The Scent of Jasmine Read Online Free PDF Page A

argue for the privilege.
    “You’ll get into trouble without us there,” Tally had said.
    “You’ll meet other men, so you’ll have more than three marriage proposals to think about,” Ethan said, his eyes full of merriment.
    Nate gave her a list of books he wanted her to buy for him and said, “You’ll take care, won’t you?”
    Adam had been the worst. He’d kissed her forehead and told her he trusted her, believed in her, and knew that she had enough wisdom to conduct herself with propriety at all times.
    Cay glanced down the side of the horse and saw that one of her legs was exposed to above the knee. She tried to pull the cloak over it, but it was caught beneath her.
    As for her father, when she asked his permission to travel alone, he’d said, “No.” Just that. “No.” Her mother said, “Don’t worry, I’ll persuade him”—and she did.
    So now Cay had betrayed the trust of all of them—except for Tally, who thought his sister was a scatterbrained nincompoop.
    “Here!” the Scotsman said and handed her a dirty handkerchief. When she hesitated in taking it, he said, “Your nose will dirty it more so why does it need to start out being clean?”
    When she began to answer his question, he rolled his eyes skyward and urged his horse ahead of her.
    Cay blew her nose, then held the filthy cloth at arm’s length, not sure what to do with it.
    “Don’t drop it,” the Scotsman said quickly. “They’ll have dogs after us.”
    Cay was so shocked by that thought that she did drop the cloth, but the Scotsman pulled back on the reins of his horse and grabbed the handkerchief before it hit the ground.
    “You may not like me but we’re in this together,” he said angrily as he shoved the dirty cloth into a saddlebag. Then his voice softened. “I’m sorry, lass. I never meant to drag you into this, but then, I wouldn’t have sent a girl—”
    “If you say ‘to do a man’s job’ again I’ll turn you in myself.”
    She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a tiny smile under all the hair on his face.
    “Come on, lass,” he said, “cheer up. If they catch me, you’ll get to see me hang.”
    As he urged his horse forward, she said, “But will I hang next to you?”
    “No. Tell them I kidnapped you. They’ll believe that.”
    “ I believe that,” she muttered as she kicked her horse and went after him.

Three

    Cay’s legs hurt, her back ached, and she was so sleepy she could hardly hold on to the reins of the horse. They’d been riding all through the night and most of the day, and the poor horse was more tired than she was.
    But she didn’t complain to the man she was following. She looked at his back, at the way he sat straight up in the saddle, with no signs of fatigue, and she wondered if he was human.
    Abruptly, he turned back and was soon beside her. “We must rest the horses.”
    She started to say that he could ask about her, but she didn’t. “Yes, my horse is quite exhausted,” she said in her haughtiest tone. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a bit of a smile in his blue eyes. With all the hair on his face, it was difficult to tell.
    “I want you to wait here for me.” He motioned to a big oak tree with branches that hung down to the ground. “Stay on the horse or you’ll never get back on.”
    “I think I’m fully capable of dismounting and remounting,” she said.
    “Dis and re.” He shook his head at her. “Had some schooling, did you?”
    “I majored in good manners. Ever heard of them?”
    “Not in this country,” he said, but there seemed to be a smile under his untrimmed whiskers.
    She followed him under the tree, ducking to miss the low-hanging branches.
    “Do you have the money you were to pay the men?”
    Cay’s face showed her alarm. Was he going to take what little money she had and leave her there alone to face the law?
    The humor left his face and his eyes blazed fire. “I’m not a thief! I need a few coins to buy us a place to stay