Seduced by a Rogue Read Online Free PDF

looking enough to make anyone stare.
     Be honest, Mairi. You were as taken with Robert Maxwell if only you could bring yourself to admit it.”
    “Don’t be absurd,” Mairi said. “Even if I’d had such a thought, I would have banished it. Neither our father nor your mother
     will countenance such connections for either of us. You must know that, Fiona. ’Tis rash to think otherwise. They are not
     suitable for us!”
    “Aye, so you told me, but I care even less for your opinion now than I did then!” Hunching a shoulder, Fiona shoved her needlework
     off her lap.
    “You are being childish,” Mairi said. “What if I told you that, just a short time ago, Robert Maxwell was in the great hall
     with our father?”
    Fiona’s frown vanished and she jumped to her feet. “Was
he
with him?”
    “No
he
was not. Even a Maxwell could not be foolish enough to bring that insolent lad with him on such an errand.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because Father would dislike such insolence and Maxwell is now trying to persuade him to hand over
any
taxes he collects to the sheriff.”
    Fiona said thoughtfully, “The Maxwells are powerful, are they not? Mayhap Father should be more conciliating.”
    “If you paid more heed, Fee, you would know the very point in refusing to do so is that the more their power increases, the
     more they can affect what becomes of
us
. If we simply submit to each decree, they will just demand more. Cousin Jenny says it is important to understand all things
     that affect one’s life or property. And surely, you realize by now that she knows more than we do about such things.”
    “Jenny and you need to know those things, aye. But I do not,” Fiona said. “I’ll be glad to see her when we visit Thornhill
     for Easter, and we can talk about anything you like with her then. But she is already a baroness in her own right, and you
     may become one. I am unlikely
ever
to do so.”
    Mairi sighed. “One cannot know the future, Fee. I do wish, though, that our father had seen fit to teach us as much as Jenny’s
     father taught her. If Father should die without a son, I doubt I shall know enough to run everything properly.”
    “Aye, your lot is a hard one,” Fiona agreed with a grimace.
    Mairi looked narrowly at her, suspecting sarcasm.
    Catching the look, Fiona said hastily, “I mean that, Mairi, for it
is
hard. It would be gey easier for all of us if my mother and our father would stop trying to make a son and Father would name
     you his heir. Think about
me
!”
    Mairi did not try to conceal her amusement at the rider. “You think that your lot is even harder?”
    “Aye, sure, it is! Sithee, you will inherit Father’s title and all his estates. I shall inherit only Mam’s tocher.”
    “Only our beautiful Annan House, its lands, and a generous sum to support it,” Mairi said. “Poor Fee! But whatever happens,
     no good can come from encouraging the likes of William Jardine.”
    “But we never meet any
eligible
young men, and I
like
Will Jardine!”
    Gathering patience, Mairi said, “Dearest one, we talk of a man whose entire family is untrustworthy. The Jardines have a long
     history of collaborating with the English against us. Now they simply accept English occupation of Lochmaben, the ancient
     seat of the Bruces and the most impregnable castle in Annandale.”
    “So do the Maxwells!”
    “Aye, they do. But recall how Will Jardine treated you. Could you truly care for a man so insensitive to your rank and to
     the respect due to a noblewoman… to any woman? Faith, he treated you with extraordinary incivility!”
    “I don’t
care
about civility. I thought he was amusing and charming. And he is quite the handsomest man I have ever seen.”
    Mairi might have debated that point, because she thought Robert Maxwell was better looking. However, comparing the two men
     in any way being clearly unwise then, she said only, “Mayhap so, but I warrant William will look just like his father one
     day.