With the suddenness of a cat’s pounce, the little girl wrapped her arms around Lorna’s neck and hugged her tight. “I have a plan, Mistress Lorna. Dinna ye worry about anything, ye ken?”
Lorna hugged her back, almost choking on the rush of emotions filling her. “I am glad. That will help me sleep better.” As she made her way to Frances’s room, she wondered what the wily nine-year-old had in mind.
Chapter Nine
“There willna beany festivities or parties of any sort until Yule?” Lady Murdina eyed him as though he was the foulest beast that ever walked the earth. “None?”
“It has been a lean year, m’lady. Be thankful we decided to celebrate the twelve days of Yule at all.” Gunn glanced her way, noting she pouted like an overindulged child.
“But I thought ye one of the most prosperous clans in all of Scotland?”
“Clan Sinclair is strong and prosperous because we handle our assets wisely and dinna burn through them with carelessness.” If they married, and that became a largerifwith each passing day, he needed to ensure the marriage contract inhibited Lady Murdina’s use of all clan accounts.
“I feel the need to visit my daughter. Would ye care to join me and look in on yer son?” he asked, hoping Lady Murdina declined. While her behavior and temperament had drastically improved since the first day, they simply had little left to say to one another. She had no interest in books, music, or news and was obviously bored with winter life at the keep. If she had said it once, she said it a thousand times—she missed the excitement of Edinburgh and its entertainment.
Lady Murdina tapped her chin as if giving the invitation careful thought, then smiled and shook her head. “I think not. I promised Reginald some time today. He wishes to review the contract and ensure I understand all the clauses.”
“Did Mr. MacGibbon not go over it thoroughly with the both of ye?”
She batted her eyes as if stricken with motes of dust, then a nervous laugh escaped her. “Of course—but that was several months ago, and details may have been forgotten.”
“Details,” he repeated, an ominous sense of doom weighing heavier in his gut.
“Aye, details.” She offered a smile that appeared anything but innocent, then lightly patted his chest. “Tell the lovely Bella I asked after her. She is such a precious child.”
“I will.” With a formal nod, he turned and headed for the stairs, feeling as though he had just lost a very important battle.
How the hell had he ever thought this was a good plan to get an heir? Better to guide Bella into an advantageous marriage and pass the chieftainship to her husband. But it was too late now. The damnable contract and, more importantly, his word bound him to Lady Murdina for at least thirty days—or more precisely, three and twenty days, since a sennight had passed since her arrival. He prayed the clear skies held so Edmond could make haste in retrieving the apparently less-than-honorable Mr. MacGibbon. The new solicitor needed to explain why he had concealed that he also represented Lady Murdina’s interests.
As Gunn neared his daughter’s floor, piercing screams split the air. He vaulted up the remaining steps, burst into the hall, then skidded to a stop. The screams turned into shrieks of laughter that melted into shouts and squeals.
“What the devil?” He eased open the door to the solar connected to Bella’s personal library and music room. The area was empty except for the trio of hounds that worshiped his daughter as if she were a goddess. The three lay stretched in front of the crackling fire, sound asleep despite the noise coming from the next room. He shook his head at the dogs. “Fine guards, the lot of ye. Full bellies and a warm fire turns ye harmless.”
The oldest mongrel with the whitest muzzle lifted his head and acknowledged Gunn’s presence with a yawn and a slow thump of his tail against the floor.
“Back to sleep, old man. From the sound of it, she is quite safe.”
The dog readily complied.
Gunn continued on to the library, eased open the door, and peeked inside.
“Whoever reaches the window seat first wins!” Lorna called out. “But remember, if ye touch the floor, ye burn alive, then turn into an evil ghostie. Dinna let the boiling-hot lava get ye!” She stood on a small upholstered stool, clutching her skirts high enough to reveal a mouth-watering length of leg that reached above her knees.
Gunn swallowed hard and pulled in a deep breath. The shape of her long, slender calves made him ache to untie her stockings and slide them off while trailing kisses on what he knew would be her silky skin.
Nimble as a deer, she leaped to the nearest chair and crouched to keep her balance while laughing. “Ye better hurry! I am going to beat the lot of ye.”
“Oh no, ye are not!” Bella shouted as she hopped from her chair to another strategically placed footstool. She turned and waved for Frances and Hesther to follow. “This way! Hurry!”
“No, this way!” Hesther giggled as she leaped from a wooden chair to a pillow on the floor. “The pillows are easier!”
“Aye, watch this.” Frances hopped like a wee frog from cushion to cushion, almost reaching the windowsill first.
Ebby stood in the doorway of one of the bedchambers, her arms filled with linens. “Here, Mistress Lorna! More stones for ye to step on!” She tossed several cloths, and they landed on the floor close to Lorna.
Lorna jumped to one of them but stepped wrong and tumbled to the floor, laughing. “Oh no! I am melting!” She rolled back and forth, laughing as she kicked her feet like a dying bug.
“We win again!” Bella shouted with an impressive leap from her perch to the window seat.
