Page 46 of Highland Champion
“What if she tricks him into something else?” Apparently, she was unable to simply be quiet. “Something…more compromising?”
“My brother is nae that daft.” Fiona sat up. “I told ye before, he is verra good at avoiding the parson’s noose.”
“But…” Good Lord. Could she not keep her thoughts to herself? “What if he changes his mind?”
“Nae bloody likely.” Fiona grinned. “Bloody. I do like that word.” Then she sobered. “Alasdair is nae one to change his mind. For sure, he willna want to be saddled to an English duke’s daughter.”
Louisa looked from one to the other of them. “Excuse me, but I feel like I am missing some important point.” Her brow furrowed. “Did you not decide it would be a good idea for Mr. MacGregor to be introduced to Lady Melissa to keep him distracted from you so you could have your adventures?”
They had, drat it. Louisa was right. Only the plan had worked a little too well, not that hindsight was going to do any good. “We did, but…” Her voice trailed off once more. There wasn’t anything else she could say.
Louisa’s eyes widened suddenly. “You are interested in Mr. MacGregor.”
“No!” The denial came out instinctively, and she cringed inwardly.Do I have feelings for Alasdair?It was a question she’d skirted before. She certainly couldn’t deny she was jealous. “It is just…” She couldn’t finish that thought, either.
Louisa studied her. “It is not my business, of course. I should not have brought it up. As Mrs. Montagu said earlier, fleeting moments fade away, and Melissa’s attention span has always been short.” She looked at Fiona. “Perhaps the bigger picture needs to be studied here. Mrs. Montagu also mentioned that the setting provides not only a backdrop, but also can be significant to the main characters in the painting.”
Lorelei gave her a blank look, as did Fiona, and she waved her hand. “Never mind the allegory. You have mentioned that Mr. MacGregor may well need the Duke of Oakley’s support. It would be unwise of him to dismiss Melissa’s interest right now.” Louisa smiled at both of them. “She did break things off with Lord Westwood and he is a marquess—well suited for her. Once the novelty of having a Highlander’s attention wears off, she will probably do the same with Mr. MacGregor.”
She knew Louisa meant to be encouraging, but Randolph was not Alasdair. Randolph was dependable and trustworthy, but he lacked the spark…the lure…the whatever-it-was that drew women to Alasdair. Lorelei didn’t think she could ever tire of him. She wasn’t so sure Medusa would, either.
…
Alasdair looked around at the whist tables that Lady Mount Stuart had set up for her second party and noticed many of the young ladies were giving him covert looks. They were more curious than flirtatious, almost as though they were trying to decide if some rumor about him was true. But he had no idea what kind of a rumor that would be. He did wonder if it had something to do with Lady Melissa—who had claimed him for her partner again—since a lot of those covert looks would slide to her and then back to him. A few of the girls also glanced over to Westwood and Lorelei and then back to him. It was rather disconcerting.
He wasn’t seated at the same table with them this time because Melissa had decided she didn’t want to play against Westwood. He wasn’t sure if there was animosity between them—the saintly marquess would never let on if there was—or if she hadn’t liked losing last time. In either case, her decision aided his own earlier one, which was to ferret out more information about Erik Taylor than he’d gotten from Campbell.
He and Melissa were now seated across from Erik and Louisa. Taylor didn’t look particularly happy about his choice of partner, but Campbell had beaten him to Fiona’s side this evening. Alasdair wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Unfortunately, they were seated across the room and he couldn’t hear the conversation or whatever dribble Campbell might be feeding his sister. He sighed. He could deal with only one problem suitor at a time.
Erik won the cut for dealer and slid the deck to Melissa who was seated to his right. “Cut?”
“Of course.”
She did so absently as she glanced over to where Lorelei and Westwood were laughing at something. It took all of Alasdair’s willpower not to do the same.
Erik dealt all of the cards facedown and turned his last one up.
“Spades trump.”
Alasdair lifted one eyebrow slightly. Perhaps the card was an omen? Not only was the suit the highest ranking, it was alsohowhe intended to pursue gaining information about Taylor.In spades. That the number was a “two” was ironic, since he needed to keep an eye on Campbell as well.
“Alasdair?”
Louisa’s voice broke into his thoughts. “What?”
“You need to start the first trick.”
“Ah.” He refocused and looked at his hand. He had the king of Spades—another omen, perhaps?—which meant he was assured of winning at least one trick.
As the third trick was put into play, Alasdair began to watch how Erik played it. The first trick had gone to him, the second to Taylor and Louisa. How competitive would he get once he started to lose? Alasdair began to focus on the game.
They played the next several hands in relative quiet, although he began to notice Taylor tense up after he’d lost six tricks, which gave a point to Alasdair and Melissa. By the time they’d won their fifth, which meant the game was over, his face could have been chiseled out of stone. He was either a sore loser or highly competitive which, given that Lady Mount Stuart allowed no gambling, seemed a bit extreme.
“Perhaps we could have some refreshments before we play another game?” Louisa asked.
From the unsmiling way Taylor looked at her, Alasdair wondered if he were going to insult her. He fisted his hands under the table. They would be having words—or more—outside, if the man said anything untoward to Louisa. She’d been dealt bad cards for most of the tricks.
Taylor moved his small stack of cards toward the center of the table. “I am afraid I must take my leave. I have a new crew arriving later and I need to be on board when they get there.”
