Page 25 of Never Tempt a Scot
The young man nodded and rushed off.
“Come. Tell me all of it over tea.” Jane escorted Lysandra into the drawing room, where they both sat down. “Now, what’s the matter?”
“It’s my friend Lydia,” Lysandra began, and then she told her mother the entire story, from the ball to Portia’s inappropriate behavior and finally Lydia’s mysterious letter that Lysandra had not written. By the time she was done, Jane’s good spirits were gone.
“Poor Miss Hunt. We must investigate this business. I’ve always cared for the poor girl. I had even once hoped that she and Lawrence ... But we all find love in our own way, don’t we? And Zehra is a wonderful woman for my boy. But Lydia is a sweet child, and she needs a mother. Her father spends too much time fawning over Portia and neglecting Lydia. I know that parents have favorites, but they ought to do their best not to.”
Lysandra smiled at her mother. “We all knowyourfavorite.”
“I do not have a favorite. I love you all equally.”
“Perhaps,” Lysandra said. “But Avery will always have a special place in your heart. He looks just like Papa.”
Jane’s eyes shimmered. “He does, but that does not mean I love any of you less. Do you understand?”
Jane had lost her husband when Lysandra was only ten, and she had grown up her whole life knowing that her parents had a love match. Yet despite having lost the other half of her heart, Jane had not withdrawn from life. Rather, she had been more determined than ever not to miss a minute of it.
“Now, we must focus on poor Lydia.” Jane cleared her throat as the tea was brought in, and then she poured them each a cup. “I suggest we go and pay a call on her.”
“I agree,” Lysandra said. “The sooner the better.” She was starting to have a feeling in her gut that something was wrong and her friend needed her.
“Where did he go?”Portia demanded for the hundredth time. After returning home late last evening after dinner at Mr. Rochefort’s, she had gone straight to bed, only to have her father and Cornelia wake her up an hour later to tell her that Brodie Kincade was gone and he taken Lydia with him at knifepoint. Their butler, Mr. Annis, had recounted the story half a dozen times by now for all three of them.
Portia still couldn’t believe it. Lydia and Brodie.Together.Why had he taken Lydia, though? Surely he would have wanted to takeher. She was the prettier sister, after all. Portia hated herself for the selfish thought, but it was true. She was far lovelier than Lydia. Did that not matter to a man like Brodie?
“I don’t know, my child. I returned to Mr. Lennox’s house last night but could not gain entrance. He was not at home this morning and neither was Mr. Kincade. The staff would not tell me when they planned to return. The coachman said that he was forced to take them to the docks, but no one there has said they were seen boarding any ships.”
Aunt Cornelia scowled at both Portia and her father. “Jackson, you’ve made a royal mess of this.”
“I don’t know why Lydia would have freed him,” Portia said with a pout.
“Because it was the decent thing to do,” Cornelia snapped. “I would have done it myself had I known you had the young buck tied up like some poor animal.” Cornelia huffed, and the feather in her turban quivered in response.
Portia wanted to smash every breakable object in their drawing room. It wasn’t fair. Brodie was supposed to beherhusband. Yes, tying him down did seem a bit silly now, as well as that whole drugging nonsense, but she’d been so desperate to have him. She’d thought giving him a bit more of the laudanum would have calmed him enough so that she could show him just how good a wife she would make.
“Portia,”her great-aunt snapped, and Portia stopped her restless pacing by the window.
“Yes, Aunt Cornelia?” she replied frostily.
Her great-aunt narrowed her eyes, not at all cowed by Portia’s icy tone. “I know you told your father you are with child, but I have it confirmed this morning with your lady’s maid that you most certainly are not.”
“What?” Jackson looked to Portia, his face pale. “You ...You lied to me?”
The way her father was looking at her now, it was like she was a stranger. It created an empty cavern within her chest. Was this shame she was feeling? “I ...”
“The truth, girl,” Cornelia barked.
“He never touched me, Papa. But I so wanted him for a husband, and ...”
“Portia, Ikidnappedand injured an innocent man based on the strength of your word. I thought I was protecting your virtue. He could have me arrested. I could face time in prison for this. How could you be so ...”
“Foolish?” Cornelia supplied.
Portia was torn between tears and rage. “But ... I love him, Papa, like you loved Mama. All the stories you told us of her ... I wanted what you had.”
Her father shook his head. “Then I have taught you all the wrong lessons. Clearly, you don’t know the first thing about love. Love isn’t about getting what you desire on a whim. It’s about sharing your life with another person. A person you trust, someone who trusts you in kind. It’s about sacrifice and loyalty and friendship and ...” Jackson dragged a hand over his face and let out a weary sigh Portia had never heard before. It was a sound that broke part of her armor of self-indulgence and self-centeredness.
“Papa, I’m very sorry I lied to you.” She threw herself next to him on the settee, and her eyes filled with tears. She reached for his hands, but Jackson pulled away and stood, putting distance between them.
