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“You’re good at many things,” Victoria said. “Besides brooding,” she added when Royal lifted a pointed eyebrow.
“Yes,” Nick said with an encouraging smile. “You were a fine scholar before your soldiering days. And you’ve always been the best in the family when it comes to fencing, riding, and training horses. You managed some horses no one else could get near.”
“You forgot I was also the best sword dancer in the county,” Royal responded dryly. “But my leg prevents me from taking up that mantle again, or training horses for a living. And since I have no intention of burying myself in a library for the foreseeable future, a life of scholarship is out, too.”
When Nick and Victoria exchanged another worried look, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I know you’re only trying to help. It’s just that . . .”
“You were forced to give up soldiering, which you excelled at,” his sister-in-law said. “Believe me, I understand. When I stood accused of murder last year, I was deathly afraid I’d never be able to teach again.”
Before she married Nick, Victoria had planned to open her own seminary for young ladies.
“Do you miss teaching?” Royal couldn’t help asking.
“Sometimes I do, although I’m fortunate I can still tutor Kade.” She flashed her husband a quick smile. “But I found something else to love even more than teaching.”
Like her, Royal thought he’d found something new to love—something more important than even his military career. Too bad he’d been wrong about that, too.
Nick raised Victoria’s hand to his lips. “Perhaps we’ll have a schoolroom full of Kendrick children you can teach someday,” he murmured.
She blushed and gave him a shy smile.
“Would you like me to leave the room?” Royal asked politely.
Victoria wrinkled her nose. “Too much?”
“You are rather making me lose my appetite.”
She laughed. “Point taken. Let’s get back to you.”
“On second thought, I think I’d rather see you two act like romantic idiots,” Royal said.
“We can do that anytime,” Nick said. “Besides, we’ve been avoiding a discussion of your situation for too long.”
Royal eyed his brother with distaste. “You are incredibly annoying.”
“If so, it’s for your own good. Now, given that you did such a splendid job with my paperwork, I have a suggestion to make.”
“Just one?”
Nick, as usual, didn’t rise to the bait. “Since we’ve now uncovered your talent for organization, you should consider working with Logan. You know he’d be thrilled to have your help.”
Logan, the second oldest brother, had recently returned to Scotland after years of self-imposed exile in Canada. And now he was rich, owning a successful company trading in fur and timber. Logan was setting up an office and warehouse in Glasgow and had offered a job to any family member who wanted one. Royal had briefly pondered accepting the offer before deciding he’d rather put a bullet through his good leg than spend the rest of his life touting up columns in a dusty warehouse.
“I have no intention of becoming a glorified clerk,” he said. “Besides, I’m not much of a city man. After a few weeks in Glasgow, I’m ready to crawl out of my skin.”
That feeling had intensified after coming home from the war. The noise, the crowded streets, the bustle and hurry . . . sometimes he could almost imagine the buildings closing in on him.
“You don’t seem particularly enamored with the country these days, either,” Nick pointed out.
Royal simply lifted his shoulders in another vague shrug.
Victoria studied him over the rim of her teacup. “Have you heard from Lady Ainsley recently?”
Royal had been about to take another seedcake, but he put down his plate and cautiously regarded his sister-in-law. “No. Why do you ask?”
“Since Glasgow is apparently not to your liking, it might be nice if you made a trip to Cairndow to visit her. The poor girl has been cooped up in that small village for the entire winter with only her great-aunt for company. I’m sure she’d love to see you.”
Royal and Nick stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.
