A Lass for Christmas (Tenacious Trents Novella) (11 page)

The one thing Lachlan hated more than his
English title was being the highest ranking peer in the area and
being forced to act as magistrate.

Mr. Trent studied his face and winced.

“I seem to have no bruises on the right side
of my face if ye wish to take a swing as well,” Lachlan
offered.

Jordan’s brother laughed. “No. After seeing
Jordan’s knuckles and then hearing his explanation I thought it
best if I came along to see that he remained civil.”

Lachlan chuckled at the thought of this
former vicar wishing to protect him. “Shall we go into the library?
I am sure yer sister will be down as soon as she finishes
dressin’.”

“How is Madeline this morning?” Jordan asked,
glaring at him.

“As well as she was when ye left last
evening,” Lachlan answered and led the way to the library.

Dougal was sitting in a chair, reading when
the gentlemen entered. He stood to leave.

“Stay seated,” Lachlan insisted.

The servant settled back into his chair but
did not pick his book back up. He watched the two guests take
seats.

“I’d offer tea, but the only servant
remaining in the house is helping Maddie.”

“Lady Madeline,” Jordan ground out.

His brother sighed and shook his head. “I
sent word to my brother. As her guardian he will need to be the one
who approves the arrangement and will negotiate any marriage
contract.”

Lachlan nodded. He really was going to marry
the lass. What should have made him angry didn’t. But why not? He
barely knew her. Just because she was perfectly rounded in all the
right places and beautiful, he knew nothing about her, other than
she was a bastard who was hit with a willow switch as a child.
Would they grow to hate each other within the year and suffer a
marriage like so many others in Society? That was why he had wanted
a Scottish lass. Someone who understood him. Someone who had been
raised the same as he, with the same values, the same
loyalties.

“It might be easier to simply marry in
Scotland. As soon as the roads are clear I will be travelin’ there
to be with my family.”

Jordan stood. “My sister will not be married
over an anvil. She will have the wedding of her dreams in London
come spring.”

“Perhaps we should ask Madeline what she
wishes,” Matthew Trent offered.

“She has no choice. If she hadn’t run out of
the house instead of asking us, or at least let us know she had
been eavesdropping, this could have all been avoided.” Jordan began
to pace behind the settee.

“What if your step-mother, this Adele,
decides to show up in London before then?” Lachlan questioned.
“What if she decides to announce to the world her relationship to
the former Earl of Bentley?”

Jordan stopped his pacing and looked at
him.

His brother stiffened. “It is best if this is
done quietly and quickly. Madeline needs to have the protection of
your name before her status is remarked upon.”

“If that happens, doors may be closed to you,
Brachton. Are you prepared for that?” Jordan asked. Apparently he
was thinking clearer now. Or at least beyond the mere fact that
Brachton had wanted to seduce his sister.

“I’ve not much choice, do I?” he bit out.
That is all he bloody needed this spring, to be fodder for the
gossips. Would they decide that Bentley and his family duped him,
made a fool of him, to unload their sister before the truth was
known? It didn’t set well with him, and if anyone asked, he would
be clear to inform them he already knew the circumstances of her
birth before he took his vows. Not that half of them would believe
him since this marriage appeared to be happening quicker than any
he had known before.

“You do have a choice,” the former vicar
reminded him. “We cannot force a marriage and if no one learns of
this mild indiscretion, neither you, nor especially Madeline will
suffer.”

At least one of the brothers was being
reasonable. But if he and Maddie didn’t marry, would that also cost
him his friendship with Jordan? The two had known each other since
they were boys. But, did he want to marry a woman he barely knew
because he didn’t want to lose a friend?

Bloody hell, he didn’t know what he wanted to
do. He wasn’t ready to give Maddie up just yet, but did he want her
for a lifetime?

“And there is no need for anyone to ever
know,” Maddie announced as she entered the room. She leaned heavily
on a cane and now wore a pale pink grown that brought out the rose
petal tone of her skin. Her hair had been brushed and braided since
he left her. She was a sight to behold and his heart stopped for a
second.

“I ken!” Lachlan found himself arguing.

“You and I both know the truth.” Her eyes
bore into his.

“We must marry, lass.” She wasn’t going to
try and get out of this marriage was she? It was foolish to try and
do so. She must think of her future.

“There is no reason to marry, and I stopped
doing what my brothers told me long ago if I found it was not in my
best interest.”

“Madeline, you don’t have a choice,” Jordan
insisted.

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “It
is my future, thus it is my choice.”

He was not going to change her mind with her
brothers in the room. “Might I have a word alone with Lady
Madeline?”

Dougal stood and was half way across the room
before the former vicar came out of his seat.

Jordan stood with his feet braced and arms
folded across his chest. “I am not leaving them alone.”

“Yes, you are,” Mr. Trent insisted and
grabbed his brother’s arm. He closed the door behind them after
everyone had been ushered from the room.

Madeline knew this would be difficult, she
just didn’t realize how much so. She wanted him, more than anything
she had ever wanted before, but not under these circumstances.

“Why do you insist we marry?”

His brow creased as if he found it an odd
question. “I’ve resigned myself to the fact, lass.”

It was what she had feared. There was no
affection involved. How could there be? They barely knew the other,
despite what her heart told her. “I do not want a husband who is
resigned to taking me as a wife.”

He took a step forward and reached out to
her. Madeline held up her hand to hold him off. If he touched her,
she would never get through this.

