Richard struggled to regroup.
“I had no wish to offend,” he said, mustering a smile for Lady Kinloch. “Please forgive me if I have.”
“This conversation has been most irregular,” Lady Kinloch replied. “I barely know where to look.”
Melissa fluttered her napkin. “Indeed, Mamma. I feel quite,quitefaint.”
“Forgive me, Miss Melissa,” Richard said. “I certainly had no intention of upsetting the ladies. I was simply trying to explain that my intentions to woo Miss Charlotte are not—”
Charlie suddenly stood, all but knocking over her chair. “Mamma, don’t you think it’s time we left the gentlemen to their port and whisky while we repair to the drawing room?”
Lady Kinloch peered at her daughter, obviously mystified by her behavior. Charlie simply shrugged, and then turned and strode from the room.
Ainsley rose to follow her.
“Enjoy your whiskies, gentlemen,” she said in a voice suffused with laughter. “But don’t keep us waiting too long.”
CHAPTER7
Charlie longingly eyed the whisky decanter on the sideboard. But she’d already downed two glasses of sherry before dinner and a glass of wine with dinner. If she added a shot of whisky on top of it, she’d likely pull an old claymore off the wall of the gallery and cleave Richard in half for being such an idiot.
Her mother, ensconced on a velvet divan, leveled another disapproving look her way. For the last ten minutes, Mamma had been fussing with her needlework in fraught silence, conveying her well-bred sense of disappointment without uttering a word. Charlie suspected she was debating the possibility of exiling her eldest daughter to the Outer Hebrides. Mamma hated scenes, and Charlie had just created one of fairly epic proportions.
Part of her wished her mother would indeed send her into exile, if it meant she’d never have to face Kade again. What he must think of her after that hideous scene—compounded by his grandfather’s embarrassingly pointed comments—she couldn’t begin to imagine.
“Really, Charlotte,” Mamma said, finally breaking her tight-lipped silence. “I cannot imagine what you were thinking to behave in so outlandish a manner. To storm out like that . . . I was never more embarrassed in my life.”
Charlie wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, Mamma, but it seemed a reasonable response at the time.”
“Why you would think that is beyond me,” her mother tartly replied. “But then again, I gave up trying to understand you some time ago.”
Melissa, who was nervously twisting her tatting into a mess, cast Charlie a reproachful glance. “It was such a dreadful scene that Colin wanted to ask one of the footmen to fetch my smelling salts. I became quite light-headed, you know.”
Charlie had to repress the urge to roll her eyes, since her sister was quite adept at throwing scenes of a different sort. Melissa could barely get through the day without recourse to her smelling salts, although her scenes garnered sympathy more often than not.
Mamma peered anxiously at Melissa. “You are looking quite pale, my love. Perhaps it might be best if you retired for the evening. You must keep up your strength for the wedding festivities. Colin will expect you to look your best.”
Melissa adopted a heroic expression, as if she were Joan of Arc heading off to the stake. “Thank you, Mamma. But I will persevere this evening, for Colin’s sake. He would bequiteupset if I were to take to my bed from the shock of this evening’s events.”
This time, Charlie did roll her eyes. “For heaven’s sake, Mel, it wasn’t that bad. But if you want me to apologize to Colin, I shall be happy to do so. I would like to point out, however, that you have the good fortune to marry a man you actually love, and who loves you in return. In contrast, Richard is a boring old poop who doesn’t love me one little bit, and yet everyone wants me to marry him.”
Richard probably had a mild affection for her based on their tepid childhood friendship. What he had a great affection for was her dowry. Of that Charlie was dead certain. He had political ambitions, and her marriage settlements would come in handy in furthering those ambitions, as would a solid alliance with Lord Kinloch of Clan Stewart.
Mamma plunked her needlework back into her workbasket with an exasperated huff. “Richard is not a boring old poop, and no one is forcing you to do anything, Charlotte. We are simply asking you to give him a chance. Your father has allowed you to rattle around the estate for too long. It’s past time for you to settle down, and Richard will make for an extremely eligible match.”
“Mamma’s right,” Melissa earnestly said. “People are beginning to gossip about you, dearest, and that’s quite uncomfortable for the rest of us.”
Ainsley, who’d gone upstairs to check on her daughter, entered the room.
“Sorry to be late,” she said as she took the seat next to Charlie on the sofa. “What have I missed?”
“Not much,” Charlie wryly replied, “but for the fact that I’ve become an object of gossip amongst the locals. You’re just in time to hear the gruesome details.”
Mamma prepared a cup of tea for Ainsley. “As tonight’s display illustrated, it’s no wonder that people are gossiping.”
Ainsley accepted her cup with a smile. “Kendricks are champion generators of gossip. We’ve simply learned to live with it.”
For a moment, Mamma looked a bit daunted. “There is a great deal of difference between a man kicking up larks and a young woman in Charlotte’s position. Surely you must agree.”
