Page 36 of Too Scot to Handle
Edana slapped the biscuit from her sister’s hand and dashed into the house.
Colin eased the knot from the golden chain and finished his tea—cold now. Crumbs littered the paving stones as a result of Edana’s tantrum.
He passed the necklace over to Ronnie. “Is Eddie that taken with Win Montague?”
“She fancies him. Mr. Montague has been insinuating himself into your good graces, and that means he pays attention to me and Eddie. She fancied that dreadful Sir Fletcher when she first met him, and next week she’ll fancy somebody else. You’ve saved me a trip to Ludgate Hill both by provoking her temper and by repairing her jewelry.”
“Win is being gentlemanly,” Colin said. “He’s the reason I’m a member of the right clubs, and my custom is accepted at the right establishments. When he stands up with you and Eddie, he’s being a friend.”
Rhona patted Colin’s hand, and abruptly he wanted to send his teacup to the flagstones along with Eddie’s biscuit. Was this how Anwen felt when her family cosseted and fussed despite her roaring good health, fierce heart, and active intellect?
“Eddie and I are a pair of hags,” Rhona replied, “and Mr. Montague is so kind as to spare us a dance here and there, but when was the last time he bought you a drink?”
He’d bought Colin a drink to celebrate Hamish’s succession to the title weeks ago. “The English don’t pinch pennies the way we do, Ronnie. They don’t keep track.”
“Yes, Colin, they do,” Rhona said. “They know who has a title, who has money. Who has a title but no money, and who has both. Hamish and you have both, now Eddie and I have both too. Your Mr. Montague isn’t stupid.”
“He’s quite bright.” That much Colin could honestly say. “He also takes an interest in the less fortunate.”
“You are not the less fortunate, Colin MacHugh, and neither are Eddie and I.”
God help the man who thought so. “I meant that Winthrop Montague sits on the board of the House of Urchins, and soon I shall as well.”
So that Win could spend more time slobbering over Mrs. Bellingham’s hand?
And yet, Win wouldn’t know what to do with young John or his friends. Anwen had listened to Colin’s ideas and added a few of her own. Between them, they’d not let John slip away to a life of crime without a fight.
“You’re to take up a charity?” Rhona mused. “Isn’t that what the church is for?”
“I think it’s like being a laird, Ronnie. If you have a title, even a courtesy title, then certain expectations come with it.”
“You have sisters. Edana wanted to see a London season, I wanted some new frocks. Now, we want to go home, Colin, and we expect you to escort us.”
He couldn’t tell them he had more kissing to do, though he hoped he did—a lot more kissing. “Turn tail now, will you? Edana stomps her foot and we all pack up and leave? I think we owe Hamish and Megan a little more of a honeymoon than this, Ronnie. Eddie is thinking only of herself, but when she’s staring wedded bliss in the face day after day back home, when she’s Auntie Eddie in truth, she’ll wish she’d tarried another few weeks in London.”
Rhona rose and dusted off her skirts, then dropped the locket into a pocket, where it would doubtless get all tangled up again.
“We’re without witnesses,” she said, “so I can admit you have a point. Then too, you won’t be the one shut up in the coach with Eddie the whole way home. I can put that pleasure off for another few weeks. Mr. Maarten came by while you were flirting in the park, and he asked that you attend him at your earliest convenience.”
Colin stood as well. If he was expected to escort his sisters that evening, he needed a damned nap, not another meeting with Maarten.
“How do you know I was flirting?”
Rhona patted his cheek. “You’re always flirting. Hamish was the brooder, you are the flirt, though you’re a dab hand at fixing jewelry too. Magnus is the hothead, Angus the scholar.”
She was right. “What about Alistair?”
“The dreamer. I’m beginning to dream of home, I suspect you are too, Colin. Maarten said he’ll be leaving by the first of May.”
“Any idea why he came by?”
“He left you a note in the library. Does Win Montague really have no ladybird?”
What did a friend say to a sister? Rhona might be able to talk sense into Edana.
“Montague can’t afford a mistress, Ronnie, and he’s drawn to a woman who’s both beyond his means and beneath his station.”
“He’s neither eligible nor interesting, then, not in any meaningful sense. Time to widen your circle of friends, Colin, lest Eddie and I grow bored.”
