Her lips pressed together. "I don't wish to marry!"

"We have that in common, at least." He forced his weary legs to move and crossed to a chair by the fire. Though it was insufferably rude to sit when women were standing, he dropped into the soft cushions with relief. "Trust me, Miss Hurst, if I could think of another way out of this, I would do it. But I cannot, and therefore we are stuck."

"Triona, you have your answer," her uncle said coldly. "Now come."

She stiffened.

Though Hugh appreciated her spirit, he nodded. "Leave the details to your uncle and me."

"But I-"

"Good night, Miss Hurst," he said firmly. He turned away and refilled his gla.s.s, even that simple movement costing him dearly. He could feel Triona's presence there, but he didn't turn to see her expression. There was no need; he could feel the fury emanating from her as surely as heat seeped from the fire.

Footsteps crossed the floor. "Come, Triona. Leave the beast alone!" Caitlyn urged.

Naturally, Nurse had to add her two pennies. "Och, 'tis a sad day when an innocent bairn canna even enter a carriage without a rogue takin' advantage o' her!"

Hugh swallowed a mouthful of port, his gaze locked on a knot in the wood paneling. Outside the wind began to stir, but fortunately Hugh was too exhausted to grow truly angry, and it quickly died down.

"Triona, it is late and we must go," Lord Galloway said, sounding as tired as Hugh felt. "It's rude to keep your poor aunt out on such a cold night."

There was a moment of silence during which Hugh could almost hear Triona's voice demanding that he join her in protesting their fate. But though she might be ignorant of the ways of the world, he was not. Grimly, he kept his face averted and silently willed her away. Suddenly, with a whirl of her cloak, Triona marched from the room, the others following.

Chapter 6.

"Listen closely, me la.s.sies. The MacLean men can be trusted with yer funds, yer family, and yer future, but beware givin' one o' them yer heart."

OLD WOMAN NORA TO HER THREE WEE GRANDDAUGHTERS ON A COLD WINTER'S NIGHT I would rather eat a raw toad!"

Aunt Lavinia blinked. "Triona, you have no choice. You're ruined."

"I don't care!" Triona whirled, pacing back and forth before the sitting-room fireplace. "I won't get married under these circ.u.mstances."

"But you must! And since you must, we should at least decide on the sort of flowers and laces and-"

"Aunt Lavinia, please," Caitlyn said from a chair by the front window. This was the first time she'd spoken all morning. "Triona has plenty to worry about without you pressing her whether to have lilies or roses for a bouquet!"

Aunt Lavinia looked crestfallen. "I just thought it might help her see the positive side of things."

Triona paused in her pacing. "Aunt Lavinia, this wedding is not going to occur. Neither Hugh MacLean nor I should be forced into this situation."

"My dear, society is very clear in these instances and-"

"I don't give a d.a.m.n what society says!"

"Triona! Proper ladies do not say such things!"

"Perhaps they should! Then more people might listen, and this must-marry silliness would be a thing of history."

"Lud!" Aunt Lavinia pressed a beringed hand to her bosom. "I'm having heart palpitations! Someone call Dr. Francis!"

Caitlyn turned to Aunt Lavinia, her eyes red-rimmed. "Please stop saying you're having heart palpitations. One day you will have them for real, and no one will believe you."

Aunt Lavinia's lip quivered, and her watery blue eyes traveled from Caitlyn to Triona.

Seeing the tears coming, Triona hurried to say, "Aunt Lavinia, I'm sorry I'm in such an ill temper this morning. It's just that when I awoke, it all piled in on me." She managed a wan smile. "I was so tired last night that I couldn't take everything in and I suppose, in some way, I thought it would all be back to right when I awoke."

Instead, she'd awoken with a distinct sense of dread, coming downstairs to an unusually early breakfast and finding Uncle Bedford already in his study waiting for MacLean. Meanwhile, Aunt Lavinia was in a flutter over "the coming nuptials" and talking gowns and flowers and so much nonsense that Triona had finally snapped.

Caitlyn had been oddly quiet this morning, her shoulders slumped, her face a mixture of regret and stubbornness. Triona knew that look well; Caitlyn always wore it when she was repenting one of her wild starts. "Cait, don't look so glum. It's not the end of the world."

