Chapter 9

Dearest Cissy,

I received your letter just this morning and cannot tell you how much it cheered me. It was indeed a trying ordeal, but I am perfectly well and unharmed. For the moment, I shall spend some time with Lord and Lady Buchanan at Wildsyde Castle, and I must tell you it is every bit as romantic and beautiful as you might imagine. I love it here, Cissy, and I want to stay with all my heart, for I feel it is a place where I could be myself and have a happy life if I had a husband I could be content with. As for marrying Muir Anderson, however, that I cannot tell you.

I know so little of men and their ways, Cissy, and I do not know what to make of him. He is so very handsome, and he makes me feel things I have never experienced before, yet I do not know him well. I know he is a good man, and an honourable one, but I do not know if he would make me a good husband, or for that matter, if I should be a wife he could be content with. I do not even know if he likes me; I know he feels aggrieved at being trapped into marriage. Yet sometimes it's so easy to be with him, and the way he looks at me makes me think perhaps he does like me a little, and then he says something that makes me furious, and it all goes wrong.

It is all happening so fast, and I feel I have little control over my fate. For the time being, I have told him I will not marry him, for I believe as much as his intentions are honourable, his resentment at being caught in this ridiculous situation is colouring his feelings. Sometimes I think we are well suited, but at others I see he is a stubborn creature and I know I would have to battle hard for the things I want. I've never considered myself a very strong person, Cissy, and I'm afraid to make the wrong choice. How I wish you were here to give me your advice and make me brave, for I was always so much braver when I was with you. I promise you I will try to be strong, for my own sake.

―Excerpt of a letter from The Lady Cordelia Steyning to The Lady Narcissa Anderson.

31 st March 1850, Wildsyde Castle, The Highlands of Scotland.

The next day, Delia came down the stairs to a deal of excitement, as a coach had been seen in the distance coming towards the castle. Delia prayed her letter had got through to Wrexham, for she did not feel equal to seeing him. She had eaten breakfast in her room this morning, for she had slept ill, plagued with thoughts of the row she'd had with Muir… and of the way she had felt when he had touched her.

That there was something between them was obvious enough, but that he only seemed to feel it only when he wasn't honour bound to marry her, seemed equally clear. She should never have let him kiss and touch her so after having refused his offer of marriage. It had confused everything, and he likely thought the worse of her for having done so. Judging from the giggles she'd heard from two young maids this morning when they passed her in the corridor, he'd certainly been right enough about the gossip. Her refusal to marry him in the face of it had certainly shocked him.

Perhaps he believed now that she had led Enoch on and had deserved to be abducted. Uneasily she banished that notion, telling herself that Muir was too decent a man to think any such thing. That he must think her bold and most unladylike, however, was a notion she could not shake. Yet the arrogance of the man, changing his mind again and saying they must get married, after confessing the arrangement was what had kept him away…! And so, her emotions lurched from anxiety to dismay to fury and back again, until she felt quite exhausted.

"Who is it?" she asked Luella as that lady appeared in the hall, hurrying towards the door.

"It's Hamilton, Lyall and Muir's younger brother," Luella replied with a smile. "Brace yourself, my dear."

Not knowing quite what to make of this statement, Delia watched with interest as the coach drew to a halt and the door swung open. A man stepped down from the carriage, took one look at Luella and grinned broadly.

"Now that's what I like to see, a bonnie lassie come to greet the prodigal, aye?" he said, reaching for Luella and grasping her by the waist, swinging her up in the air and around before setting her down again.

"Hamilton!" Luella exclaimed breathlessly, putting a hand to her hair and flushing pink as she glanced at Delia. "We have company, you dreadful creature. Behave yourself."

"Oh, aye?" Hamilton said, turning his attention to Delia, who felt colour rise to her own cheeks at the intensity of his gaze. "So we do, and pretty company it is too, are ye no going to introduce me, Luella?"

"Only if you behave yourself. Delia, do be careful, this fellow is the most dreadful rogue, but I had better do the thing properly. Delia, please meet Hamilton Anderson. Hamilton, the Lady Cordelia Steyning."

"My lady," Hamilton said gravely, giving her a formal and very elegant bow, though there was a wicked twinkle in his eyes as he did so. "I am very pleased to make yer acquaintance."

"Delia is betrothed to Muir," Luella told him sternly as he raised her fingers to his lips.

"No, I'm not," Delia said, before she could think better of it. She had not yet had the chance to explain things to Luella and had intended to do so in private that morning. Blurting the thing out on the front doorstep in front of his brother was hardly polite, but it was too late now.

"What?" Luella said, aghast, as Hamilton gave a burst of laughter.

"I dinnae blame ye, lassie. One look at me and ye decided the younger brother was the one to have, aye?"

"Hamilton!"

"Sir!"

Both Luella and Delia turned on him as one and Hamilton returned an unrepentant smile.

"Ach, I'm only pulling yer leg, my lady. Luella. Don't murder me before I get in the door. I beg your pardon, only I could nae resist. Forgive me?"

