Courting an Angel (18 page)

“How fares Dubh?” she asked. “And Isabelle?”

“I do believe yer brother and yer friend share a fondness for each other,” he answered. “They pass all of their spare hours together . . . By the way, Mungo will be ready to leave for Scotland by the first day of spring.”

“Mungo?” Rob echoed. “Is he yer other travelin’ companion?”

Instead of answering her question, Gordon smiled and said, “Look up, angel.”

Rob looked up. Her aunt was waving a sprig of mistletoe over her head.

Before she could utter a word of protest, Gordon captured her within the circle of his embrace and claimed her lips. Caught off guard and reeling from his appealing scent of mountain heather, Rob succumbed to the enticingly sensuous feeling of his mouth on hers and returned his kiss in kind.

As if from a great distance, Rob heard her cousins’ disgusted exclamations, “Yuch-yuch-yuch.” And then Gordon ended the kiss as quickly and as unexpectedly as he’d begun it.

“Rob loves Gordon,” six-year-old Aurora chanted in a sing-song voice. “Rob loves Gordon.”

“Hush,” Rob said, rounding on her cousins. She could feel the heated blush staining her cheeks.

“Well, you must love him,” Blythe began.

“Because you never even tried to kick his balls,” Bliss finished baldly.

Gordon threw back his head and shouted with laughter. Earl Richard nodded with proud approval of his daughters, and Lady Keely smiled at her husband’s gesture.

Only Rob remained unamused. Was it true? she wondered. Was she beginning to care for Gordon Campbell? If that was true, she would be doomed to eternal misery. Never could she live with him in the Highlands. But if she loved him, how could she live in England without him?

I care naught for the Marquess of Inverary, Rob told herself. Gordon Campbell was simply a not-so-pleasant diversion until Henry returned from court.

When supper ended, Gordon turned to her and asked, “Would ye care to pass the hours until midnight with a game of chess?”

“Why dinna ye play with Livy?” Rob replied, lifting her upturned nose into the air in a gesture of dismissal.

“Och, angel,” Gordon whispered, leaning close to her ear. “Livy doesna care much for games.”

Rob turned her whole body away from him.

“Livy happens to be the housekeeper at Campbell Mansion in Edinburgh,” he lied. “She changed my nappies when I was a bairn.”

Rob closed her eyes against the burning humiliation she felt. Her imagination had run wild, and now she must pay for it.

“I’m verra sorry for my behavior,” she apologized with a sheepish smile. “I would like to play chess with ye.”

For long hours the two of them sat across the chessboard like adversaries on a battlefield. When the three youngest Devereux girls succumbed to sleep, Blythe and Bliss joined them for several games of the ladies against the gent. The ladies surprised Gordon by winning every game until the last one when he caught them cheating.

A moment before midnight, everyone grabbed their designated utensils and ran to the front door. Laughing and shouting, they banged their pots and pans together to scare off the old year and welcome the new.

“Are you going to give her the gift now?” Blythe asked Gordon as they returned to the hall.

“Aye, lass. I am.”

“I’ll fetch it,” Bliss offered.

“I’ll fetch it,” Earl Richard informed his daughter.

“Ye must sit down,” Gordon said, escorting Rob to one of the chairs in front of the hearth. “Get those hands off yer lap, and close yer eyes.”

Rob did as she was told. All was silent in the hall. Then she heard her uncle’s footsteps as he returned. At Gordon’s command, Rob opened her eyes and cried in pleased surprise, “Great Bruce’s ghost, ’tis what I’ve always wanted.”

Against his chest, Gordon cuddled a tiny ball of squirming fur. With a smile, he set the pup in her lap.

The English toy spaniel had a well-rounded head, a turned-up nose, and an aristocratic expression. Its fur was pearly white with well distributed chestnut-red patches.

“Oh, she’s so sweet,” Rob cooed, gathering the pup against her breast like a baby.

“’Tis a boy,” Blythe told her.

Rob lifted her gaze to Gordon and caught the tender emotion mirrored in his. “Thank ye, my lord,” she said. “’Tis the best Hogmanay gift I’ve ever received.”

The pup chose that moment to lick her neck, and Rob giggled at the tickling sensation.

