Page 43 of A Highland Lass for the English Duke

Will felt sick.

"I mean what I said," said Trenton mockingly, but this time with an edge to his voice. "That I will take your comely wee hen into mine nest, since she is not of noble stock and therefore not good enough for the third duke of Iverst!"

"That's what I thought you meant," said Will succinctly. Then, casually, he stood up and flattened him with his fist. Trenton flumped to the ground impressively.

"Will," his mother gasped.

Will tried his hardest to keep his temper, but it was to no avail.

"Leave it, Mother," he warned her, before turning his ire straight to Trenton.

Trenton lay panting at his feet, a tangled mess of hair, feathers, and chaperone all splayed on the heavy wood floor. Will felt a twisting disgust in his belly.

All the same, Trenton managed a sly half-smile. "Touched a nerve, I see, Brother."

Will leaned down close, his leather riding boot on Trenton's windpipe.

"Will!" protested his mother meekly. But Will did not pay her heed. Instead, his eyes glared down at his brother, feeling more disgust than he ever had before.

"Now listen here, Brother, and listen good. You leave Lissie alone if you know what's good for you!"

Trenton lurched forward, struggling to get free. But in a trice, Will was already moving. He shoved his drunken brother back down, marching out of the hall at great speed.

He had wasted enough time already.

CHAPTER 10

Across town, the same morning, Lissie was settling into her now-familiar routine.

An early breakfast was taken in the chambers, and then callers announced themselves to her cousin's hall. If she was lucky, she might sneak out and do some riding, although Lissie noted that Annice was not especially keen on riding, or horses.

Or doing anything that was classed as "undignified".

Which was practically everything.

But as Lissie sat, gazing out of the windows, even Annice's cloistered ways could not get her down. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Something pleases you, Elisabeth. Will you be so good as to share it?"

Lissie turned her head. She had not noticed cousin Annice coming into the room. As imperious as ever, she swept into the main chamber wearing a houppelande so long it practically cleaned the floor for her.

Annice sashayed over to Lissie, leaning expectantly. Lissie smiled.

"Aye, it does, Cousin," she sighed. "I think for the first time there may be an Englishman who isnae an awfu' muddied stick."

Annice screwed her face into a frown. Theatrically, she cast around as if asking for a translation from her ladies-in-waiting. Their faces were also a picture. In the background, chaperone Jane hid a grin.

Focusing on her, Annice tightened her lips.

"Elisabeth, I believe you might mean a 'stick in the mud'?" Annice suggested, her perfectly shaped eyes rising upward.

"Aye, that is it," said Lissie, beaming from ear to ear.

For the first time since coming to London, she had an air of expectation. She was actually looking forward to the coming morning with its callers. Hopefully, Will would come along!

"Well, anyhoo, Cousin, I am hopeful that something may come o' it!" She smirked.

Flicking her hair about, Lissie gazed out of the small, open window.