Caitlyn gave a faintly hysterical laugh. "Triona, please do not be nice to me right now! I have made such a mull of things. If I could take it back-" A sob choked the rest of the sentence, and she covered her face with her hands.

"Caitlyn, don't!" Triona crossed the room to kneel beside her sister, pulling out her handkerchief. "Stop worrying, you goose. When MacLean comes this morning, I shall tell him I won't have him. No one can make me marry if I don't wish it."

Caitlyn dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief. "Yes, you must!"

"Nonsense. I don't care if I'm ruined. I have no wish for a London season, anyway."

"It's not that simple, Triona. Word would spread, and it would get back to Wythburn. People will turn from you and talk behind your back. You have no idea how mortifying that would be! People will be so cruel to you and say such horrid things and-Oh, Triona, you mustn't let that happen!"

Aunt Lavinia cleared her throat. "You know, my dear, perhaps if you knew a bit more about your prospective husband, it might make things easier for you to accept. Caitlyn, what do you know about Hugh MacLean from his brother?"

Caitlyn bit her lip. "Well...Hugh looks like his older brother, a bit broader in the shoulders, if not so tall. And he smiles far less often."

"He has a sense of humor," Triona said absently. "It's just very dry." The few times he'd smiled had sent an astonishingly warm thrill up her spine.

Caitlyn said, "Perhaps he's like Alexander, who doesn't smile in public often, but in private laughs frequently."

Aunt Lavinia frowned. "When did you meet him in private?"

Caitlyn colored. "Just once or twice." She looked at Triona. "There are alcoves in many ballrooms, hidden by draperies and potted plants. They allow one to rest away from the noise and heat and-"

"Caitlyn!" Aunt Lavinia choked out. "People use those for a.s.signations, and you should not have been in one of them at all! Lud, you'll be the death of me. When your mother and father find out about all that's happened..." She reached for her smelling salts. "Here I thought you were properly chaperoned, and you were meeting privately with MacLean all along!"

"Not very often!" Caitlyn returned hotly.

Triona regarded her sister narrowly. "Why meet him at all?"

Caitlyn's expression grew guarded. "No particular reason." Her voice was just a touch too casual.

Aunt Lavinia waved the smelling salts under her nose. "I am just glad you gave up your wild plan to stow away in that silly coach. You'd have been ruined, just like Triona!"

Caitlyn winced. "Had I known Triona would get involved, I never would have planned it. I didn't mean for anyone to get into trouble."

"Except yourself and Alexander MacLean," Triona pointed out. "Cait, you do know that if you had managed to win that proposal from MacLean, you could easily have ended up in the same situation I'm in right now."

"No, no! I was very careful about things, which is why I decided to abandon my plan to slip into his carriage."

"I wish you'd let Aunt Lavinia know that."

Caitlyn grimaced. "So do I. Triona, I vow to you that I was not going to risk my reputation. I was going to make certain no one knew about it but him."

Triona lifted her brows.

Caitlyn pressed her hands over her eyes. "Don't look at me like that!" She dropped her hands to her lap. "It was foolish of me to believe I could do such a thing without causing a scandal. I see that now. But at the time, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"If things hadn't gone as you'd planned and you'd ended up married to MacLean, he would have hated you for it and your marriage would have been a misery." Which was exactly what she was facing herself.

"I know," Caitlyn said quietly. "But when I came to London and met Alexander, I couldn't help myself. Grandmama has been telling us about the MacLean curse all our lives, and I wanted to see it in action. Not a scary amount, just enough to know that it was true. Like last night-I could feel Hugh's anger." She shivered.

Triona remembered how the wind had made the building shudder, threatened the windows, and made the shutters bang furiously. This is the man I'm supposed to marry? She shivered, too.

Caitlyn's gaze locked on Triona. "Now you know why I have been teasing Alexander, although he thinks I'm merely flirting with him. I'd been trying for weeks to engage him in a wager he would lose, so that he'd be vexed enough to lose his temper. But he kept winning, which made him gloat horridly instead."

Triona frowned. "Caitlyn, when you were wagering Lord MacLean, what were the stakes? You have no funds."

She shrugged. "It was perfectly innocent."

"Thank goodness," Aunt Lavinia said.

