Page 33 of Forever My Lass

“Madeline gave me math problems tae do. They were harder than I thought they would be, but I answered all of them correctly. I also did an inventory of the larder for Bridget, and I helped Angus with the new calf that has been doing poorly all summer.”

“Inventory? Calf?” Startled, Iain looked down the length of the table at Madeline and frowned.

“Ainslie has a gift for working with animals. I had her write what she did while helping Angus in the barn,” Madeline said as she smiled at his daughter. “Since she’s good with numbers, I thought doing some form of inventory would help her learn the basics of accounting.”

The reply wasn’t exactly what Iain had been expecting. In truth, he wasn’t really sure what he’d thought Madeline would teach his children. But if he had made a list of expectations, hearing that his daughter had been working in the larder and stables would not have been on it.

“So Ainslie has spent the last several days working in the stables,” he said with a sense of growing frustration. “Exactly what has Grace been doing?”

“I’ve been writing out my poultice recipes then drawing and labeling the plants I use, Faither,” Grace said in a cheerful voice. “I dinnae think tae do that before. Madeline says I am excellent at drawing.”

“Botany is obviously one of Grace’s greatest strengths, so I thought she could focus on her poultices while using math and drawing skills at the same time.”

“Do you plan on teaching them needlework as well?” Iain scowled as he stared down the length of the table at Madeline. Surely the woman understood his daughters needed to know how to use a needle and thread.

“Needlework?” Confusion flashed across Madeline’s face before understanding lightened her oval features. “Oh, sewing. I don’t know how to sew.”

“And the piano? Will you be teaching them music?”

“Unfortunately, I was never very good at playing musical instruments.” Madeline winced as he arched his eyebrows at her in amazement. She narrowed her gaze at him. “I seem to recall telling you I didn’t know how to be a governess.”

“Aye, that you did,” he muttered with an ironic twist of his lips.

Clearly, he’d not thought things through when it came to the education of his daughters. His gaze met Madeline’s, and there was regret, as well as hopelessness, on her face that made him draw in a quiet breath before he released it with resignation. Sending the girls off to school would need to happen sooner than later. But if his next investment paid off as well as the one he’d just benefitted from, he would be more than able to send his daughters to a suitable school.

“Faither?” Ainslie shifted in her chair again with suppressed excitement as she waited for his full attention. He turned his head to meet a pair of violet eyes wide with anticipation.

“Yes, Ainslie?”

“Did you bring us something, Faither?”

“Bring you something?” he asked as he feigned a frown of surprise and arched his eyebrows at her.

“Dinnae tease us, Faither. Ye always bring us something when you come home from a trip.” Grace’s voice was filled with almost as much excitement as Ainslie’s.

“Hmm, perhaps there was something that found its way onto the wagon.”

“What is it, Faither? What did ye get for us?” The chorus of excited questions layered over each other, and he leaned back in his chair.

“Cecil should be here with the wagon soon. You’ll have to wait until then.”

“But Cecil is old, and he drives so slow. Cannae ye just tell us now?” Ainslie pleaded.

“If you knew what it was, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore,” Madeline laughed as she teased the twins. “Anticipation is part of the fun.”

His daughters eyed her with a mixture of disgruntlement and begrudging acceptance. Something about Madeline sitting at the opposite end of his table filled him with an unusual sense of contentment. It was a feeling that said all was right within his world. Iain knew the emotions should alarm him, but for the time being, he was willing to allow himself the pleasure the sight of her gave him.

Even more striking was the relationship she’d developed so quickly with his daughters. Despite her unusual teaching style, Grace and Ainslie displayed an animation and excitement about their lessons that said there was great merit in Madeline’s method of instruction. She was an enigma with her strange ways and mysterious arrival. But there was always something she held back as if she was frightened.

Although, the only time Iain had ever seen Madeline exhibit any real fear had been the morning after he’d pulled her from the sea. She was spirited, intelligent, and she had a pleasing laugh. Madeline also possessed a unique mix of compassion and understanding when it came to someone in distress.

It was an ability she’d demonstrated twice now. First with his headache, then yesterday at the pond when she’d helped him fight off his demons. Although her commands had been stern and resolute, the soothing sound of her voice had been the lifeline he’d clung to while battling his way back to sanity. Then moments later, all rational thought had vanished from his head.

A new battle had erupted inside him as he’d reacted to her state of undress. The feel of her soft skin against his fingertips had only strengthened the way his body ached for her. It had been a reaction he’d barely managed to control when the only barrier between her skin and his mouth was the gown she’d clutched to her breasts. The intensity of his arousal hadn’t surprised him. He’d already had more than one erotic image of Madeline since her arrival at Muchalls Hall.

What had startled him as he’d struggled with his reaction to her, had been the desire he’d seen in her doe-eyed gaze. The warm brown eyes that had locked with his had held a slumberous expression of arousal. The sultry blaze he’d seen glowing in her lovely brown eyes had caused his cock to stiffen beneath his kilt. Equally tantalizing had been her lush pink mouth. Her breathing had been rapid and her rosy-hued lips had been parted as if begging to be kissed.

Everything about her reaction had convinced him a similar fire had been burning in her as well. The tension between them had seemed to grow in strength as her soft curves had pressed into him on the ride back to the manor. When he’d helped her dismount Taren in the stable yard, the heat of her sliding down over his chest had only heightened the desire assaulting his body.