Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess by Marti Talbott Read Free Book Online

but you have not yet seen the upstairs sitting room. The view from there is breathtaking.” McKenna led the way into the parlor and then up the stairs. “Come, I shall show you.”
    Both Mr. Whitfields handed their hats to Keith, the first to be placed on the empty shelf in the coatroom.
    “ You’ll not likely get the two of them separated,” Claymore said, watching his wife disappear upstairs, “now that they’ve got on so famously. Did I not warn you, Hannish?”
    “ Aye, you did.”
    “ Of course, that is your sister and not your wife. A town this size has few secrets, you know. When can we expect your wife?”
    “ I am not certain. She stopped to shop in New York City.”
    Claymore raised an eyebrow, “A great mistake on your part, my boy. I should have warned you about that. It took me a week to get Mrs. Whitfield to leave last time we were there. Well, it is too late, I suppose and I can not think of a thing that would tempt your wife away, now that she has seen it.”

    Abigail ignored the mostly unfurnished room and walked to the window. “You are so right, my dear, a grand view indeed.” Colorado Springs looked small from there, but she could still see people, carriages, and carts going up and down the busy streets. The farms, divided by rows of trees, were beginning to green with the spring planting and beyond that, one could see forever across dry brush lands as flat as McKenna claimed Kansas to be. “Your brother is, of course, disappointed his wife has not yet arrived. He talked of little else when we came to call last.”
    “ He loves her very much.”
    “ I am certain he does. It is a great disappointment to a certain lady I shall not name.”
    “ Oh do tell, has my brother an admirer?”
    “ Not just one, but several. It is best he has a wife, for the place would be crawling with unmarried women if he did not. And look at you. Are you wanting an American husband, by any chance?”
    “ Nay, I left my heart in Scotland.”
    Abigail still had not taken her eyes off the view. “That is a pity. If you change your mind, I have a few gentlemen I can recommend, and each of them just as wealthy as my Clay.”
    “ I promise to alert you first, if I do.”
    “ I will count on that. I must say, with both you and your brother taken, the dinners will not be as lively as I had hoped, but we shall make due. Tell me, will Saturday next be too soon to come to dinner?”
    “ I cannae say? We must wait until his wife arrives.”
    “ Yes, of course you must. Another time then, but I hope we will not have to wait too long.”

    “ I am excited to hear all about the gold rush,” said McKenna as soon as she was seated at the dining room table. “We read a great deal about it in Scotland, but I would so like a first hand account to write home about.”
    Charles selected the chair across from McKenna and smiled. “My father will be pleased to bore you with it.”
    Claymore chuckled. “Admit it Charles, you never tire of the story.”
    Charles kept his eyes on McKenna as he answered, “I do admit it. Nothing pleases me more than glittering gold…except perhaps a beautiful woman. My, but you are splendid.”
    McKenna squirmed a little and lowered her eyes. “I thank you, Sir.” She glanced at Hannish and knew he was not pleased with the way Charles was gawking at her. “Mr. Whitfield, perhaps you have not heard; I am nearly engaged.” It came as a surprise to Hannish, but he did not react, much to McKenna’s relief.
    Charles grinned at her anyway. “But not yet formally engaged, Miss MacGreagor? I am encouraged.”
    Claymore waited for his wife to finish, helped himself to peas from a bowl Keith held, and cleared his throat. “You asked about the gold rush, Miss MacGreagor. I dare say many a prospector walked right over the largest gold vein in the world. It is called the Mount Pisgah hoax , someone salted the rocks, you see.”
    “ Salted them?” McKenna asked, helping herself to potatoes from the