“They don’t want us there.” Jamie started off down the street, shutting off the discussion. “Take my word for it.”
Alec laughed suddenly, his sunny countenance driving away his dour expression. The real Alec, when he let himself relax, was more like Aunt Eleanor, finding humor in the direst situations and charming all around him.
“Go soak your head,” Alec said good-naturedly. “I’ll brave Mum’s wrath and go home. I’ll tell her this was your doing.” He waved at his swelling face.
“Oh, thank you. Then Aunt El will light into me, and my life won’t be worth living.”
“The least you can do to repay me for fighting those toughs off you. Think of it as your gratitude for me saving your life.”
“Saving my—” Jamie broke off, realizing Alec was baiting him. Usually, Jamie would laugh with him and send him off. What was the matter with him today? “I was talking those lads around into having a drink when you dove into them like a Highlander in a clan war. You can take the blame for your own injuries.”
Alec laughed again. “Go home and calm down. I’m too peckish to argue with you now. Love to Aunt Beth and Uncle Ian. And your obnoxious sisters.”
Without waiting for an answer, Alec swung the laundry bag over his shoulder and headed back up Baker Street toward the Underground station. Jamie watched until Alec had been swallowed by the stairs that led down to the platform, then he turned his own steps south toward Hyde Park.
He hadn’t decided where he’d go this evening until Alec’s parting words, but Jamie realized that the comfort of home would be the best thing he could do for himself on the moment. An evening around the dining table with his family would be a balm on his restless soul, if only a temporary one.
Jamie whistled for a cab, leapt aboard one that slowed for him, and directed it to Belgrave Square.
Gavina Mackenzie stopped short as she entered the parlor of the Chelsea house she shared with three other young women, including her cousin Belle.
Her younger cousin Alec turned to her with a flare of coat, the left side of his face sporting a spectacular set of bruises.
“Good lord,” Gavina said sharply. “What the devil happened to you?”
“Jamie happened.” Alec’s grin pulled at his puffy lower lip. “No, he didn’t actually do this. But I want to know what he’s up to. Dearest coz, will you do me a favor? A bottle of Dad’s best whisky if you do. Besides, you’ll know what Jamie’s hiding too.”
Alec explained, and Gavina brightened, the ennui that had crept over her this dull afternoon evaporating.
“Of course, I’ll do it,” she said with enthusiasm. “I’ll go straightaway.”
Jamie arrived at the Belgrave Square house just as Baines was about to serve supper. Without turning a hair, the butler, who’d been with his parents for the past decade, ordered a footman into the dining room to set another place for Jamie.
Jamie’s mother, Beth Mackenzie, skimmed down the stairs as another footman took Jamie’s coat.
“There you are.” Beth kissed Jamie’s cheek and smiled up at her tall son, her eyes as bright as ever, her dark hair barely threaded with gray. Jamie’s first memories were of his mother’s smile and brilliant blue eyes.
“Here I am,” Jamie responded, returning the kiss. “Were you expecting me?”
“No, but I heard you’d journeyed up from Southampton. Violet sent word. I hoped the prodigal would return to the nest.”
Jamie wound his arm through his mother’s and escorted her into the dining room. “You are mixing metaphors, and I live a short distance down the road.”
“Yes, but you’ve been wandering the world and don’t always stay in London long.”
That was true. He’d only been home from his latest journey—this one to the back country of Australia—a few weeks.
Jamie led Beth to her place while the footman hurriedly finished laying the silver at Jamie’s customary spot. Except for the three of them and the butler, the room was empty.
“Where is everyone?” he inquired.
“Belle is at home—her home—and your father is … ah, here.”
Beth’s smile warmed as she beheld Ian Mackenzie, tall and unshakable, his kilt moving as he strode into the dining room. His brow was furrowed as though he pondered the secrets of the universe, and knowing Ian, he likely did.
Ian’s scowl dissipated as he leaned to kiss his wife on the lips. The kiss turned lengthy, Beth’s hand coming up to rest on Ian’s chest. Jamie, used to the constant displays of affection between his parents, studied the ceiling until they were finished.
Ian straightened, his hand lingering on Beth’s waist as she took her seat. Ian released her, then briefly met Jamie’s gaze and rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Son.”
That was all, one word, but in it, Jamie read warmth and a gladness of Jamie’s presence.
Jamie had spent his life interpreting the emotion behind his father’s perfunctory sentences, learning the great caring and love that lay within Ian Mackenzie.
A rustling of skirts announced Jamie’s youngest sister, Megan.
Megan had inherited her mother’s beauty without doubt. Her hair was a rich, dark brown, her eyes the deep blue of Beth’s. She had Beth’s gentleness as well, though Jamie knew that Megan’s kindness did not mean she was meek. His sister had a backbone of steel when she needed it.
Megan wore a mauve tea gown that was too subdued for Jamie’s taste, she at twenty-three deciding she should no longer wear frills and laces. She wanted to appear a serious composer and teacher of music, not a frivolous girl.
“Evening, Megs.” Jamie pulled Megan into a one-armed embrace and kissed her smooth cheek. “Teaching the scales to brats still entertaining you?”
Megan returned the kiss with a reproving look then took her place at the table across from him. She unfolded her napkin before the footman, who strove to be utterly correct, could do it for her.
“I’ll have you know I have a new post. At a country house in the Cotswolds. I begin at the end of summer.”
Jamie glanced at his father in surprise. “Truly? So far away?” Ian did not like his brood to wander, as he’d told Jamie many a time. Ian had given up trying to make Jamie stay home, but Belle and Megan had been happy to remain close.
“It is quite exciting.” Beth tried to sound quite excited, but didn’t succeed. She liked her offspring nearby as well.
“Do tell.” Jamie took his seat, hitting his chair at the same time Ian did his.
“My employer is Lady Alford,” Megan said as the footman brought around the soup under Baines’s watchful eye. “She has a daughter who is very gifted, and Lady Alford is looking for the teacher who will bring out her talent. Her exact words.” Megan beamed.
“Hmm.” Jamie accepted a ladleful of creamy soup. “Very gifted could mean extremely difficult.”
“Not at all. I’ve met the girl. Hortense is as sweet as sugar. I spoke to her away from Lady Alford, so I know she wasn’t putting on a show for her mother’s sake. An unpretentious child. I can understand how she could be ruined by the wrong teacher.”