My Highland Love: Highland Lords Series Read Online Free Page A

the tapestries
so bright, the floors so clean?" He motioned toward the wall that
ran the length of the room, framed by stairs on either end. "When
have you seen the weapons so polished?"
    Marcus scanned the nearly two hundred
gleaming weapons mounted across the wall. He rose and walked the
wall's length, perusing the weapons. Each one glistened, some
nearly as bright as newly forged steel. He glanced at the floor.
The stone looked as if it had just been laid.
    He looked at his father. "What happened?"
    "The women came one day—or rather, one
month—and swept out the cobwebs, cleaned the floors, the
tapestries, weapons."
    Marcus rose and crossed the room to the
kitchen door where the women worked. The housekeeper sat at the
kitchen table. Ancient blue eyes, still shining with the bloom of
youth, smiled back at him. Winnie had been present at his birth.
Marcus knew she loved him like the son she'd never had. He, in
turn, regarded her with as much affection as he had his own
mother.
    She turned her attention to the raw chicken
she carved. "So, you've returned at last."
    "Aye, milady."
    A corner of her mouth twitched with
amusement.
    "I am looking forward to the company of some
fine lasses tonight," he said. "'Tis a long and lonely trip I've
had. Perhaps next time I shall take you with me." He gave her a
roguish wink before striding back to his seat in the hall.
    Marcus lowered himself into the chair he had
occupied earlier. "Must have taken an army just to shine the
weapons alone. Not to mention the walls and floors."
    "It did. You will see the same throughout the
castle. Not a room went untouched."
    "Whatever possessed them to do it?"
    "It was the hand of a sweet lass," Cameron
replied.
    "Which one? Not Winnie—"
    "Nay. The lass Shannon and Josh found washed
ashore on the coast. They brought her when they returned from the
south."
    "Washed ashore?"
    "An American woman. Her ship perished in a
fire."
    "American?"
    Cameron scowled. "Are you deaf? Shannon is
the one who discovered her at Solway Firth."
    "What in God's name was she doing there?"
    Cameron gave his chin a speculative scratch.
"Damned if I know. They were headed for London."
    "London? Sailing through Solway Firth
requires sailing around the north of Ireland. That would add a week
or more to the journey."
    His father's mouth twisted into a wry grin.
"You know the English, probably got lost."
    "I thought you said she was American."
    "English, American, 'tis all the same."
Cameron's expression sobered. "But dinna' mistake me, she is a fine
lass. She came to us just after you left for Ashlund four months
ago. You should have seen her when they brought her here. Proud
little thing."
    "Proud, indeed," Marcus repeated.
    "'Tis what I said." Cameron eyed him. "Are
you sure something isn't ailing you?"
    Marcus shook his head.
    "At first, she didn't say much," Cameron went
on. "But I could see a storm brewed in her head. Then one day, she
informed me Brahan Seer was in dire need of something." He sighed
deeply. "She was more right than she knew."
    Marcus understood his father's meaning. His
mother's death five years ago had affected Cameron dramatically.
Only last year had his father finally sought female comfort. The
gaping hole created by her absence left them both thirsting for a
firm, feminine hand.
    "It's a miracle she survived the fire,"
Cameron said. "'Course, if you knew her, you would not be
surprised."
    "I believe I do," Marcus remarked.
    "What? You only just arrived."
    "I picked up passengers on the way
home—Tavis, little Bonnie, and an American woman." Marcus related
the tale. "I recognized her accent," he ended. "Got accustomed to
it while on campaign in America."
    Cameron smiled. "Elise is forever chasing
after those children."
    "Why?"
    His father's expression darkened. "Shamus was
murdered."
    Marcus straightened. "Murdered?"
    "Aye."
    "By God, how—Lauren, what of her?"
    Sadness softened the hard lines around his
father's mouth. "She is fine, in body, but…