Page 1 of A Scot to Wed

Chapter One

Fife County, Scottish Lowlands, Autumn, 1818

Mistress Katie Stirling, the only daughter of the Right Honorable Lord Stirling of Stirlingshire, studied the worn map she carried from her home on the trek to the MacDuff castle in Fife. The paper was dark, the writing faded, and it had been folded and refolded so many times that she feared it would fall apart.

“Is that it, miss?” Meggie, Katie’s maid and close friend, pointed off into the distance. In the haze, which had not yet been burned off by the morning sun, a large castle, like a child’s fairy tale, rose from the mist in the hills of Fife. All that was needed was a flame-blowing, foul-breathed dragon to complete the scene.

“I believe so.” At least, Katie hoped it was. She was worn out, hungry, and ready to claim the very land below her feet if it meant she could end this blasted journey. A journey to assert her rights to land stolen from her family. Land that should have been passed down to her through her mother, Aileen MacDuff Stirling.

“We’re so close,” Meggie moaned. “Why did the cart have to lose a wheel now?”

“There would have been no good time for the cart to lose a wheel. And I dinnae believe ’tis lost but broken.” Annoyed and frustrated, she snapped at her maid and was immediately ashamed.

At the woman’s sharp intake of breath, Katie apologized, “I apologize, Meggie, I should not take out my frustration on ye.”

Meggie mumbled something that Katie didn’t hear. At the moment, she was more concerned with getting the broken wheel fixed so that they might at least make it to the castle. She, Meggie, her brother Gavin, and two of her household’s strongest men, Angus and Colum, had traveled from Stirlingshire to Fife. She’d left instructions with the housekeeper and stable master at Stirling Manor for the rest of her household and any tenants who wanted to join them to start out a week after they had left. She hoped that would give her enough time to assess the place and make it ready. Who knew what condition it was in with the last Laird MacDuff dead this past year?

Katie climbed from the cart and walked around the vehicle, examining the damage done to the back wheel. She squatted down. It was cracked down the center and would fall completely apart if they tried moving it forward. “Angus, what do ye make of this?”

The man vaulted from his horse and joined her. “Cracked down the middle, mistress.”

She sighed. The two men, who were twins, were strong, and she trusted them with her life, which was necessary when traveling a distance, but neither was overly bright. She’d chosen them to accompany her, Gavin, and Meggie on the trip to keep down the number of people who would need food and a place to sleep on the road. With just the five of them, they could make better time and be able to prepare the castle for the arrival of the rest of what was left of her clan. “I see that. Do ye have any idea how we can fix it?”

He smiled and nodded. “Aye. I ken how to fix it.”

Katie rose and dusted her hands off. “Excellent. Go ahead and fix it, then.”

He glanced at her from his position at her feet. “But we dinnae have the right parts.”

She dropped her head in her hands. She would not scream. She would not curse the man. She would not beat her fists against the side of the cart. It had been a long, arduous journey, and she was almost there. She would take a deep breath and…

Her head snapped up at the sound of horses approaching. They hadn’t seen many travelers along the road since they’d left home. A farmer here and there, a few people off to visit relatives, families returning from shopping in one of the small villages they had passed, but overall, the roads had been quiet. She was grateful for that, since they could have been set upon by brigands at any time. Travel in these times, with the Clearances underway—and so many families displaced and desperate—could be dangerous.

Two men burst from the mist, their horses squealing as the riders yanked on the reins to bring the animals to a stop before they crashed into their group. “What the hell are ye doing in the middle of the road?” the largest one said. He glowered at her from underneath deep-red furrowed brows as he tried to bring his horse under control.

Katie was so shaken by their abrupt appearance that before her heart had a chance to slow down, she shouted, “What the hell are ye doing racing through the mist like that?”

The man glowered at her. “’Tis a road. A place where ye move along, not where ye stop to chat or have yer meal.”

The beats in her heart changed from fear to anger. She fisted her hands at her waist. “How dare ye?” She waved her hand toward her cart and the other travelers. “Does it look to you as if we’re having a meal? Do ye see a blanket spread out with cheese and bottles of wine and warm bread? Are ye too high up there on yer mighty horse to notice we have a broken wheel?”

“Then ye pull off to the side, not just stop right there. We could have killed ye.”

“Evan, calm down,” the other man said. “Let’s see if we can help the lass.”

Evan ran his hand down his face. “Aye, Alasdair, you are right.” He nodded to her. “I apologize, mistress. I’m afraid ye startled me.” He took a deep breath. “Can we help ye?”

She wanted nothing more than to tell them to be on their way, but with neither Colum nor Angus able to fix the wheel, ’twas best to allow these two to help. Drawing on her dignity, she raised her chin. “Aye. As a matter of fact, we could use some help. Our wheel is cracked, and I’m afraid my men dinnae have the proper tools to fix it.”

Evan turned to Alasdair. “The lads can’t fix a broken wheel?” He burst out laughing, and the other one soon joined in.

“They dinnae have the ‘proper’ tools,” Alasdair added. They bent their large bodies over as they continued to roar with laughter.

Colum and Angus looked at each other and shrugged. They apparently didn’t realize they’d just been insulted. She was ready to give these strangers the rough side of her tongue. Whatever was wrong with them? Had she encountered two lackwits? She failed to see what was so amusing about their dilemma. “I dinnae see what is so funny about a broken wheel, sir.”

“Laird, to ye, mistress,” the one he’d called Alasdair said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He nodded toward his companion. “Ye are speaking to Laird Evan MacNeil of Argyll.” This one was not quite as big asLaird Evan MacNeil of Argyll, but the similarity in their features and coloring marked them as relatives. Perhaps even brothers.

She waved her hand in the air. “I dinnae really care, I only want to ken if you can help us.”