Return of the Scot (Scots of Honor #1) - Eliza Knight Page 0,77

dishonest to steal his family seat.

Lorne took her hand as their boots crunched on the gravel toward stone stairs. She paused a moment at the base, staring up at the turrets and shining glass windows that bespoke of Sutherland wealth.

“My goodness,” she breathed out.

“Aye, it only gets better the closer ye get, does it no’?”

“Infinitely.”

“I can no’ wait for us to make it our home.”

Their home… She smiled at him, wistful. Why did it feel like everything was bound to go amiss at some point? She wanted this so badly, and it felt as if it would be snatched away before she could truly grasp it all as a reality. As though it were too good to be true.

They climbed the stairs, greeted at the top by a line of servants and guards.

“Your Grace,” an elderly woman said. “Welcome back.” She slid her glance toward Jaime, a brow winging in question.

“Miss Andrewson, might I introduce ye to Mrs. Blair?”

The housekeeper’s mouth dropped open at Jaime’s identification, and for a moment, she felt her face heat, and she sank into herself. All of these people knew what she had done. Hated her for it. Would they pick up the closest thing to a weapon and shoo her out?

“My fiancée,” Lorne added. “We’re to be married as soon as we can get to the kirk.”

“So soon?” Mrs. Blair blurted out and then pressed her hands over her mouth as if she wanted to keep the words that she’d already let out from being expressed.

Lorne only laughed. “A long enough time has passed since Dunrobin had a mistress.”

“What about the ownership of the castle?” Mrs. Blair asked, staring accusingly at Jaime. “J. Andrewson?”

“This,” Lorne put his arm around her shoulders, “is the mysterious J.”

A cloud fell over the older woman’s face, and Jaime had the extreme desire to run away—and quickly.

“Oh, Mrs. Blair, no need to fash.” Lorne gave the housekeeper the same smile he’d used on her a time or two in hope of swaying her to his cause. “There has been a misunderstanding. And my fiancée has given me back the castle, and I, in turn, will bequeath it to her and any daughters born of our union.”

Mungo came around the duke and put his arm comfortingly around Mrs. Blair’s shoulders. “The lad is quite infatuated, and if I may be plain, the sentiment seems to be mutual.”

“Indeed it is,” Alison muttered behind them.

Jaime needed to make amends with the servants here at Dunrobin if she didn’t want to be hiding in her wardrobe for the rest of her life. Shanna’s letter dismissing them all in Jaime’s name had marked her as a tyrant, and she couldn’t let that be the way they saw her.

Out from under Lorne’s arm, she stepped forward and walked toward the housekeeper and other castle servants. Though it was difficult, she forced a smile on her face that she prayed held no trace of her nerves.

“I must apologize for what has transpired. Of course, I never knew the duke would come back, as I suspect none of ye did. And it was never my intention to cast anyone out. The letter ye received giving warning of such was no’ sent by me at all—ye’re all as welcome as ye’ve been for generations. I want nothing more than to make your duke happy.”

She thought it too soon to tell them that she was also a shipping magnate. They wouldn’t understand it, just as most people didn’t when they realized that it was her in charge of the business, hence the reason she often signed initial correspondence J. Andrewson. No one ever suspected she was a woman.

“And I want nothing but my future duchess’s happiness.” Lorne was beside her again, his hand slipping into hers. He glanced down at her. “And we need your help. All of ye. There’s been a lot of trickery afoot, which is why we came from Edinburgh by ship to arrive as fast as we could. If ye could all assemble in the great hall, I want to tell ye of what’s to come.”

“Aye, Your Grace.” The servants bowed and nodded, spreading into two lines that he led Jaime through, with the others taking up the rear.

Inside the castle, Jaime stilled at the grandeur. If she’d thought his house in Edinburgh was exquisite, this castle made Sutherland Gate look like a simple croft.

And now it was her home—nay, their home.

Husband.

Jaime stared in wonder at the man who was not but a few feet