Page 2 of Harrowing Hall
“I would like that very much.”More than you can imagine, she was tempted to say, but even she was not so forward. In truth, though, they had yet to kiss, and she did look forward to it. She had never been kissed by a man, so she had no idea what to expect other than everything with Blake was thrilling.
“Come, then,mo leannan.” He leapt out of the carriage, held out his hand to her, and kept grinning. “Let us do this right.”
“What doesmo leannanmean?”
“My sweetheart,” he replied so easily one would think he had not said something so intimate. “Because I like to think you are.”
Yet again, she was tongue-tied but, at last, found her voice and said precisely how she felt. “I would like to think so, too.”
He gestured at the castle after he helped her out of the carriage. “So what do you make of my ancestral home?”
“I think it is stunning.” Maude took in its grand height and ancient stonework. “Like something out of another time.” She eyed the courtyard. “I can almost see great lords of yesteryear returning from battle on their mighty steeds.”
“You meanlairds.” He chuckled and looped arms with her as they started up the steps. “Aye, there were a great many of those either off to battle or coming home from it.”
She could just imagine. How many wives, daughters, and mothers had watched their loved ones depart from this very courtyard? She glanced up. Perhaps even from the windows above? In fact, she could see it clearly.
Herclearly.
So much so, she stopped short, shocked by what else she saw.
Then, more specifically, what she did not see.
Chapter Two
“What is it?”Blake frowned from Maude to the window she stared up at. “Your skin has gone pale.”
It was hard to imagine his Maude ever swooning, but she looked close to it at the moment.
“I swore I saw,” she began but trailed off and shook her head, fanning her face with the fan he had gifted her. “It must have been my imagination because the woman’s clothing was out of date, then,” she made an explosive gesture with her hand, “poof, she was gone!”
“Out of date?” He kept his grin firmly in place when he suspected there was more to it than he would let on about just yet. “The lighting is odd at this hour, so I am sure it was just someone passing by.” He arched his brows and kept his tone light. “And I dare say, my Maude, what do you know of Scottish fashion nowadays? Especially from but a glimpse of a woman through a window so far up?”
In all honesty, he cared naught if she knew anything about fashion anywhere. From the moment he met Maude, he had been utterly charmed. Smitten, actually. She had lush brown hair with flecks of auburn only seen in the sunlight. While she tried to tame it into a presentable style, wild curls always escaped. How he would love to see it down. To know how long her locks were. To lose his hands in its plushness.
But that was not all that enthralled him about Maude.
While small in stature, she had the largest personality he had ever come across. If left to her own devices, some might consider her a horrible gossip, but he knew better. Her mouth just went faster than her imagination if such a thing were possible. And she rarely, if ever, held back. Something most saw as a fault, but he thought one of the best parts of her.
Some saw her as plain, but he saw anything but.
From the way her cheeks turned rosy when she grew animated to her flawless ivory skin to the soft curve of her jaw, he had never come across a more lovely lass. Her eyes were his favorite feature, though. Had shot Cupid’s arrow straight into his heart from day one. A beautiful cinnamon shade, they shifted hues ever so slightly depending on her mood, which for the most part went from curious to happy to even happier. They were thickly lashed and more round than oval, taking in everything in a way others didn’t.
So, yes, it was safe to say he had fallen head over heels in love with Maude within days of meeting her and was sure that would never change. He had never met another like her and knew he never would. Now she was finally here. In his castle.
“I amquitesure the woman in the window was dressed in outdated clothing,” Maude exclaimed, pulling him back into the conversation as quickly as he pulled her right along, lest she see more of what she should not. “Her dress was different around the neck, and her hair was—”
“I am certain she was just someone passing by the window who caught the light wrong,” he reiterated, determined to explain all this orthatlater. Once she had settled. For he had no doubt his Maude would become intrigued with the castle in due time. That likely gave him an hour or two at best. “Come.” He nodded thanks when his butler opened the door. “Let me introduce you to MacLauchlin Castle’s great hall—”
“Oh, my!” Maude did not bother ogling the hall but smiled broadly at his butler. “You had opening the door timed just right for me, did you not, good sir?” She curtsied and smiled broader still. “Thank you.” She squeezed his hand. “Idoso hope we can be friends.”
Finlay’s face turned flaming red under his cap of snow-white hair, and he smiled wider than he usually did when greeting new guests. “Aye, miss, I would like that.” He had no need to look at Blake with concern that he was out of place. “Verramuch.”
“Good, then.” She squeezed his hand again before he gestured that she should enter the hall.
“In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your stay at MacLauchlin Castle, Miss Maude.”
“I am sure I will,” she began, trailing off when she finally took in everything. She put a hand to her heart, and her eyes grew moist. “My goodness,” she breathed in awe, “just look at it.”
