A Scot to the Heart (Desperately Seeking Duke #2) - Caroline Linden Page 0,29

after a stupid idea.”

“But if he did not offer any,” she persisted. “If he said it was a silly whim, and refused to act until you came to your senses and changed your mind.”

Now he was frowning at her. “Is that how he treats you?”

“What would you do?” she asked again, feeling her face grow hot.

“I’d sack him on the spot. I wouldn’t put up with that from another officer, let alone a man in my own employ.”

Ilsa nodded, squinting at the sunlight glaring off the windows of the town as they drew nearer. “I thought so.”

“I was told you had concluded your appointment that day,” said Captain St. James cautiously. “But I fear . . .”

She gave a short laugh. “Oh, I suppose my appointment was over before it began. I’ve no doubt Mr. MacGill viewed your arrival as a gift from heaven above, offering him an excellent excuse for bundling me out the door as soon as he could.”

“So he tossed you out.” Now the captain looked and sounded quite grim.

Ilsa wiggled her shoulders to release their tension and took a deep breath. “Never mind about him. Thank you for answering my question, Captain.”

He glanced at her, still frowning in that appealingly stern way he had. “Sack him, Mrs. Ramsay. I intend to.”

She blinked. “Do you, now?”

“As soon as I can do so, at any rate.” He sighed, then forced a smile. “Which might not be for many years.”

He could do nothing until he was the duke. Ilsa still smiled. His outrage for her was more comforting than it ought to have been.

“Your sisters are very curious about your future position,” she said on impulse. “If I may offer a suggestion, as a friend, you could win their hearts with a little effort.”

“Ah,” he said, his mouth easing. “Agnes has spoken about it.”

Agnes had railed furiously against any move to England and declared her brother could go alone for all she cared. But no matter what she said, Ilsa knew her friend would be despondent if the rest of her family went.

“All of them have,” she told him. “Just this morning, in fact.”

He heaved a sigh so weary, so afflicted, she laughed in spite of herself. “It is the greatest trial I could inflict upon my family, apparently.”

He wouldn’t think that if he’d heard Winnie waxing eloquent about the parties and ball gowns she looked forward to in London. “Less than you might think. Once they realize the benefits and advantages it will confer, that is . . . Naturally, each will find something different appealing.”

“What do you mean?”

Ilsa didn’t even know why she was saying this. It was much more in her interest to keep her friends in Edinburgh. And yet. It was rare to have a happy family of siblings. The St. Jameses had not had it easy in all the time she’d known them. Ilsa loved the girls like sisters, and she wanted to see them happy. She hoped they would write to her from distant, elegant London.

“Edinburgh hasn’t nearly the elegant sophistication of London,” she said, pushing aside her own wishes. “They are intrigued by it, but also wary of the unknown. Perhaps a glimpse of how things will be would help set their minds at ease and even make them eager.”

A thoughtful frown knit his brow. “So . . . if I were planning to visit a ducal estate not far from here, to make certain it’s in good order?”

“If it’s a fine, elegant house, likely to impress and please, you might make a party of it,” she suggested.

He gave her a look so warm with admiration and gratitude, it nearly bowled her over; her knees felt weak. “A splendid thought. I’m in your debt, Mrs. Ramsay.”

Heart thudding, she waved one hand. “A trifle!” And then, before she could stop herself, she added, “Invite Mr. Duncan, too.”

He stopped short. “Why?”

Ilsa cursed herself for a meddling busybody who ought to stay out of Agnes’s personal affairs. “You have the look of a harried stag when your sisters swarm you. Another man might deflect some of their teasing. I thought only of your comfort, sir, in suggesting it.”

Now his gaze was searing. “Did you, now?”

“What else?” She blinked at him artlessly.

The slow smile that crept over his face sent a ripple of heat through her. “I’m grateful for every moment you’re thinking of me.”

“The only gratitude I want is for your sisters to be pleased with their future.” She was gazing back at him like