“An even more ludicrous image.”
“I’m going to do it,” Rose said, and a sense of rightness dropped over her. It wasnotup to Thorfinn Sinclair to declare who or what she was. She was laird of Hamarray, and she had a duty, from helping with the peats to ousting a dangerous spy ring—even if the latter meant turning in a resident of Frest. For her responsibility was to all the crofters—not just one but the people as a whole.
“Play in the dirt? It is full of crawly things.” Percy feigned a shudder.
“I’ve never been squeamish.”
“Wouldn’t you rather try your hand at racing? My plane versus your speedboat?” Percy asked.
“Nope. I know exactly what I want to do on the morrow, and that’s arranging peat to dry.”
When a gal set out to find some purpose in her life, there was no shame in starting out small.
Chapter 14
“Is there a reason I am assisting you today while Rose is over yonder working with Young Thomas?” Astrid asked as she lifted out one of the bricks of peat that Sinclair had just cut from the earth with the tusker.
The people of Frest were spread out on the hillside of Hamarray as they worked in pairs to remove pieces of wet sod to dry into fuel. Rose’s generosity of reopening the peats on Hamarray had invigorated the islanders. Despite the backbreaking work, the mood was jovial, and the old songs filled the air.
Sinclair, however, didnotshare in the high spirits. Not only did he feel like an utter lout about what he’d said to Rose, but he was also worried about the German agents. Would Rose risk her life and try to unravel the spy ring without him?
Sinclair grunted, not exactly sure how to answer his cousin’s question about Rose. He hadn’t expected the lass to show up for the harvest today—not with the awful words he’d spewed. She hadn’t deserved it. He still didn’t approve of her inviting guests like the Duke of Newsberry to the island, but he’d acted like his stepda, making up his own mind without taking time to consider the other person’s side of things.
The more Sinclair reviewed the conversation in his head, the more he realized that Rose hadn’t actuallysaidthat she’d decided definitively to open the hotel. He’d been so raw after both reliving the night Marhad blinded him and unraveling Reggie’s cipher that he’d unfairly imputed duplicity he shouldn’t have.
“Si-in-clair.” Astrid drew out his name. “Did you act like a gappus?”
“Maybe,” he huffed out as he sliced through the layers of soil.
“Is this perchance related to how you stormed my house asking if the Duke of Newsberry had besmirched my honor?”
“I didn’t phrase it that way.” Sinclair jammed down the thin blade so hard it got stuck.
“That is precisely what you said. It was dreadfully melodramatic,” Astrid pointed out. “Also, when cutting peat, the point is not to beat the ground into submission; it is to slice it.”
“You know how my mum was treated.” Sinclair wrestled with the tusker and succeeded only in wedging it into an even more difficult angle.
“I am not your mother, Sinclair,” Astrid said softly. “And Rose is assuredlynotthe earl presiding over lawless debauchery. A ceilidh and an auto race are not the same as an orgy and cockfighting.”
Sinclair glanced around to make sure no one had heard them, especially the children. “Astrid.”
“Well, that’s what you’re concerned about, isn’t it?”
“The previous Duke of Newsberry was one of the earl’s most frequent guests. His nephew looks exactly like him. Acts like him too. He called youdelectable.” Sinclair twisted the handle so hard for a moment he thought he’d broken the blade.
Astrid reached up and touched his hand. “He’s a rogue, Sinclair, but he is not a monster. Hedidshower me with pretty words and clever quips, but I suspect he flirts with every woman he encounters. I have led enough male bird-watchers to know who are the harmless ones and who are dangerous. The duke only teased me as far as I was comfortable. He was a very pleasant client who actually listened attentively to my descriptions. He certainly did not view me as his for the taking just because he paid me some coin to direct him to seafowl.”
A coldness settled deep inside Sinclair. “And others have?”
Astrid smiled wickedly. “Why do you think I carry a knife in my boot? There has never been a man that I could not handle.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Astrid reached up and cupped his face. “Because I knew it would worry you and you’d fash yourself over it. Reggie and you both saw to it that I could defend myself. I’m only telling you now to say that I think you misjudged the duke by conflating him with his uncle. Rose wouldn’t have sicced a lecher on me.”
Guilt churned inside him. “I practically accused her of operating a brothel.”
Astrid’s eyes widened. “No wonder she is working with Young Thomas instead of you. You’re lucky she allowed you to walk away from an insult like that.”