He gave them a smile that was somehow both sheepish and wolfish, which was quite something to behold, and Delia decided Muir's younger brother was incorrigible and ought to be treated with a good deal of caution.

"I think we had best go inside," Luella said, sending Delia a worried glance. "Delia, we'll talk about this in private once I've shown Hamilton to his room. How long are you staying with us?" she added to her brother-in-law as she led him up the stairs.

"Trying to get rid of me already, pet?" he asked as he hefted a large bag one of the footmen had taken from the luggage rack on the coach.

Luella sent him an impatient look, and he relented.

"I dinnae ken. I came to see Muir, for I've heard many outlandish tales about what he's been about of late, and then I got a letter from Lyall telling me I'd best come at once for our brother is in rare form and has got himself into a deal of mischief. So here I am, come to put the world to rights, aye?"

"Well, it was very kind of you to come and support your brother," Delia said, realising that despite his banter, his intention had been to be beside his sibling during a difficult time.

"Aye, it was," he said, for apparently modesty was not one of his traits. "And much thanks the devil will give me for it, I dinnae doubt," he added with a sigh.

"I'm sure he will be most appreciative," Delia replied, to which comment Hamilton only snorted.

"He'll send me off with a flea in my ear and tell me to stop sticking my nose in other people's business, but that's what I do, and no one ever got rid of me using such tactics as those, I can assure you."

Delia did not doubt he was correct. Watching as the footmen unloaded the rest of the luggage, Delia went back outside, looking up at a sky that was a vivid shade of blue. The sun shone on her face, warming her cheeks, and for once the wind had dropped, making it feel like spring had arrived at last. She did not much want to discuss her refusal to marry Muir with Luella. Not at the moment, and thoughts of escaping before the young woman returned were too urgent to be denied.

Delia jumped as a cold, wet nose pressed against her fingers, followed by the swift swipe of a warm tongue. She looked down to see Murdoch watching her expectantly.

"Good morning, Murdoch," she said, stroking the great dog's head.

Murdoch wagged his tail, still staring at her.

"Was there something you wanted?"

" Ooof! " His low, deep bark made her smile, and she nodded.

"It is a good day for a walk, I agree. Should you like me to come with you?"

" Ooof! "

"Very well, just let me fetch my cloak," she told him, not needing any further excuse to escape, and hurried off, unsurprised to see Murdoch waiting patiently on the doorstep for her when she returned. "Come on then, show me the way," she said, smiling as Murdoch bounded joyfully ahead, before turning to watch if she was following.

He led her out of the castle and along a well-trodden path while seagulls shrieked overhead. The path eventually took them beside the edge of a sheer cliff that looked out upon the North Sea. Today the water was calm and rivalled the blue of any she had seen when she had journeyed through the Mediterranean with her brother.

She sighed, remembering that little excursion had been arranged to remove her from society last year. It had been a terrible season for Delia. Somehow, she always managed to say not only the wrong thing, but the thing that made people stare at her as though she had grown a second head. If only she could learn to hold her tongue, she might have survived, but instigating a one-sided conversation with roast suckling pig at Lady Banbury's lavish dinner party had been the last straw. She had only been funning, as the man sitting on her left had been the dullest creature on God's green earth, but she had become a figure of ridicule and Wrexham had decided the best thing was to take her away until everyone forgot about it. She sighed, pausing to tie the ribbons of her bonnet tighter. The wind had picked up this close to the cliff's edge, billowing her cloak out behind her like a sail.

"My lady!"

Delia turned at the sound, a little disconcerted to discover Hamilton waving at her. She waved back, standing still, as that seemed to be what he expected.

"Thank ye for waiting," he said, sounding a trifle breathless. "I saw ye from the bedroom window and thought I would come and have a word. I just wanted to be certain I had no offended ye. I am a deal too free with my words and my opinions, I'm afraid but I was only baddering ye."

When Delia stared at him blankly, he translated.

"I was larking about, teasing ye."

"Oh, yes, I gathered that much, sir," she said, looking at him with interest. All three brothers were very similar in looks, the same broad shoulders, the same tawny colouring, and yet Hamilton seemed far more gregarious than Lyall who was more taciturn, and even than Muir who seemed to pitch from gregarious to reserved in a short space of time. Of course, she did not know any of the brothers well enough to judge, but the distinction seemed quite apparent on the surface, at least.

"Ah, call me Hamilton. There's nae need to be so formal out here. Wildsyde is a place apart, ye ken. Not quite the real world."

"Yes!" Delia exclaimed, pleased to have her own thoughts spelled out so clearly. "Yes, that's exactly how it feels. Like time moves slower here somehow."

Hamilton nodded sagely, apparently taking her words seriously. "That's it. There's a magic here. The others dinnae ken it, for they live here all year round give or take a week here and there, and even Muir is nae absent for long, but I live in Wick now, and 'tis a bustling place, bursting with life of all sorts. It's a place for a man to make himself, but there's nae magic. I miss this place a good deal, but I have things to do, a name to make for myself, and so I must make my fortune before I can return."

