Johanna Lindsay - The Heir

There had been one exception when poor Robert Willison had stopped to talk to her on her trek through Oxbow and had been treated to one of her spurts. He'd been so upset when she burst into tears in front of him that he'd gone off to fetch three of his neighbors to help.

By the time everyone converged on her, though, she had her emotions back in hand and had blamed the tears on a speck of dust that was bothering her eye, and reminded her audience that a good cry was the best way to wash one's eyes. They'd looked at her as if she were daft, but then, people often did look at her that way when she got into one of her silly moods, so that was nothing out of the ordinary.

Her aunts had decided she was "recovered" as well, though it had never been discussed just what her malady was. They knew it had to do with Duncan, but by unspoken agreement, they weren't going to badger her about it. It did come up occasionally, though. How could it not when Duncan's wedding was still the major topic of the neighborhood, and so it was hard not to mention it?

But they were back to thinking of other gentlemen who might "do" for her, and just last night when they were gathered in the parlor together after dinner, Alice mentioned a newcomer to the neighborhood.

"Sir Albert Shinwell is his name. He's building a manor house on the other side of Oxbow near that lovely meadow there. I heard he's just come into an unexpected inheritance, and decided on Oxbow for his country retreat."

Hilary nodded, adding, "People do tend to spend a lot of money when it's new money. Odd, that, but it happens all the time."

"I've heard he's also building in Bath and in Portsmouth. Sounds like it was quite a big inheritance." "He's not married, nor ever has been," Hilary put in. "That has been confirmed." "And he's young," Alice thought to add. "Not quite thirty yet."

Sabrina had no trouble figuring out where the conversation was heading by then. "I'll get around to meeting him, just do not bring him here to meet me."

"We wouldn't do that, dear, at least I wouldn't," Hilary assured her.

"Which implies I would?" Alice huffed. "I'm not so insensitive to not realize that our gel is not happy over the big wedding next week."

"No, just insensitive enough to mention it," Hilary shot back with a snort.

Sabrina stood up to get their attention off of bickering before they seriously got into it, and back on her. "It's all right. You don't have to tiptoe around me on this subject. It's true, like Aunt Hilary, I thought something more than just friendship might be occurring between Duncan and me, but I was mistaken. I will get over it. It was more a surprise than anything else, his reengagement to Ophelia, which I am recovered from. Really, I am fine."

She left them before she belied that statement with a quivering lip, but the two sisters looked at each other and both knew better.

"She's lying." Hilary sighed. "She's still quite devastated." "I know." Alice's sigh was a bit louder. "I'd like to take a club to—"

"So would I," Hilary cut in. "But what would that help? It's not as if any gel would have a hope of competing with someone like Ophelia, not even one as wonderful as our Sabrina, when men can be such blind idiots."

Alice might have giggled at that, if they both weren't rather despondent over the subject themselves. "Not that it signifies, but it's just as well, if you ask me. I wasn't looking forward to being condescended to by that old coot Neville again, if we actually ended up related to him by marriage. He made his sentiments perfectly clear, back when the scandal first broke in our day, that he wanted nothing more to do with our family."

"I'm not so sure it was just that," Hilary replied thoughtfully. "He made a remark to me at the party that led me to think it was more that he was disgusted over what our grandfather did, rather than that a scandal had come of it. He was chummy with him, after all. At least, they used to go hunting together all the time."

"What remark?"

"He asked me if idiocy still ran in the family," Hilary replied.

Alice flushed with heated ire that was reflected in her tone as she blustered, "Why, that hypocrite! Who was it let his daughter go off and marry a Highlander, then bemoaned that fact forever after? That was idiocy."

Hilary shook her head. "That was a circumstance that couldn't be helped after she went and fell in love with the man. What he should have done was kept them from meeting in the first place."

"You snubbed him, I hope," Alice replied, still indignant.

"Of course. But after thinking about it, I was sure he was merely referring to Grandfather shooting himself, which, you'll have to admit, has been our own opinion from time to time."

"Oh, well, all water under the bridge, as it were," Alice said, then went on to a new complaint. "But you never should have encouraged Sabrina into thinking she had a chance with young Duncan. It's not as if Neville would have allowed a match between them."

"Encourage how?" Hilary glared at her sister. "I have eyes, you know. It was quite obvious the boy was taken with her, though as it turns out, it was merely her friendship that he cherished," she added with a sigh.

"Can't blame him for that," Alice replied. "She is a joy to be around."

"Of course she is. However, you're wrong in thinking Neville would have objected due to the scandal. He wouldn't have liked it, but from what I've gathered, he just wants a new heir, and quickly. With such haste involved, they can't exactly afford to be hoity-toity about it."

"Sure they can," Alice disagreed. "That was the point of the gathering. Duncan had more gels to choose from than he needed, and look what happened. He ended up choosing the very one that Neville wanted for him."

"But did he choose her?" "What do you mean?"

"You know Mary Petty's daughter who is an upstairs maid at Summers Glade? I spoke with her this morning at the cobbler's. She says her daughter told her that no one at Summers Glade is happy about the upcoming wedding, least of all the bride and the groom."

"Neither of them?"

"That's what she said."

"Well, that doesn't make sense. Why are they getting married then?"

