“I would like nothing more, brother, but I have to talk to Lorelei about our future plans.”
Devon stared at him. “Ye are consideringstayingin England?”
“I doona ken. I have nae had a chance to discuss it with Lorelei.”
Devon shook his head as he rose and headed for the door. “Ye are as besotted as a mooncalf.”
Alasdair didn’t answer. Instead, he grinned. Being as besotted as a mooncalf didn’t sound bad at all.
…
As Lorelei made her way to the front parlor the next afternoon, she almost wished she’d gone with Fiona to see Devon, not that he would be glad to see her. Or maybe she should have gone with Louisa to visit Mrs. Montagu, although she doubted she could sit through a discussion of the latest treatise from Samuel Johnson just now. Still, if she had, she would have avoided seeing her cousin Anne, who no doubt had heard about the scandalous display yesterday in Berkeley Square.
“What in the world were you thinking?” Anne demanded, losing no time once Lorelei had crossed the threshold and closed the door. “Kissingin public? And with aScot?” Her cousin began pacing. “The gossip spread through thetonfaster than the Great Fire! My mother actually swooned. I would not be surprised if an article appeared in theTimes!”
“Are you finished?”
“No.” Anne whirled and began pacing in the other direction. “I have not even gotten started—”
“Before you go on then, I think you should know that I am going to marry theScot.” Lorelei scowled at her cousin. “Whose name is Alasdair, by the way.”
Anne stopped in mid-step and stared at her. “He is aScot. They are barbarians.”
Lorelei felt her temper rising. “Scots are not barbarians. You need to stop listening to your father.”
“But—”
“Emily married one of Alasdair’s brothers and Juliana is handfasted—betrothed—to another. Do you think they would marry barbarians?”
Anne frowned. “No, but—”
“Alasdair is as much a gentleman as any Englishman.”
She mulled that over. “I suppose he is doing the right thing by proposing marriage.”
“He is marrying me because we love each other.” Lorelei couldn’t help breaking into a big smile. Alasdair had been over this morning and they’d talked for several hours about the future… She paused, remembering.
“Ye ken I was attracted to ye when ye first set foot from the carriage at Strae Castle.” Alasdair pushed a stray curl back behind her ear and let his fingers graze her cheek.
“I will admit that I was rather taken with you, too.”She gave him a rather flirtatious look.“And especially after you brought me home from the Campbell ball and we danced and—”
“We kissed.” He leaned over to nuzzle her neck and nibble her ear. “I’d have done a lot more if Fiona hadn’t shown up.”
“Hmmm. You wanted to take advantage of me?”
Alasdair laughed. “I wanted to ravish ye, lass…and I still do.”
Lorelei blinked, coming back to the present, her face feeling suddenly hot from recalling that last line and the desire that had been in his eyes. She looked at her cousin. “And we’ve stolen a few more kisses, too. It really is a love match.”
Anne’s mouth opened then closed. She sat down abruptly. “You have been harboring feelings for him all this time? I thought… I heard that the Marquess of Westwood was courting you.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Was there not a scandal about that?”
“Randolph—Lord Westwood—and I are good friends,” Lorelei replied, “and that scandal was of its own making. He never took liberties and stood up for me only so thetonwould not give me the cut direct.”
“Which proves he would be a good husband.”
“Yes, it does, but not to me.” Lorelei shrugged. “Besides, I wrote him a letter explaining the circumstances and sent a footman to deliver it last night before he would hear the gossip today.”
“Good. Has he replied yet?”