"All we wagered were a few kisses."

"Kisses!" Aunt Lavinia shrieked.

"Well, there was a little more than kisses, but only once-" At Aunt Lavinia's moan, Caitlyn hurried to add, "After that, we went directly to the wager you know about: whether or not I could force him to propose." She scowled. "I had everything perfectly laid out, too. I was to hide in the seat box and then come out when he changed the horses at the first stage. He'd have to admit that I'd won the wager, then."

Aunt Lavinia blinked. "And...would you have married him?"

"As if I'd have a braggart like that for a husband!" Caitlyn scoffed.

"What if you were genuinely ruined?" Triona asked.

Caitlyn grew serious. "I didn't think that could happen until last night, when I saw Uncle Bedford with Hugh MacLean. I wish you hadn't come to London to save me."

"It's too late now." Aunt Lavinia fanned herself with her handkerchief. "Leave things to your uncle Bedford. Hugh MacLean should arrive-" She glanced at the clock and frowned. "He should have been here ten minutes ago. Your uncle will not be pleased he's late."

Triona came to her feet once more, resuming her pacing. "This is outrageous! I barely know the man!"

"Oh, child, I'm sure that once you and Lord Hugh marry, you'll find some commonalities and be quite satisfied. I barely knew your uncle Bedford before he proposed, and I have grown quite fond of him over the years." Aunt Lavinia smiled. "I couldn't have asked for a more gentle and kind husband. I was quite fortunate and you may be as well."

"What if we discover instead that we hate one another? That he hates the way I use my fork, or the fact that I'm a little grumpy in the mornings-"

"A little?" Caitlyn murmured, rolling her eyes.

Triona glared at her sister before turning back to Aunt Lavinia. "Worse, what if there is something seriously wrong with his character? Perhaps he's a-a thief! Or kicks dogs, or hates living in the country? What if"-cold clutched at her heart-"what if he's in love with another woman?"

"He's not in love with anyone," Aunt Lavinia said with a.s.surance. "If he were, I would know. Every time he and his brother so much as look at a woman, people talk. Hugh MacLean tends to avoid eligible females, and has made it plain he has no plans of ever marrying."

"Lovely. He's averse to marriage in general."

"As are you," Caitlyn pointed out fairly.

"I am not! I am in favor of marriage, just not this one and not under these circ.u.mstances!"

In the past, when she'd thought of marriage, it had been to wish for a relationship like her parents'. Mother and Father were supremely happy; it showed in the way they looked at each other, as well as the pride they took in sharing their lives with each other.

Aunt Lavinia said in a buoyant voice, "Yes, well, I'm sure Hugh MacLean will welcome marriage now."

"Oh, yes. Being forced to do something is such a pleasant way to change one's mind about it." Triona rubbed her forehead. "And what little I know of him-that he eschews eligible women and possesses a temper that could blow away an inn-indicates that he'd be a horrid husband."

Caitlyn frowned. "I've never heard anyone speak ill of him."

"Nor I," Aunt Lavinia agreed. "Indeed, the only negative talk I've ever heard toward Hugh MacLean is about his illegitimate children. They say there are scores."

"Scores?" Triona asked weakly, sinking back onto the settee.

"Not scores." Caitlyn shot a dark look at her aunt.

Aunt Lavinia shrugged. "I'm sure people are merely exaggerating. There cannot be as many as people say, for the man can't be old enough to have more than five or six. Unless there were twins, or if he was seeing more than one woman at a time, which I suppose is possible."

She finally caught Triona's panicked gaze. "Oh my dear, look on the bright side!" Aunt Lavinia said in a cheery voice. "They say he quite lavishes his children with affection, and spends scads on their well-being."

"So?"

"So, he must have excellent funding! Your uncle will of course discover more, but it is a very good indication that you will not want for pin money, or have a cold house because there isn't enough coal."

"So all we know about Hugh MacLean is that his financial situation is unclear, he has an unknown number of illegitimate children, and the family curse is true. I've caught quite a prize!"

Aunt Lavinia wrinkled her nose. "Do not look at it that way. Surely-"

"Pardon me, my lady," intoned the butler. "Lord Hugh MacLean to see Miss Caitriona Hurst."

Chapter 7.