The Highlander's Accidental Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

flattened her palms on the warm stone and pressed her body as close to the rock as possible in order to see beyond the wall. “Why?”
    Kirsty shook her head. “‘Tis no’ safe, milady,” she said, her voice tight and apprehensive.
    Mary noted the look of distress etched on the young girl’s face, and took a step back from the wall. Kirsty visibly relaxed.
    More than worry for safety lay behind Kirsty’s unease. “Tell me.” Mary addressed her sternly. “I have no wish to jump, if that’s what you’re afraid of, and the wall is much too high to accidentally fall.”
    “Oh, milady, ‘tis the ghost of Lady Fenella who walks these stairs at night.” Kirsty’s eyes had widened, her voice now an excited whisper. “She fled her cruel husband, and came here to her lover, Laird Magnus Scott, many years ago. But her husband followed her here, and though Laird Scott challenged him for the beautiful Lady Fenella, the laird was killed.”
    She paused for breath. “When Lady Fenella heard her lover was dead, she flew up these stairs, gazed over the parapet and saw him sprawled at the feet of her cruel husband. Some say she flung herself over the edge, others say she leaned too far and fainted at the sight of her dead lover. Either way, she died on the bloodstained ground beside him.”
    Kirsty sighed and turned to point past the chapel where a worn stone stood solitary beside the castle wall.
    “They were buried in the same grave, milady, there, beneath the stone. Ye can hear her cry of dismay on the stairs late at night, and once I saw something white fluttering off the edge of the wall.” Her voice dropped even lower. “Like the fabric of her dress as she fell to her death.”
    Mary felt a ragged thrill race down her spine. Her gaze slid from the maid to the edge of the stone wall. “I can see it could be dangerous.”
    Privately, she thought the height of the parapet and the thickness of the wall seemed safe enough as long as she did not try climbing on top of the wall—which she certainly had no intention of doing. But the little maid was clearly enthralled by the tale.
    Kirsty nodded her head wisely. “Aye. ‘Tis said any lass who hears the lady’s cry is compelled to follow her to her death.”
    Mary blinked. “I shall endeavor to not be near the stairs after dark, then.”
    A cloud passed over the remnants of the sun and they both shivered at the sudden chill. As quickly as it began, the cloud passed and the mood lifted.
    Kirsty took a cautious step forward and pointed over the wall. “Ye can see the sheep on the hills. There, on the grass, heading toward safety for the night.”
    Glad for the change in subject, Mary peered at the flocks moving across the fields.
    “Why, they look like clouds!” she exclaimed, moving closer to the wall. “And look at the little ones, scampering about!”
    “The lambs are born out in the hills, but any who are sickly or injured are cared for in the barns near the stables. ‘Tis noisy, it is, when the lambs are born.”
    “I suppose so. Oh, they look so soft and white!”
    Kirsty shook her head. “They are greasy and full of grass and twigs,” she informed Mary. “‘Tis glad I am I dinnae shear or card the wool.”
    They lingered a moment longer as the sun dropped below the hills and the white lambs became dark spots against the grass. Finally, Mary turned to her maid. “All right, show me the rest of the castle.”
    As Kirsty led her from the parapet, Mary’s ears couldn’t help but strain to hear the ghostly cry of lost love.

CHAPTER 4
    Scott Castle
    He’d only been gone a fortnight, but Eaden knew her. Even in a gown as dusty and drab as those of the work staff, there was no doubt of her identity. Though the scarf tied over her hair made her almost as anonymous as the other women around her, he knew, in his gut, his bride, the new lady of Scott Castle, was busy cleaning the tapestries in the great hall.
    Eaden scowled. But before he could decide if he was