Page 60 of Claiming His Scottish Duchess
“Very well,” Richard said as he put down his paper. “Ladies, if you could please excuse us.”
Then, Catriona saw Lydia looking up from her toast.
Her eyes widened as her small body stiffened. Lydia’s breath hitched, and the change in her countenance. She kept her eyes cast down, refusing to look at the earl.
“Come, lassie,” Catriona said as she pulled Lydia to her feet. “Let’s take a turn about the grounds and get some fresh air. We’ll leave the gentlemen to their business.”
Richard nodded as the two started to make their leave, his mind clearly elsewhere.
Even as she walked down the hallway, Catriona picked up the echoes of the men’s voices.
“Your niece, Richard,” Lord Mortridge started. “How is the little bird faring with your wife? Has she found her voice yet?”
“She is doing as well as she can. Now, shall we move to the study?” Richard responded quickly, clearly wanting to avoid the subject.
As she and Lydia reached the gardens, Catriona felt like something was terribly wrong.
The shift in Lydia’s countenance was too sudden, too sharp a contrast to the progress they had made. A tightness had formed in Catriona’s chest when she watched Lord Mortridge look at the child.
And his questions?
Aye, somethin’ is nae right.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Coinnichidh na daoine far nach coinnich na cnuic” The people meet each other but the hills do not.
“There’s somethin’ wrong with him,” Catriona pressed one evening after Lydia had been excused from dinner. “I am sorry to press on the subject, but I feel it. There’s a darkness in him, he chills me to the bone.”
“Sampson is an old acquaintance, Catriona,” Richard replied dismissively as he set down his napkin in frustration. This was the third time Catriona had broached the subject, and he had grown tired of her inquisition. “He’s become a necessary partner in business. That’s all.”
Ever since Sampson’s unexpected visit, Richard felt the subtle rift between them grow. It was almost as if her trust in him was wavering, but for what reason he could not discern. Sampson, while unpleasant, was relatively harmless.
Why does she continue with this?Richard wondered as he ran his fingers through his hair.
He resented how her eyes lingered on him whenever he excused himself for business. He did not care for it at all. If there was one thing Richard knew, it was how to make a deal. If there was something that was integral to his character, it was protecting his family.
“Cat,” he said with finality, rising from his seat and walking toward her at the opposite end of the long, exquisite oak table. “Your imagination is running away with you. Sampson can be gruff, perhaps even unpleasant. He’s not someone I’d call a friend. But sometimes business requires a certain level of directness. You must trust me in this. It is my duty to conduct good business, for the benefit of Wilthorne.”
“Aye, it is more than gruffness in him,” she said as she rose from her seat, turned on her heel, and began to walk out of the room. “It’s in his eyes, the way he looks at people. He makes me skin crawl. He’s a viper!”
“My fierce Highland lass,” he said as he caught up to her, grabbing her wrist and turning her to face him. He willed himself to be patient. “You are forcing yourself to see shadows where there are none. This is not some Scottish folk tale. Sampson is harmless enough. I assure you that I will not let any hurt befall you.”
Catriona’s gaze intensified, her brow furrowing into a tight line as she sized him up.
She will not let this go,he realized as he prepared himself to receive her fury.
“I’m nae so worried about meself, if that’s what ye think. I can handle me own. If ye are so sure he’s as harmless as a fly, then why does Lydia look like she’s seen a ghost every time he walks into the room?”
“Lydia is afraid of most men, and with good reason, given all she has endured,” Richard barked. “She is just coming into her own again, there will be setbacks. He can be overwhelming for someone of her delicate sensibilities. That is all.”
Richard watched Catriona hesitate to respond, taking in his words. After a moment, though, she nodded at him and placed her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. He felt the heat sizzle between them at the embrace, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.
“I ken it sounds foolish, but I ken I am right about this,” she said, pleading with him one last time.
“I cannot talk about this another moment, Catriona. That is my final word on the subject. You would do well to heed me,” he growled.
Her persistence ran like a bolt of lightning up his spine, fury seizing in his blood as he let her go and went to his room alone.
