Read The Highlander's Bride Trouble for Free Online Page B

sin.
    “There’s me lass.” The earl looked up from his meal. He pointed a small eating dirk
     at Abigail. “Ye’ve kept me guest waiting, Daughter.”
    Abigail stopped at the foot of the stairs that led up to the high table. She lowered
     herself, if it were possible to call the quick bob she made such a thing. It certainly
     lacked any sincerity. Her father frowned at her, but she flounced up the steps to
     take her place beside him.
    “Laird MacLeod is nae here to see me, Father.” Two burly retainers stepped forward
     to assist the lady. They pulled her chair back and waited while she fussed with her
     skirts before pushing it up to the table. Nareen fell into place behind her mistress’s
     chair.
    “He’ll make no offer for me,” Abigail said.
    “What’s this ye say, Daughter?”
    “He was watching Nareen Grant back at court.” Abigail held up her hand for her goblet.
     A young lad retrieved it from the cupboard and brought it to her. “And kissed her
     in the chapel this morning.”
    Nareen’s cheeks burned, but she had to maintain her position behind her mistress.
     More than one sly look was aimed her way.
    “What’s this?” the earl demanded.
    Abigail took a long drink, then smirked at Saer. “It is simple, Father. Laird MacLeod
     was raised among the isles and lacks any sort of refinement—”
    “On the isles, children do nae use such tones with their parents,” Saer interrupted.
     “If that is a lack of refinement, I am content with me rough ways.”
    “Ha!” The earl laughed. “What have ye to say to that, Daughter? Laird MacLeod is nae
     impressed with yer tart words and, unlike the last few whelps who sat at me table
     and tried to call themselves yer suitors, Saer MacLeod speaks plainly. That is nae
     a lack of refinement. It is the mark of a Highlander.”
    Abigail pouted. “I have no suitors any longer because ye insult them. Which is why
     I must return to court, to find another.”
    Saer’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t the only man in the room who cast disapproving looks
     toward the highborn daughter of the house. “If a few harsh words were enough to banish
     them,” Saer informed her, “ye are better off not wed to a coward. A Highlander should
     speak only the truth. If a man cannae look the father of the woman he desires in the
     eye, he is nae worthy of her.”
    “True!” The earl nodded. “I cannae stomach a man without courage.” He leaned toward
     Saer. “I growled at her last suitor only once, and he turned white! I cannae have
     that sort of blood in me grandchildren.”
    “Yer daughter should desire better,” Saer decided firmly. “The Ross are nae weaklings.”
    There were nods and grunts of approval from the people watching from the lower tables.
    “Well, I shall nae stand for a savage instructing me on any matter.” Abigail began
     to wave her hands at the retainers standing behind her father. “I shall sup above
     stairs.”
    “Ye’ll stay, Daughter.” The earl’s expression tightened. The soft old man had vanished.
     His fingers were clenched into a fist now, his gaze sharp. “And ye’ll mind that tongue
     of yers in front of me guest.”
    “Yer trust is misplaced, Father.” Abigail wasn’t willing to back down. “This savage
     kissed me companion in the church this morning. He has no sense of propriety, and
     I shall nae listen to him.”
    The earl pounded the tabletop. “Enough!” he commanded. “Where is this lass? Come around
     where I may see ye.”
    Nareen had no choice. She went around the end of the long table and lowered herself
     in front of the earl. He leaned forward to inspect her. His gaze was still sharp,
     and he made two passes up and down her length before nodding.
    “I believe I’d think less of ye, Laird MacLeod, if ye didn’t kiss such a fetching
     lass. If I were young enough to catch her, I’d do the same.”
    The Hall filled with laughter.
    “Father, ye are being a toad!”
    The earl turned and looked sternly