“Your grandparents do sound rather ruthless,” Margaret said, attempting to keep her voice light. “Will they be at Dunrobin?”
“After their schemes secured the Sutherland lands and title for their line, they washed their hands of the far north,” Finn said. “Grandmother relinquished the title to Alex’s father, and they lived their remaining years in peace on their Gordon estates near Huntly Castle.”
“I confess I’m not sorry I won’t meet them.”
“Fair warning,” Finn said, leaning close, “like madness, ruthlessness runs in families.”
“Alex certainly isn’t ruthless,” she said with a laugh.
“That’s because he takes after his mother,” Finn said. “My Aunt Helen has a good heart.”
“And Alex’s father, the earl?” she asked.
“My uncle treated me fairly while I fostered with him, and I was lucky to have such a skilled warrior train me.” Finn paused and squinted at the horizon. “But I would not want to be between him and something he wanted.”
His uncle sounded like all the men of her family.
“There’s Dunrobin.” Finn pointed to a large fortress that came into view as they rounded the headland. “We’ll be ashore soon.”
“I forgot to tell ye,” Alex shouted over the wind as he guided the boat to shore. “Your family is here at Dunrobin as well.”
Finn narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “Youforgotto tell me?”
Alex gave him an impish grin. “They all traveled north with my parents.”
“Allof them?” Finn asked, his voice rising.
“Aye,” Alex said. “They’re staying several weeks for the hunting.”
His parents! Margaret’s hand went to her throat. Finn had told her about his grandparents and Alex’s parents, but not a word about his own parents. She did not even know if he had siblings. She had a hundred questions, but they were nearly to the shore. Men from the castle were already coming down to the shore to help haul their boat in.
“Who will ye say I am?” she asked.
Instead of telling her ancient family history, they should have made a plan.
###
Shite, shite, shite!Finn pulled out his whisky flask, tipped his head back, and let the burning liquid pour down his throat. How in the hell would he explain Margaret to his family? He had to think fast.
He pulled several strands of hair loose from Margaret’s neat braid. When he attempted to tug her bodice lower, she slapped his hand away.
“What are ye doing?” she hissed.
“We must make ye look like the sort of woman I would bring home,” he said, “or my mother will be suspicious.”
“No one will suspect who I really am dressed like this.” She spread out the skirt of her plain gown. “I look like a simple villager.”
“An innocent village lass is not the sort of woman who’d be traveling with me,” he said. “God’s bones, bringing a lass like that to my mother would be like throwing a puppy to the king’s lions.”
“You can tell them I’m a poor widow looking for work as a servant in the castle,” Margaret said.
“I could say that if it were just my aunt and uncle,” he said. “They would both be polite and pretend to believe I brought a stunningly beautiful lass to their home to scrub floors. But my own family won’t even pretend to believe it.”
Besides that, she would actually have to scrub floors to keep up the pretense, and he could not have Lady Margaret Douglas doing that.
“So, ye wouldn’t bring a respectable servant to your aunt and uncle’s home, but you’d bring a woman who dresses like a tavern wench?” she asked. “That would not upset your family?”
“Aye, it would upset them, but not surprise them.” Finn could not help laughing at her appalled expression. “Trust me, I’m giving my family exactly what they expect of me.
