Read Online Editor's Choice Volume I - Slow summer Kisses, Kilts & kraken, Negotiating point by Giordano Adrienne Spencer Pape Cindy Stacey Shannon - Free Book Online Page A
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physician doesn’t qualify as a lady.”
“Ballocks.” Her breeding was evident in every line of her imperious posture. “Mrs. MacDonald is an officer’s widow, and I’ll wager your father is an esquire at the very least.”
A tiny smile quirked the corner of her mouth. “A Knight, actually. Sir Fergus MacKay, if you please. My grandfather, Sir William, is a baronet.”
“I knew it.” Magnus held up his palms in a gesture of defeat. “I’ll see to the maid, and have a talk with Dugall’s da. We might be able to come up with something more permanent for the girl. Now, can I have my shoes back, or must I go down to supper barefoot?” Between her and his uncle, they’d confiscated every last piece of footwear Magnus owned in an effort to keep him trapped in his room.
The daft woman had the temerity to laugh. “Fine. You’re recovered enough to sup downstairs. I’ll have Rannulf return your shoes and boots.”
“No need. I know where he put them.” It was Magnus’s turn to laugh. “Rannulf’s chamber is right across the hall. Nonetheless, you were right. I needed to rest and let the magick do its work, so I stayed put and didn’t let on that I know his hiding places. Now, how would you like a look around my castle?”
“As long as you don’t overtire yourself, I’d love it. I haven’t had the grand tour yet as I didn’t want to be a third wheel with Rannulf and Alice.”
“I’m thinking they’re in need of a chaperone.” Magnus padded barefoot across the hall to his uncle’s room, where he found a small trunk full of his boots and shoes exactly where he’d expected it—in the box beneath the window seat. “He’s been hiding things there every Christmas since I was a lad.”
“What about your parents?” She gazed out the window while he pulled on a pair of comfortable old boots. “I’ve wondered about that. If the island’s magick keeps you alive, how is it that your father is gone? In fact, how is it that you’re not overrun with all of your ancestors?”
“It isn’t all-powerful.” He shrugged and took her arm, feeling more himself now that he was fully clad. “As you saw. The magick seems to wane with age, and doesn’t work against all sickness. My grandfather developed consumption in his later years. I can be killed outright, too, same as any man. My parents drowned when I was ten, on an afternoon sail. When they found my da’s body, his skull was caved in. He’d have died in a moment, with no time for the power to mend him.”
“I’m sorry. Rannulf raised you?” She squeezed her fingers where they rested on his forearm.
“Aye. His wife had passed a year earlier in childbirth, so Rannulf moved into the castle with his two offspring.”
“You have first cousins?”
“Aye, but closer to brother and sister. Catherine is a wee bit younger than me. She lives in Glasgow with her husband now, and Rodney, a year my elder, is my agent in London. He travels all around the world, keeping track of the clan’s business interests.” Magnus didn’t say how much he’d envied Rodney his chance to see the world.
“You must miss them. I know I do my siblings when we’re apart.”
“Aye. I do, but they visit when they can. You mentioned a sister. Are there even more of you at home?”
“Three of us, all out on our own. I’m the eldest, then Connor, and Melody’s the baby. Connor works with our father, in—service to the Crown. Melody is the engineer I told you about.”
“Service to the Crown? Sounds important.”
“It is, but we don’t speak of it,” she said.
“Then we shan’t.” He led her through the family portrait gallery, pointing out ancestors and telling outrageous tall tales about them. After viewing several of the unoccupied suites on this level, he led her up to the parapets, bypassing the fourth floor and the nursery. He hadn’t looked at that in four years and wouldn’t begin now.
Once out on the castle ramparts, she looked around with all
“Ballocks.” Her breeding was evident in every line of her imperious posture. “Mrs. MacDonald is an officer’s widow, and I’ll wager your father is an esquire at the very least.”
A tiny smile quirked the corner of her mouth. “A Knight, actually. Sir Fergus MacKay, if you please. My grandfather, Sir William, is a baronet.”
“I knew it.” Magnus held up his palms in a gesture of defeat. “I’ll see to the maid, and have a talk with Dugall’s da. We might be able to come up with something more permanent for the girl. Now, can I have my shoes back, or must I go down to supper barefoot?” Between her and his uncle, they’d confiscated every last piece of footwear Magnus owned in an effort to keep him trapped in his room.
The daft woman had the temerity to laugh. “Fine. You’re recovered enough to sup downstairs. I’ll have Rannulf return your shoes and boots.”
“No need. I know where he put them.” It was Magnus’s turn to laugh. “Rannulf’s chamber is right across the hall. Nonetheless, you were right. I needed to rest and let the magick do its work, so I stayed put and didn’t let on that I know his hiding places. Now, how would you like a look around my castle?”
“As long as you don’t overtire yourself, I’d love it. I haven’t had the grand tour yet as I didn’t want to be a third wheel with Rannulf and Alice.”
“I’m thinking they’re in need of a chaperone.” Magnus padded barefoot across the hall to his uncle’s room, where he found a small trunk full of his boots and shoes exactly where he’d expected it—in the box beneath the window seat. “He’s been hiding things there every Christmas since I was a lad.”
“What about your parents?” She gazed out the window while he pulled on a pair of comfortable old boots. “I’ve wondered about that. If the island’s magick keeps you alive, how is it that your father is gone? In fact, how is it that you’re not overrun with all of your ancestors?”
“It isn’t all-powerful.” He shrugged and took her arm, feeling more himself now that he was fully clad. “As you saw. The magick seems to wane with age, and doesn’t work against all sickness. My grandfather developed consumption in his later years. I can be killed outright, too, same as any man. My parents drowned when I was ten, on an afternoon sail. When they found my da’s body, his skull was caved in. He’d have died in a moment, with no time for the power to mend him.”
“I’m sorry. Rannulf raised you?” She squeezed her fingers where they rested on his forearm.
“Aye. His wife had passed a year earlier in childbirth, so Rannulf moved into the castle with his two offspring.”
“You have first cousins?”
“Aye, but closer to brother and sister. Catherine is a wee bit younger than me. She lives in Glasgow with her husband now, and Rodney, a year my elder, is my agent in London. He travels all around the world, keeping track of the clan’s business interests.” Magnus didn’t say how much he’d envied Rodney his chance to see the world.
“You must miss them. I know I do my siblings when we’re apart.”
“Aye. I do, but they visit when they can. You mentioned a sister. Are there even more of you at home?”
“Three of us, all out on our own. I’m the eldest, then Connor, and Melody’s the baby. Connor works with our father, in—service to the Crown. Melody is the engineer I told you about.”
“Service to the Crown? Sounds important.”
“It is, but we don’t speak of it,” she said.
“Then we shan’t.” He led her through the family portrait gallery, pointing out ancestors and telling outrageous tall tales about them. After viewing several of the unoccupied suites on this level, he led her up to the parapets, bypassing the fourth floor and the nursery. He hadn’t looked at that in four years and wouldn’t begin now.
Once out on the castle ramparts, she looked around with all
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