Page 15 of The Lion

Isobel walked past again, this time she hesitated. “May I have a word with ye?” she asked.

“Ye may join me.” He motioned to a chair.

Isobel went to a chair that was farther than the one he’d motioned to. “Will yer lady be returning? What I wish to speak to ye about is private.”

His lady. So, she had seen.

“Greer,” he called out. “Have someone bring Miss Isobel a drink and perhaps some fresh bread.”

“There is no need,” Isobel said. “They are much too busy.”

A cook’s helper hurried in, plopped the items before Isobel and rushed back away.

Darach met Isobel’s gaze. “What is it ye wish to speak about?”

“My sister.”

“What about yer sister? I have barely had time to speak to her. Ye may be aware, I am quite busy and have absolutely no time for frivolity.”

“Laird, marriage is not frivolity. Quite the opposite, it is the most serious of matters.”

He drank from the goblet studying the woman, who sat back straight, with a most serious expression, and not touching the items before her. From the way she looked at him, she did not care for him in the least.

“Are ye here to dissuade me from marrying yer sister, Miss Isobel?”

Her brows rose just a bit. “I wish to get to know ye better, Laird, and then make up my mind one way or the other.”

He couldn’t stop the chuckle that erupted.

“Ye have absolutely no say in this matter, Miss Isobel. Ye are but a sister who traveled with yer family. By yer drab appearance, I take it yer parents have a good reason not to offer ye for marriage. I am curious, why is that?”

Her mouth fell open, and she seemed to struggle with what to say. “I did not come to speak to ye about myself. My sister wished me to find out more about ye. Ye see, she is very intimidated by ye…”

“But not by my brother Gideon, who I assume is why I have not seen him all day.”

Isobel jumped to her feet. “Sir, ye insult my sister and my family. Beatrice is not with yer brother, but in the sitting room with both our mothers.” She rounded the table and pushed a finger into his chest. “How dare ye.”

Fury blazed from her green eyes, the anger darkening them until they were almost black. Twisting her lips into an angry sneer, she looked him up and down. “I agree with my sister, ye are a beastly man.”

When she whirled around, he took her wrist, ensuring she did not leave.

“I apologize.” Darach stood, not releasing her. “Please accept my apologies. I should not have said any of those things.”

She looked up at him and Darach realized, that unlike her sister, she was tall coming past his shoulder. “Ye should not have said those things, in that, ye are correct sir, but ye thought them, and that is just as unkind.”

Put in his place, he wasn’t sure what to say in his own defense. He had been thinking that Gideon was prowling after Beatrice. However, despite his words, he did not consider Isobel unworthy or drab.

“I hold ye in high regard, Isobel. Ye were always kind and I enjoyed the times we visited together when we were young.”

She managed to hitch her chin and looked down her nose at him. “That ye are curious about why my parents do not wish to marry me to ye is not yer concern, it is a family matter that will remain private. Ye have no right to know why this decision was made.”

Her words only made him more curious.

At his silence, she spoke again. “Now Laird, I find that I cannot speak to ye right now.” She snatched her hand from his grasp and hurried away.

Chapter Six

Expecting an empty room, Isobel was surprised to find Beatrice.