Page 40 of To Wed a Wild Scot
Lady Juliana clutched the lamb to her chest. “No. I want to keep Fiona with me.”
“Fiona?” Logan rolled his eyes. Of course, she’d name the lamb Fiona. The English thought all Scottish lasses were named Fiona. “How do you know it’s a girl?”
“It’s a girl,” said Douglas, who was watching the scene with interest. “If ye just lift ’er tail, ye can tell by the—”
“Never mind lifting her tail, Douglas. What do you intend to do, Lady Juliana? Bring the animal to your bedchamber and tuck her into bed beside you?” Logan reached up and plucked the lamb from her arms. “Douglas will take good care of the troublesome little…that is, er…Fiona. Won’t you, lad?”
“Aye, sir.” Douglas grinned as Fiona burrowed her small, soft head into his shoulder. “She’s a sweet wee thing, innit she?”
Logan reached up to lift Lady Juliana down, but she shifted away from him before he could wrap his hands around her waist. “I’m perfectly capable of dismounting without your assistance, Mr. Blair.”
“Dùr bhean,” Logan muttered, and Douglas grinned.
Lady Juliana frowned down at him suspiciously. “What does that mean?”
“It means stub—” Douglas began, but Logan cut him off.
“Are you coming down, or not? We haven’t got all night, Lady Juliana.” Her legs were likely numb and would collapse beneath her as soon as her feet touched the ground, but Logan dropped his arms and stepped back.
Lady Juliana swung one leg over the saddle and attempted a graceful leap to the ground. She made it down well enough, but her last claim to dignity disintegrated as her legs buckled beneath her.
She let out a faint cry and would have fallen to the stable floor, but Logan caught her and swept her up into his arms. “I think a tumble into Ruthven Burn is enough excitement for one day, don’t you?”
“Mr. Blair!” Lady Juliana gasped as the floor disappeared beneath her feet. “Put me down at once! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Carrying you to the farmhouse. The Widow Macaulay will have my head if a young lady under my protection crumples into a heap on her doorstep. Be still,” he added sternly, when she began to wriggle to get free. “If you can’t manage to get down from a horse, what makes you think you can walk to the door?”
“The fact that I’ve walked to hundreds of doors throughout my lifetime, all without your assistance?”
Logan grinned at the note of pique in her voice. If there was one thing Lady Juliana despised, it was having her abilities questioned. “This one door won’t make any difference then, will it?”
He balanced her against his shoulder and pounded on the door with his fist, but there was no answer. The house remained dark and silent.
“She’s a bit deaf.” Logan raised his fist and pounded again, harder this time.
“Oh, dear. This is dreadfully rude of us.” Lady Juliana was biting her lip. “Perhaps we should go on to Castle Kinross after all. You’ll frighten the poor thing to death with all that banging!”
Logan let out a short laugh. “Nothing frightens Widow Macaulay.”
“You mean to say she’s not afraid of someone breaking down her door in the middle of the night? Why, that’s utter non—”
The door flew open then, and Lady Juliana’s words died away.
The Widow Macaulay stood on the doorstep in a brown-and-white spotted dressing gown. Her hands were on her hips, her hair flew in wild gray tufts around her head, and she wore a scowl fierce enough to frighten the devil himself.
“Good evening, ma’am.” Logan hitched Lady Juliana higher on his chest and managed an awkward bow. “I beg your pardon for disturbing you at such a late hour, but—”
“Well, now ye’ve done it, haven’t ye, Logan Blair?”
Logan had learned long ago never to admit any wrongdoing to Widow Macaulay. He blinked innocently at her. “Done what? What did I do?”
She jerked her chin toward Lady Juliana. “Ye gone and stolen yerself an English lass.”
Logan didn’t even bother to ask how she knew Lady Juliana was English. By the time he’d turned five, he’d already decided the Widow Macaulay knew everything. “I didn’tstealher.”
“Well, where’d ye get ’er, then?”
“She’s a guest at Castle Kinross. This is Lady Juliana Bernard, a friend of the duke’s, visiting from England.”
