The Scot is Hers by Eliza Knight

13

Alec woke before the sun, or rather, he finally hauled himself out of bed then after a sleepless night. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before his mother sent word to Boddam Castle where Giselle’s parents were and that Lady Mary was stacking the cards against them, he’d sent a missive in the wee hours, summoning them all to Slains.

The letter had not been an exact summons, but the information he’d presented them with was certainly enough to have them all climbing into their carriages as soon as they read it.

The time had come to deal with the inevitable.

Alec made his way to his library to pick up a book for Giselle, and then to the kitchen to have his cook prepare her a cup of chocolate and a scone. He was going to personally deliver the tray to her himself, along with the likely news of her parents and Keith’s impending arrival. He thought it would be better coming from him than anyone else.

At his light knock on her door, she called for him to enter.

She was still in bed, propped up on her pillows as if she’d been awake for some time, awaiting her maid.

“Oh,” she gasped at seeing him there with the tray and tucked her covers up to her chin. Her beautiful hair tumbled around her shoulders in unruly curls as if competing with her penchant for sarcasm to see which could be wilder. A flush of delicate pink touched her cheeks. He’d never seen a woman more alluring.

Giselle fumbled with her hands, running them through her glorious locks. Patted her blanket, making certain it covered her nightgown.

How he wished it didn’t. He would have liked very much to peel away the layer of protection. To see her dusky rose nipples through the sheer muslin. Or at least to imagine he could.

“I’m sorry to intrude,” he said, feeling a little sheepish now for having barged in on her unannounced. The idea had seemed like a good one at the time, and now he hoped she didn’t feel uncomfortable.

But Giselle gifted him with a bright smile. “’Tis no intrusion, my lord. Only a surprise. A delightful surprise, I assure ye.”

Alec’s chest swelled with an unknown emotion. Gone unchecked, he might start simpering at her feet, a thought that made him chuckle. So much had changed since he’d met this woman, including his reactions.

“Well, good.” He grinned and brought the tray forth, settling it on her lap. “I’ve brought ye chocolate and a book.

Giselle lifted the novel, reading the title aloud. “The School for Scandal by Richard Sheridan.” She glanced up at him, a twinkle of humor in her eyes. “Is this in regard to our encounter last evening? Will it help me prepare for the inevitable showdown with Lady Mary?”

Alec laughed and tapped the cover of the book. “’Twas originally a comedic play. I think ye’ll find it quite entertaining. And who knows, perhaps ye will get a few pointers out of it.”

She cocked her head. “For a man who has already gotten my permission to wed, ye seem bent on wooing me. A different book every day is like ye bringing me a new bouquet of flowers.”

“Aye. I do want ye to be happy. To...like me.” Alec had laid bare his vulnerabilities right there, without even realizing the words were coming out of his mouth. He wanted to yank them back, feeling foolish.

But Giselle reached for his hand and gave it a wee squeeze. “I do like ye. Quite a lot, actually. But what else is it?” She squinted her eyes at him. “Something else is bothering ye.”

“I’ve had to send word to your parents at Boddam Castle. And Keith too.”

Giselle closed her eyes for a moment. Her chest rose and fell with slow breaths. When she opened her eyes, she looked resigned. “And so ye thought to butter me up with gifts and charm?”

The accusation in her words stung, and he felt guilt hit him in the gut. “It is an unavoidable situation.” Which was true, as much as he felt bad for it.

She let out a long, resigned sigh. “I know. I’m sorry. I’d just hoped no’ to face them until after we’d wed. When there could be nothing that they could do to sabotage our plans.”

“That would have been ideal, but no’ altogether realistic.”

Giselle smoothed her hands over the book. “Aye, and they probably worry I am dead, off the side of the cliff as the mount I’d been riding intended. Lost at sea.”

“Aye.” Alec nodded, watching her fidget as she tried to come to terms with the bubble that they’d created popping.

“I do hate for them to worry. No doubt my mother has taken ill to her bed. Who knows what my father’s been up to?”

Alec wanted to comfort her, wanted to say “forget it, we’ll leave and pretend the missives were in jest.” But that would only delay the inevitable and make their problems worse. “They will be relieved to know ye’re no’ dead, I’m certain, even if they are unhappy with your choice in a husband.”

Giselle reached out, gripping his hand in hers again. This time she held on tight. “How could they be unhappy when ye are so wonderful?”

“Now, who is trying to woo?” He winked at her, watching her blush.

