Read Online Amanda Scott by Prince of Danger - Free Book Online Page A

Realization came then to his brain and to his body, the latter reacting more swiftly than the former.
    Shifting his right arm with care, he slipped it gently around her and drew her closer, hoping she would not waken and noting that although his back still felt stiff and sore, the previous day’s pain had eased considerably.
    The lass did not wake but snuggled closer with a contented sigh.
    Knowing the damage had already been done and that they would both deal with the consequences better if they were rested, he let himself drift back to sleep.
    Hours later, the mist silently lifted, letting sunlight back into the high glen, but it was not the sun’s golden brilliance that awakened him. It was the sound of footsteps hurrying toward the hut.
    Instantly alert, he moved to get up, easing his arm away from the still-sleeping lass. His ease of movement told him that he was in far better condition than the previous day. Even so, when he stood, he swayed with dizziness.
    Ignoring the vertigo, he let the now-dry plaster slip from his back and stepped silently to the doorway, only to come face to face with an anxious-looking, slender woman in a hooded dark-green cloak.
    “Who are you?” she demanded. “And where is my sister?”

Chapter 4
    I sobel heard the familiar voice distantly and rose reluctantly to consciousness, blinking against the brightness spilling through the upper half of the doorway. “Adela, is that you?” she murmured.
    “Isobel, what are you doing here, and who is this man?”
    “Man?” Rubbing eyes sticky with sleep, and wholly disoriented, Isobel wondered why she was apparently lying on a hard-packed dirt floor.
    Memory flooded back on a wave of dismay.
    Sitting up so quickly it made her woozy, and peering groggily toward the doorway, she could discern the outline of a hooded figure—then a second, taller one—against the brilliant sunlight.
    She heard Michael’s quiet voice saying, “Be at ease, my lady. No act worth your condemnation has occurred here. Lady Isobel took pity on an injured man and attempted to help him, little knowing that she risked danger to herself thereby.”
    “But if she has put herself in danger, how can you say that naught has occurred to cause alarm?” Adela asked.
    Wondering what Michael would say to that, Isobel pushed hair out of her eyes, knowing she must look as if someone had held her by her feet and shaken her, and knowing, too, from experience, that Adela would condemn her appearance if she condemned nothing else. Surreptitiously, she tried to straighten her skirts, but they had twisted around her legs, and her movements drew her sister’s attention.
    “Bless me, Isobel, did you sleep with this man?” Adela demanded as she pushed open the lower half of the door and entered without further hesitation. “What Father will say to this start, I do not want to imagine!”
    “Where is he?” Isobel asked. “And why are you here, Adela? You are the last person I expected to see this morning.”
    “Two strangers came to Chalamine,” Adela said, her voice dripping disapproval. “They said they sought a man wanted for many crimes, and the man they described could easily be this fellow standing here,” she added, gesturing at Michael. “They did not mention, however, that he lacked even a shirt to his name. They did say he had run off with a woman claiming to be our father’s daughter.”
    “What did you tell them?”
    “I told them nothing. I am not one to speak to strangers when Father is home. Had it occurred after his departure, I should not have known
what
to say to such men.”
    “Well, since you and the girls would have gone with him, you would not have had to say anything,” Isobel said. “You
are
going to Orkney, are you not?”
    “I’ve not decided,” Adela said. “Sidony and Sorcha must go, of course, if Sorcha can manage
not
to infuriate Father before then, and I think that our aunt may go. If she does, then she can look after them. I thought I