expired from embarrassment. No, had she been awake she could have
undressed herself, in privacy.

Why had she ever left Matt’s home last night?
She could have thought just as easily in her room.

No, she couldn’t have. Whenever she was
troubled she took a walk. It was the way she had always been and
most likely how she would always be. She would just use more care
in the future and pay attention to where she was going so she
didn’t get lost again.

She found her stockings by her boots. They
were also damp so she spread them out beside the cloak and put the
boots beside them. Hopefully they would be dry and warm enough to
wear by the time Jordan returned for her. She would hate to get a
chill a second time, but it may not be helped.

Madeline sat back down on the bed and stared
into the fire. Her family would be angry, but it had never been her
intention to upset or worry them. Despite her questionable birth,
she knew that they still loved her. They would be the only ones,
but she did have them, and it was foolish of her to wander away in
a storm. It was impetuous, and they had every right to be upset.
But thankfully none of them held onto their anger long.

Lachlan on the other hand, he probably wanted
her away from his life as quickly as she could move. She shouldn’t
have deceived him and she wasn’t sure why she had. She certainly
hadn’t anticipated Jordan taking a swing at the man. Lachlan would
probably suffer a swollen and bruised eye and all he had done was
save her. The man deserved better thanks than that.

She had made so many poor decisions over the
last day and hadn’t been thinking clearly since she listened to her
brothers and mother talk of Adele and Julia, when the world
Madeline thought was hers was ripped away.

Perhaps she wasn’t thinking clearly now.

It didn’t matter. Her fate had been sealed.
But at least she’d had one adventure, though falling through the
ice wasn’t an experience she wanted to try again. She had met a
handsome Scot, who was kind to her, and kissed devilishly. What
else would he have done had Jordan not arrived? Nobody had ever
kissed her in such a manner. Actually, nobody had ever kissed her
before, and she found she quite liked it. And when his hand touched
her breast she thought she would expire from the pleasure of it.
Heat had swept through her body and every part of her being came
alive, even her most private areas. Was that the closest she would
ever come to knowing what it was like to be loved by a man or
experiencing the passion she had read about?

Depression settled over her like a wet
blanket. She would never have moments like that again. She couldn’t
marry a gentleman and she had no means in which to meet someone
else. The only way she would ever experience passion and desire
would be to become someone’s mistress. She was now forced to live
on the fringes of society, so what difference to her reputation
would there be? Except her brothers would kill her.

Madeline fell back on the bed. She could kill
Jordan for showing up when he did. He had taken away the one moment
of pleasure she was likely to ever know.

The two men stomped into the library. Dougal
followed behind and went to the sideboard and poured a whisky for
all three of them.

Jordan and Lachlan stared at each other,
neither speaking. Lachlan knew he should explain but each word
would damn him further in Jordan’s mind. He needed to explain.
There was still a chance Jordan would kill him, but at least he
would know he hadn’t touched his precious sister.

Bloody hell. He was going to be marrying the
lass after all. Jordan would not let this pass, and if Lachlan had
found Jordan in a similar situation with one of his sisters, by
damn there would be a wedding. At least in Scotland it could be
accomplished instantly. It wasn’t so easy in England with all of
their inane rules of crying of the banns, being married before
noon, or getting a special license when necessary.

Dougal pressed a glass into Trent’s hand. “Ye
stay over there and doona say a word until this is finished.”

Trent never broke eye contact with Lachlan as
he lifted the glass to his lips and drank.

Dougal next handed Lachlan a glass. “Ye had
better explain, and quickly before he kills ye.”

Dougal stood back and sipped from his own
glass.

“What happened, and why is she here?” Jordan
demanded.

“For some reason yer sister decided to go for
a walk last night and fell through the ice on my lake.”

Jordan’s eyes shot up.

“Luckily, we saw her and fished her out
before she drowned.”

“Why didn’t you send word immediately?”

“I dinna ken who she was and there was a
snowstorm, if ye recall. By the time I got her into the house she
was unconscious,” Lachlan defended. “I dinna have time to think
about wakin’ her and demandin’ answers. She was practically frozen
so I got her clothes off of her, put her in a nightshirt, and
tucked her into bed.”

“
You
stripped Madeline of her
clothing?” Jordan took a step in Lachlan’s direction.

“He covered her with a blanket first.” Dougal
interjected. “I was there. He dinna see anything he ought not. It
was obvious she was a lady.”

Trent relaxed his stance.

“Tell him everythin’,” Dougal warned.

“She couldna stop shiverin’, so I did get in
bed with her.”

Jordan tossed his glass aside. It shattered
against the floor, spraying shards of glass in several directions
and then he lunged for Lachlan.

Lachlan ducked and put a chair between them.
“I said I got in bed with her. Not that I bedded her. There is a
difference.”

Jordan stopped and eyed him. “You didn’t
touch her?”

