Page 41 of I’ve Grown Accustomed to My Scot

Grace did not know what to say. Well, she knew what she wanted to say, but she was living in someone else’s house. When she looked up, she realized that Rory was at the door, silent and watchful. How long had he been there? He had probably heard everything.

“My sisters want to stay,” she said, and knew her voice was full of the anxieties she was feeling. “I can go to a—a hotel if you—”

He made an impatient sound. “Of course you won’t go to a hotel. Aunt Jennie would love them to stay here. And we can talk about what happens next when we know what this Hugo is planning.”

The two younger girls were watching Rory with interest.

“He can’t be bothered with us,” Prudence said tartly. “We overheard him telling his wife. They don’t have any children of their own, and they don’t want us ‘cluttering up their lives.’ They want to enjoy their new position in society.”

“Hugo was always jealous of our f-father,” Harriet hiccupped.

“That settles it,” Rory declared. “You will both stay here with us.”

Grace wanted to mention the house they had viewed that Rory had thought too small and suggest they could still move there, but the warning in his expression stopped her. She decided to bide her time and see if Rory grew to regret his generous offer.

Aunt Jennie arrived with a swish of silk skirts and a beaming smile. “You can stay as long as you both wish,” she told them as if there had never been another option. “Rory will deal with any arguments from Hugo.”

Rory narrowed his eyes at her but said nothing. Grace wondered if he was already feeling overwhelmed by all of these problems that weren’t his. Perhaps he did not want two more dependents in his life, as well as a wife he had never asked for.

“Thank you!” the girls cried, and Jennie laughed and received their hugs of gratitude with pleasure.

“I will inform Cook you need food,” she said. “When did you last eat, my dears?”

The girls gave her a hopeful look. “Ages ago,” Harriet said.

“We’re starving,” Prudence added.

“Then tell me, my dears, what do you like to eat? Or more importantly, what don’t you like?”

*

It was some time later when Rory found himself alone with his aunt. The girls had eaten and Grace was settling her tired and overwrought sisters in their bedchamber, with the help of Bothwell.

“I never thought of my cat as a calming influence,” Jennie said thoughtfully, “but he seems to be very popular with the three of them.”

Rory found it difficult to believe too. But he had other matters on his mind.

For a start, he was wondering how on earth he had gotten himself into this tangle. First a wife, and now he seemed to have acquired a ready-made family. It felt as if everything was moving at too fast a rate, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. He had acted from the heart when he married Grace, but ever since, he seemed to be digging a deeper hole for himself. And yet what was he to do? The two girls needed his help, and he was in the position to offer that help.

Jennie was smiling at him. He suspected she was finding it all very amusing that Rory was suddenly hemmed in on all sides by females who were looking to him to save them.

“You do know that little house you were looking at will not work?” Jennie said. “You need something bigger. Or you could always go home to Bonnyrigg and take them with you?”

Rory groaned. “Don’t remind me. What will my parents say?”

“I think you will have to tell them soon, Rory. They may already know. People talk. I find it is always better to tell the truth.”

“You’re right.” He took a deep breath. “Just let me get them settled and then I will think of something.”

“Rory,” she said quietly. “You cannot abandon these girls, and you cannot abandon Grace. If you truly do not want to take on the burden of them then you must tell them now so that we can ensure they are safe and looked after. I’m sure they will understand your kindness has its limits.”

Rory stared at her horrified before shaking his head decisively. “They might understand, but I cannot do such a thing to them. Did you see their faces? I could not live with myself if I walked away. I would be as bad as Ormsby, or Hugo.”

“James knows some legal fellow who can fight this will of Ormsby’s, but we may not even have to do that. Just the mention of a court case that could drag on for years and eat up all his money will frighten Hugo into handing over the girls to their sister. Especially when he doesn’t seem to want them anyway.”

Rory brightened.

“You are a good man,” Jennie went on gently. “But Rory, you cannot change your mind about this when things get too hard. You do know that, don’t you?”