Delia regarded him with interest. "You mean to return, then?"

"Oh, aye, one day. When I have a wife and intend to settle down and have some bairns. God willing, I shall build my wife a fine house and we'll be peaceful here. But for now, I am a busy man," he added, winking at her.

"Luella told me you run the herring boats, and that you have recently bought a distillery?"

He laughed softly and nodded. "Aye, something like that," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Am I to take from that you are rather more successful than that description implies?" Delia asked, knowing she ought not to ask such a thing, but she was too curious not to.

"Yer a shrewd lassie," he said, stooping to pick up a stone and throw it out to sea. "And aye, I'm doing well enough. Shipping is making my fortune for the moment, but I have high expectations for the distillery, too. The world is moving fast, Delia, and if a man wishes to keep up, he must move fast too. Why are ye nae marrying my brother?"

The non-sequitur took her by surprise, and it took her a moment to gather her wits.

"You are very bold, sir," she said, more as a statement of fact than a criticism. He seemed to take it as such too, and only nodded.

"I ken it well enough, but I'd like to understand the reason all the same, if yer willing to tell me."

Delia considered this. She was not entirely comfortable discussing the situation with Muir's brother and yet he seemed very easy to talk to. The urge to unburden herself was too tempting, despite the fact she'd run away to avoid doing the same thing with Luella.

"Muir is a good man, and an honourable one. If you know anything about what happened, you must know he saved me from an appalling situation and put his own life at risk to do so. I owe him very much, and so I will not force him into a marriage he does not want."

"He disnae wish to wed ye?" Hamilton asked, his surprise evident, which made Delia feel a good deal better. "Is he mad?"

Delia laughed, shaking her head at him. "You, sir, are a wicked rogue, just as Luella warned me. Of course, he does not wish to marry a woman he barely knows. Who would?"

"I would," Hamilton said frankly. "I'm an excellent judge of character and I trust my gut. It's got me this far, and that's a deal more than most men, let me tell ye. So, if ye are looking for a husband still, I'll wed ye and be pleased to do so."

Delia gaped at him in astonishment, hardly able to believe her ears. It took her a long moment to gather her wits sufficiently to respond. "You cannot be serious."

His expression said otherwise, his eyes calm and grave as he stared back at her. "Aye, I am. But let me be plain, lassie. If there is something between ye and Muir, I'll not get into that. My brother is my blood, and I'll do nothing to drive a wedge between us. However, if it's just that ye must wed to get out of the situation ye find yerself in, well, I'm here and I'm willing."

"Why on earth would you do such a… a foolhardy thing?" Delia demanded, so shocked she hardly knew what to think. "You don't know the first thing about me."

He flashed her a quick grin, and she saw a shrewd glint in his eyes. This man was intelligent, right enough, and she doubted anyone could make him do anything he did not wish to do. "Ah, well, that's where yer out, lass. I ken a good deal. I know ye are kin to a duke and a marquess, and that's never a foolhardy match for a man with ambition. More than that though, Lyall and Luella think a good deal of ye. Lyall especially widnae give ye such praise without reason, for he has been burned himself by an unfortunate marriage. But none of that matters more than what I feel in my gut… if ye will excuse me for being so indelicate. Yet, when I ken something is right, is a good thing, solid, dependable, true in every way, well I feel it in here," he said, striking his midriff with his fist. "And I ken yer a good, kind female, and ye have a twinkle in yer eye which pleases me. Also, yer a fine-looking woman and I would be proud to have ye on my arm."

Rather stunned by this, Delia could only stare at him in bewilderment.

"I'm sorry if I have shocked ye," he said, studying her with a regretful smile. "I'm told I'm a bull in a china shop and I cannae deny it."

"Luella did tell me to brace myself," Delia admitted faintly.

Hamilton laughed. "Aye, and ye ken now that she had good reason. Ye will think on it, though?"

Delia nodded, for though she could not imagine herself married to such a whirlwind of a man, she could not deny his interest was a balm to her pride. She had never judged Muir for not wishing to marry her, or for his confession of feeling trapped by the situation. Indeed, it seemed an eminently sensible reaction. It was only the way he blew hot and cold that made her furious with him. All the same, to know his brother would marry her, when he had no reason to do so, was a much-needed boost to her morale.

"Have ye visited the beach yet?" Hamilton asked, after walking beside her in silence for a few minutes. He was not a restful presence, and she thought perhaps the quiet was difficult for him to endure for long, so she turned to him with a smile and shook her head.

"Is there one?"

"Aye, 'tis a splendid place for sea bathing when the weather allows it. If yer brave enough, at any rate, for the sea is cold enough to wither yer—er—it's a tad chilly," he corrected hastily, before giving her a swift grin that made his eyes sparkle. Delia suspected he was a popular fellow with the ladies and used to getting his own way. "Would ye like to see?"

"I would," Delia replied, taking his proffered arm.

Up ahead, Murdoch barked impatiently.

"Aye, he kens where we are going right enough," Hamilton nodded, and they set out after the dog.