Page 10 of A Highland Duke to Claim Her Heart

“C-calder Castle,” she stammered, then blushed. Why was she stammering like an idiot? Surely it was just the cold, which was beginning to make her shiver.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Calder Castle?” He clearly was impressed, she thought. “And what are you doing there? As far as I know, there is no lady of the castle.”

“I only arrived yesterday,” she admitted. “I am to visit with my fiance, Lord Christopher Dunmore.”

The man grunted. “Well, then, we ought to get you back to your little lordling.”

Something about the way he said it, like he was mocking her, made her bristle. However, before she could say anything, he had taken her by the shoulders—quite rudely, in fact—and was directing her toward her shoes and stockings, which she pulled on rather awkwardly before making her unsteady way over to the horse.

“I can take you back to Calder Castle,” he said. “You will ride the horse.”

“And what, you will walk?” she asked, distracted by this new development. “That does not seem fair. You rescued me, after all?”

She was standing in front of the horse now, and the man held out his hand, as if to help her up. However, she did not take it, putting her hands on her hips instead.

“I mean it,” she said, her voice lower. “It is not fair to make you walk. It is a long way back to Calder Castle. I should know—I just walked all the way here. You should ride on the horse with me.”

The man gave her a look that seemed to brook no opposition. “I am not riding on the horse with you,” he growled. “It would not be appropriate.”

All at once, her cheeks flushed red. Of course it would not be appropriate. Had she lost her mind?

“O-of course not,” she murmured. “You are right.”

The man nodded toward his hand, and, very tentatively, she took it.

His hand was warm, much warmer than she had been expecting, and rough. It unsettled her, especially compared to Christopher’s, which had been so smooth and unfamiliar with hard labor.

She leaned on him as she put one foot in the stirrup, and he took her whole weight like it was nothing. Which of course, to a man like him, it wasn’t.

Then she was up, on top of the horse. He took the reins and began to lead the horse back up the path toward the main trail. It was the same trail she had followed here, after getting directions from Mrs. Drummond. As they turned right at the top of the hill, she studied him.

“You know the way to Calder Castle,” she said. It was not a question.

“Everyone knows the way to Calder Castle in this area,” the man said without looking at her. “It is the main source of income and livelihood for the local population.”

Does he work for Calder Castle?She wondered. She wanted to ask, but for some reason, she was afraid to. It almost seemed better to never know his identity. After all, if anyone were to see them together, alone and soaked through to the bone, it could ruin her reputation forever. Lord Christopher might even refuse to marry her. It was far better if they both pretended this had never happened.

She now regretted having told him anything of her identity.

What if he blackmailed her?

“Are you happy about your marriage?” the man asked abruptly, shocking her out of her thoughts.

She stared at him, her lips slightly parted. “That is a very impertinent question,” she said.

The man laughed darkly. “Perhaps so. But I think we are past impertinence, do you not?”

“No, I do not.”

“Then think of it as a boon for having rescued you,” he said, a devilish smile slipping across his lips. “I get to ask you one impertinent question in exchange for my services.”

Her lips twisted in annoyance, but she could not deny the logic of this. Hehadsaved her life.

At last, she sighed heavily, and looked out across the landscape, toward the mountains, which reached upward as if to scrape the blue sky.

“I am hopeful,” she said at last. “Which I consider braver than happiness.”

“How so?”