Page 55 of A Secret Scottish Christmas

Kit laughed. “And those two may present the greatest challenge.”

Muriel tapped her chin. “I’ve a keen fondness for a challenge. Both the twins are gentlemen and would make admirable husbands. Robbie’s a rogue, of course, but I rather fancy rogues. When they fall in love, they do it so ungracefully, so irreparably. ’Tis quite a thing to see. Nash is the more scholarly of the two, slower to action perhaps, but no less determined to succeed.”

Kit lifted her eyes from her sketchbook to study the skaters. “I think that is Nash skating with Ailie now.”

“I do believe you are right. I’ve been watching them. They seem to get on well together. Last evening they were arguing about politics, yet here they are today taking command of the ice together. I must ask Emily what she thinks of such a match, though I’d be sorry to lose the girl’s company in London. She could be the toast of the ton.”

Kit laughed. “She very well could. Your gracious invitation is still open then?”

“Indeed it is and I do hope she will accept.”

Slowly picking himself up off the ice, Robbie reached for his hat that had tumbled from his head in the fall. He rubbed his throbbing hip. Damn ice is hard on a man’s constitution.

Aboard ship, Robbie stayed out of the rigging. Amazingly, he had no trouble walking on a rolling deck. He was a fairly good shipmaster and an adroit navigator. His talent lay with charts and steering clear of rocks and shoals.

In London, he favored the gentlemen’s clubs where his game was brag, at which he succeeded more often than not. Ice-skating, on the other hand, he considered a trial by freezing cold and slippery terrain. That his younger brother, as he liked to think of Nash, was at this very moment adroitly skimming over the ice with the Mistress of the Setters came as a mortifying set down.

His sister-in-law, Tara, came to a perfectly executed stop in front of him. “Can I help?” In her scarlet pelisse and hat, she was a lovely sight for a wounded man.

“Ah, the Queen of the Rigging.” He rose to his full height, placing his top hat back on his head. “I might have known ’twould be you who offered a hand. Very gracious. May I propose we skate together to that bench over there at the edge of the pond where sits the countess and Kit?” After meeting Ailie, Robbie had begun to think of Martin’s wife as The Other Redhead.

Tara laughed. “I’d be happy to escort you.” She took his arm, for which he was most grateful, and they began to skate together. “In Baltimore, I practically grew up on the ice in our cold winters. Deep in the woods there were many ponds like this one. If you hadn’t been seeking to be the fastest man on the ice, Robbie, you would have done just fine.”

“You recognize me?”

“Nash does not move nearly so fast. But like the tortoise, he generally gets where he wants to go in the end.”

“Hmm…” he muttered, for the first time thinking of Ailie as the place Nash intended to go. Unsurprisingly, Robbie’s skating improved mightily in Tara’s company. Glancing at her blue-green eyes, he said, “’Tis hard for some of us hares to slow down, you know.”

“I do understand since I am married to one. But no matter. You will change with the right woman, just as Nick did.”

“Slow down, you mean?”

She laughed. “Hardly. That would be asking too much. But the right woman will make you less reckless. It will be important for you to survive for her, for your children.”

“Ah,” he murmured, as they arrived at the bench. To the countess and her companion, he asked, “Might I join you?”

“Yes, please do,” said The Grand Countess. Muriel smiled, reminding Robbie that while she might have the demeanor of a queen, she had the heart of a grandmother. “A charming rogue is just what we need to entertain us, isn’t it, Kit?”

Kit moved over to allow Robbie room to take the space between them. “Indeed. Robbie will most definitely liven us up.”

He thanked Tara for her assistance. She waved goodbye and skated off with elegant grace to where Nick waited for her.

Robbie unbuckled his skates from his boots. “How did you know it was me?”

“More like I knew it had to be you,” said Muriel in her dignified voice. “I believe it is Nash skating with Aileen, is it not?”

“It is.” Robbie let out a sigh as he watched his twin sharing laughter with the girl. The two appeared to be enjoying themselves. “He is much better on the ice than I am.”

“And you are better at flirtation and charm,” said Muriel. “I suspect the mothers in the ton hide their daughters when you enter the ballroom.”

“Why, Muriel,” said Kit, pausing in her sketching, “how ever did you guess?”

“I recognize a rogue because I married one.” The countess patted Robbie’s knee. “Reformed, they make wonderful husbands.”

“I do hope you are right, Countess,” said Robbie, “as I have recently thought of taking a wife.”

“Oh how the mighty fall!” exclaimed Kit. “Do your brothers know?”