She laughed. “If it keeps ye bringing me more books, well then, I am happy for it.”

“I would bring ye books every hour for the rest of our days if ye asked.” He was dead serious. And just might do it.

“And what can I give ye in return? More books?”

“That and honesty.”

“I know we’ve no’ known each other long, but I have given ye that, Alec. More so than anyone else in my life. I can promise that I will always do so.”

“Thank ye.” That was more than any woman had given him in a long time. Giselle couldn’t know how much it meant to him. “Well, lass. I wanted ye to be aware of the situation and to prepare mentally for the impending arrival of our unwanted guests.”

“As long as I have ye by my side, we shall prevail.”

Alec smiled, feeling a measure of comfort from those words he wouldn’t have expected. When he’d been in battle, it had been much the same with his comrades. As long as they had each other, protected each other’s backs, sides, fronts, then they felt safer, and the idea of prevailing did not seem so far away. It was the same now with her.

They were both preparing for battle, and they were each other’s allies. A united front.

At least this time, their enemies didn’t plan on attacking with their deaths as the imminent goal. Well, he hoped not at any rate. There was no telling what Keith might do when he found out that Alec had proposed to Giselle, and she’d accepted. Swiping not only his bride but the coin he so badly needed.

“We shall.” Alec reached forward, gripping her hand in his and lifting it to his lips.

“My lord.” His mother’s voice behind him sent an annoyed chill up his spine. Was it now going to be that every moment alone with Giselle would be interrupted by someone who wanted them apart? “This is highly inappropriate.”

Giselle’s face drained of color, and he recalled how she’d told him the previous night that his mother had asked her to leave today.

“Mother,” Alec said, turning slowly to face her. “I fail to understand how delivering my future wife breakfast is inappropriate. In a few days’ time, I’ll be sleeping in the bed beside her.”

That caused a gasp from his mother, her hand flying to her throat, and a glower on her face as she pinned Giselle with her stare. The message was clear in that one look—Giselle had defied her and would pay. Good God, but he had issues to smooth out at every angle. This one, he’d deal with now.

“She’s no’ leaving,” Alec said, watching his mother’s face turn from accusation at Giselle to surprise.

“I do no’ know what ye mean.” A tight smile pressed to her face. “Why would she leave if ye are to be married?”

“That’s a question I was going to pose of ye myself, given your recent request of her.” He straightened and looked his mother in the eye. He loved her as much as a son could love his mother, but he couldn’t allow her to continue to interfere with his life. “Giselle will be my wife.”

“Of course.” The honey was back in his mother’s tone, one which she’d often used when he was a boy to convince him to go her route rather than whatever idea he had for himself. “But best ye maintain propriety until the vows are exchanged in a few weeks.”

“I’m no’ waiting a few weeks.”

His mother gave him another tight smile. “Ah, I see. As it happens, I had come by this morning to speak with Lady Giselle about the plans for the event.”

They both knew it for the lie that it was, but he decided to let it go for the sake of forgiveness. They would need his mother on their side when Giselle’s parents arrived.

“Thank ye.” Alec pressed a kiss to his mother’s cheek. “I bid ye both a good morning.” He winked at Giselle and then took his leave.

* * *

Giselle wishedshe could call Alec back. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a room with his mother, especially given how their last conversation had gone.

“I see my son is quite taken with ye.” The woman sounded more resigned than pleased as she stood in the doorway. Her pale blue day dress was smoothed of wrinkles, and her hair was pulled into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She wore a diamond necklace and white gloves. Giselle wondered if she woke before light to make herself so complete so early in the morning.

“And I with him.”

Lady Errol let out a lengthy exhale. “Then fighting it is futile on my part.”

Giselle didn’t say anything. Instead, she watched the older woman to figure out exactly what Lady Errol meant, or what she would do. While she waited, Giselle sipped her chocolate, which was lukewarm but still delicious.

“I wanted him to wed.” The dowager countess went toward the window, looking out on the grounds below. “And as his mother, of course, I want him to be happy.” She glanced back at Giselle. “Ye seem to be providing both of those things.”

“I am quite fond of Lord Errol,” Giselle said, the title sounding foreign on her tongue when she preferred the intimacy of calling him Alec.

Lady Errol nodded. “He is a good man.” There was a slight break in her voice when she said it. “I have hated to watch him suffer since returning from the Peninsular War, and the truth of the matter is that since he brought ye to Slains, I’ve never seen him happier. Or more devoted.”

Her future mother-in-law sounded genuinely surprised. Why was she struggling so much with being happy for them?

