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has a strong will and knows her own mind. Since her mother and I both love her very much, we do not wish to cause an unfortunate breach in our family, as can sometimes occur under these circumstances.”
    “A wise and compassionate course, Miss Talbot.” Ewan found himself warming to Claire in spite of himself.
    It couldn’t have been easy for a woman of her spirit to back down from the defiant challenge she’d flung at him on the night of the Fortescues’ ball. But she recognized that opposing him too forcefully might push her sister straight into his arms. And she cared too much about Tessa to risk estranging her.
    “A practical course, sir.” Miss Talbot seemed pleased by his praise. “My years in the world of commerce have taught me to be practical, even when it comes to matters of the heart.”
    A serving maid stepped forward to collect their soup bowls. Ewan murmured a word of thanks when she took his. Was it his imagination, or did she look a bit familiar? Could she be one of the wee lasses from Strathandrew, brought south to serve in the family’s London home?
    Claire Talbot spoke again, distracting Ewan from his thoughts. “The reason we invited you here this evening was so we might begin to get better acquainted with you. Of course, we remember you from our summers in Strathandrew, but that was quite some time ago. Tell me, do you get much opportunity to hunt and fish over in America?”
    “Not as much as I’d like,” Ewan admitted, as the serving maid placed the fish course before him—poached Highland salmon.
    A gillie on the estate must have caught it and sent it south by train, packed in ice.
    “My work has kept me pretty busy, ye know. It’s only in the past year or two that I’ve been able to take my nose from the grindstone.”
    He took a bite of the salmon. The soft pink flesh melted on his tongue with a familiar salty-sweet flavor so delicious Ewan closed his eyes, the better to savor it. If Lady Lydiard hadn’t been watching him so closely, he might have let out a faint groan of pleasure.
    “I know what you mean,” said Claire. “Since taking over at Brancasters, I have not had much opportunity for leisure, myself. Why, just this morning, I realized that it has been fully three years since I last spent any time at Strathandrew. It used to be the highlight of the year, when Tessa and I were children.”
    Her gaze took on a far-off look, and Ewan thought he detected a hint of wistful softness in her eyes.
    He remembered the Talbots’ summer visits, too. The flurry of anticipation as the great house was opened up and cleaned from cellar to attic. The larder stocked with all sorts of delicacies brought from the south. Fishing tackle sorted and line mended. Guns hauled out and cleaned in preparation for lots of hunting parties.
    Then, on the day the Talbots’ yacht moored in the firth, he would steal down to watch the family and their guests disembark. And to take his first, private look at Tessa, to see how much taller she’d grown. How her figure was beginning to fill out in just the right places. If she was wearing her hair in a new style. Whether she was still as bonny as he’d remembered her.
    Now he had only to glance across the table … which he did.
    The lass was as much a feast for his eyes as the salmon was for his palate—so dainty, soft and golden. She looked almost as though time had stood still for her during the years they’d been apart. For some reason he couldn’t quite puzzle out, that notion troubled him vaguely.
    Again Claire Talbot’s voice broke in on his thoughts. “I’ve just had a grand idea. Why don’t we all go up to Strathandrew for a few weeks? Mr. Geddes can come as our guest. It will give us an opportunity to get better acquainted, away from the formality of London. What do you think?”
    She glanced around the table at the others, her eyes finally coming to rest upon Ewan.
    Tessa slammed down her fork with a force that threatened the delicate china