To Tame a Highland Earl (5 page)

Montgomery grinned. “Better than you, I
suspect. I see your two most recent dalliances up ahead there.”

Erroll scowled, but cast a quick glance at
the ladies, who were once again moving down the street away from
the bounder. “They are not my dalliances.”

Paisley’s brows rose. “There is too much talk
for that not to be true.”

“
What are you doing in
Manchester?” Erroll asked. “You never leave London.”

Amusement lit his eyes. “That is not true. I
am often in Edinburgh, more often than you, in fact.”

“
The family properties keep
me occupied in England,” Erroll said. And since his return from the
navy, he’d staunchly avoided the ones in Scotland.

“
I did not know your father
held property here in Manchester,” Montgomery said. “Or perhaps it
is your mother’s property?”

His friend knew neither his mother nor father
owned property in Manchester, and was purposely egging him on. “Are
you hiding from your father again?” Erroll asked.

His grin widened. “I am. He is being damned
unreasonable, as I imagine your father is, too.”

“
He is determined,” Erroll
agreed.

“
You cannot fully blame
him,” Montgomery said. “You have created quite a stir this
time.”

Erroll grunted. “I am innocent. For
once.”

“
You have not been innocent
since the schoolroom.”

“
As we met during my
university days, you cannot comment.”

“
Quite right,” Montgomery
agreed. “I do have a specific reason for seeking you out.
Cunningham asked me to give you this.” He pulled a letter from
inside his jacket and handed it to him.

Erroll recognized Lord John Cunningham’s seal
and frowned. Parliament was not yet back in session and the young
marquess was seeking counsel?

“
Bad news?” Montgomery
asked.

Erroll slipped the letter into his coat
pocket unopened. “I imagine it is more along the lines of
Cunningham feeling uncertain in regards to some inconsequential
detail.”

“
The marquess didn’t strike
me as a man prone to nerves.”

“
Sitting in the House of
Lords does that to a man.”

“
How is he doing?”
Montgomery asked.

“
Quite well. He’s young,
but enthusiastic, and smart as the devil.”

“
I would think it might be
better to be as cunning as the devil.” Montgomery laughed. “But
that is what he has you for. So, what are your plans while in
Manchester?”

Erroll eyed the earl. Montgomery was the only
Englishman he’d truly trusted while at Oxford, and one of the few
men he trusted at all. “What are you doing tonight?” Erroll
asked.

“
Attending a party or two,
I suppose. There seems to be a sudden rash of soirees taking place.
I cannot imagine why.”

“
How about meeting me
tonight?”

“
Am I to run interference?”
Paisley asked.

“
Something like
that.”

“
You’re mistaken if you
think I can be trapped by even those fine specimens of
femininity.”

The sisters had disappeared down the street,
but Erroll knew who he referred to. “You might find you like one of
them.”

“
I have no doubt I would
like both of them.”

Erroll wasn’t sure he liked that idea.

“
I might take one of them
off your hands,” Paisley waggled his brows, “for the
evening.”

“
They are not those sorts
of ladies.”

“
Really?” Montgomery said.
“When have you dallied with any other sort? The more reputable ones
can be…complicated.”

“
That is one way of putting
it,” Erroll muttered.

Paisley studied him. “You are not actually
smitten with one of them? The last time a lady captured your
attention was your final year at university. That was what, five
years ago? Not long before you signed up for the navy, if I recall.
You navy chaps have a wench in every port. Perhaps there is someone
you failed to mention?”

“
There is not,” Erroll said
with emphasis. “And there is not anyone now. I am simply
intrigued.”

“
Intrigued?” Paisley
laughed heartily. “Poor fellow. That is exactly how it starts. You
have my sympathy, and my agreement. I will make the rounds with you
tonight. That should prove more interesting than hearing third hand
accounts of your antics.”

“
There will be nothing of
consequence to hear,” Erroll replied.

But that didn’t mean he might not redirect
Miss Grace Crenshaw’s attention onto the Earl of Paisley. If her
attentions could be diverted to another man, and the elder Miss
Crenshaw remained steadfast in her refusal to marry him, he might
escape the ladies’ father with his bollocks intact.

Erroll was torn between jumping onto the
first ship leaving port and the lust that had persisted on his walk
back to the hotel. Paisley was right. Being intrigued by a woman
could only lead to trouble. Erroll climbed the final flight of
stairs to his hotel room. His wound ached just enough to remind him
of his folly, and he entered, his mind on the sherry he knew waited
on the small table near the parlor window. Erroll stopped short at
sight of his father sitting before the hearth, the sherry decanter
on the table beside his chair. He supposed he should be glad the
intruder was his father and not another disgruntled paramour.
Though he might prefer an angry woman to the marquess.

Erroll closed the door. “I did not expect
you, sir.”

His father finished the last of the sherry in
his glass, then set it on the table. “Then you are a fool.”

Careful not to favor his leg, Erroll crossed
to the table where the glasses sat and picked one up. “Only an hour
ago I told Tolland that I was not a fool.” Erroll went to the
decanter, refilled his father’s glass, then poured his, and seated
himself on the settee to the marquess’ left. “To what do I owe the
honor of your visit?”

“
I am here to oversee your
marriage settlement.”

So much for a getaway. Erroll considered
telling his father about the marriage contract in his jacket pocket
but, instead, finished his sherry in one swig. He would need a
second and a third before this conversation concluded. “You are
being a little premature. The lady is not cooperating.”

“
Which one?”

“
You heard about last
night’s events, I take it?”

“
All of England has heard.
Your mother will be none too pleased.”

“
You were not so cruel as
to inform her?” Erroll blurted.

“
I did.”

