“Kind of him,” Evie said in admiration.
“Aye, Jamie has pluck. And he never once lorded that over me.”
Jamie wouldn’t, Evie realized. He was the sort of man who helped because he cared, not because he wanted glory.
When they arrived at the station of the remote village called Kilmorgan Halt, the entire population of the tiny place descended upon them. They called greetings, snatched up bags, and organized them all into carriages and carts to help them reach the duke’s home.
Kilmorgan Castle, Evie saw as they approached, was not a castle at all. A gigantic manor house sprawled in a hollow, with craggy mountains receding into a haze beyond it. Northern Scotland was cold and gray at the moment, but a beam of sunlight touched the house, turning the brick blazing gold.
“It’s beautiful,” Evie breathed as she descended from the carriage. “And large.” The massive building dominated its grounds.
“Good thing it is.” Gavina grinned at her. “There are so many of us.”
Gavina threaded her arm through Evie’s and swept her into a vaulted front hall. A gigantic vase of flowers reposed on a table in the middle of this hall, a staircase wrapping around it. Paintings of Mackenzie men and ladies adorned the walls that rose three stories, including a large portrait of Hart Mackenzie on the first landing.
The house had been divided into five wings, one for each of the brothers and their families, the fifth for guests. The Mackenzies quickly dispersed into their disparate halls, their shouts and calls making the silent place come alive. Dogs had appeared from the back, barking greetings and swarming around the families, adding to the noise.
Gavina led Evie not to the guest wing, but to Ian’s. “Aunt Beth insists you stay with them.” She squeezed Evie’s arm. “We’ll have such fun, with all the cousins together. I’ve already organized the poker game. Don’t worry, we play for farthings.” With that, Gavina scurried away, leaving Evie alone in a huge bedchamber with the most sumptuous bed she’d ever seen.
Beth was her first visitor, arriving after Evie’s trunk was delivered. Evie had sent away the maid who wanted to unpack it, wishing to sort through her things herself.
Beth immediately began to help. “Now, I know you feel we are pushing you at Jamie,” she said without preliminary. “But please, do not worry about that. You are a guest, and I want you to be at your ease. Jamie is a good lad, and naturally as his mother, I want him to be happy.” Beth sank to Evie’s bed, a cluster of ribbons in her hand. “I love him to bits, if I’m honest. When I hear stories of him falling out of the sky, or nearly toppling from a train far from home, I want to clutch him to me, and never let him go.” She held the ribbons to her chest, as though the gesture would keep him safe.
Evie joined her on the bed. “You’d like it if he settled down.”
“I would. And he has promised to.” Beth gazed at Evie, compassion in her eyes. “Truth to tell, I’d love to see him marry you. You have an adventurous spirit, like his own—the fact that you have weathered this family with good cheer tells me that. But I would never coerce you into a marriage you did not want. I once tried to make a practical match myself, and I bless the day my Ian destroyed it for me. I’d have been terribly unhappy, and I would not have quite known why. My advice to you, dear, is to marry with your heart, or not at all.”
“I am beginning to realize that this is wise.” Evie sighed. “Though it is difficult to fly in the face of convention. Everyone wants a woman to marry, no matter what.”
“Ian taught me how to ignore convention. And ladies nowadays have a few more choices than they did in my time. Belle is trying very hard to pursue a career in medicine, and though it is difficult for her, I have no doubt she will succeed, one way or another. Megan too, with her music. Marriage would be nice for them, but right now their hearts guide them in another direction. Gavina is trying to find her niche as well, but chasing down a man to marry is not what she has in mind. If my girls do find kind gentlemen to love them, I will be glad, but if not, they are still worthy of all the love Ian and I can give them. I’m certain, from your mother’s letters, that she and your father feel the same way about you.”
Evie nodded, tears welling. “You are a wonderful, wonderful woman.” She flung her arms around Beth, sobbing into her shoulder.
“There now.” Beth held her close, her embrace comforting. “You poor lamb. We’ve worn you out.”
“No,” Evie said brokenly. “You’ve taken care of me.”
“Ah, well,” Beth said, patting her tenderly. “That is what Mackenzies do.”
The Mackenzie cousins sensed the tension between Jamie and Evie and ceased making certain the two ended up next to each other, to Evie’s relief. Evie wondered if Beth had given them a pointed hint.
There was so much to do at Kilmorgan Castle that Evie barely had time to brood. Meals were lively, and then there were tramps to the ruins of the original castle, or horseback rides up into the crags, a tour of the distillery, and visits to the village and to other homes in the area.
Jamie spent much time at the distillery with Ian, who ran the business. Jamie would inherit the position, Gavina told Evie, when Ian finally decided to retire. Jamie also helped Cameron train horses or fished with Ian and his male cousins, though Megan often accompanied them.
Gavina’s poker game took place a week after their arrival. Evie was seated opposite Jamie at the large oval table in a sitting room in Cameron’s wing—which was for the best, she declared silently, no matter how much her mutinous self wanted to be next to him.
Most of the younger Mackenzies were present, except for Daniel’s brood—Violet had declared they were not yet old enough to face the family card sharps. Jamie studied his cards without a glance at Evie.
They stuck to a simple game of five-card draw, trying to gain pairs, straights, flushes, and so forth. Evie knew the rudiments of poker, having played forbidden games at Girton. Not long into the evening, she’d already gathered a large pile of farthings.
“Evie, you’re a ringer,” Alec declared as he threw down his cards after another loss. “You’re obviously an expert.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Evie gathered up cards and passed them to Gavina, who was acting as the dealer. “It’s easy to tell when you’re bluffing, Alec. You rub the top of your ear.”
Alec froze, golden eyes flicking to her. “What are you talking about, lass?”
Jamie chuckled as he picked up cards Gavina tossed to him. “In game parlance, it’s called a tell,” he said. “Thank you, Evie.” He turned to Alec. “She wins because she’s smarter than you.”
“All right, don’t rub my nose in it,” Alec growled.
“Don’t you mean your ear?” Jamie returned. He shot Evie a glance, eyes twinkling, as the others laughed. He didn’t smile, but it was the friendliest look he’d sent her all week.
“He does that when he likes a woman too,” Eileen, Mac’s daughter, put in. “Brushes his ear like that. We saw the American girl, Miss Carmichael, at the theatre in London, and Alec was there, just rubbing, rubbing.”
Alec’s face grew mottled, his eyes dangerous. “She’s a lovely lass, is all. I have no interest in her, so keep your observations to yourself.”