Lachlan stopped his pursuit. “I dinna mean it
the way it sounded.”

“Yet, it is how you feel,” she pointed
out.

He thrust his fingers through his hair. “I
doona ken how I feel.”

At least he was being honest. She would not
be as honest if he asked her.

“I thank you for your hospitality and saving
my life.”

“Ye’re leavin’?”

“Yes and you will go onto Scotland.”

“Aye, Scotland.” He took a step forward. “I
thought to take you with me. We could be married quickly
there.”

Madeline smiled at him even though her heart
was breaking. “No.”

She fished her gloves out of the pocket of
her cloak. She needed to get out of here before she turned into a
watering pot.

“Nay! Yer brother insists.”

“My brother can go hang.”

“Maddie lass, think want ye are doin’.”

She had been thinking about what she was
doing. Ever since her brother arrived, she knew what must be done.
She took a step forward and placed a hand upon his cheek. “Go to
Scotland and find your Christmas bride. That is what you wanted
from the start, and I will not be the one to ruin your dream.”

“But what if I no longer want the same
thing.”

Oh, if only that were true, but she knew it
was not. “These few days should not alter your plans. You will
realize that once you are gone from here and be glad you are
free.”

“What if I am not?”

Why was he making this so difficult? Couldn’t
he see that a few days of being together did not make a lifetime?
Her heart may ache for him, but his did not yearn for her. He was
only making the offer because it was expected of him, and he was
resigned
to do so. She would rather have no marriage, which
was probably her future than be married to someone resigned to his
fate with her.

Besides, there were larger issues that
affected them. She let her hand drop. “You are an English marquess,
whether you like it or not.”

“I ken very well what I am.”

“You are practically required to marry a
lady, whether she is English, or Scottish, as you choose.”

“Ye are a lady,” he insisted.

Tears sprang to her eyes but she blinked them
away. She refused to cry in front of Lachlan. “No, I am not. I am a
bastard, remember.”

“People may never learn.”

“They will,” she sighed. “When that happens,
the scandal will be larger than Society has seen in quite some
time. I will not have you endure that.”

“I doona care—“

She placed her fingers against his lips. “I
do. Goodbye, Lachlan.”

She pulled away and turned to leave, limping
toward the door. Thank goodness Mr. Cooper had sent along one of
his canes for her use or she would not be doing half so well.
Still, her ankle pained her and she wanted to be off her feet as
soon as possible.

He said nothing, and she could feel his eyes
bore into her back. If he begged her to stay, she just might, but
his silence was all she needed to know that he was glad to be free
of her. Madeline pulled the door open to find her brothers and
Dougal standing just outside. She wondered how much they had
heard.

“Well?” Jordan demanded.

“I am ready to go home.”

Matt put an arm about her waist and then
picked her up to carry her outside to the waiting carriage.

“There are still details to work out,” Jordan
insisted.

“There is not going to be a wedding.”

Matt carried her through the snow before he
settled her on the cushioned seat and placed a blanket over her
lap. Jordan climbed in after them and slammed the door. Still,
Lachlan didn’t come after her. He was probably already pouring a
glass of the illegal whisky he loved so well and planning how he
would go about finding his Christmas Bride, relieved to be free of
her.

Mother was pacing in the parlor when they
arrived. As he did at Brachton Manor, Matt carried her inside and
placed her on the settee before the fire.

Her mother, sister-in-law Grace, Matt and
Jordan watched her anxiously. What did they expect her to do?

“If you wish to punish me, yell at me, or be
disappointed in me for going out in a snowstorm and getting lost, I
wish you would have it out so we can move on.”

“Oh, Madeline.” Her mother sank to the floor
beside her. “Yes, I was very vexed with you, young lady, for doing
something so foolish.”

Madeline nodded and waited to be
chastised.

“But I had no idea you heard our
discussion.”

“I would have preferred someone to have told
me.”

Her mother colored and she looked toward her
brothers.

“None of you were going to tell me. You were
going to let me go on about my merry way, possibly marry some
gentleman, hopefully before Adele and Julia came to Town, and then,
and only if necessary would you inform me that my parents were
never married.” Tears streamed down her face and her throat hurt.
Madeline hadn’t realized she was yelling at her family until she
finished.

Grace had taken a step back, her eyes
wide.

“I am sorry, Grace. You are innocent in all
of this. I should not have yelled.”

Her sister-in-law smiled sweetly at Madeline
and came forward. “There is no need. You have had a trying
time.”

Yes, that did about sum up the past few days
of her life. Everything was turned on its side and there was no way
to put everything back in order again.

She could not think about what was wrong now.
She would do that later and come up with a new plan for her life.
Madeline focused back on her mother. “I wish to stay here for
Christmas, if Matt and Grace do not mind.”

“Of course I don’t,” Grace assured her.
“Father will enjoy the extra company.”

Madeline had not even met Grace’s father yet,
though she had heard his health wasn’t the best and hadn’t been
able to speak since being injured a few years ago.

“I don’t want to impose,” her mother
insisted.

Grace’s grin grew wider. “You are family. We
would love to have you.” She looked at Madeline’s mother and then
Jordan. “All of you.”

Mother bit her bottom lip and looked around
the room.

“If you wish to go to Danby Castle and be
with John and Elizabeth, I don’t mind. I can’t be in a house full
of people right now, especially since most of them are
strangers.”

Her mother grasped her hand. “Of course not,
dear. I will write to John.”

“Don’t let me keep you here,” Madeline
insisted.