The Countess Read Online Free PDF Page A

concede, looked like no man she had ever met before. Certainly none of her acquaintance had ever made her tingle with a mere glance!
    Her uncharacteristic response obviously had more to do with her exhaustion than this man’s presence. Indeed, in her experience, men were painfully predictable—surely he was no different.
    â€œAnd how might you hold title to a land hereditary for eons?” Duncan’s tone was mocking.
    â€œEven hereditary land can be sold, as is more than clear, since this property was sold some ten summers past.”
    â€œSold?” His brows drew together in a black furrow and he glared at her, those eyes darkening yet further. “How can that be?”
    Eglantine felt a quick stab of victory. She smiled coolly. “Surely even among barbarians, it is known that land can be traded for coin.” A dangerous gleam claimed his eye, but Eglantine was not deterred. “This holding was sold to my family and passes now to me. By dint of law, ’tis mine.”
    He took a hasty step toward her and it took all the fortitude within Eglantine not to retreat.
    â€œSold by whom?” His question was more of a growl, his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
    â€œOne Cormac MacQuarrie.” Eglantine nodded as the name was clearly recognized by the man’s companions. A whisper made its way through their ranks.
    Her opponent, however, glowered at her. “This cannot be true!”
    â€œNonetheless ’tis.” Eglantine shone her formal little smile over the company of men to no discernible effect. She would be gracious in victory, her fluttering pulse be damned. “I would suggest that you vacate my holding, as my party will require every last measure of it. We are quite numerous, as you may have noted.”
    She cast a deliberate eye over his party and nodded. “Much more numerous than your group of companions. Surely you can find another locale to better suit you?”
    But this Duncan folded his arms across his chest. “I see no reason to move, purely on the assertion of a woman, a noble and a foreigner.”
    Eglantine’s spine snapped straight at the list of her attributes, no less how his tone cast them as liabilities. She glared at the man and was sorely tempted to embarrass him. “The king will endorse my claim.”
    Duncan arched a dark brow, unexpected mischief flashing in his eyes. “And we see so very much of good King William. Why, he could arrive at any moment.” He repeated his assertion to his companions in their vulgar tongue and they laughed. That mocking smile claimed his lips as he met her gaze anew, a challenge lighting his eyes.
    So, she was beyond the authority of the king. Eglantine should have expected no less.
    But she was right and she knew it. And he expected her to simply back away, leaving him in control of her holding.
    â€œWhile our lord king Dugall, King of the Isles, is rather unlikely to support your claim. He, in marked contrast, could be readily summoned.” The cur smiled. “If the lady so desires.”
    Eglantine had not come so far as this to surrender to an arrogant pagan.
    â€œThere is no need for the king,” she declared, “nor even his scribe, if you are lettered.” Then she caught her breath and let her eyes widen in mock dismay. “But what is in my thoughts? How would a man learn to write in these remote lands?”
    â€œTouché,” he said wryly. There was no anger in his tone, and that smile played over his lips in a most disconcerting manner. “But of course I am lettered. A man’s birthplace does not determine all he makes of himself.”
    Wretched creature! ’Twas twice he had surprised her and Eglantine did not particularly care for the sensation.
    And worse, she had a sense that she was amusing him, a most unwelcome situation. She was not in the habit of providing entertainment to rough men.
    No doubt the man lied about his ability. Indeed,