Dark Duke(44)
He had never even considered that.
She sighed and headed up the stairs. She found her brother deep in his cups in their father’s study. He sat in the one remaining chair with a near empty decanter at his elbow. The room felt hollow with all the books gone.
He saw her and started. Narrowed his eyes against the gloom. “Kaitlin, is that you?”
“Yes, Callum.”
“Ach! Saints be praised. You’ve come back.”
“You knew I would.”
He staggered to his feet and folded her into an unwelcome hug. He was sweaty and damp and reeked of whiskey and desperation. “Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.”
She pushed him away. “I can’t believe what you did. Have you no shame?”
He blinked at her, surprised by her fury. Why he was surprised, she had no clue. His actions had been unconscionable. “I had to, Kait. You gave me no choice.”
“You have always had a choice. I was the one not given a choice, and don’t you forget it.”
“He’s not such a bad man, Kait. He’ll take good care of you. You could ask for worse in a husband.” He put out a lip. “Besides, it’s not as though you had other options.”
She ignored the flash of pain stabbing her heart. She knew it was true. No man would ever marry her, especially now. But she wished it could have been different.
She was a sensible girl, but couldn’t deny that hopes and dreams of Edward offering for her had skirted the edges of her mind. She’d banished them, each and every one. Each and every time. It was insanity.
He was a duke.
He couldn’t marry a fallen woman.
What they’d had had been wonderful. Beyond wonderful. But it was over now. She had to let that chapter of her life close and open the next. As lamentable as that prospect was. She would always have the memories of Edward, though. She would hold them tight in her fist until her dying day. “You must take me to the McCloud at once.”
“Of course.” He hiccupped, teetered. “First thing in the morning.”
“Now.”
“It’s a long drive,” he whined. “It’s cold outside. And I’m…I’m woozy.” He leaned toward her, and then, with a soulful groan, toppled to the bare floor. It was a pity he’d had to sell the carpet. It would have softened his fall.
Kaitlin nudged her brother with a toe and blew out a disgusted breath. They would have to wait until morning to leave because only Callum knew where the McCloud had taken Violet.
She trudged up the stairs to search for a bed. Naturally, the only one left in the whole of the house was in Callum’s chamber. Fortunately, he would not be needing it tonight.
Chapter Fifteen
Despite their determination to hie off to The Cloud with all haste, a broken wheel slowed them down and, to Edward’s and Ned’s consternation, they had to spend the night in a tatty inn until they could procure another carriage. They didn’t arrive at their destination until midday.
It was a gloomy day, befitting his mood, and the island was indeed wreathed in fog. It rose from the mist looking something like Mount Olympus, ominous, distant and impregnable. And Violet was there.
Two hulking nefarious creatures stood guard at a little dock on the bank of the firth. When Edward, Ned and Transom descended from the carriage, the men rose from their fire and bristled.
“We’re here to see the McCloud.”
One of the men, a hideous creature with a melted face, growled, “The McCloud don’t see visitors.”
“He’ll see me. We’re…old friends. Our business is urgent.”
The two men grumbled amongst themselves and then finally, the huge troll, a man named Mungo, nodded and waved to the skiff bobbing on the tide. “I’ll take you in.”
They frisked them, looking for weapons. They found none. Then, one by one, they climbed into the boat. It rocked with every movement.
“Oh,” Ned warbled. “She would have hated this.”
Mungo eyed Ned intently as he rowed them across the firth, into the swirling fog. As though he knew the way blindfolded, he steered the little skiff toward the far shore, landing at a dilapidated dock. He led them up the decrepit stone steps from the dock to the keep and into a great hall teeming with men in all states of drunkenness, despite the hour. The hall was filthy, the floor littered with scraps, the tables covered with old plates and overturned cups. A dingy pall hung over the chamber as the chimney sported a wide crack.
Boisterous cackles and shouts echoed off the stone walls. One large man dandled a serving girl on his lap and roughly fondled her breasts as she chortled. Several others were playing cards at the table and as they entered, a brawl broke out among them.