Highland Rogue Read Online Free PDF Page B

Claire?”
    For the first time in her life, Claire wavered a little under her sister’s indignant glare. It was for Tessa’s good, she reminded herself, and Brancasters’. Yet, somehow, her own foolish partiality for the man tainted her sisterly concern.
    “He’s staying at the Carleton, for one thing. A rather expensive hotel for a man who lists his occupation as marine engineer, wouldn’t you say?”
    Her sister did not seem to draw the same conclusions as Claire had. Perhaps because Tessa had not been forced to guard herself against fortune hunters for so many years.
    “How dare you set spies on Mr. Geddes, just because he and I are friends?”
    “I’d call it a good deal more than friends,” Claire snapped back, “if you are thinking of jilting your fiancé for the man. I’ve also discovered that he is employed by the firm Liberty Marine Works.”
    The significance of her sister’s words seemed lost on Tessa. She lifted her gracefully arched brows in an unspoken question.
    “Liberty Marine Works is a shipbuilding firm.” A sinking sensation had gripped Claire when she’d first heard this incriminating piece of information from Mr. Hutt. Now it returned. “Like Brancasters.”
    Leaning on one arm of the settee, Tessa brought her face close to Claire’s. “Then you and Ewan should have plenty to talk about at dinner parties, after he and I are married.”
    “Teresa Veronica Talbot!” her mother thundered. “Don’t be impertinent!”
    “Impertinent?” Tessa pointed an accusing finger at Claire. “Why don’t you lecture
her
about the impertinence of spying on a man who’s committed no crime other than once having been in our employ?”
    Claire rose from the chair, gathering her self-control around her as a buffer against her sister’s passionate outrage.
    She was not proud of what she’d done, but she’d had no choice. Now her sister must face the unpleasant truth about Ewan Geddes, just as she had.
    “Don’t you see, dearest? A man who lives beyond his means that way can’t be up to any good. Has it never occurred to you that he may be after your fortune?”
    “What fortune would that be?” Tessa crossed her arms over her shapely bosom. “A minor interest in Brancasters and part ownership of Strathandrew?”
    Claire bit her tongue to keep from reminding her sister that the Scottish estate had cost more in upkeep over the years than it was worth—an expense she alone had borne.
    Perhaps Tessa sensed what her sister was thinking, for her lip curled in an unattractive sneer. “I consider myself fortunate
not
to have been burdened with great wealth. I am not forced to suspect that any gentleman who admires me has mercenary motives.”
    “Well, I have.” Claire forced herself to speak calmly as she struggled to hide the hurt her sister’s words had inflicted. “So I must beg you to trust my judgment. Do you suppose there haven’t been times when I was tempted to trust the flattery of an attractive man? When I wanted to believe he would love me just as well if I hadn’t a farthing?”
    The defiant glitter in Tessa’s eyes dimmed, and her pretty features crumpled like a child’s. “I’m sorry, darling!”
    She dashed into Claire’s arms. “I didn’t mean to be hateful, truly! I just can’t understand why you’re doing this to me.”
    Claire’s eyes prickled with tears she had forgotten how to shed. She couldn’t bear to push the matter so hard it caused an irreparable breach between her and Tessa.
    She returned her sister’s embrace, then drew back, taking Tessa’s hands in hers. “I’m not doing this
to
you, dearest. I’m doing it
for
you. And for Brancasters. I truly believe Ewan Geddes means trouble for all of us.”
    “Brancasters!” Tessa spat the word out like some vile oath as she wrenched her fingers out of Claire’s grasp. “I should have known. You’re more concerned with protecting your grandfather’s precious company than with my happiness.”
    “Now,