The House of the Laird Read Online Free PDF Page A

uncertainly as he moved across the room and stood beside her.
    His smile was curious, enigmatic. His eyes dwelt on her thoughtfully, making no attempt to conceal the fact that he was deliberately studying her, and they were the cool, detached grey eyes she remembered, under the almost feminine eyelashes. But how exceedingly masculine he seemed this morning, and by comparison with herself how one-hundred-percent fit. And it was obvious that his tailor knew how to make the most of his lithe, graceful proportions. His shoulders were broad, but not too broad; his hips were narrow, and she imagined he would look at his best in a kilt, a nd at his very best in Highland evening dress. But even in tweeds, faultlessly made as they were, there was something about him which set him apart from any other man she had ever met before. He wore a silk shirt and a flowing tie that was the badge of a well-known public school, and Karen became distressfully aware of her shabby dressing-gown that was not even particularly durable any longer, as she felt that his eyes flickered over it.
    “ Well, ” he asked, “ how are you? ” and the kindness in his voice was, she thought, carefully introduced into it. There was just the right amount of kindness, and no mor e . If her appearance affected him with any concern it was barely noticeable in his expression as he stood gazing down at her.
    Karen made a little, rather helpless movement with one of her hands. She did not answer his question, but said huskily:
    “ Why didn ’ t you stop at Nannie McBain ’ s that night you brought me here? You didn ’ t, did you? ”
    “ Didn ’ t I? ” For an instant he looked genuinely amused, and he took a seat on the arm of a chair and continued to study her. “ Perhaps I thought it would be a waste of time, and it was important to get y ou into a warm bed with as little delay as possible. ”
    “ But you couldn ’ t have known Nannie was away from home—you ’ d been abroad and you ’ d only just returned! You brought me straight here. ”
    “ Which was plainly a very sensible thing to do, because your Nannie ’ s house was empty, and still is, and I was quite sure Mrs. Burns could take charge of you just as adequately as Mrs. McBain. ”
    “ But that isn ’ t the point. ” Her voice was even more husky, but she was determined to get this matter off her chest and dealt with without allowing herself to be side-tracked. “ Don ’ t you see that you ’ ve put me under an obligation? I mean, Nannie might have been there, and she might have got my telegram, and—and— ”
    “ But she wasn ’ t, and she didn ’ t, and you are here! ” he replied with a soft, smooth note in his voice. “ Aren ’ t you comfortable? Is there anything you feel that you lack? Because you have only to tell Mrs. Burns. ”
    “ Of course not, ” she exclaimed, a little i mpatiently. And then as she saw him remove his cigarette case from his pocket and then tuck it hastily back again she said more naturally: “ It ’ s quite all right for you to smoke, for I ’ m hardly coughing at all now. In fact. I ’ m so much better that I feel I ought n ’t to allow myself to be waited on as I am being. I feel a bit of a fraud. ”
    “ Do you? ” Iain Mackenzie murmured, but this time both his voice and his look were gentle. It was a gentleness that brought a faint flush to her cheeks.
    “ And I ’ m being a nuisance, too. I ’ m giving you a lot of trouble, ” she went on.

 
    CHAPTER FOUR
    He did not advantage of her permission to smoke, but stood up and wandered to the window and stood looking out at the view, which was obviously one of his favorites.
    “ In a few weeks from now, ”‘ he told her, “ there will be nothing but a sea of young green foliage and green shoots everywhere to be seen from this window. But the mountains are pretty much the same all the year round. Smiling one minute, and frowning the next. This morning, because it ’ s your first