Read My Heart's in the Highlands for Free Online

The casualties were very high.”
    The marquis just nodded, and she felt that he was uncomfortable with the topic so she let it go.  “How long have you been here, then?”
    “ Just over a month,” he told her.  “I like it very much already though.”
    “ It’s hard not to,” she sighed with heartfelt feeling.  “I’ve missed it here.”
    As if he caught the wistful tones, Lord Ayr was quick to assure her.  “You and your father are certainly welcome to stay for as long as you like.  It is your home, after all, and I would be thankful for the company.”
    A feeling of elation washed over Hero , as this was exactly what she was hoping for, and she bestowed a radiant smile upon Ian.  “Thank you, my lord.  We will endeavor not to intrude upon your privacy.”
    “ Not at all, Lady Ayr. I am happy to have you here,” the marquis assured her.  “You are my cousin.  You and his grace are my family now as well.”
    Mikah could feel Hero’s joy as the worries of being ejected from the property, which had been weighing her down, released, unleashing her buoyancy.  Pushing herself fully to the front of Mikah’s consciousness, Hero suddenly asked, “Have you seen the dungeons yet?”
    Dungeons? Mikah wondered, though a mental image immediately followed.
    “ I have not,” Ayr replied, grinning boyishly in response to her enthusiasm.  “I believe my steward mentioned their presence, but I hadn’t thought they were of much note.”
    “ Oh, but they are!” she rejoined earnestly.  “I’ve been telling Papa all about them, about Cuilean and the Firth and the gardens.  The dungeons are vastly interesting and quite unlike anything I’ve even read about.  You simply must see them!”
    “ And so we shall.  It will be too late to do so when we arrive, but perhaps you might join me for a walk in the morning?” he asked politely, and when she nodded, he added, “and perhaps dinner tonight if you’re not too fatigued from our journey?”
    Mikah felt a rush of blood in her cheeks and knew Hero was blushing over the masculine appreciation in Lord Ayr’s eyes and voi ce.  Had she been more naïve, a blush might have been her first response as well.  Even so, she was positively giddy at the thought of his company tonight, tomorrow, and in the days to come.  “Yes, my lord, that would be lovely.” 
    Turning to look out the window once more, Mikah’s breath caught at the sight of the old castle breaking through the dense trees.  Dùn Cuilean!  Her heart leapt in time with Hero’s.
    Home, they thought together, and Hero’s joy mirrored Mikah’s own.
     
     

Chapter Five
     
    Later that evening, Ian stood in the pillared circular hall that marked the center of the castle, waiting for the marchioness to join him for dinner.  The sweeping central staircase had become a symbol of the majesty of Dùn Cuilean to the new marquis, a visual focal point for the pride that engulfed him whenever he thought about being the Marquis of Ayr.  That pride flooded him whenever he put a foot on that first tread or descended them, as he just had. 
    Dùn Cuilean was a magnificent castle, ancient in history yet glorious.  This central hall, for example, was comprised of a wide white marble staircase to the first floor split at the landing into two white wings that wrapped back around to the first floor, curving along the sides of the oval.  On each level, the balustrade was made up of an ornate railing of wrought iron shields upon long spikes that awed visitors with their metaphor of power.  Twelve Corinthian columns and arches encircled the oval hall on the ground floor and were topped by Ionic columns on the first floor in a reversal of classic style that emphasized the height of the hall.  At the top of it all, a glass-domed cupola allowed a shaft of light to beam down at the marble floor of the lowest hall as if the place were under the grace of God himself. 
    To know that it was all his was empowering.