Hilary just raised a supercilious brow that had Alice snorting. "Nonsense. Not a breath of scandal has been hinted at—"

"Exactly," Hilary cut in with a smirk. "Forced marriages usually occur to nip a scandal in the bud before it has a chance to get started."

"A groundless assumption in this case," Alice noted. "You are merely guessing."

"Common sense—"

Alice cut in, "Who says you have any?"

"Humph, talking to you is like talking to a doorknob," Hilary complained. "Implying?"

"That you can turn the knob, but you still haven't sense enough to open the door."

"Or more than enough sense to know that there is nothing on the other side of the door worth seeing," Alice shot back triumphantly.

Hilary conceded. That was a rather nice comeback, after all, and though she'd never say so, she was proud of her sister for thinking of it.

This morning when Sabrina passed through Oxbow on her typical walking route, she had four encounters that pretty much convinced her to give up her old routines, at least for a while. It was one thing to get on with her life if she could avoid thinking about Duncan, but quite another when people inadvertently thrust him into her thoughts. Unfortunately, Duncan, still so new to the neighborhood, was going to be a major topic for a good long time. Sir Albert was also getting his share of gossip now, but Duncan, in line for such a lofty title, was still of more interest.

The first two encounters each told her that Duncan had gone off to London, most likely to buy his bride a special wedding gift. The third encounter, with old Mrs. Spode, was only slightly different.

Mrs. Spode was a cantankerous old lady, one of Sabrina's aunts' more amusing friends, and she scoffed at the "wedding gif" assumption, whispering to Sabrina that the young lord was more likely off on a last bit of oat sowing in London before the nuptials, especially since Lord Locke, a known rake, had gone with him.

"Now I ask you, would Lord Locke know where to find wedding gifts, or would he know where to find ladies of ill repute? The latter, of course. If the young lord comes back with a gif, it will be one of those unmentionable diseases." And the old girl had cackled at her own wit.

Sabrina did not encourage that conversation, in fact, left Mrs. Spode in what might be considered very rude haste. But before she could get out of town completely, she had her fourth encounter.

This one was the worst, with Duncan's grandfather. Not Neville. Him, she probably could have managed quite nicely—if she could have gotten past the shock of finding him in Oxbow. But it was the Scots grandfather who hailed her as he came out of Oxbow's combination inn and tavern, the grandfather she hadn't actually met yet, though he seemed to know her well enough to call her by name.

"Yer Duncan's friend Sabrina, aye?" At her nod, he continued, "I had been meaning tae meet ye at Summers Glade, but ye stopped visiting. I'd wondered at that. Most o' the other lassies hied it back tae London when they didna win the lad, which was understandable. But ye now—I didna think ye were there for that."

"I wasn't."

"Then why did ye stop coming?"

The direct question, and in such an accusing tone, caused a blush. Unfortunately, Archibald noticed it and interpreted it correctly.

"Sae, 'tis like that, is it? Ye've let yerself feel more for the lad than friendship?"

To admit that, to him in particular, was almost a guarantee that it would get back to Duncan, which, under the circumstances, was the very last thing she wanted. Lying, though, which she abhorred doing but had no choice but to do in this case, caused an even worse blush.

"That isn't the case a'tall. Duncan is charming, I like him a lot, but really, just as a friend."

His expression was skeptical, even though he went along with her assertion by saying, "Och, I'm glad tae be hearing that. No' that ye arena a sweet lass, I'm sure, but ye ken auld Neville was worried aboot the amount o' time the lad was giving tae ye, and Duncan did assure us o' that same thing, that ye are merely a friend, albeit a verra good friend. I'd hazard e'en tae say yer his best friend just now, which is why I found it strange that ye'd desert him in his—"

"Excuse me?" she cut in, her voice quite stiff now, but because of that "worried about the amount of time" remark, which, of course had to do with her scandal, rather than his last accusation. "How have I deserted him? Just because I was feeling a bit under the weather and kept to my bed for a few days doesn't mean I have deserted him. And I have spoken to him since the engagement."

"Ah, well, I didna know that," he replied, and then uncomfortably, "Did he, ah, mention tae ye aboot the, er ... silliness that led tae his—"

He coughed, giving up trying to ask her what had been confided to her, without actually mentioning what might have been confided. She almost laughed over his difficulty, though it wouldn't have been with much humor, when the subject was still so painful.

But she did take pity on him and admitted, "If you mean did Duncan tell me that he didn't actually ask Ophelia to marry him, and mentioned to me what led to their renewed engagement, yes, he did."

Archibald sighed in relief. "Then I can speak freely. Good, I dinna like pussyfooting around a subject. This is why I was concerned wi' yer absence, lass, ye ken? He's in need o' friends just now. I hope ye were able tae cheer him a wee bit when ye spoke tae him?"

Cheer him? That had been a very painful encounter with Duncan that day on the road. Hearing that he was forced to marry Ophelia was almost as bad as thinking he wanted to. But then she had two very different accounts on their relationship from the both of them. Ophelia was known to lie, so her assertion that Duncan was still passionate for her might have been fabrication, and yet, what if Duncan's assertion that he didn't want Ophelia was the lie instead?

He had reminded her that the only real compromising had been done to her. Had that been his intent all along? Had he asked Ophelia to marry him in a moment of passion and quickly regretted it as soon as he left her? Then used Sabrina to give him a way to get out of it?