“Then I have to ask ye,” Giselle said, “Why would ye demand I leave?”

Lady Errol drew in a deep breath, her hands pinched together in front of her. She approached Giselle’s side. “I did no’ want to see him hurt.”

“So rather than wed a woman who genuinely finds his company pleasing, ye would leave him to the other vipers?”

Lady Errol frowned. “I think viper is a bit harsh.”

“They would no’ have wed Alec for anything other than the meal they’d make of him or because they were forced into it. Just as I would have with Joshua Keith, save I’d still be hungry in the end.”

The dowager’s eyes met Giselle’s then, and she stared at her for what felt like forever.

“I did hear something about Keith being low on funds. He’s got a bit of a gambling problem, I think.” Lady Errol was quick to add, “But ye did no’ hear such from me. I disdain gossip.”

“He’s got more problems than that.” Giselle sat up a little taller. “I would prefer us to get along, as ye are my fiancé’s mother, and I know he cares a great deal for ye, respects ye. I understand your actions and speech from last night were out of love for him.”

“He is all I have left.”

If Giselle’s vision wasn’t deceiving her, tears were gathering in the older woman’s eyes. “I will no’ hurt him. Ye have my word.”

Lady Errol straightened her spine, sucked in a breath, and seemed to give almost an imperceptible shudder as if she were shaking off her emotions. “Then I wish to congratulate ye again, Lady Giselle, for the first time I did so it was no’ genuine. I look forward to welcoming ye to my family.”

Giselle’s smile widened. “And I thank ye for it.”

Lady Errol retreated from the room, and this time when she left, Giselle did not feel the impending sense of doom she had before. She felt a bit renewed in her conviction and stronger too. She’d told Alec that together they would prevail, but now that they had his mother on their side, their victory was sure to be complete.

* * *

That sense of accomplishment,of strength and confidence, did not last long. When Giselle descended the stairs using her cane for luncheon, she was met by the shrill voice of her mother, the demanding outrage of her father, and even more so, the coolly cruel voice of Sir Joshua Keith. They echoed up through the grand foyer so loudly that she was surprised not to see them standing there before her, accusations and fingers pointing.

Giselle stilled on the stairs, trying to decipher where the voices were coming from. The parlor to the right, or the library to the left. Her stays felt suddenly tight, the boning digging into her ribs.

“I was wondering when ye’d come down.” Lady Mary smirked as she exited the parlor. “I was on my way to get ye.”

No doubt the smug chit had volunteered to do that with malicious intent.

“What do ye want, Lady Mary?” Giselle didn’t bother to hide her animosity.

“To watch the entertainments, of course, and get a prelude to the explosion about to come.” She sauntered up the stairs to where Giselle was and threaded her arm through hers.

“No need, Lady Mary,” Jaime said, rounding a corner from beneath the stairs. “Considering I’ve overheard what ye said, best that ye go to your chamber before I tell your mother I saw ye lip-locked with a footman.”

“What?” Lady Mary gasped, her eyes bulging at the obvious lie.

“She would,” Giselle said with a nod, and for once, given Lady Mary’s continued shock, she seemed to be able to hide the truth from her features. “And everyone will believe her because she’s a duchess, but also because I will agree and say how shocked I was.” Her hand fluttered to her chest. “Oh, my, it was all so verra distressing.”

“Ye are both horrible. I hope ye rot.” Lady Mary shoved away from Giselle, making her teeter a little on her feet, and then stomped away.

Giselle righted herself with an irritated sigh. “I do hope that is the last time I see her,” she murmured.

Jaime laughed and said sarcastically, “She’s so darling though, I can no’ understand why ye would no’ want to spend more time with her.”

Giselle grinned. “Ye’re mad.”

“Aye, but no’ as mad as those in the parlor.” Jaime sucked in a breath through her teeth.

The sense of the word went both ways—mad as in angry, and mad as in lunatic. “I do no’ want to go in there.”

“I do no’ blame ye.” Jaime gave her arm a little squeeze. “Steel yourself.”

Giselle inhaled deeply and then nodded. “Let’s go.”

Together they descended the stairs, with Giselle feeling very much as if she were approaching her execution. Through the doors into the parlor they went, and the shouting abruptly stopped as Lord and Lady Bothwell swiveled to face them, and Sir Joshua Keith, who’d been facing the door, didn’t move an inch.

