Page 59 of To Wed a Wild Scot
She straightened her shoulders and went to move past them, courtesy be damned, but before she could disappear through the entryway of the inn, Logan caught her arm. “Wait, Lady Juliana. I want to introduce you to Miss AlisonMcLaren. Alison here is Fergus’s eldest daughter. The Sassy Lassie is named after her. Alison, this is Lady Juliana Bernard. She’s…well, she’s…she’s the Duke of Blackmore’s friend, visiting here from Surrey.”
Well, how very odd. It must have slipped Logan’s mind Juliana was also hisbetrothed.
The girl dipped into a hasty curtsy, her flirtatious smile replaced by a curious one. “How do you do, my lady? You’re quite a way from Surrey, aren’t you?”
The girl’s smile was friendly, and she spoke cheerfully enough, but Juliana’s own smile felt as if it were frozen to her lips. “How do you do?” She returned the girl’s curtsy, but she didn’t linger. “I’m pleased to meet you, Miss McLaren, but if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and see if your father has any letters for me.”
Logan’s fingers tightened around her arm, but Juliana freed herself from his grip with a subtle tug. He was welcome to stand here in the inn yard and flirt with Alison McLaren if he liked, but she didn’t have to stay here and watch it.
She could feel his gaze on her back as she walked away, but she disappeared through the inn’s doorway without turning around.
There weren’t many people about, but Juliana saw a man in the dining room dragging a damp cloth across the bar, and she recognized him at once as Fergus McLaren. “I beg your pardon, Mr. McLaren, but do you have any letters here for Lady Juliana Bernard?”
He looked up from the bar, and his furry eyebrows shot up. “Lady who?”
“Lady Juliana Bernard, Mr. McLaren. Surely that name must be familiar to you? I’m the English lady Logan Blair warned you about. The lady you were meant to keep away from Castle Kinross.”
He ran a grimy sleeve across his forehead. “Are ye now?”
“Indeed. As it happened, I found the castle in spite of you.”
He took her in from the top of her head to the tips of her boots, and a grin rose to his lips. “Did ye now? How did ye manage that, lass?”
She shrugged. “It was simple enough. I saw Logan leave the inn and I followed him.”
Fergus seemed mightily amused by that. He slapped a hand down on the bar, cackling. “And what did Mr. Logan Blair do when ’e found ye sneaking after ’im?”
“There wasn’t much he could do, aside from take me to Castle Kinross with him. He wasn’t at all pleased about it, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Fergus cackled even harder. “Aye, I bet ’e wasn’t, at that. Ye English lassies are wily ones. All right then, Lady Juliana Bernard. Ye just wait ’ere, and I’ll fetch the letters for ye.”
He shuffled off, still chuckling, and Juliana wandered over to the window to wait. Logan was still talking with Alison McLaren in the yard. What was the girl saying to him, to put such an amused smile on his face? He was so wholly absorbed by her he didn’t even seem to notice Juliana had disappeared. She turned her back on them with an irritated huff. It looked as if she’d have to fetch the castle’s letters, too, since Logan was too preoccupied to do it himself.
“Here ye are, my lady. There’s a few here fer the duke, and one fancy one on fine paper fer you.” Fergus handed the letters over with a sly wink. “Nothing but the finest paper fer yer ladyship, eh?”
Juliana snatched the letters from him, but Fergus didn’t seem offended by her rudeness. He only cackled again, and shook his head. “Wily, and sassy, too. Logan’ll have ’is hands full with this one.”
He went back to his work. Juliana placed Fitz’s letters safely in the pocket of her riding skirt, and wandered out into the hallway to read hers.
It was postmarked from Bath, and Lord Arthur’s crest was stamped into the dark green wax. Juliana stared down at it, her stomach suddenly in knots. Lord Arthur had said he’d write if her father’s health made a drastic change for the better, or for the worse.
Except there was no better for her father. Not anymore.
Juliana’s hands shook as she slid the tip of her fingernail under the wax and opened the sheet. The letter was brief, but in the few moments it took for her to read the half-dozen lines, her entire world fell apart.
Rapid deterioration…father very ill…leaving Bath for Surrey today…
Come at once.
Lord Arthur must have written the letter just after she’d arrived in Inverness. She stared down at it, the words and lines blurring in front of her eyes. Then she shoved it into her pocket and ran out the front door of the inn.
Logan turned when she came out into the yard. He took one look at her and the smile Alison McLaren had put on his face vanished. “Juliana? What’s happened?”
Juliana didn’t answer him. She hardly heard him. Lord Arthur’s words were echoing in her head, and her only thought was she must get back to Castle Kinross as quickly as she could.
“Juliana!” Logan caught her by the shoulders as she raced across the inn yard and held her still, his blue eyes dark with worry as he gazed down at her. “Juliana, what is it? Tell me what’s wrong.”
“My father,” she whispered, the words torn from a throat suddenly gone dry with panic. “I must return to England at once.”
