one will ever speak of you as more than an outrageous flirt.”
“An outrageous flirt,” Mairi said. “How charmingly euphemistic. And all over something so minor it hardly merits mention.” Jack, she thought, would not like to hear his lovemaking dismissed so carelessly. Not when he thought he was the best lover in Scotland, and for all she knew, he probably was.
“You know how it is with rumors, my dear,” Lady Kenton said unhappily. “They take on a life of their own. The truth becomes irrelevant and even the smallest transgression...” She let her voice trail away.
Transgression. Mairi supposed that her night with Jack had been more than just a small mistake. The timing had been bad, the fact that she had been seen leaving the masquerade with him, worse. Jack had been a monumental error and now she was paying for it.
“There has been comment in the scandal sheets, some of it very nasty,” Lady Kenton said unhappily. “They refer to your energetic social life and everyone knows that is code for running a stable of lovers. And of course that ghastly girl Dulcibella has stoked the fire by saying you had quite retired from society to somewhere more private in order to indulge your interests.”
Mairi resolved to throttle her sister-in-law the next time she saw her. That should enliven the family gathering at Methven.
“I had not realized,” she said. “I’ve seen no papers since I left Edinburgh.”
She tapped her fingers on the table, an irritable tattoo. The rumors about her romantic life had run ahead of her ever since Archie had died. She had disguised her loneliness and misery well under a veil of hedonistic excess, a whirl of parties, balls and flirtations. It was no wonder if her reputation had suffered. And she had not really cared what people were saying. She had been too cocooned in unhappiness to care. The irony of it was that she had never once taken a man to her bed until that night with Jack Rutherford, when she had been so lonely that she had sought to forget her despair for a short while. And now people were talking and she was swamped in lurid rumors and she felt utterly miserable. For a second she felt the same despair sweep through her that had overwhelmed her at Ardglen. She felt so very alone.
“Of course a woman has certain needs,” Lady Kenton was saying, sipping delicately at her second glass of champagne. A flush had come into her cheeks. “I do understand that. A lusty man in her bed...” She took another mouthful of champagne, her eyes glittering with a combination of wine and prurience. “Tell me, my love...” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “Who was he?”
“My lips are sealed,” Mairi said. If that was one piece of information the scandalmongers did not possess, she was not going to supply it. And not out of loyalty to Jack, but out of sheer annoyance.
Lady Kenton, however, was made of sterner stuff. “Was he...good?” she whispered, eyes gleaming.
“Exceptional,” Mairi agreed, straight-faced. “Lusty, vigorous and very talented.”
Lady Kenton made frantic fanning gestures with her hands. “Oh my!” She seemed to remember that she was supposed to be taking the role of wise adviser and took a deep breath.
“Well, that is nothing to the purpose. It seems to me that it would be better for you to wed again. That would put paid to the rumors. I had already thought of Lord Donaldson as a bridegroom for you. He would be quite complaisant if you had...other interests.”
“How thoughtful of him,” Mairi said. She sighed. “Dear ma’am, I have no other interests! I have almost lived like a nun since Archie’s death. That incident at the ball was—” She shrugged. How to describe Jack... “A mistake,” she said. “And now I am apparently the most notorious woman in Scotland.”
“Oh well, that is bad luck to get caught out the only time,” Lady Kenton agreed. “What a pity! You could have been having no end of fun.” She tapped Mairi’s
“An outrageous flirt,” Mairi said. “How charmingly euphemistic. And all over something so minor it hardly merits mention.” Jack, she thought, would not like to hear his lovemaking dismissed so carelessly. Not when he thought he was the best lover in Scotland, and for all she knew, he probably was.
“You know how it is with rumors, my dear,” Lady Kenton said unhappily. “They take on a life of their own. The truth becomes irrelevant and even the smallest transgression...” She let her voice trail away.
Transgression. Mairi supposed that her night with Jack had been more than just a small mistake. The timing had been bad, the fact that she had been seen leaving the masquerade with him, worse. Jack had been a monumental error and now she was paying for it.
“There has been comment in the scandal sheets, some of it very nasty,” Lady Kenton said unhappily. “They refer to your energetic social life and everyone knows that is code for running a stable of lovers. And of course that ghastly girl Dulcibella has stoked the fire by saying you had quite retired from society to somewhere more private in order to indulge your interests.”
Mairi resolved to throttle her sister-in-law the next time she saw her. That should enliven the family gathering at Methven.
“I had not realized,” she said. “I’ve seen no papers since I left Edinburgh.”
She tapped her fingers on the table, an irritable tattoo. The rumors about her romantic life had run ahead of her ever since Archie had died. She had disguised her loneliness and misery well under a veil of hedonistic excess, a whirl of parties, balls and flirtations. It was no wonder if her reputation had suffered. And she had not really cared what people were saying. She had been too cocooned in unhappiness to care. The irony of it was that she had never once taken a man to her bed until that night with Jack Rutherford, when she had been so lonely that she had sought to forget her despair for a short while. And now people were talking and she was swamped in lurid rumors and she felt utterly miserable. For a second she felt the same despair sweep through her that had overwhelmed her at Ardglen. She felt so very alone.
“Of course a woman has certain needs,” Lady Kenton was saying, sipping delicately at her second glass of champagne. A flush had come into her cheeks. “I do understand that. A lusty man in her bed...” She took another mouthful of champagne, her eyes glittering with a combination of wine and prurience. “Tell me, my love...” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “Who was he?”
“My lips are sealed,” Mairi said. If that was one piece of information the scandalmongers did not possess, she was not going to supply it. And not out of loyalty to Jack, but out of sheer annoyance.
Lady Kenton, however, was made of sterner stuff. “Was he...good?” she whispered, eyes gleaming.
“Exceptional,” Mairi agreed, straight-faced. “Lusty, vigorous and very talented.”
Lady Kenton made frantic fanning gestures with her hands. “Oh my!” She seemed to remember that she was supposed to be taking the role of wise adviser and took a deep breath.
“Well, that is nothing to the purpose. It seems to me that it would be better for you to wed again. That would put paid to the rumors. I had already thought of Lord Donaldson as a bridegroom for you. He would be quite complaisant if you had...other interests.”
“How thoughtful of him,” Mairi said. She sighed. “Dear ma’am, I have no other interests! I have almost lived like a nun since Archie’s death. That incident at the ball was—” She shrugged. How to describe Jack... “A mistake,” she said. “And now I am apparently the most notorious woman in Scotland.”
“Oh well, that is bad luck to get caught out the only time,” Lady Kenton agreed. “What a pity! You could have been having no end of fun.” She tapped Mairi’s
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