“Hang on,” Kade said, now looking slightly annoyed. “There isn’t anyone else but me.” “And I was not in a temper,” Papa huffed. “I made a solemn vow, and it’s one that should be honored, for both your sake and that of our family. Even if Kendrick isn’t the man I would have chosen for you.”
“Are ye sayin’ ye’d prefer the likes of booby Campbell to a Kendrick?” Angus indignantly asked. “Are ye a lunatic?”
“I would be a lunatic to desire our family to marry into your family,” Papa retorted.
“Henry, in case you’ve forgotten,” Mamma said, “Angus is a member ofmyfamily, which makes him a member ofyourfamily.”
“Yes, but if Charlie marries Kendrick, we’ll have to see MacDonald even more,” Papa said. “Besides, Kendrick will take Charlie away from us, what with his touring about the Continent and whatnot. We’ll never get to see her.”
Angus rolled his eyes. “Yer not makin’ any sense, Kinloch. Either ye see us, or ye don’t.”
Charlie glanced at Kade, whose irritation had now obviously been transformed into amusement. When she scowled at him, he simply widened his eyes, looking the picture of innocence.
“This is a stupendously foolish conversation,” she said. “And beside the point.”
“But Charlotte, itisa matter of honor,” Melissa insisted. “Simply everyone knows about Papa’s vow, including the servants.”
“Thanks to your father’s unfortunate announcement in front of them,” Mamma said rather severely. “I understand from my maid that the entire village is gossiping about the matter.”
Charlie felt her cheeks begin to flush. Her family was acting like a pack of ninnies, which was incredibly mortifying.
“I don’t care who’s gossiping, and I don’t care about Papa’s silly notions of honor, either,” she replied. “No one is forcing Kade to do anything he doesn’t want to do.”
Kade held up a hand. “If I could just—”
Papa interrupted him. “I say, Charlie, that’s a bit much. Honor is very important, you know.”
“As much as I hate to agree with Kinloch,” Angus put in, “he’s right about that. Family honor is nae something to be trifled with.”
Charlie gritted her teeth. “Let me make this perfectly clear—I amnotforcing Kade to marry me.”
“Just to clarify,” Kade said, “you wouldn’t have to force me.”
She pointed a finger at him. “You, be quiet. I am stillquiteannoyed with you.”
“Really, Charlotte,” Mamma said. “Instead of snapping at the poor man, you should be forever grateful that he recovered the brooch. It would have been a dreadful blow to lose such a priceless heirloom.”
“You do realize it was never really lost,” Charlie replied. “Either Johnny or I knew where it was all the time.”
Her mother leveled a stern gaze on her. “And what if that dreadful Morgan person had found it first? Have you thought about that?”
Melissa visibly shuddered. “Perish the thought. Our family would have been cursed forever.”
Kade again held up a hand. “As to that—”
“Hell and damnation, Kendrick,” Papa snapped. “No one believed that curse nonsense but Melissa.”
“I’m not referring to the curse, sir, but to the nature of the brooch itself,” Kade replied. “You must forgive me for being the bearer of bad news, but the brooch is not, in fact, priceless. Just the opposite, I’m afraid.”
Charlie’s mind went blank. And from the sudden silence everyone else apparently suffered from the same affliction.
She forced herself to shake it off. “Kade, what can you possibly mean? Of course it’s priceless. The gems alone are worth a fortune.”
“I’m sure the original gems were invaluable.” He reached over and tapped the large diamond in the center of the brooch. “This, however, is not.”
Papa’s forehead knit into a fierce scowl. “What the devil are you talking about, man?”
“Although the silver setting is obviously the original, the stones are not. They’re made of paste. Excellent reproductions to be sure, but colored glass nonetheless. At some point in the last century, I imagine one of your noble ancestors removed the original stones and had them replaced with fakes.”
