“So that is why yer mistress said ye dinna ken yer place,” he said.
She squinted at him with a pained frown, as if he had spoken words she didn’t understand. “I was not aware I had amistress.”
“Interesting.” Storing that away for future pondering, Gunn turned back to the housekeeper. “Do as ye wish about Lady Murdina’s maids, Mrs. Thistlewick. I know ye will handle everything properly.” He leveled a fatherly gaze on his daughter. “And ye, my wee one, need to mind yer manners. As the chieftain’s daughter, ye dinna address yer prospective stepmother asthat woman, ye ken? And dinna be spying on her from the tunnels.”
Bella glared at him. “She is not my stepmother yet.”
“Perhaps not, but she is our guest.” He chucked a crooked finger under her chin and locked eyes with her. “Promise ye will try harder to be a polite hostess.”
She glared at him and remained silent.
“Arabella?” He only used her full name when her behavior warranted it.
“Promise,” she said in a sullen tone that nullified the oath.
“Good, then.” He turned her to face Frances and the timid Hesther. “Take them to yer floor, aye? I am sure they are weary. They can rest in yer sitting room until we sort out the arrangements and get them settled where they belong.”
“And is it all right if we go by the kitchens and ask Cook to send up some treats?” Bella asked. She stepped closer and whispered behind her hand, “Dinna they look too thin, Da? I think they need an extra bannock or two.”
He nodded. “Aye, my proper wee hostess. A wise plan, indeed.”
Bella took hold of Frances’s and Hesther’s hands and tugged.
Frances planted his feet and shook his head. “Nay. I stay with Mistress Lorna.”
Lorna reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Go ahead wi’ ye. I will come up in a bit. Soon as I am a tad steadier.”
He caught her hand and held it between both of his. “Ye promise?”
She placed her other hand over her heart. “I swear it, my knight in shining armor.”
That made him throw out his chest and wave for Hesther to follow him. After one last glance at Lorna, they allowed Bella to lead them away.
“Lady Murdina was right,” Gunn said while subtly motioning for Jasper to make himself scarce and keep everyone else at bay.
Lorna sat straighter, her lovely eyes narrowing to watchful slits. “And just what is it that Lady Murdina was right about?”
“The lad loves ye.” He noted she visibly exhaled, as if she had held her breath. “Have ye cared for him long?”
She scowled down at the table, as though troubled and ready to weep. “Actually, I just met him. Only a few hours ago. Their coach stopped when I flagged it down because I was too frozen to plow through the drifts any longer.”
“Flagged it down?” He eyed the cut and quality of her clothes. Fine, heavy weaves with no worn seams or patches. Well fitting, as though made by a personal seamstress. He caught her hand and turned it palm up in his. No callouses to speak of, and her nails were as neat and clean as Mrs. Thistlewick’s freshly scrubbed floors. Skin as soft and smooth as a newborn colt.
Everything about her stirred his loneliness. Made him wish he had an excuse to tarry with her and touch her even more. He stroked his thumb across the back of her hand, mesmerized by the sensation. She seemed more of a highborn lady than a bairn’s nursemaid.
She cleared her throat, ousting him from the spell. “Chieftain?”
He jerked his hand away. “How come ye to be out in a storm like this? Alone?”
Worry returned to her features. She glanced around the large gathering hall as if searching for the answer among the stone columns and Sinclair crests fluttering on the walls. “I dinna ken,” she finally said, and gave a defeated shrug. “I woke up this morning, and I was just…here.”
Her dilemma presented an intriguing puzzle.Ifshe spoke the truth. Since she was fully dressed, no one had stolen her from her bed, and they hadn’t appeared to harm her. She seemed to be telling what she knew but held more back. He saw it in her eyes and her nervous fidgeting.
“What do ye remember about last night? Or even before that?” he asked.
She looked away, wrinkling her nose at something in the distance, something only she could see. After a long moment of strained silence, she shifted and gave another jerking shrug. “Last night, I was watching for the mirrie dancers with the man I thought I was going to marry.” Anger flashed across her face and made her voice become louder. “But the northern lights waited to come until after he showed me I was a fool.”
She stared down at her white-knuckled fists. After a slow, deep breath, she lifted her head. Her jaw went hard and fierce as if she clenched her teeth. “Then I shoved his ring in his face and stormed away just as the sky exploded with a brilliant show of lights.” Her expression took on that pained, faraway look again. “I stumbled off the cliff. Or I thought I did.” Confusion returned, furrowing her delicate brow. “And when I opened my eyes, it was daytime and starting to snow.”
