She tried again. “The moors are quite beautiful.” The sun cast its afternoon rays over the gently rolling hills, picking out what seemed to Juliana thousands of shades of brown and green. “What’s it like when the heather is in full bloom?”
He glanced briefly at her. “Purple.”
“How pretty that must be!” Juliana exclaimed, with resolute cheerfulness.
Mr. Blair didn’t reply.
Juliana frowned. Goodness, what a stubborn man. The more determined he was to ignore her, the more determined she became to make him talk to her. “You’re not at all like Fitzwilliam, for all that you two are brothers. He’snevercross.”
“I’m not cross,” he snapped. “But if Iam, it’s only because—”
“That sort of bad temper won’t do when we’re married, you know,” she went on. “I won’t have you biting my head off every morning at the breakfast table.”
He spun in the saddle to face her, his cheeks flushed with irritation, but as soon as he caught the mischievous grin on her face, his lips gave a reluctant twitch. “Very clever,mo bhean uasal.”
Mo bhean uasal? “What does that mean?” Something insulting, no doubt. Insufferable Englishwoman, perhaps.
He shrugged, but wouldn’t answer.
She huffed out a breath. “I don’t see any reason for us to quarrel, Mr. Blair.”
“Don’t you, lass?” The sarcasm in his voice was slightly offset by the hint of a smile still lurking at the corners of his mouth.
She studied his lips, a tingle of awareness lifting the fine hairs on her neck. He had quite a nice mouth. Perhaps he should put it to better use and smile more.
But then his mouth was no concern of hers. Juliana cleared her throat. “How much longer until we reach the Robertsons’ farm?”
He stiffened in the saddle. “Wearen’t going to the Robertsons’ farm.I’mgoing, without you. You made it this far on your own, and you can make it back the same way. Castle Kinross is due west. Keep riding until you run into it.”
Juliana didn’t believe for one minute he’d send her back to Castle Kinross alone. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve already been that way. I’d rather go along with you, and see more of the eastern countryside.”
“This isn’t a pleasure ride, Lady Juliana. A half-dozen or so of the Robertsons’ sheep have gone missing. He can’t account for it, and suspects a poacher. It’s going to be an exhausting day.” He swept a derisive look over the pristine riding habit she’d borrowed from Emilia. “Filthy, too. We’ll be clambering over hills and under bushes searching for the sheep. You won’t find it amusing.”
Juliana’s mouth tightened at his mocking tone. He imagined she lived only to be amused, did he? Perhaps that had been true once, but she couldn’t recall the last time she’d been at liberty to pursue frivolous entertainment. Logan Blair, for all his smirking and innuendo, hadn’t the vaguest idea what she was capable of. “You might be surprised, Mr. Blair, at what I’d find amusing.”
He gave her a skeptical look, as if to say he’d be shocked if he found anything she did surprising. “You won’t be able to keep up with us. You’ll only slow us down.”
Juliana ran an uneasy eye over the rough terrain surrounding them. The truth was, she hadn’t intended to ride today. She’d slept poorly, and her body was still fatigued from yesterday’s adventures, but she’d be damned if she’d admit any of this to Logan Blair. “Nonsense. I kept pace with you from Gretna Green to Inverness, didn’t I? Why should this be any different?”
“Because we’re chasing sheep today. You’re bound to get in the way.”
Juliana shrugged. “Even so, I don’t like to let you go without me. Who knows how long you’d decide to be gone from Castle Kinross? It would be a pity, indeed, if I was obliged to leave Scotland without saying goodbye to you.”
Juliana’s voice was pleasant, but he understood at once what she was implying, and his face darkened with anger. “All right then, my lady. If you want to watch my every move, I can’t stop you. But there’s no harm in taking you along, is there, lass, since you’re so certain you can keep up?”
Juliana eyed him, her gaze narrowing. He didn’t believe for one moment she could keep pace with the men. She could see by the smug smile on his lips that he was only humoring her. He was just waiting for the moment when she admitted she couldn’t keep up, and was forced to plead for mercy.
Juliana fisted the reins, anger burning in her chest. Logan Blair could keep her out here all night, and that moment would never come.
“One more thing, Lady Juliana. The men out here don’t have much use for aristocratic English ladies. You’re not in any danger from them—that is, not as long as you stay close to me.”
Juliana smothered a snort.Danger, indeed. He was only trying to intimidate her.
They didn’t speak at all after that, but rode across the moors at a quick pace. It was another hour before they reached the farm, which was a little more than twenty-four miles to the east of Castle Kinross. Juliana’s legs, still weary from yesterday’s ride were groaning in protest by the time they rode into the farmyard, but she maintained a stoic silence.
She’d dismounted and was trying to shake some feeling back into her legs without attracting Mr. Blair’s attention when the door to the farmhouse opened, and the most enormous man she’d ever seen came out. That is, he was the most enormous man she’d ever seen until she got a look at the two other men who followed him into the yard.
She stared, her mouth agape. All three of them had bright red hair, darker red bushy beards, and shoulders so muscular and wide they put her in mind of a team of oxen.
