Her Highness and the Highlander: A Princess Brides Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

smile.
    “Well, no,” she ventured. “I did not know what to expect, as I have never before dined
     in an establishment such as this one. Do some inns really serve”—her lip curled—“those
     dishes you mentioned?”
    “A fair few might to the unsuspecting traveler. But you’veno cause to worry. We Scots only serve bad fare to Sassenachs we doona like. We save
     the rancid haggis for them.”
    She stared, clearly trying to decide whether he was jesting. Slowly she relaxed and
     smiled. “Then it is good that you agreed to join me at table so that the serving maid
     wouldn’t ruin the meal.”
    “She wouldn’t have dared.”
    Or risk inciting my wrath,
he added to himself.
    Earlier, before he’d come upstairs to check on Mercedes, he’d had another conversation
     with the innkeeper and the maid. By the end of their talk, they’d been left in no
     doubt that he would tear a strip off anyone who tried to cause Mercedes further distress,
     and that they were to see to it she was cared for with the same concern they would
     give a member of their own family. Between the money he’d pressed into their palms
     and the none-too-subtle warning, they’d both agreed to do his bidding with alacrity.
    “She seems a kind girl,” Mercedes remarked about the maid as she laid her knife and
     fork neatly across her plate. “She lent me these clothes and said she’d find a new
     gown for me to wear on the morrow.”
    Daniel raised the tankard to his mouth again, and decided not to mention that he had
     been the one responsible for the new gown as well. At his behest, the maid had promised
     to visit the dressmaker in the nearby village as early as possible, assuring him that,
     even if she had to roust the woman from her bed, she would have clothes ready and
     waiting for Mercedes by the time breakfast was served.
    He wasn’t certain why he was going to so much trouble and expense for this wayward
     young woman. He supposed he couldn’t resist any female who was so clearly in need
     of help. But once he made sure she was settled sufficiently to manage until her friends
     or family could be contacted, he would be on his way. He had another four days’ ride
     to the coast and a fifth by boat to Skye. He’d been away long enough; he had no wish
     to delay further.
    “Sadly, my gown is an utter ruin,” Mercedes said. “It usedto be so lovely. One of my favorite traveling gowns before—” She broke off, swallowing
     hard. The fear had returned to her eyes, turning them nearly black.
    Picking up a serving spoon with a trembling hand, she reached for the dessert in the
     center of the table. “Would you…would you care for some of this tart? It’s strawberry,
     I believe,” she said.
    Daniel set down his tankard and reached out to cover her hand. “You’re safe here.
     Doona be afraid.”
    She lifted her gaze to his. “What if they are still searching for me? What if they
     find me?”
    “Shh,” he hushed. “No one is going to find you here.”
    “But they could—”
    “They will no’,” he soothed, humoring her on the subject of her phantom highwaymen.
     “Even if someone is still looking, it’s highly doubtful he would check this particular
     inn. It is no’ on the main coaching route. Besides, any newcomer would be noticed
     the instant he set foot over the threshold. You should be aware of that fact for yourself.”
    He watched as she considered his words; reluctantly she nodded.
    “I’ve also told the innkeeper that if someone does ask for you, he is to tell me instead.”
    Her lips parted on an inhalation of surprise. Daniel couldn’t help noticing how pink
     they were, and how pretty.
    “You did?” she murmured.
    “Aye.”
    He might not trust the more elaborate aspects of her story, but that didn’t mean it
     was all a pack of nonsense. On the slim chance that someone really was searching for
     Mercedes—presuming that was indeed her real name—then he wanted to be there to find
     out