Her mother gaped at her, taking in the fine gown she wore, the simple style of her hair. Giselle wasn’t certain if her mother looked more surprised to see that she was indeed alive or that she’d gone against her mother’s express wishes on how to style herself.

“My lord, my lady.” Giselle gave a slight curtsy to her parents, not bothering to spare a glance at Joshua who looked murderous, even if he was dressed to be dashing and fashionable.

“What is this we’ve heard that ye agreed to marry Lord Errol when ye were already betrothed to wed Sir Joshua Keith?” Her father wasted no time in setting loose his storm of disappointment.

Giselle reached for some form of calm within herself. Alec detached himself from the group of angry newcomers and edged closer as her mother shot forward, hovering so close that Giselle started to sweat.

“Do no’ go near her,” Keith hissed to Alec who was closing the distance between them.

Giselle snapped her head toward the man. “Ye forget yourself, Sir Joshua, and in whose home ye stand.”

There was a brief flash of surprise in Sir Joshua’s gaze that she would have spoken to him with such authority, but he quickly veiled it with a sneer in her direction. “And ye forget yourself, my lady, for it is no’ your place to speak to me that way.”

“Tell Lord Errol that ye were mistaken in agreeing to marry him,” her father demanded. “We can be done with this whole mess and return to Boddam Castle for your actual wedding.”

Giselle glanced around the room, glad to see that they were the only ones here.

“I can no’ do that, Father,” Giselle said. Her voice was soft but firm. “I am no’ going to marry Sir Joshua. I told ye that on our journey from Edinburgh, as well as before we left. I’ve had another offer and accepted. I need no’ point out that I am of an age to do so.”

Her father bristled, no doubt wanting to throttle her. “If ye wed him, there will be no dowry. I will cut ye out.”

Her mother gasped at the promise and fidgeted on her feet as if she didn’t know where to stand—with her husband and his ugly words or her daughter who deserved protection.

The sense of betrayal at her father’s proclamation, at his conviction and forcefulness, tore at Giselle’s insides. Rather than see her happily wed, her father wished to pay another man, whom she despised, to take her off his hands. It made no sense.

“Lord Errol is a good man,” Giselle said, lifting her chin and straightening her shoulders. No matter what they said, she was not going to back down. “Why would ye wish ill on me?”

“Oh, dear,” her mother started. “Your father does no’ wish ye ill—”

“A dowry is no’ necessary,” Alec interrupted. “I wish to marry your daughter and do no’ need your money to do it.”

Sir Joshua bristled. “I will file in the court for breach of contract.”

“There can be no contract if Lady Giselle did no’ agree,” Lady Errol said, entering the parlor and drawing the attention of everyone there. “I see we have new guests.” Her voice took on a cheerful note. “Do forgive me for no’ greeting ye when ye arrived—I only just found out ye were here.” A subtle dig at their unannounced and unwelcome onslaught.

“My lady,” they murmured, with Sir Joshua bending his knee.

Giselle’s mother had the good sense to look embarrassed. Even though Alec had invited them, their coming and Sir Joshua Keith was not a joyful pretense.

“It seems I have come upon ye during a disagreement,” Lady Errol continued. “I had so wished to greet ye in more pleasant circumstances, seeing as how we’re to be a family.” She turned her gaze on Giselle’s father. “I do wish my late husband could have been here. He was honored to support your bill in parliament regarding the land tax distribution.”

Giselle watched as her father’s animosity started to melt, not entirely but a little, at the dowager’s reminder that her husband, his peer, had supported him. Asking without the use of specific words for Lord Bothwell to support her now.

“He was a verra good man,” her father said.

Lady Errol smiled graciously. “Indeed he was.”

“None of that changes the fact that there has been a breach of contract,” Sir Joshua said in a high-pitched tone, exasperation making spittle fly from his lips. “I demand satisfaction.”

These words were said directly to Alec, who stiffened at Giselle’s side.

“Sir,” her father said sternly to Keith. “I’m certain we can discuss this elsewhere.”

“Nay, we can no’.” Sir Joshua Keith doubled down, fists at his side. “We will settle this the way men do. A duel. Pistols. Tomorrow after dawn.”

Alec stepped forward, and Giselle wanted to grab him back, to leap between them, but then he said, “I accept. But I canna do it until luncheon.”

Sir Joshua sputtered, “Ye do no’ get to negotiate the time.”

Alec shrugged. “Then ye’ll find yourself quite alone, and I’ve witnesses enough here to say I offered another time. I am unavailable at dawn.”

Sir Joshua bared his teeth. “Ye would sully your reputation.”

