Chapter Six
“Bloody hell,” Jacobcursed under his breath when he saw Prudence appear beside the castle at the top of the path leading down to the hedge gardens. Utterly lovely with an almost whimsical dewy sparkle in her blue eyes, she had seemed lost in thought, daydreaming perhaps, before she focused on him and his former cousin-by-marriage, Emma. Before he had a chance to wave her over, she spun on her heel and vanished.
“Oh, dear.” Emma glanced at him with concern. “She did not appear pleased to see us together, did she? Most certainly took things all wrong?”
“Aye.” He scowled and shook his head. “As you well know, Lady Barrington has a way of doing that.”
“So I have heard.” They continued strolling as they tended to do at this hour if they were visiting MacLauchlin Castle at the same time. “Though I must admit she does not appear the grotesque monster I have long envisioned her.”
“No,” he said softly, contemplating Prudence, “she is anything but.”
He had not only enjoyed showing her around the castle yesterday but very much liked dining with her. And of course, looking at her had been a pleasure. She had a way of rubbing her lips together when thinking about something that left them rosy, plush, and distractingly tempting. A new light had shimmered in her eyes, and her expressions had become less stiff and more varied. It almost seemed like she’d blossomed in front of his eyes in one day’s time. As if she were just waiting for the right person to come along. The perfect opportunity.
Not only did she ask plenty of questions, but she’d even smiled. Not laughed. He had not pulled that much from her yet but sensed it was possible and spent the better part of the night wondering what that would look like. Regrettably, pleasure and anticipation turned to guilt when he heard Elizabeth’s pianoforte being played. A poignant reminder of the time they had spent together in this very castle.
“I noticed you and Lady Barrington spent quite a bit of time together yesterday.” Emma gave him a knowing look. “I will admit, I found it interesting you did not introduce us.”
“You were never around to introduce.” However much he had hoped to avoid this, he knew it would be brought up eventually. Knew Emma would see right through him if he offered anything but the truth. “And if you were, I still might have hesitated.”
Emma might be his age, but she had always been wiser and more perceptive than most. Seen clearly in the way she stopped him. “Dear cousin, know this and know it well. You might not have seen me, but I saw you. More than that, I saw you and her together.” She looked at him in the affectionate, forgiving way few could. “So I know despite your need to save her from herself, you might finally be ready to save yourself as well.”
As much as her words might seem twisted to most, he understood her meaning.
“I enjoyed her company,” he admitted, hoping she did not hear the emotion in his voice. “Far more than expected when it should have been the last thing on my mind the moment Elizabeth’s pianoforte arrived.”
“Whatever for?” Emma tilted her head. “I know you are on a mission to help lasses who were like you before Elizabeth came into your life, and you have. Perhaps now, you can let all that go and move on?”
“I have moved on,” he said, even though their very conversation proved otherwise. “There is just something…different about her. Something that very much draws me to her.”
Emma glanced from where Prudence had vanished back to him. “I hazard to say she might feel the same about you based on the way she fled so quickly when she saw me on your arm.”
“You say that as though the others I pursued after Elizabeth would not have done the same.”
“Oh, I am sure they would have.” Emma shook her head. “Only they would not have had the same look in their eyes.” She offered the sort of smile that put him at ease. “More to the point had they, I doubt it would have upset you so. You would have responded with the utmost confidence that you would smooth everything over in good time.”
He narrowed his eyes and offered a crooked grin. Tried to keep things lighthearted when in truth, she was right, and it unsettled him. “Did you gather all that from a brief glance across the way, then?”
“I gathered everything I needed to know when I saw you and Lady Barrington together yesterday.” She winked. “And lest it weigh on your mind what I thought of her slanderous tongue years ago, I beg you, do not. I might have detested her actions, but like you, I am well aware of her late husband’s frivolous, awful ways, so I understand how she might have become wounded. Impulsive. Hateful, even.” She rested her hand on his arm in comfort. Understanding. “That said, I would never fault you for loving her if that is what you two find, Jacob. And I do believe Elizabeth would feel the same.”
Very few opinions meant more, and he appreciated it. Emma and Elizabeth had been close. So close, Emma had become more like a sister-by-marriage over the years.
“While I am nowhere near loving Lady Barrington, I appreciate your support.” He steered her toward the castle. “Now let us return before Lord Campbell wakes and comes looking for you.”
“Come now.” She chuckled, not afraid to be blunt. “My husband and I were long awake before I took my morning stroll.”
No doubt they were, as they shared a love similar to what he and Elizabeth had experienced. The same sort Blake had with Maude. A coming together where there could be no question desire existed despite how discreet the couple thought themselves. A ravenous love that would undoubtedly last into their old age.
Could that sort of love exist for him again? Would he ever find anything like what he shared with Elizabeth? It seemed impossible. Yet he could admit for the first time in longer than he could remember, despite mourning for her when the piano had started playing the night before, his mind had time and time again wandered back to Prudence. The light in her eyes when she asked this question or that. Her avid and genuine curiosity when he answered.
In some ways, she reminded him of Elizabeth, but in most ways, they were nothing alike. Where his late wife had always meant well, she had no real interest in history or weapons. Nor had she ever spoken bluntly to him if she found his explanations not quite right. Not like Prudence did. If Lady Barrington found something unbelievable or too far-fetched, she would need to understand it. In all honesty, he suspected she might enjoy a healthy debate as much as he.
Then there were the other thoughts he had done his best to push aside as he walked the grounds last night to escape the piano music and memories. Thoughts that had everything to do with Prudence. How the color of her eyes seemed to shift with her mood. How her skin flushed when her excitement heightened about certain subjects.
He had never seen a woman grow so passionate about what most lasses might consider boring. Or for that matter, be interested in subjects where she learned something new. Especially when it was about a country she seemed to dislike hours before. Did he think her mad because of it? Not at all. Which might make him as mad as her.
Or, as Emma had implied, there was something more to all this.
More to the feelings awakening inside him when it came to Lady Barrington. Something he very much hoped to get to the bottom of in good time. That is, if she would still give him time after seeing him and Emma together.
