As a gift, Abigail and Claymore presented Hannish with a large tapestry depicting a Scottish Border Collie and her five pups. It was perfect for the marble foyer, and he hung it on the wall with pride.
Margaret Ann settled in nicely and with no men to pester her like there were at the hotel, the color improved in her cheeks. Each day, as one of the men carried the basket of washed clothes to the clothesline, she let William crawl in the grass. He still tried to put everything in his mouth, but a little grass wouldn't hurt, they all decided. Now that they had more help with the cleaning, Sassy and Cathleen were usually outside too, to see that no harm came to the child.
Just as often, Hannish stood in his study window and watched. Sometimes, Sassy looked at him, but not often enough to make it obvious that she cared, at least not obvious to him.
Hannish still went to the kitchen each morning for tea and occasionally ate breakfast with the servants, especially if McKenna was not yet awake. His loneliness was becoming more and more unbearable, and breakfast with Sassy and the others seemed his only comfort. Cathleen had a few stories of her own to tell, most involving practical jokes Sassy played on Old Mrs. Forthright, and Hannish often found himself smiling about them later in the day. Yet their eyes only met occasionally, he dared not touch Sassy, no matter how much he longed to, and the war between his heart and his mind raged on.
He reminded himself of his pledge to Olivia nearly as often as Sassy reminded herself he loved his wife. It was maddening for her to be in the same house and not be able to feel his arms around her. It would never happen, she knew, and once they had enough saved, she and Cathleen planned to move away. It was the only way to quiet her aching heart, so she took to reading the newspapers after McKenna finished with them.
There had to be someplace for them to go, even if she could not imagine life anywhere else.
*
"Oh, McKenna, what am I to do?" Abigail asked, nearly out of breath as she rushed into the small sitting room on the first floor. She paused just long enough for Alistair to finish delivering her and walk away.
"What is wrong, Abigail?"
"Charles has fallen in love with the worst possible woman." She quickly sat on the edge of a chair.
"Oh no, how dreadful."
"It is worse than dreadful: she has been arrested in Paris by a detective from Scotland Yard."