The Devil of Clan Sinclair Read Online Free PDF Page B

years of sidelong looks and coy female smiles.
    He hadn’t planned to fall in love with the Countess of Barrett. He hadn’t wanted to feel an odd possessiveness about her. Why he did was understandable, given the circumstances in this strange household.
    She didn’t feel the same for him. Like most servants, he was invisible. He went out of his way, however, to ensure she was aware of him. He conversed with her. He brought her tea. He complimented her.
    Four days ago he’d offered to take her to his bed and get her with child.
    She’d rebuffed him. She didn’t realize he was the best solution to the dilemma the Earl of Barrett had created.
    If it hadn’t been for him, they’d never have known until too late.
    They owed him something for his loyalty.
    Lawrence had thought it a wicked jest to give him money. He’d taken it, and tucked it away in his savings even as he hated the man. Lawrence hadn’t been generous; he’d given away the money solely to wound his wife.
    The woman who was, even now, entering a carriage with her maid, intent on Scotland.
    What was in Scotland that she couldn’t find here? No one could love her as much as he did. No one could comfort her like he could. Not one person could protect her as well as he did.
    He forced a smile to his face as she turned to stare right through him. She glanced away, not seeing the love he freely offered.
    From this moment on he would have to change things. He wasn’t going to be invisible to her anymore. No, he was going to ensure she knew exactly how he felt.

Chapter 5

    Drumvagen, Scotland
    July, 1869
    V irginia had expected Drumvagen to crouch on top of a mountain like a brooding medieval monster of black stone.
    Instead, Macrath’s home was so unexpected she could only stare.
    Built of gray brick the color of London soot, the house was massive and square, with four tall towers on each corner topped with a cupola bearing a different animal-shaped wind vane.
    Twin sweeping staircases extended like two embracing arms in front. She’d never seen its like, even in America.
    What was she doing here?
    The wind ruffled the strange growth on either side of the road. Stocky purple flowers swayed amid fields of yellow blossoms. The mountains in the distance hinted at wildness, that Scotland was not sunk into history like England.
    She pressed her fist against her chin, bit her lips and studied the approach. She had asked Hosking to halt the carriage on the side of the road, needing the time to compose herself. Hannah sat silent beside her. A good English maid, her mother-in-law had said when she’d announced the girl’s employment last year. Someone who would know English society.
    Hannah and she were nearly the same height and size. The girl’s hair was brown, her eyes hazel, green flecked with amber. When she chose to smile, she was attractive, but was the perfect lady’s maid, rarely showing any emotion.
    As to society, Hannah hadn’t been tested in the last year. The only society Virginia had seen was when she’d accompanied Eudora shopping or to an occasional dinner party or a ball. As a married woman, she was considered enough of a chaperone, and was forced to sit with the older widows and matrons.
    Several American women had married into English society. When she greeted each of them, it was with the hope they could compare experiences, possibly find some common ground. But each woman she met appeared to be radiantly happy. But then, none of them had been married to Lawrence.
    What would her countrywomen think about her mission? That it was the height of idiocy and immorality, no doubt. The same sentiment she would garner from her sisters-in-law if they knew. What story had Enid given them to explain her absence? Conversely, they might view her presence here as an act of courage. Each of them considered her brave for coming to England to arrange a marriage.
    She hadn’t been brave at all. She’d simply been her father’s daughter, and her father,