We stood there for a moment, holding hands, just looking at each other.

“I owe you an apology,” I said. “I felt sure you were the one who tipped off Sir William to my stupid blunder.”

He actually blushed. “Ah well, I’m afraid that was me.”

“See. I knew it.” I tried to snatch my hands away. He held on tightly.

“Listen, Georgie, the only reason I called him was to tell him there had been a horrible mistake and if the press got wind of anything, he was to tell them not to print. I was protecting you, nothing more.”

“I see. Then you weren’t part of their nefarious scheme to trick me into coming to Scotland and do their dirty work for them?”

“I promise you I wasn’t.”

We looked at each other again. “And did you really come to Scotland just to be near me?”

He grinned. “I knew you were due at Balmoral soon, so I thought I’d take my chances.”

I couldn’t help thinking how wonderful he looked standing there with the breeze ruffling his untidy dark curls. I longed to run my hands through them. I longed to—I wrenched my thoughts back to the current problem.

“You’d better get going,” he said. “I shouldn’t leave them up there alone. They’ll mess everything up. Take care, won’t you?” He leaned forward to kiss me.

“Oh, good, there they are.” A woman’s voice rang out. We looked up to see the Duchess of York hurrying down the hillside with my mother in tow. “Don’t leave without us,” she called.

We waited patiently until they reached us. “You’re about to go back to the house, are you?” the duchess continued. “Jolly good. Your poor mama was feeling quite faint and I felt that I should get back to my daughters. This is the sort of thing they should hear directly from me, not from palace gossip. Elizabeth is very sensitive, you know. I don’t want them upset.”

I nodded. “I saw them a little while ago, ma’am. Elizabeth wants me to go riding with her.”

“Oh, she’d love that, if you have the time. She gets so frustrated at having to go slowly beside Margaret and the groom, and she really is turning into a splendid little horsewoman.”

“I’ll come over tomorrow, if you like. It may be better if she’s away from the castle if the police are going to be there again.”

The duchess looked surprised. “The police? Why would they be at the castle?”

“There has been a death,” I said.

“Yes, I know, but an accidental shooting. It’s unfortunate and very sad for the poor young man but hardly a matter for the police.”