Tamed by a Laird Read Online Free Page B

“Had Father taken you to Glasgow, or to Edinburgh or Stirling, I
     warrant many men more suitable than Reid is would have paid court to you, for you are beautiful, wealthy, and—”
    “Prithee, have mercy!” Jenny interjected, striving to keep her voice from carrying to anyone else. “I do not count my worth
     low, Mairi, but my looks are
not
what fashion decrees for beauty. At least, so Phaeline has told me. And she, you know, takes good care always to be well
     informed about matters of fashion.”
    “That is true, Mairi,” Fiona said. “Mam does know what people like. Indeed, she fears that one reason you have not yet contracted
     a marriage is that men consider your extreme fairness unfashionable.”
    Mairi smiled. “If Phaeline fails to give our father a son, leaving me to inherit the Dunwythie barony, dearling, men won’t
     care a whit about my coloring. Jenny is already a baroness in her own right, and her estates are fine ones. Had your mam not
     decided to wed her to Reid before any more eligible noblemen clapped eyes on her, Jenny would have many suitors eager to admire
     her.”
    To change the subject, Jenny said, “Reid will return shortly, and I do
not
want him near my bedchamber. I think I will retire now, before he gets back.”
    “Sakes, Jenny, you cannot leave your own betrothal feast!” Fiona protested.
    “I am feeling decisive tonight,” Jenny said. “I want to go, so I will.”
    “Then we should go, too,” Mairi said. Before Fiona could protest, she raised her voice and said to Lord Dunwythie, “Forgive
     me, sir, but Jenny would like to retire now. I think Fiona and I should go, too, if you will excuse us all.”
    Jenny glanced toward the lower end of the hall, half fearing to see Reid Douglas lurching drunkenly toward her between the
     trestles. She did not see him, but when she shifted her gaze to her uncle, she realized he had been watching her.
    “D’ye want to seek your chamber now, lassie?” he asked.
    “Aye, sir, I do.”
    He nodded and scanned the hall before meeting her gaze again. “I’ll see that ye’re no disturbed then.”
    “Thank you, my lord,” she said with sincerity as she made her curtsy.
    Hurrying from the hall with Mairi and Fiona, she cast one more wistful glance at the minstrels and wondered again what it
     would be like to be one.

    Hugh was bored, so when the play ended, he lost no time in bidding his host goodnight. He did not want to spend the next hour
     exchanging polite phrases with other guests, most of whom would be eager to be away if they lived near enough to go home,
     or longing to seek the quiet of their bedchambers if they did not.
    The hour was still early, and he was not ready to retire, especially as he was sharing his brother’s chamber. Deciding to
     seek fresh air, he went outside, taking care to avoid the forecourt, where others would be taking their leave.
    The air was crisp, the waxing crescent moon high, and he heard the surf in the distance, for Annan House sat atop a hill overlooking
     Solway Firth. By walking a short way, he obtained a moonlit view of the water. The tide was surging in.
    Annan Hill also commanded a view of the dark vale stretching northward and the golden lights of Annan town beside the wide,
     gleaming silver ribbon that was the river Annan. Dark woods and rolling hills rose to the east, while to the southwest he
     could see the gentle hills separating Annandale from Nithsdale, gray now in the moonlight. Southward lay the sandy shore of
     the Firth, its glittering water, and in the distance, the long English coast backed by tall, dark, distant mountains.
    After two days spent in company, the solitude was pleasant. He had not been conscious of tension, but he felt himself relax
     as he watched the moonlight creating paths of silver on the waters below. The sight reminded him of Ella and the only time
     he had brought her to Annan House, to meet his sister.
    He had thought it his duty to present Ella, because