Page 2 of Wouldn’t it Be Scottish?

Donal left her to her thoughts, climbing the stairs to his room with a heavy tread so he could lie on his bed and stare at the canopy above.

He was trying hard not to cry. He was no coward and was certainly not about to turn tail and run all the way back to Bonnyrigg. He imagined the looks on his parents’ faces, on his brothers’ faces, and Cat’s compassionate hugs. No, he couldn’t bear that. They would be expecting him to give up because they thought him so easily wounded, a poor excuse for a MacKenzie. They would rally around him in that protective manner, but he could imagine them whispering when they thought him out of earshot.

Poor Donal! Aye well, he always was the sensitive one. We need to give his thoughts a new direction. Mabbe he could take up painting again?

Just because he had once painted a likeness of the castle for his father’s birthday, and it hadn’t been a very good one either, his brothers continued to tease him mercilessly about his “artistic temperament.”

But despite his aunt’s depressing news about Mary, Donal was not about to give up. He would show his family that he was as stubborn as any of them. And most of all he would show Mary that although he may be no London fop, but he was and always had been the perfect man for her.

When he came downstairs again to supper, after being summoned by a servant, Aunt Jennie was ready for him. While Hocking, the butler, stared on indifferently and Bothwell, the large tabby-and-white cat, sat waiting for any small morsels his mistress might slip him, Jennie informed Donal she had been pondering at length about his situation.

“This is what I know. Your Mary has had her head turned by all the attention. London has welcomed her with open arms and she is feted everywhere she goes. She will not be easily won back, Donal, although I don’t doubt you can do it. I think you need to show her that you are just as highly regarded by London society as those other gentlemen who flock about her. That you are sought after too. In short, make her jealous! I know you will be working to win her, but you must make her work too. Don’t let her think that it is all about her. Show her you are desirable and worthy of other women’s affections, and she was a fool to let you go.”

Donal stared glumly into his soup. “All verra well, but how can I do that, Aunt Jennie?”

“Tomorrow, I will ask a friend for his suggestions. Lord Kilsyth met Rory when he was here in London and helped him with his troubles, and I am sure he will be willing to help you. The other thing I am going to suggest is that you update your wardrobe. I can arrange for you to visit a tailor. Because you will need to be more fashionable to catch Mary’s eye, and not just Mary’s. I want all of the young ladies in London casting covetous glances at you.”

This wasn’t what Donal had expected. He had been hoping for a simpler solution—Mary seeing him and immediately walking into his arms and begging him to take her home—but it seemed things were not going to be that easy. It was true that Mary was a lovely young lady, and he could not blame the gentlemen of London for wanting her, but they couldn’t have her. She was his, and although the road to winning her back was not going to be an easy one, he was determined to achieve his wish.

*

As Aunt Jennie had promised, Lord Kilsyth arrived to see Donal the next morning. He was an older man, about twenty years older than Rory, which surprised him. Rory’s friends had always been as young and feckless as he was, seekers after pleasure rather than enlightenment. But after Kilsyth explained how the two of them had come to meet—the story of the duel was not one Donal had heard before, and he was going to store it up so that he could tease his brother about it the next time he saw him—he better understood their connection.

When they turned to the problem of Miss Mary Davidson, Kilsyth seemed eager to assist.

“I admit I have heard of her,” he said thoughtfully. “She is much spoken of this Season. They rave about her beauty, her charming manners, her sweetness . . .” He glanced from Jennie to Donal. “If you believed the talk, you would almost think she was an angel come to earth.”

Donal’s spirits, that he thought already at their lowest, sank further. He supposed he should be pleased and proud that his sweetheart was such a success with London society, but he just couldn’t get past his own misery at the thought of losing her forever.

“’Tis a pity Donal cannot find a girl who would pursue him,” Aunt Jennie said. “I am sure Mary is not so perfect that she would not feel a twinge of jealousy if her former beloved became as sought after as she. It might be the dose of reality she needs. When she realizes what she may be about to lose!”

Kilsyth’s eyebrows rose. “Good point. And now that you mention it, my daughter Agatha is in a situation very similar to Lord Donal. The gentleman she had set her heart on is here in London right now. They were about to be engaged until he decided he wanted to sow his wild oats before he settled down. And now he has met someone else, and Agatha is worried he is so infatuated that he has forgotten the promises he made to her. I am sharing this with you because I wonder if Agatha and Donal might be of use to each other? Kill two birds with one stone as it were.” He gave a chuckle.

Jennie clapped her hands in delight. “What a marvelous idea, Kilsyth! You must bring Agatha to meet Donal. Is she presently in London?”

“She arrived two weeks ago. I will tell her about Lord Donal. It might cheer her up if she thinks she is working toward a solution for herself as well as Lord Donal. There is nothing worse than moping alone in one’s room.”

“I agree!” Jennie said, and the two conspirators grinned at each other.

Donal eyed them nervously. Did they really want him and Kilsyth’s daughter to . . . He faltered. What exactly did they want? And why should Agatha agree to help him even if it helped her? “I don’t—” he began but was ignored.

Aunt Jennie spoke over him. “I will arrange for the tailor to measure him up as soon as possible.”

Kilsyth nodded, casting a considering glance over Donal. “Your nephew certainly has the right figure for the latest fashions. Don’t you worry, my boy, we’ll have you looking the part in no time. And once your lady love sees you and Agatha enjoying yourselves, she will not be able to resist you. Don’t you agree, Countess?”

Donal was dubious about that. How was he meant to suddenly become so fashionable and so—so attractive that London society would be dazzled by his desirability? More likely he would be an abject failure and then have to slink off home to Bonnyrigg, where he would be the recipient of his family’s pity until the end of his days.

He had opened his mouth to tell them so, only to close it again. Where had his courage gone? He had come to London so certain he would prevail, only to fall into a heap of melancholy at the first obstacle. If he left now, he would always be wondering if he could have succeeded, and besides, what else was he going to do? As Kilsyth had said, sit moping in his bedchamber at Bonnyrigg? It was time for him to show everyone he was just as brave and unwavering as his brothers when it came to getting what he wanted.

Let no one say he had not tried his utmost to win his Mary back.

Chapter Two

Donal spent an uncomfortable day with the tailor—the fellow seemed to believe he was doing Donal a favor as he was measured and scrutinized and twisted and turned. Afterward, Aunt Jennie discussed colors and fabric and style with the man. Donal was asked a couple of times what he preferred, but because it was obvious he had no interest in fashion whatsoever, the two of them soon gave up conferring with him and made any decisions between themselves.

This tailor was the one favored by his Uncle James, the Earl of Strathmore. Jennie’s husband was away at sea on one of his trading voyages—he owned a successful shipping company—but was expected home in two months. Jennie had said several times how much she missed him, and Donal could see that was true. He imagined it must be difficult for her, and that perhaps her nephews and their dilemmas offered her a welcome distraction from her loneliness.

Lord Kilsyth and his aunt seemed to be on friendly terms, but Donal did not think there was anything romantic between them. Kilsyth was a widower who had recently found a new amorous interest, and although Jennie’s husband was absent, she was still very much in love with him.