“He likes you,” Bliss said. “He’s giving you smooches.”

“’Tis what I’ll call him then.” Rob gazed into the pup’s dark eyes and told him, “Yer name is Smooches. Ye ken what I’m sayin’?”

Smooches barked the shrill yelp of a puppy. Everyone laughed.

Gordon leaned close and planted a chaste lass on her cheek, whispering, “Happy New Year, angel.”

“I’m sorry I’ve no gift for ye,” Rob said, a sudden frown marring her expression.

Gordon traced one long finger down the side of her cheek. “Yer smile will be gift enough,” he told her.

Rob gifted him with an angelic smile, and a look of unguarded emotion passed between them.

Cradling the pup in her arms like a baby, Rob took Smooches to bed with her that night. She gently stroked the top of his rounded head and gazed into his dark doleful eyes.

Patting Smooches relaxed her. His silky fur reminded her of the satin blanket she’d carried around as a child; his miniature size conspired with the woebegone expression in his dark eyes and brought her maternal instincts to the surface.

“What a wonderful gift ye are,” she cooed to the pup.

Rob’s thoughts traveled the short distance down the corridor to the man who’d given her Smooches. Contrary to her first impression of him, the Marquess of Inverary had a kind streak in him. Handsome and wealthy and powerful and kind, Gordon Campbell would make an excellent husband for any woman. Except her. Too bad he hadn’t been born English. They could have lived as man and wife in England, but not in Scotland. Never in the Highlands.

Rob tried to picture his smiling face as he’d appeared that evening in the great hall. All she managed to conjure in her mind was the image of him lying all but naked in his bed as she’d seen him the previous evening. Rob tried but failed to banish that seductive scene from her thoughts and finally, with a sigh of surrender, savored the remembered sight.

Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!

A tiny tongue licking her face awakened Rob the next morning. Opening her eyes a crack, she peered into the pup’s dark eyes. Rob reached up with one hand to caress him as a drowsy smile touched her lips.

“Good mornin’, Smooches,” she said in a sleep-husky voice.

The sound of giggling girls awakened Rob fully. Blythe and Bliss sat on the edge of the bed, and beside them stood her aunt.

Rob yawned and stretched, then sat up and leaned back against the headboard. “Happy New Year, Aunt Keely,” she said. “Happy New Year, cousins.”

“Happy New Year, Cousin Rob,” chimed Blythe and Bliss.

“Happy New Year, dearest. We’ve brought you a breakfast tray,” Lady Keely said. “You know, I do believe Smooches is small enough to be trained for a box of sand. I’ll have one brought up later.”

“I never considered that,” Rob said. “I hope he hasna messed the floor.”

Blythe and Bliss giggled.

“Smooches accompanied me when I greeted the dawn this morning,” Lady Keely told her. “Afterwards, Jennings served him breakfast.”

“Thank ye. Aunt Keely. I’m supposin’ I’ll need to awaken earlier from now on.”

“’Twill be unnecessary if you train him to a box.”

“We’ll help you train Smooches,” Blythe offered.

“Can we take him out to play with us?” Bliss asked.

“Of course,” Rob answered. “I’ll meet ye outside later.”

Blythe lifted Smooches into her arms. Followed by Bliss, she headed for the door.

“You have a visitor waiting in the study,” Lady Keely said, drawing Rob’s attention.

“’Tis Uncle Henry,” Blythe called over her shoulder.

“And he’s brought you a gift,” Bliss added, then disappeared out of the door after her sister.

Rob looked at her aunt and opened her mouth to speak, but the countess was faster.

“Lord Campbell had already left for his morning ride,” Lady Keely told her.

“But how could ye have known what I was thinkin’?” Rob asked, surprised.

The countess cast her an ambiguous smile. “Being druid means knowing.” At that, she quit the chamber.

Ignoring the breakfast tray, Rob leaped from the bed and dashed across the chamber. She would have taken special pains with her morning toilet, but the threat of Gordon returning while Henry and she were together spurred her into action.

