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Nick gave him a lopsided smile. “I’m only looking out for your interests, old man. It’s my job, as both your older brother and your laird.”
“And you’ve decided that Miss Donella Haddon is in my best interests, Lord Arnprior?”
“Victoria certainly thinks she is.”
“Well, if Lady Arnprior has decided, then I suppose everything is settled,” Logan sarcastically replied. “In that case, I hope she’ll make the lady in question privy to her decision, since she won’t take it well from me.”
Nick laughed. “All right. Tell me what happened.”
Logan stacked his boots heel to toe. “It was a good day. Joseph and Donella enjoyed the outing.” He flashed his brother a rueful smile. “The two of them get along famously.”
“She’s very good with him.”
“Almost as good as you are.” Logan regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
Nick leaned over and gave him a light punch in the shoulder. “Of course you did, idiot. And it’s fine. Joseph is simply looking for some guidance. I’m the laird and the head of the clan. Something in that obviously appeals to him.”
“He’s supposed to be looking to me for guidance,” Logan said tersely.
“He will, once you remember how to be a parent again. Ainsley had the same problem when she was separated from Tira for all those months. Sometimes it takes a while to regain one’s bearings.”
Logan stared gloomily into the fire. “Or sometimes one is just bad at the whole thing.”
Nick let out an exasperated sigh. “Are you going to wallow in self-pity, or tell me what happened?”
“Who died and left you in charge of everything?”
“I believe our father did. And may I remind you, it’s not exactly a picnic looking after the lot of you.”
“Poor you. Very well, if you must know, I made a complete hash of things again. Donella, fortunately, came to the rescue.”
“How so?”
Briefly, Logan recapped the scene at Monroe’s. As soon as Nick heard about Mrs. Ferguson, he growled out all sorts of social retribution. But when Logan explained how Donella handled it, his brother practically choked on his drink.
“She did what?” he spluttered.
“She tipped the contents of the entire bloody table onto their laps.”
“Well, that is splendid. Kudos to the lass for her quick thinking.”
“For a girl who spent three years in a convent, I must say she’s full of surprises. Her actions certainly took the focus off poor Joseph and placed them squarely on her.” He frowned. “Actually, I’m a bit worried about that. Ferguson and her pack of hens are bound to spread tales about the lass.”
“She certainly gave them ample material. How many witnesses?”
“The shop was full.”
His brother shook his head. “We’ll do what we can to contain the gossip. And you can be sure I’ll be having a chat with Mr. Ferguson about his wife’s behavior. I will not allow her or anyone else to badger Joseph or subject him to bigotry.”
Logan grimaced. “I’m grateful for your help, but I feel like hell that I can’t seem to protect my own son.”
“You do protect your son, but this is different, Logan. Victoria and I have greater social influence than you do. We’ll come up with the best way to indicate to the Fergusons and all of Glasgow that Joseph must be treated with the degree of courtesy I expect for all of my family.”
“Even the twins?”
His brother flashed a smile. “Even the twins. You’re not to worry, laddie. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you, old man.” Emotion had made his voice gruff, but his brother would understand his true feelings.