“Only enough to warm her with my body heat.
Nothing else. I swear.”

Dougal rushed to the sideboard and poured
another glass of whisky and handed it to Trent.

“That is when she told me her name was
Maddie.”

“My sister has never gone by that name.”

“Well, she was fallin’ asleep, tired,
shiverin’, and mumblin’, come to think of it.”

“He dinna do anythin’ but save her life,”
Dougal insisted.

“It didn’t look like she was dying when I
walked in. It looked like she was experiencing a side of life my
innocent sister should know nothing about,” Trent shouted.

“I dinna ken she was yer sister,” Lachlan
argued back.

“How could you not know? Didn’t she tell
you?”

“Nay,” Lachlan shouted back. “She only told
me she dinna travel alone. She later gave me yer name.”

“Not alone? That is it?”

“I asked her again what I should call her,”
Lachlan continued. “She said Maddie was fine and when pressed,
denied that a Miss or Lady should go before her name.”

“Why the hell would she do something like
that?”

“I doona ken,” Lachlan shouted back and threw
up his hand in irritation. “She is yer sister.” He tipped back the
glass and drained the contents before thrusting it at Dougal. “I
assumed she was . . . , well somethin’ she clearly is not”

“My mistress?” Jordan yelled. “You thought my
sister was my mistress?” He lunged again and Lachlan sidestepped
him.

“When I told her I knew ye, she never said
she was yer sister, just that ye dinna want her to meet me. Since
she claimed no family relationship I assumed she was somethin’ else
to ye.”

“And you thought to steal my mistress away,
like you have before.”

Lachlan couldn’t help but grin. “She is a
bonny lass.”

This time he didn’t move quickly enough and
Jordan’s fist connected with his jaw.

“Ye deserved that, Lachlan,” Dougal said as
he gave him another glass of whisky.

“I demand to know what liberties you took
with my sister.”

“None. I only kissed her.” He certainly
wasn’t going to admit to anything else. “Ye showed up before I
could do anythin’ else.”

Jordan raised his fist again. “So you were
going to seduce my sister.”

Lachlan raised his hands in defense. “I dinna
ken she was yer sister. I thought she was yer mistress, and ye
would have done the same thin’.”

“Enough of this,” Dougal shouted and got
their attention. “It willna benefit either one of you if ye beat
Lachlan to a bloody pulp, Trent.”

“Are you so certain? I am sure I would feel a
bit better.”

“Aye, but ye want the groom alive for the
weddin’.”

Lachlan groaned. There was no getting out of
this one. He was going to be legshackled to an English lady whether
he wanted to be or not. However, Maddie was a beautiful lass and a
lusty one if her moans upstairs were any indication. His fate could
be far worse.

“Alive, but not necessarily whole.”

No doubt Jordan would like nothing better
than to cut off his bullocks. He would feel the same way if the
tables were turned.

Jordan advanced and pushed Lachlan down into
a chair. Lachlan had fought against himself not to strike back at
Jordan each time the man hit him. Perhaps he knew deep down he
deserved the pummeling he was getting, but enough was enough.

“You will treat my sister right,” he
insisted. “Your carousing days are over because if I hear one whiff
of gossip that you have a mistress on the side or are not treating
Madeline well, I will hunt you down and make you sorry for the day
we ever met.”

Lachlan threw up his hands in surrender. “I
will treat her well.” He looked Jordan in the eye. “Ye ken I will
be faithful,” he bit out. “That is one matter we have always agreed
upon when it came to wives. No beddin’ other men’s wives or giving
our own a reason to seek attention somewhere else. Neither one of
us has ever been able to stomach a man who ignored his wife and
found pleasure elsewhere.”

Jordan studied him for a moment before he
backed away.

The door of the library flew open. Maddie
wobbled in with Mrs. MacGinnis’ support. She wore her cloak over
his nightshirt and carried one boot. Her hair had been brushed and
a long braid trailed over her shoulder. “Jordan, I demand to know
what you have done to Lachlan.”

Jordan turned toward her. “Your future
husband and I were just coming to an agreement.”

“No.” Her face lost all color. “I will not be
marrying him and you can’t make either of us.”

“I beg to differ, lass,” Lachlan stood. “I
compromised you. As you are a lady, it is the way of things.”

“I am no lady,” she hissed through clenched
teeth.

“Ye said that earlier, but the fact that
Trent is yer brother says differently.”

“Madeline, where are these foolish thoughts
coming from?” Jordan demanded.

Her expression went from angry to hurt. She
swallowed. “I know the truth, Jordan. I heard you, Matt and Mother
speaking yesterday. There is no need to protect me any longer and
no reason to force Brachton to marry me.”

“Bloody hell,” Jordan muttered. “There is no
reason for anyone to know.”

What were they talking about? What family
secret was Jordan trying to keep?