The Highlander Is All That (Untamed Highlanders #4)(76)
All eyes snapped to her. She smiled blindingly. “Peter has proposed.”
“Oh good lord, no.” Esmeralda slumped again and this time Elizabeth suspected her faint was for real.
“Does anyone have smelling salts?” Bower asked, but again, no one was paying attention. Like a wave lapping the ocean, the girls swelled to the other side of the room and proceeded to congratulate Victoria with effusive hugs.
“I can’t believe we’re all settled,” Victoria gushed. But then she stilled and added, “Except Elizabeth, of course.”
“Elizabeth will be fine,” Anne said. “She can always come live with us at Bowermadden.”
To which Hamish snorted.
Victoria nodded, but her expression was one of sympathy. “She’s already had one suitor. I’m sure there will be others.”
“Naturally,” Mary agreed with a glint in her eye. “And the Darlington soiree is just the place for her to meet him.”
Elizabeth wasn’t sure what Mary was about, or her other sisters for that matter, but when she glanced in Hamish’s direction, he didn’t look happy in the least.
Which she could only take as encouragement.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bile boiled in Hamish’s gut.
Enough.
Enough. Enough. Enough.
He had had bluidy enough.
“Elizabeth,” he barked with perhaps too much impatience to be counted as loverly. “We need to talk.”
For some reason, his outburst seemed to alarm her. She lurched back. “I beg your pardon?”
“May we have some privacy?” he snapped.
Esmeralda settled herself into her chair and peered at him with owlish eyes. “No.”
Hamish blinked. “What do you mean, no?”
“By no, I mean no, my dear boy.” The old bat’s lips made a configuration that could only be described as smug.
“There are no secrets in the St. Claire family,” Victoria chirped.
Nearly everyone snickered at that, but Hamish was not amused. “I would like to speak to Elizabeth in private.”
She stood, looking elegant and regal and sad. She tipped up her chin and said, “Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of my family.”
Damn and blast. This was not how he wanted it done.
He sucked in a deep breath and just blurted it out. “I love you, Elizabeth. With all my heart.”
She sniffed. “But?”
“Is it the duke’s approval keeping the two of you apart?” Anne asked, in a far too knowing tone.
Hamish whipped his head around and gaped at her. “What?”
“Oh, leave off, Hamish. We all know the two of you are in love. And I know you’re worried that the duke will not approve.”
“How on earth did you—”
Anne smiled at Elizabeth. “Well, I’ve written His Grace to tell him what has been going on.”
Hamish’s knees threatened to collapse, so he sat with a thump.
“You have?” Ranald asked, pulling Anne into his arms and kissing her. “Was that what your letter was about?”
“That, and other things.”
“How thoughtful, darling.”
“I’m certain, any day now, his reply will arrive with his unqualified approval.” She smiled again at Elizabeth, who, to Hamish’s chagrin, glowered.
“Did you want to write the widow Dunn for her permission as well?” Elizabeth said in an acidic tone.
His chest clenched. He’d told her that was over. He had. Hadn’t he? “That is not fair.”
“Who is the widow Dunn?” Esmeralda asked.
“Hamish has a widow in Scotland,” Mary chirped.
Victoria glared at him. “You blackheart!”
“I don’t love her,” he sputtered. “It is Elizabeth I love.”
She sniffed. “He loves me so much he won’t marry me if his dear duke does not approve.”
“It’s no’ like that.”
“I don’t understand,” Victoria said. “Anne married Bower without permission. Didn’t you?”
“It’s hardly the same,” Hamish grumbled. “Bower has a title.”
Mary sniffed. “As though that makes a difference.”
“Of course it does.” He immediately regretted the words, because Elizabeth cringed.
“Well, none of that signifies,” Mary said in a cheery gust. “You have to marry her.”
An unnerving silence settled on the room.
Hamish narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Elizabeth flinched. “Mary, hush.”
Mary pursed her lips. “I think you know what I mean.”
“I most certainly do no’.”
“Mary. Please,” Elizabeth wailed. “This is not the time.”
The time for bluidy what? He speared Elizabeth with a curious stare, but she would not meet his gaze. In fact, she stood, clutched her stomach, said, “I think I shall be ill again,” and swept from the room.
*
The next night, Elizabeth smoothed down her dress and checked her reflection in the mirror. She was hardly in the mood for a party, but desperate for the distraction.