Rob splashed water on her face to clear the sleep from her expression and dressed hurriedly in the emerald-green gown she’d worn the previous evening. Then she grabbed her brush and swept her ebony hair away from her face, letting the dark mane cascade down her back to her waist. When she emerged from her chamber in record time, Rob appeared delightfully disheveled as if she’d just come from a lover’s tryst instead of her virgin’s bed.

Wearing that endearingly easy smile of his. Henry Talbot stepped forward when she walked into the study. Rob hid Old Clootie’s mark within the folds of her gown and started toward him. They met in the center of the chamber.

“Happy New Year, darling,” Henry greeted her, bowing low over her right hand.

“Happy New Year, my lord.” Rob gave him one of her warmest smiles. “I’ve missed ye.”

“I missed you more,” he said.

“With all of those acclaimed beauties at court?” she countered. “I canna credit that.”

“I swear ’tis truth,” Henry vowed. “Those alleged beauties wither when compared to your lovely face and sweet disposition.”

“Thank ye for the pretty compliment,” Rob said, casting him an unconsciously flirtatious smile. “Have ye chanced to meet my brother Dubh at court?”

“Aye, and he’s a man I’d be proud to call my brother-in-law.”

“How fares Belle?”

“Isabelle is well but concerned for you,” Henry told her. “Your brother and she spend a good deal of time together. That is, when she’s not serving her stepmother or stepsisters.”

“’Tis shameful the way they order Belle aboot,” Rob exclaimed, angry for her friend’s sake.

“Darling, I haven’t traveled all the way from Hampton Court to discuss Isabelle Debrett’s personal problems,” Henry said. “Though I do commend your loyalty, my time here is short.” He produced a small, midnight blue velvet box from inside his doublet and offered it to her. “I’ve brought you a New Year’s gift.”

Rob smiled and accepted the gift, saying, “Thank ye, my lord. Shall I open it now?”

Henry chuckled. “Would you wait if I asked?”

“I love receivin’ gifts,” she said, shaking her head like a young girl.

Rob opened the box and gasped at what lay inside, a magnificent broach in the shape of nesting lovebirds. The charming gold lovebirds perched on cither side of a golden nest that contained four pearl eggs. The birds’ eyes were gleaming rubies, as were the leaves on the diamond and gold branches in which their nest sat.

“’Tis fit for royalty,” Rob cried softly.

“Allow me, darling,” Henry said, lifting the broach from her hand. As he reached to pin the broach on her bodice, his fingertips lightly brushed against her breasts.

Rob sucked in her breath at the accidental contact, and her heartbeat quickened. Flustered by his intimate touch, she stammered, “I — I d-dinna know how to thank ye.”

“A kiss will do.”

Rob blushed and shyly dropped her gaze to the carpet.

“I’ve waited forever for this,” Henry said, with one hand tilting her chin up. Gently, he pressed his lips to hers.

Rob enjoyed the pleasant feeling of his mouth covering hers, but an inner voice told her that the spark needed to ignite warm fondness into blazing love was missing. Gordon Campbell’s drugging kiss had spoiled her for anyone else’s.

“Get yer hands off my wife,” ordered an angry voice.

Rob leaped away from Henry and whirled around to face the door. Heart-stopping fright made her complexion pale to a sickly white.

Gordon Campbell marched across the study toward them. There was no mistaking the fury etched across his features.

“If ye ever touch my wife again,” Gordon warned, “I’ll kill ye.”

“This will decide that,” Henry shot back, fingering the hilt of his dagger. “Rob isn’t your wife yet. Her heart belongs to me, and her body will follow as soon as your betrothal is annulled.”

Gordon fixed his frigid gaze on Rob and said, “’Tis time for the truth of the matter, angel. Tell him.”

Rob felt the earth move dizzyingly beneath her feet as her world crumbled around her. Her bottom lip trembled, and when she spoke, her words came out in an aching whisper. “Ye odious rogue, how could ye —”

“Tell Talbot the truth,” Gordon snapped.

“I’m verra sorry,” Rob said, turning to Henry. “My father married me to Gordon when we were children.” Unable to bear the shocked disappointment in his expressive blue eyes, she rounded on her husband and said in an accusing voice, “Ye promised ye’d keep this a secret until the first day of spring when I was supposed to decide between ye. Ye broke yer solemn word.”