Quest of the Highlander (Crowns & Kilts #5) - Cynthia Wright Page 0,104

boy.

“Her ladyship instructed me to escort you myself,” he said earnestly.

“How nice. What’s your name, young sir?”

“Ted.” He beamed back at her.

An hour later, Nora was allowing Ted to lead the way through the crowded streets of London. When they came to a flower seller, Nora stopped to purchase a posy of pale blue love-in-a-mist blossoms for Cicely. As they drew near Weston House, she realized how much she had missed her friend.

It was a fine day, and Nora felt her spirits rise. The bright sails of tilt-boats dotted the Thames like colorful flowers, and children were running over the garden pathways. It came to her that Andrew & Micheline must have come home as well.

As Ted brought Nora around to the gardens, Cicely rose from the bench where she had been sitting and rushed forward, skirts lifted.

“My dear friend!” she cried. “How are you feeling? Do join me.” Glancing toward the page, Cicely added, “Ted, will you let Her Grace know that our other guest has arrived?”

They sat together at the same table where Lennox had first met the Duke of Hastings. Remembering the splendid night and the heartbreaking morning that followed, Nora closed her eyes for a moment. That night in Lennox’s arms, giving every bit of herself to him, might have to last her for the rest of her life.

“I have been simply longing to speak to you,” Cicely said abruptly. She looked charming as always, in a fashionable gown of pink and silver. “I would have asked you sooner, but I have been beset by the most terrible siege of something very similar to mal de mer.”

“Seasickness?” Nora puzzled over this and smiled. “Oh, yes, now I understand. The baby. I suffered from that as well.”

“Don’t you find it is sometimes quite unbearable to be a woman?” Without waiting for an answer, Cicely continued, “I have a confession to make. The last time I left your house, I encountered someone.”

“I know, it was Sir Raymond Slater. I do wish you had not spoken to him about me.” Nora gave her a chastening look. “He came to visit me just a few days ago. He offered, I believe, to make a home with me for the baby.”

Cicely gasped. “Sir Raymond proposed marriage to you?”

“Oh, no, I don’t think he intended that at all.” She smiled ruefully. “Something much less proper. I declined.”

“Thank God you were able to send him away! I meant well, telling him where you lived and that you were increasing with his child, but after Robin and I returned to Kent, I had second thoughts. There was something faintly sinister about him, even when he was offering me a fancy sweetmeat. I wanted to trust him, yet doubt crept in.”

Something shifted in the depths of Nora’s memory. “A sweetmeat?”

“Yes. He keeps them in a jeweled case. It was all innocent enough, no doubt, but I didn’t care for the way he watched me, like a cat stalking its prey.” She shook her head, as if to dispel the memory. “I began to see him in a different light, but by then it was too late. I had already encouraged him to involve himself in your affairs. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I know you were only trying to help, and everything worked out fine, so let us put it behind us.” Nora’s heart softened at the sight of her friend’s repentant expression. “It is fortunate that Lennox has removed himself from my life, for if he’d been there when Sir Raymond appeared, I hate to think what might have happened. Lennox despises him.”

Cicely looked nervous. “How did you manage to turn Sir Raymond away?”

“I simply told him, quite firmly, that I prefer to manage on my own.” Nora smiled at her friend. “And it is true.”

“But he is the father of your baby,” mused Cicely, “and he could make your life very comfortable.”

“I beg you, put any lingering notions you may harbor about Sir Raymond out of your mind. I do not need his help! Everything is coming together after all. I’ve sold the tapestry, so I have means, and now Master Mostinck has assigned me to oversee a large tapestry project. It’s a step forward toward achieving my goal.”

“I am very happy for you, but…” Cicely’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you never tire of being alone? You are a woman, after all.”

“Are you asking me if I miss Lennox?” An abrupt wave of longing swept over Nora, and her voice broke. “Of