Free Rogue of the Borders by Cynthia Breeding Page A

and then back to Abigail.
    Abigail watched as Shane tried to deter the unspoken question. “Are your uncles about?”
    Momentarily, Bridget frowned. “Nae. Broc and Duncan have gone to Ireland on business. ’Tis been peaceful with them gone.” She turned her attention back to Abigail. “Who is your guest?”
    “Abigail Townsend. Whatever are you doing here?” Jillian walked down the steps carrying her baby daughter and stopped beside Bridget. “This is my sister’s good friend, daughter of the Earl of Sherrington.” Jillian smiled at Abigail. “So your father has finally given you permission to travel?”
    “You might say so,” Abigail answered cautiously, wondering just how Shane would explain what happened.
    “Let me introduce ye,” Shane said. “These are my cousins, Bridget, Shauna—” He nodded toward the russet-haired one and then gestured toward the beauty with the ebony hair. “And Fiona. These bairns—” He gave the girls whose shoulders were still pressed up against his sides a hug, “—are my sisters, Caitlin and Caylin.”
    “We are nae bairns,” the twins said in unison, their expressive green eyes accusing him of extreme insult. “We are near three-and-ten,” one of them added.
    “It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Abigail said.
    Fiona looked up at her. “Ye live in London?”
    She had the most beautiful eyes Abigail had ever seen. They were pearl grey, much lighter than Shane’s, with just a hint of blue. How to answer her question though since Shane had not yet explained the situation? “Ah…my father has a townhouse there, yes.”
    “Oh. I want to hear all about it. When Mari visited here, she invited me to come to London. I would so love to—”
    “Yes, we all ken ye want to go to London,” Bridget said as Ian joined their group. “’Tis nae the time to be discussing it when our guests have nae stepped down.”
    “And I said I would think on it,” Ian added as he gave Shane a curious look.
    Shane appeared to ignore the look and turned to help Abigail down from the wagon. One of the groomsmen who’d come to get the horses hurried to offer his hand to Kyla who gave him a slanted glance and a furtive smile.
    “I will have a room prepared for you immediately,” Jillian said to Abigail. “I hope you are not in any hurry to return to England?”
    “Ah…no. Actually, I would very much like to stay in Scotland.”
    “Of course. I remember how much you detest the Season,” Jillian answered. “You are quite welcome to stay for as long as you wish.” She smiled warmly at Shane. “It was kind of you to escort her here.”
    “I am nae one to follow London’s Society rules,” Ian said, “but I am wondering why Sherrington would allow his only daughter to travel such a distance in Shane’s company with only her lady’s maid.” He cocked a black brow at his cousin. “Is there something ye wish to explain?”
    Shane looked decidedly uncomfortable and then he took a deep breath. “Aye. It seems I have acquired a wife on this passage. Abigail and I married a fortnight ago.”
    The twins squealed and Fiona’s mouth dropped open while Bridget and Shauna narrowed their eyes speculatively. Even Jillian looked stunned.
    And Ian burst out laughing.
     
    Shane really didn’t see what was so funny as they made their way across the courtyard and into the hallway with Ian still trying to control his mirth. From the looks Bridget and Shauna were giving him, they didn’t see the humor in the situation either.
    “I am so happy for both of you,” Jillian said once they were seated in the parlor and her maid, Darcy, had taken Kyla to the servants’ quarters. “Although I had no idea the two of you were courting. Mari never said a word.”
    “I dinna ken ye were looking for a wife either,” Ian added, still barely able to control his grin.
    Shane would have taken great pleasure in wiping the smirk off his cousin’s face. Ian knew well enough Shane had had no plans to