to accept us.”
She covered one of his hands with hers. “You had a hard life to make.”
“Yes, we did. But we managed to restore what we’d lost, and then some more. In Rome, we nearly lost it. I never saw Adam so angry. And so in love.” The faint reflection of him in the window smiled. “He was tempted to say the hell with it, and take Delphi away, to Greece and all the places she wanted to visit. They still plan to, but they came home and Delphi got busy making a family for him.”
“Aye. A girl and twin boys. Since she’s a triplet, it’s not surprising one of them had twins.”
He smoothed his lips against her cap. She watched him do it, the ghostly reflection in the window bending to her, felt the light pressure and felt loved. “They can’t go abroad now.”
“You’d be surprised. They’re already planning it. But not for a year or two, not until the children are older. They’ll probably stay for the coronation next year. It wouldn’t do for the Duke of Kilsyth to miss that.”
“We have a new king,” she murmured, “but he isn’t the one who stayed in this room.”
“I noticed that you’ve opened it up. This used to be a secret room. Adam and I would hide here for hours when we were boys. Our sisters, too.”
Frederick was the only person of his generation to remain unmarried. But that would be rectified soon. At the thought of him marrying the general’s daughter, an ache filled her chest. She couldn’t breathe properly. When she leaned back against him, put her head back and sucked in a deep breath, he kissed her cheek. “Don’t think of anything but today, now. Today, we are together.”
“Does your brother want you to marry the general’s daughter?”
Frederick had a strong sense of family. If the duke told him to marry the general’s daughter, he would do it.
“No,” he said after a pause. “He told me to come and see you one last time. To let you know how I feel.” He kissed her again. “I didn’t need any prompting. My only concern was that I did not upset you. And I have, but with cause. The moment I felt you, I knew it was the same for you. Nothing has died. It only slept for a short time.”
“More than ten years,” she reminded him. “And now I’m a servant and I work for your brother.”
He shook his head. “You’re also the daughter of the minister down at the manse. You’re a clergyman’s daughter.”
She preferred not to think of the unhappy time when her beloved father fell ill with smallpox. Because of the danger of infection, she wasn’t allowed to see him before he died. But perhaps that was a mercy. Her memories of him were all happy ones. And of the curate who succeeded him. “Mr. McIver retired and went south. There’s another clergyman there now. A Sassenach.”
Frederick would understand the Gaelic word for “stranger”. “Where is he from?”
“Leith. He studied at Oxford.”
“I should speak to him.”
“You’ll see him when we go down the hill to church the day after tomorrow.”
A movement on the road attracted her attention. This time, the cloud of dust along the path was most definitely Mr. Ruthven riding his brown horse. She recognized his black coat and breeches, worn in deference to the season. Advent wouldn’t be over until tomorrow. As if sensing he was being watched, he looked up. He saw her, and probably Frederick, too, though four stories up, they might not be recognizable. “There he is. I thought he’d come yesterday but it was you on the road.”
“Speak of the devil,” Frederick said, and stepped back.
“That’s not fair.” She went to the door, turned back and found him watching her. Ducking her head, she lifted the latch and went downstairs. “He’ll have heard you arrived and he’ll be wanting to introduce himself.”
Frederick said nothing, but she heard him behind her.
Rhona didn’t stop at the drawing room, but motioned to him to go inside. “I’ll find you some tea.”
“Will you bring it yourself?”
Sighing, she nodded. They had until Christmas Day. After that, the workers from the village would move in and they would have no privacy. Then he would leave, and she’d never see him again.
She found Mr. Ruthven in the kitchen, speaking to Cook. “You must come to Eucharist on Christmas morning, Mrs. McHeath. His lordship will want you to, if he’s a Christian man.”
“Indeed, he will,” Rhona