Page 22 of Lost with a Scot
“At the smithy.” Cameron’s face was pale. “Be careful. He’s mean and strong.”
Aiden clapped a hand on the lad’s shoulder. “So are we. Stay here and watch the horses.”
Brodie fell in step beside Aiden as they left the stables.
“We arna going to chat with this father of his, are we?” his brother asked.
“No.”
“Good. I wasna in the mood to be polite anyway,” Brodie replied, and rolled up his sleeves.
“We’ll make sure the father understands things, then Cameron will join us at Castle Kinkade and the lad can learn to tend to the horses in our stables.”
He had a sense that he would need all the help he could get. Something in his bones told him that the danger he’d been warned of by the old Romani woman was drawing closer. He had to do whatever he could to protect Anna. This was his fate, after all, and he would do all within his power to protect her.
CHAPTER6
Despite her embarrassing first meeting with Lydia, Anna quickly came to love the beautiful Englishwoman. Lydia was sweet and quick-witted, and once she grew comfortable around Anna, she became quite entertaining. As they stood in the dress shop, she regaled Anna with tales of the Kincade brothers until both of them were laughing so hard they had to wipe tears from their eyes.
It filled Anna’s heart with a quiet, brightly burning joy to hear tales of Aiden and his brothers and the adventures and often amusingtroublethey found themselves in. These were stories she hoped to hear Aiden tell her someday as they learned more about each other.
“They destroyed a taproom during a brawl?” Anna asked as Lydia began another story. She stood on a small dais surrounded by mirrors, trying to ignore her reflection and how bedraggled she looked while the modiste took her measurements.
“It was a matter of honor, apparently, and funnily enough, the same ‘English louts’ they beat up were the very friends of Brock’s future brother-in-law.”
“That would be Ashton Lennox?” she asked Lydia. There were so many names she’d learned in the last few hours that she could barely keep it all straight.
“Oh yes, Ashton and his entire so-called League of Rogues.”
Anna frowned. “Rogues? Does that mean they are very wicked?”
Lydia smiled. “Yes and no. Surely they are dangerous, but they are far less wicked than I hear they used to be—after all, most of them are leg-shackled now, except for Charles. But it’s only a matter of time—the Duchess of Essex, one of Ashton’s friends, is quite determined to find Charles a bride.”
“Leg-shackled?” Anna wasn’t familiar with the term, but since English wasn’t her native language, it seemed, that wasn’t too much of a surprise.
“Oh, it’s a term men use for marriage—I have no idea why they say that, though, since the members of the League made good marriages with excellent women and they seem quite happy in their capacity as married men. One wouldn’t be happy if one’s marriage felt like a set of chains and a lead ball, yet they tease each other mercilessly about it.” Her eyes sparkled with a mixture of love and amusement. “Love is a funny thing, isn’t it?”
“It certainly is,” Anna agreed as she thought of Aiden and how she felt so in tune with him. “Is Aiden a member of this... League of Rogues?” She still didn’t quite understand who these men were.
“No, not quite. The League are all Englishmen, and they are Ashton’s friends from his years studying at Cambridge. They got into a bit of trouble back then and sort of banded together and have been quite inseparable ever since.” Lydia leaned in to whisper her next words. “I heard there was some delicious scandal with how the duke of the group courted his wife, Emily, something about kidnapping, and Ashton and the others were all involved in the entire affair.” She chuckled. “Emily won’t tell me the full story whenever I ask her about it. She just smiles and gives me a little wink.”
“Emily is a duchess now?” Anna asked.
“Yes. There’s the duke, Godric, and his wife, Emily. Then there’s Lucien, the Marquess of Rochester, who married Viscount Sheridan’s little sister, which of course caused a duel over Christmas...”
Anna just stared at Lydia, completely a loss for words.
“But of course Cedric, Viscount Sheridan, was distracted by his own marriage to Anne Chessley, and then his youngest sister married Godric’s younger brother—Lord, imagine what their family dinners must be like.” Lydia chuckled. “Do you think you’ve ever been in love?”
“I don’t think so.” Even without her memories, Anna was sure that her heart would have felt as if it already belonged to someone if she had ever been in love. The longing and envy she felt when she watched Lydia and Brodie together seemed to be proof of that.
Lydia sat on a nearby settee, her gentle gaze full of concern.
“You truly don’t remember anything?”
“Only small things,” Anna admitted. “It’s coming back in little memories here and there, like a puzzle, only I haven’t been able to put any pieces together.” She closed her eyes as the seamstress tugged on the ready-made dress that was to be adjusted for her so she could wear it out of the shop. Another memory, one as small as the others, came back.
“I had a lot of dress fittings... I remember that. I recall the last gown I had made... a cream-and-red velvet one.” She touched her waist. “A gold sash studded with pearls and gold trimming and more pearls along the edges of the red velvet.” She could see the red-and-cream gown with a long train, perhaps eight feet behind her. Where would she have worn such a gown?
