Devil in Disguise (The Ravenels #7) - Lisa Kleypas Page 0,115
Merritt found herself gently shepherded to the settee. Gratefully she sat, and Wallace hopped up beside her. The terrier licked his lips and stared at the morning roll in her hands. It had been split open, with a curl of cold butter beginning to melt inside. Slowly Merritt consumed the roll and broke off a few small pieces to feed to Wallace. With his solid, warm body cuddled up to hers, and her stomach comfortably full, it took only a few blinks before exhaustion overtook her.
“Merry,” came a low, familiar voice, and she opened her eyes to discover Keir leaning over her. He smiled and stroked back a loose lock of her hair, and glanced down at Wallace, who extended his short legs in a trembling stretch.
She had no idea how much time had passed as she’d dozed in the corner of the settee, but the daylight was much brighter now, and many of the visitors seemed to have departed.
“Poor weary lass,” Keir said, sitting beside her and gathering her close.
Merry yawned against his shoulder. “The first time I meet your friends and neighbors … and I fall asleep in front of them.”
“They understand, love. They’re full of good wishes. Soon they’ll take their leave, and we’ll have a proper rest.” Keir patted her hip. “When I told everyone you followed me into the distillery with your wee pop-gun to protect me, they all said you were as brave as a Scotswoman. ’Tis a great compliment, ye ken.”
Merritt’s lips twitched at his description of the high-caliber revolver as a “wee pop-gun.”
“MacTaggart took the man to a holding cell in Port Charlotte,” Keir continued, settling her more comfortably in the crook of his arm. “We found out his name is John Peltie.”
She glanced up at him in surprise. “You made him talk?”
“No, it was Duffy. He convinced him it would go better for him if he cooperated. Peltie admitted that Lord Ormonde hired him to finish the job after Brownlow failed at it.”
Wallace hopped off the settee, simultaneously yawned and whined, and padded across the room to the door.
“I’ll take him out,” Keir said.
“I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs,” Merritt said, reaching for a shawl draped over the back of the settee. “I’ll go with you.” She drew the shawl around herself and knotted it loosely over her front.
Before they went outside, however, Sheriff MacTaggart met them at the threshold, having just returned from Port Charlotte. “MacRae … and milady … I received a telegram from Commissioner Ransom that you’ll be wanting to know about.” With a slightly theatrical flourish, he took the message from his pocket. “It says Mr. Brownlow was apprehended last night at the Charing Cross station while attempting to board a train. Brownlow confessed to Ransom that he killed Lord Ormonde, after Ormonde fired him and wouldn’t pay what he owed him.”
“To be fair,” Keir said reflectively, “I can see Brownlow’s side of it. He did a fine job of setting fire to the warehouse and shutting me in. By all rights, I should have been scowdered and burnt to a crisp.”
“I could have warned him you were a daft numptie who’d jump oot the window,” MacTaggart said, and they exchanged a grin.
The dog pawed impatiently at the door.
“Sheriff,” Merritt said with a slight smile, “if you’ll excuse us, Wallace has his priorities.”
MacTaggart stepped aside and opened the door for Wallace with a show of deference, and the terrier trotted out.
Keir took Merritt’s hand. They paused at the threshold, blinking in the bright daylight.
There was so much ahead of them, Merritt thought, feeling momentarily overwhelmed. So much to be done.
She glanced up at Keir, who smiled as if he could read her thoughts.
“Let’s start with a walk,” he suggested, and bent to steal a kiss. “We’ll figure it out from there.”
And together, they walked out into the morning.
Epilogue
THE SCENTS AND SOUNDS of Christmas filled the mansion at Stony Cross Park, Lord Westcliff’s renowned Hampshire estate. Rich smells wafted from the kitchen … standing rib of beef, ham, turkey, smoked oysters, Yorkshire pudding, every imaginable kind of pie. Greenery and flowers bedecked every horizontal surface, and the fresh acrid pungency of a towering Christmas tree exerted its magic through the main hall and beyond. Servants hurried through the hallways on frantic errands to make everything ready for the Christmas Eve dance that evening. Children’s happy screams echoed through the halls as they scampered everywhere during a game of hide and seek.