“For all the stark barrenness of these Highlands of yours, it is rather lovely country, isn’t it?”
“You’ve noticed that, have you?” he replied with a good deal of pride.
“And your Kregora, too.”
“Aye, that she is.”
“But are there fireplaces in there? Warm bedding? Hot bricks?”
The last leg of the journey had been extremely cold, the farther north they traveled, so it was understandable that such things should be on her mind—even if she was teasing him.
And Lachlan laughed. “Dinna fash yourself, Kimber, I’ll be keeping you warm and comfy and the rats away.”
“That’s good to—rats?!”
“Och, well, mayhap only a few wee mice.”
Her eyes narrowed on him, afraid he wasn’t just teasing her back this time. Castles were known to harbor such creatures, after all. But then so did any place that wasn’t kept properly cleaned.
“Well, if you do have any mice running about, I promise you they’ll soon be looking for a new home,” she said with a determined glint in her eyes.
Lachlan smiled at the thought. Winnifred, to give her her due, had been an excellent housekeeper. She’d kept Kregora running smoothly without ever seeming to be active at it. Nessa, who had taken over the same responsibilities, would rather be out in the kennels playing with her favorite hounds, or out hunting grouse. The castle had deteriorated under her supervision, though she had too much pride to ever acknowledge that.
Thinking of his tomboyish cousin, Lachlan asked, “Did I tell you about Nessa?”
“Your cousin who fancies herself in love with you and thought you ought to have married her instead?” she replied. “That Nessa?”
Lachlan flushed with ire. “Which of those frog-kicking devils told you?”
She smiled at him. “Actually, they both did, and not together but separately, unaware they’d both had the same idea. I thought it was rather amusing when Gilleonan was telling me the exact same thing Ranald already did.”
“I would have been telling you myself,” he said in a low grumble.
“Yes, I can see that. But they both felt they were doing you a service, so you have no reason to be annoyed with them. They wanted me to be assured that you only have brotherly affections for the girl. They seemed to be worried that I might get jealous or some silly thing like that, if I didn’t understand the way of it.” And then she all but snorted. “As if I have a jealous nature.”
Lachlan grinned, remembering that day at an ice-skating pond when her nonexistent jealous nature had come galloping to the fore—just as his had. “Well, I’m hoping Nessa can set aside her stubbornness and come tae her senses about this after meeting you,” he said earnestly. “There’s no reason the tae o’ you canna be friends.”
Two women loving the same man, not very likely…
Kimberly went very still. Her eyes closed. No, she didn’t just have that thought. She was to have remained detached, to enjoy him, yes, to have fun with him, yes, to make him a good wife, yes, but to keep her heart her own. If she loved him, she’d be wanting his love in return, and forever, but she wasn’t going to be getting that.
It was a shame her mood had to be spoiled, just as they arrived at Castle Kregora, driving over the drawbridge. But she would work on regaining a proper perspective on the matter, so that she could exist here with some modicum of peaceful accord with her husband—and get back to pretending that all was just as she would want it to be.
The lord’s return had been anticipated for days, and word had been sent ahead again this morning as to their approximate time of arrival. So the large inner courtyard beyond the high outer walls was filled to capacity with MacGregors who had come from miles around to welcome Lachlan home—and to have a look at his English bride. They were a boisterous lot, some of the men in tartans despite the frigid weather, the blue, green, and black of the MacGregor in ample display on men, women, and children.
What with all the warm greetings and good wishes, it took them quite a while to finally make it through the doors to the great hall, or what Kimberly had assumed would be a great hall. But coming through those mammoth double doors, she was pleased to find that although Castle Kregora hadn’t been changed on the outside, it had definitely undergone complete remodeling on the inside.
What had once been a great hall had been divided into the rooms one would expect to find in most homes, a parlor, a normal-sized dining room, a billiards room, and a few other rooms she would get around to examining later, all with thick wooden walls. In fact, she was to find that every bit of stone inside the castle had been covered with wood for insulation, and some with wainscotting and wallpaper on top of that.
She had already discovered the perfect spot to put her mother’s grandfather clock, there in the wide entry hall. And a quick glance into the dining room they passed showed no china cabinet at all, so the chinoiserie, which should have been delivered already with the rest of her belongings, was actually needed.
“So this is her, then?”
Kimberly hadn’t seen the young woman come up behind them, but she had a feeling that sneering tone would belong to Nessa MacGregor, and as Lachlan made the introductions, she found she was right.
She was petite. Kimberly actually looked down on her by at least six inches. And she was strikingly beautiful, with long black hair in an unadorned single braid, and large, stormy grey eyes. She was also reed thin, and struck a regal pose, despite her diminutive height and size.
After the introduction, which she hadn’t acknowledged, and after no more than a brief, derisive glance in Kimberly’s direction, the girl said to Lachlan, “Well, she mun be rich as a queen, because she sure isna pretty. And she’s a blasted giant! What could you be thinking o’, Lach, tae be marrying such a homely looking lass as this?”
