“Hush, pup!” Brodie laughed as he took off toward his horse.
Aiden took his time returning to his own horse and slipped the pretty mare a few bites of apple while he stroked his palm down her chestnut nose.
“It is just you and me now, I suppose,” he told the horse. The mare nickered and bobbed her head before nudging her nose against his shoulder playfully. Aiden looked toward the horizon, watching the sun vanish and the purple hues gather in the woods to take its place.
“If I be so broken, then let me go in these twilight shadows,” he murmured, thinking of an old story of a fairy princess who had rescued a brokenhearted Highlander. But a fairy princess could not stay a fairy forever in the realm of humans, and so she had to choose: her immortality or her love.
Aiden had often dreamed of a dark-haired fairy princess with eyes the color of warm honey. She haunted his waking moments almost as much as his dreams. But the fairies were lost to the world of men. Magic had faded from the earth, and there was little left to tether the two realms together.
Aiden hummed a sad song as he mounted his horse and rode home. He gave silent thanks to whatever creatures of myth still dwelt in the woods, and he saw once again the fairy princess in his mind, calling to him.
23
One Week Later…
Brodie walked up the steps to the Hunt townhouse in Bath, his pulse quickening as he pushed away hazy memories of dragging Lydia down these very steps at knifepoint. He was certain he would not be received here, but he had to try, and keep on trying until he succeeded.
He rapped the knocker, and the butler answered. Brodie remembered him from the night of the abduction as well. But rather than a look of recognition or surprise, there was only cold indifference.
“May I help you?”
“I need to speak with Mr. Hunt, please.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Well, no. Can I make one?” Was this the point where English toffs left their calling card? He wasn’t that familiar with these formalities. “I don’t have a card, I’m afraid.”
The butler sighed, his tolerance strained. “Your name?”
“Brodie Kincade.”
“You will wait outside.” The butler shut the door before Brodie could even acknowledge him.
Something odd was going on. Surely the butler knew who he was? If he did, he would have expected a more hostile reception, and if he didn’t, then why was he being so rude? It made no sense.
In time the door opened again. “It seems Mr. Hunt is not currently engaged and is willing to see you. This way.”
Brodie straightened and stepped into the hall. The butler closed the door behind him and led him toward the study.
“Personally, I am hesitant to allow a stranger into this house,” the butler said. “One never knows what they might do if given the chance. A truly unscrupulous cad might even try to make off with one of the family’s daughters at knifepoint.”
Brodie looked at the butler when he said that, but the man’s features were like stone. Still, his words said it all. He did know who Brodie was and what he had done. So why the game?
Inside the study, Hunt sat at his desk, but he wasn’t alone. An older man sat in a chair across from him. Hunt was looking over a document, and when Brodie came in, he handed the document over to the older man. “See if this will do. I will tend to my guest while you examine the terms of the sale.”
He got up and came over to Brodie. “Ah, Mr. Kincade, is it?”
Now this was ridiculous. The butler’s ignorance he could understand, but this? He was about to vent his frustrations when Mr. Hunt spoke again.
“I believe I met some of your relations during my recent trip to Scotland. Lovely people. Most accommodating.”
“Mr. Hunt, I do not ken why you are—”
Again, he was interrupted. “You see, I recently met the most wonderful woman, and we decided to get married in Scotland. A hasty thing, to be certain, but we both felt we’d waited long enough to find happiness again. We brought my daughters along with us. My eldest, Lydia, was already friends with my wife’s family, and it would have been wrong not to include her. We stayed at your family’s castle overnight on the way back. Your elder brother was most welcoming.”