A Scot to the Heart (Desperately Seeking Duke #2) - Caroline Linden Page 0,84
letter of introduction to smooth the way and wished him luck.
His idea, after all, was a King’s Pardon, as ripe and juicy a plum as any criminal had ever been offered. It was legal absolution for all past offenses, not merely the most recent one. The skill and daring of the break-ins had suggested experienced thieves, with more than this sin on their consciences. All it would take was one thief, eager to clear his blotter with the law, to put an end to the robberies.
If he had to bear the impositions of the Carlyle title, he might as well seize the advantages.
But all that cost him several days, between riding to and from the lord advocate, and he’d not had a chance to see Ilsa since that last dinner at his mother’s home, before all hell broke loose and upended his days. They’d said only a simple farewell that night because Drew had never guessed how long it would be before he saw her again.
How blissful the life of ordinary Captain St. James seemed now, when he could hardly walk out of his borrowed rooms without being intercepted and importuned by someone, let alone escort a woman up Calton Hill for a walk, a conversation, even a kiss. Now it would be noted in the newspapers if he called upon her, and Drew didn’t want to do that after her speech the other day.
But he was desperate to see her.
Finally his sister gave him an excuse. Agnes had returned home after the robbery to help their mother sort out their losses, but she’d left a trunk at Ilsa’s. “Would you come with me to retrieve it?” she asked guilelessly.
“Of course,” he said, and saw from her smug smile that she knew he’d been dying to go.
Unfortunately Ilsa was not alone. At his entrance, her aunt and two older ladies curtsied in perfect unison before turning looks of calculating anticipation upon him. Ilsa alone gave him a smile, and he contrived to find a seat near her.
The conversation was wretched. The ladies tried to pry out of him how long he meant to stay in Edinburgh, the condition of the duke, and what his personal fortune was. They knew he had been to see the procurator-fiscal and wondered aloud about his role in the recent scandalous robberies; would he be called to the jury? They brushed aside or outright ignored Ilsa’s every attempt to divert the conversation, and when Agnes returned to say her trunk was ready to be carried home, it was with mingled relief and dismay that Drew leapt to his feet and made his farewells.
Ilsa followed them to the door. “Thank you for calling,” she said as Agnes deliberately stepped away and fawned over Robert, who had emerged from his room with a brisk whinny to beg for the apple she’d brought him.
Drew gave a soft huff of laughter. “Much good it did me.” He lowered his voice. “Perhaps you’ll reconsider haunting Duncan’s lodgings.”
Some of her usual spark returned. “If only I could.”
His sister was still cooing over Robert, so Drew took a chance. “Do you walk out tomorrow?”
“Yes, if the weather is fine.”
“Perhaps to the Botanic Garden?”
Her face brightened further. “Yes, I could . . .”
He bowed close to her. “I fancy a walk there myself, around eleven.”
With joy in her face, she whispered back, “I hope you have a very, very pleasant stroll, Captain.”
Ilsa didn’t go often to the Botanic Garden, which was a mile distant on the northern edge of town. It was the sort of place visitors went to see, or those citizens with a passion for plants and vegetables. Jean and her circle attended lectures there presented by a professor from the university, and that had been enough to dissuade Ilsa from going.
Today, though, she pinned on her new hat and put on her favorite morning dress, and asked Maeve to accompany her and Robert. The pony tried to amble up the familiar slope of Calton Hill, but pricked up his ears to explore somewhere new.
It was early still when they reached the garden, the plants dewy and lush. Ponies were not permitted, so she sent Maeve and Robert to wander in the field outside the walls. At the gatehouse there arose a problem; she had no order to visit, and it was not open to visitors until twelve. Ilsa hesitated uncertainly until the fellow asked her name. When she told him, he bowed and apologized, and opened the gate for her.