Read Scandal's Bride for Free Online

liquid within. "So," —he flicked a glance at
Jamie—"Catriona is now in your care?"
    Jamie's sigh was heartfelt. "Yes—for another three years. Until
she's twenty five."
    "Are her parents long dead?"
    "Six years. They were killed in an accident in Glasgow while
arranging to buy a cargo—a terrible shock it was."
    Richard raised his brows. "An especially big shock for Catriona.
She would have been—what? Seventeen?"
    "Sixteen. Naturally, Da' wanted her here—the vale's an isolated
spot, no place for a lone girl, you'd think."
    "She wouldn't come?"
    Jamie's face contorted. "Da' made her. She came." He shuddered
and took a long sip of his port. "It was horrific. The arguments—the
shouting. I thought Da' would have a seizure, she goaded him that much. I don't
think he'd ever had anyone argue back like she did—
I
wouldna
dared."
    As he drank more port, Jamie's accent emerged; like many Scots of his
age, he'd learned to suppress it.
    "She didna want to stay—Da' wanted her here. He had plans afoot to
marry her well—she needed someone to take care of her lands, he thought."
    "Her lands?"
    "The vale." Jamie drained his glass. "She owns the whole
damned valley from head to mouth. But she wasn't having any of Da''s plans.
Said she knew what she was doing, she had The Lady to guide her, and she would,
on her mother's grave, obey The Lady, not Da'. She was dead set against
marriage. Mind you, when those lairds who'd offered for her on the strength of
her lands actually met her, they sang a different tune. All the offers
dissolved like mist in a strong breeze."
    Richard frowned, wondering if Scottish notions of feminine attractions
were so different.
    "Of course, everyone o' them was imagining bedding her, until they
spoke to her." Jamie's lips quirked; he exchanged a conspiratorial glance
with Richard. "She scared 'em silly—the beggars came from Edinburgh and
Glasgow, or one of the cities, lairds in need of estates. They didna know about
The Lady, and to hear Catriona tell it, if they displeased her at all, she
wouldha' turned 'em into toads. Or eels. Or some such slimy creature."
    Richard grinned. "They believed her?"
    "Aye, well—when she wants to be believed, she can be that
persuasive."
    Recalling the power he'd heard her wield twice, Richard had no
difficulty believing that.
    "And that other one, Algaria—Miss O'Rourke—was there to help.
So,"—Jamie reached for the decanter—"after that, there were no more
offers. Da' was livid—Catriona was unmovable. The fighting raged for
weeks."
    "And?"
    "She won." Jamie set down his glass. "She went back to
the vale, an' that was that. Da' never spoke of her again. I didna think she'd
agree to live here now, but Mary said we should at least ask. Especially after
finding the letters."
    "Letters?"
    "Offers for her lands, rather than her hand. Heaps of 'em. Some
from the lairds who'd given up notions of bedding her, others from all over,
some from her neighbors in the Lowlands. All, however, for a pittance."
Again Jamie drained his glass. "I found the pile in Da"s desk—he'd
scrawled comments on many." Jamie's lips twisted. "Like 'Bah! Am I a
fool?' "
    "The land's good?"
    "Good?" Jamie set down his glass. "You won't find better
in Scotland." He met Richard's eye. "According to Catriona and her
people, The Lady sees to that."
    Richard raised his brows.
    "Aye, well." With a rueful grimace, Jamie pushed back his
chair. "We'd best get back to the drawing room."
    Entering the long room beside Jamie, Richard paused just beyond the
threshold. To one side, Catriona stood chatting to one of Jamie's colorless
sisters. Perhaps chatting was the wrong word—from her gestures, lecturing might
be nearer the mark. The ever watchful Miss O'Rourke stood silently, hands
clasped, by Catriona's shoulder; her gaze, black and expressionless, was
already fixed on him. Richard resisted the urge to grin wickedly at her;
instead, with his usual grace, he crossed to pay his compliments to