Alec laughed bitterly and crossed his arms over his chest. “Ironic, coming from ye.”

Sir Joshua bristled, the tension in the lines of his body. Giselle worried their planned duel would come to blows right here and now. Lady Errol had paled but said nothing, understanding that this was one aspect of her son’s life she couldn’t intervene on. And Giselle understood now why she’d been asked to leave the castle—to get away from Alec because Lady Errol had worried he’d lose his life.

“Fine. Noon,” Sir Joshua finally relented.

“Noon at the abbey,” Alec clarified.

Her heart thundered in her chest. They would shoot at each other in the place where their rivalry had begun? This was a nightmare, a bloody nightmare.

“No’ a minute later,” Sir Joshua spat. “Ye’ll wish ye’d agreed to give her up.”

“I doubt it.” Alec sounded so confident, almost on the verge of mockery.

Joshua shouldered his way out of the parlor, the castle's front door slamming shut behind him.

This was a disaster. As if Joshua had not already done enough to attempt to destroy Alec’s life—now he would end it too. She knew how well he could handle a pistol, and from the story Alec had told her, how ruthless he could be with any weapon.

“Do ye see what ye’ve done?” Giselle said accusingly at her father. “Rather than negotiate the termination details of the betrothal contract that ye created without my permission, ye’ve sent two men to shoot at each other.”

“How dare ye speak to me that way,” her father said, his face growing red with anger.

“I say it’s high time I did. Ye’ve never listened to me. They could kill each other.”

“I’m no’ going to die,” Alec said.

“Sir Joshua Keith is a good shot,” Giselle said, her mind whirling with visions of Alec bleeding from a bullet wound. She couldn’t imagine a world in which he didn’t live, and if he were to die on that field, she would be forced to live her days out with the man who’d murdered him.

“So am I.”

“Nay, ye do no’ understand. He is verra good.” She’d watched him on the hunt earlier in the season, taking shots at anything and everything. In it to brag about his accuracy rather than catch the stag. “Please, do no’ do this, I beg ye.”

His mother looked ready to faint, and her father took the dowager countess’s arm, leading her to a chaise to sit down.

Alec narrowed his eyes at Giselle, the look of betrayal vivid in his eyes. “I assure ye, despite the way I look, I can handle myself. Especially when it comes to that bastard.”

And then he too was stomping from the room. Giselle stared after his retreating form, feeling a sense of dread. How could she trust him if he were so willing to throw himself into the line of a bullet meant to kill?

* * *

There wasno mistaking the fear Alec saw in Giselle’s eyes when he’d agreed to the duel. She didn’t believe that he could take care of himself, and she knew what his death would mean to her—a life with Keith.

Seeing all of those thoughts play out on the open book pages of her face was a punch to the gut. And a reminder that she’d only agreed to marry him to get away from Keith, to begin with.

In the foyer, he was met with a line of his friends, blocking him from movement. Lorne, Euan and Malcolm all looked at him, determination etched in the lines of their faces.

“What the hell are ye doing?” Euan asked.

“Putting an end to this bloody feud for good.”

“Ye could be arrested,” Malcolm said. “Duels did no’ become legal while ye were hiding away up here, and I would no’ put it past that bastard to bring a magistrate as his second.”

“Neither would I,” Alec said with a bitter smirk. “That blackguard needs to be put in his place.”

“Ye already took his woman. Why do ye need to shoot him, too?” Lorne asked.

Alec resisted telling them why it would feel so good to put a bullet in the man who’d been the source of his lifelong torment.

Instead, he said, “Which one of ye will be my second?”

Euan sighed. “I will. I’ve got less to lose than either of these two blokes.”

Alec squeezed Euan’s shoulder. “Thank ye.”

“It does no’ mean I agree, so we’re clear.” Euan gave him a disgruntled look.

“I know. But I thank ye all the same.”

“Well, ye might as well show us where this is going to take place, so we know the lay of the land and can get a head start picking the right place to stand that has ye at an advantage,” Lorne said with a heavy exhale. “And pray my wife does no’ kill me for supporting ye.”

Alec took one last glance at the door behind him, wishing he could wrench it open and yank Giselle into his arms. But then her face flashed before his. The fear she’d displayed, the lack of confidence in his skills.

Didn’t she realize that this duel was about so much more than an accepted marriage proposal?

This was about what happened on the battlefield. This was about what Keith had done, what he’d taken. Alec needed to settle this score, or he’d never be able to move on with his life.