Quest of the Highlander (Crowns & Kilts #5) - Cynthia Wright Page 0,90

lay open on a polished desk, as if the room’s occupant had just stepped out and would soon return to finish reading.

“You doubtless can perceive that this was Charles’s room.” The duke spoke from behind Lennox. After a brief pause, he added hopefully, “Do you mind?”

Lennox didn’t know what to say or even how to feel. Briefly, he remembered the persistent sense of discomfort that haunted him while growing up in Clan MacLeod. It was a life that should have fit him like a glove yet never did, and the reason had teased and eluded him right up to that day at Fiona’s cottage when he found the miniature.

Drawing a deep breath, Lennox tried to shake off the past. He considered Charles, who was his half-brother, and how this room honored him. In every way, Charles must have felt charmed and embraced by the world around him. Clearly, he’d been showered with every blessing, and the duke’s aching heart was a testament to how much he had loved his son.

“Do I mind?” Lennox echoed softly. “No. How could I? It’s a very handsome room, and I should be grateful to stay here, where your son lived.”

“And now you are my son,” his father declared. “Truly, a gift from God.”

* * *

In the days that followed, Lennox told himself to be patient and wait to see what lay in store at Greythorne Manor. He often thought of Nora’s words: “If this is the life you are meant to have, the part of you that has been missing, you must go with him and explore it.”

Lying in the carved bed at night, he ached for her. Memories of their past together ran through his mind. What was she doing? Did she miss him as much as he missed her? He knew now that he loved her, and so he wanted her to be happy, but at the same time he imagined that she would somehow send word to him and implore him to come back.

Although the duke was doing everything in his power to make Lennox feel welcome at Greythorne Manor, he still felt out of step. Would that change with time? The two of them dined together each evening at one end of a long table. There were no smelly, panting dogs lying on the floor, no uninvited guests from neighboring estates, no ribald jokes. At the duke’s behest, the cook made an elaborate castle fashioned of sugar to welcome Lennox. The notion that someone had labored over this confection on his account was unsettling. He tried to imagine such a scene at Dunvegan, with his clansmen present. If one of the cooks, like Old David, had carried in a sugar castle, he would have been laughed out of the great hall.

The duke spent hours showing Lennox around the estate and invited him to ride Zeus, the impressive black gelding that had belonged to Charles. One day, when it rained, he beckoned Lennox to the library, where he taught him about their distinguished family history and showed him the numerous, valuable books on the shelves.

“You may take any of these to read,” his father said, then paused. “Oh, I may have spoken too soon. Has someone taught you to read, son?”

Stung, Lennox straightened his shoulders. “Aye, of course I can read—and write, as well. My mother saw to that.”

“I meant no offense, I assure you. I often forget that Eleanor was there with you until you were grown. She was very literate indeed.”

“Ma was not the only learned person on the Isle of Skye, I can assure ye.” Lennox softened his tone. “It’s hardly a wilderness.”

“Of course not. I have many friends who are Scots, and they are good people.” With that, the duke turned back to the books, showing them to Lennox one by one and suggesting which volumes should be read first.

On Lennox’s tenth day at Greythorne Manor, the duke made an announcement.

“Heller, my tailor, arrives within the hour,” he said, looking especially pleased. “You will soon have a proper wardrobe, son. How splendid you will look!”

Lennox managed to smile, yet it felt as if he was in a hole that kept getting deeper.

When the tiny, balding tailor came into the courtyard on horseback, accompanied by two assistants riding pannier-laden steeds, Lennox was summoned to the duke’s private apartments. His father stood off to one side but came forward to make introductions.

“It is an honor to meet you.” Heller paused to rake Lennox with an imperious glance before exclaiming,