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“She does have more rights than the rest of us.” Royal leaned forward for emphasis. “Ainsley is Tira’s mother. Herrealmother.”
“Mayhap, but a good mother would nae have given her up,” Angus stubbornly replied.
The old man had said that more than once. Royal seemed unable to get through to him that the exact opposite was true. For someone like Angus, loyalty to family was everything, and voluntarily giving up a child was impossible to fathom.
“Ainsley gave Tira up to protect her,” Royal said, trying to be patient. “It was the right thing to do, given the difficult circumstances.”
“More like to protect her own reputation, I reckon. That lass seems fair obsessed with how others think about her.”
Royal bit back the reprimand on the tip of his tongue. Only Nick and Victoria knew the details of Ainsley’s assault and its aftermath, and she’d begged Royal to keep it that way. Ainsley loathed that others might think her a helpless victim or, even worse, believe that she was somehow irretrievably damaged. Her spirit and dignity had received a grievous wound, and Royal would do whatever was necessary to safeguard her privacy and give her the time she needed to heal.
“Once a woman loses her reputation, it is lost forever,” Royal said, trying to pick his way through the morass. “And society can be utterly cruel, in those situations.”
Angus pulled out a battered white pipe from his vest pocket, along with a tobacco pouch. “I ken yer right, but why didn’t the lass marry the babe’s father in the first place? Though I’m glad she didn’t,” he added hastily. “Else we would nae have gotten the little lassie, would we?”
They both glanced at Tira and smiled. The lass rocked back and forth on her haunches, as if just discovering how to do it.
“True,” Royal said. “It’s hard to imagine how we ever got on without her.”
Angus stuffed some tobacco into the bowl and reached for a spill from a brass container next to the fireplace. “She was the savin’ of you, lad,” he said around puffs as he lit his pipe. “And that’s a fact.”
Royal didn’t much like to think about the days before Tira and how close he’d come to the edge of despair. His daughterhadsaved him—from himself. And it was Ainsley who’d made it all possible.
“If she keeps that up much longer, she’ll launch herself right off the blanket,” he said as he watched Tira rock with ever greater enthusiasm.
“Aye, she’ll be crawlin’ soon. She’s a pistol, that one. Just like the twins were.”
“God, I hope not. She’s a handful, but they were little demons.”
“Tira’s worse now that herself is on the scene. She’s got the poor little thing rattlin’ about like a fart in a muff.”
Royal scowled at his grandfather. “First, that is a disgusting analogy to make about my daughter. Second, I would be grateful if you would refer to my wife as something more respectful thanyer missus,herself, orher high and mightiness.”
Angus puffed away with great nonchalance, exhaling as much smoke as a chimney in need of repair. “What aboutSassenach?”
“Try Ainsley, or even Lady Ainsley. Good Lord, even calling herlasswould be better.”
“She dinna like that, either.” Angus let out a windy sigh. “I canna expect better from aSassenach. I suppose I can try, though.”
Argh.“Grandda, I need you to listen to me.”
“Laddie, I always listen to you.”
“Angus, I’m serious,” he said, finally letting his frustration show.
His grandfather studied him. “Say your piece then, lad.”
“Ainsley’s decisions might seem almost inexplicable to you, but you need to know that she made them for all the right reasons. As I said, she needed to protect her daughter from Tira’s natural father. Believe me, it was imperative to do that.”
“That Cringlewood fellow,” Angus said.
“Yes.”
“Not a good sort, I reckon.”
“The very opposite of a good sort. The marquess is a cruel man, and the fact that he’s both rich and powerful makes him doubly dangerous. Ainsley’s primary goal has always been to keep Tira as far from him as possible.”
Angus puffed again with vigor, the smoke wreathing his head in curlicues. “Seems to me the best idea would be to keepherselffar away from Tira. That old biddy mother of hers caused quite a ruckus because she figured it out. That was a cock-up.”