Of course he did. What better punishment
could he have meted out? “I doubt even her energetic persuasion can
induce Miss Crenshaw to marry me,” Erroll said.

His father hmphed. “Which Miss Crenshaw?”

“
The elder.”

“
Then marry the
younger.”

“
Tolland is quite adamant
that I marry the elder daughter. It seems I tarnished her
reputation even more than I did the younger’s—though, I must point
out, as I told you in Coventry, I did not sully that lady’s
reputation. I never met her until last night at the inn where I,
er, caught up with her party.”

“
She lied?” his father
asked.

“
Exactly.”

The marquess shrugged. “You’ve pled innocence
too many times in the past to be believed.”

Erroll poured himself another drink, then
lifted the glass in salute. “Quite right.” He took a deep sip.

His father watched him with a critical eye.
“If you insist on being a complete dissolute, the least you could
do is dally with Scottish women.”

And risk falling in love with one as you
did?
Erroll wondered. He lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“Scotland is rather a long way to ride for a beautiful woman. As
the family properties in England will not run themselves, I must
satisfy myself with the willing ladies of London society.”

“
And you think England is
too far away for me to set you straight?”

Erroll held his gaze. “It is my mess, after
all.”

“
You should have married a
Scottish woman, you fool.”

Erroll wasn’t married yet, but decided
against saying so. “Great Britain has come a long way since
The
Forty-Five Rebellion
, sir, but I would not ask a Scottish wife
to live among the lovely female wolves of the ton.”

“
Yet you bed them as if you
were Pope John the seventh himself,” he shot back.

“
I think you give me too
much credit. After all, I have not bedded your
mistress.”

His father’s features hardened. “I advise you
not to try. I made you. I can make another just like you.”

Erroll had no doubt of that, and the third
son would be even better than the second had been and far superior
to the first.

“
I shouldn’t be surprised
to find you had a dozen bastard sons running about,” the marquess
muttered.

“
I am quite
careful.”

“
Not careful enough to
marry a Scottish woman. That would have made a man of you. But that
is of little consequence now. You will marry one of the Crenshaw
sisters and settle down. You did not survive war only to drink and
whore yourself into an early grave.”

“
No need to worry, sir. I
have many good years ahead of me, unlike—” Erroll broke off at the
realization of what he’d been about to say. His father had finally
managed to rattle him. Erroll suddenly felt very tired. ”You have
made the trip for nothing.”

His father released a heavy sigh. “You must
let him go, Erroll. I have.”

Erroll went cold. “I beg your pardon?”

“
Your brother’s death was a
blow to all of us, but it has been over a year. What would he think
if he saw you now?”

“
He would recognize me as
the same man I always was.” Five years his brother’s senior, and
not the better of the two to carry on the title.

“
Be that as it may, it is
time you set aside your feelings and marry.”

“
And beget an heir, post
haste.”

“
That is only part of it,”
his father said.

“
The part that most
concerns you.”

“
You are the eldest. It is
your duty to have sons.”

“
I will no doubt have
them.” Then which world would he raise them in?

“
You may care little for
your future,” his father said, “but if my property falls to Lydia,
she will ruin your sisters and mother.”

Erroll wished he could argue, but his elder
sister was quite capable of wreaking vengeance on his siblings
because their father had sired two children with his mistress Moira
while married to her mother.

“
As you said, you can
produce another son,” Erroll said. “Not to mention, you have
provided the ladies an ample dowry and allowance. Mother’s jewels
alone will keep her and the girls comfortable, and my mother does
have property of her own.”

“
Would you have your mother
and sisters rely on her jewels for their livelihood?”

No, he would not, and said so.

“
I will not have my
holdings—not to mention Ravenhall—fall to Lydia and her husband,”
the marquess said.

“
I thought you liked
Connor.”

“
I do. He deserves better
than Lydia. But Ravenhall is not the Douglas ancestral home.
Generations of MacLeans have grown up there. Even you, though I
wonder if you remember.”

His father rose and crossed to the hearth
where he stared down into the fire, hands clasped behind his back.
He was silent for so long, Erroll began to wonder if he had said
all he meant to say.

Then his calm voice broke the silence. “You
have cinched the English noose more tightly around our necks.”

A rare flash of anger flared. “Is that how
you see my mother; an English noose strangling you?”

His father’s blazing eyes snapped onto him.
“You are never again to insinuate that I disparage your
mother.”

Shame coursed through him. He’d gone too far.
The truth was, it was King George III who had placed the noose
around their necks when he’d ordered the marriage of the newly
widowed marquess to an English duke’s daughter. The marquess,
despite his faults, knew his duty to king and family, and brooked
no disrespect against his English wife.

“
My apologies,” Erroll
said.

“
I am sorry your duty is
such a burden.” His father’s gaze bore into him. “Do you believe
Ash is powerful enough to protect your sister Olivia from Lydia’s
wrath once we’re gone?”

No. Sweet Lydia would sacrifice everything to
ruin the son and daughter of the marquess’ beloved Moira
MacLean.

*****

Kidnapping was a crime, but a wedding must
take place, and Eve had reconciled herself to the fact that she had
to get Lord Rushton married to Grace before their father enforced
his will. She slowed as she and her mother entered the ballroom of
Lord Grendall’s party. Her mother strolled on without looking back
as Eve scanned the crowd. Her gaze caught on a tall man on the
dance floor but when he turned, she saw he wasn’t Lord Rushton.
Nevertheless, her pulse refused to slow. He shouldn’t be here, but
the ballroom was immense and she could easily miss him in the
crowd. The time was ten thirty, and she hadn’t encountered him at
the other four soirees she had already visited. If all had gone as
planned, Lord Rushton had been shanghaied and was on his way to
Gretna where Grace waited to marry him.