The Warrior Laird Read Online Free PDF Page A

gaze at his wondrous visage for just another moment. Had Lady Ilay invited a specimen like this highlander to her home instead of the overdressed dandies who frequented Ilay House, Maura might have taken notice.
    The highlanders rode away from the burn and out of sight, giving Maura a moment to recover from her brush with death before returning to her carriage, where she would have to face Lieutenant Baird.
    She had needed a few moments away from the close confines of the carriage and the sour breath of her chaperone, Bridget Hammond. Baird had ordered her to stay close, but Maura had defied the lieutenant in front of his men. She’d insisted on being left alone to take a short walk to the waterfall, and she realized her defiance must have rankled her spiteful tyrant.
    But Maura was tired to death of his condescending manner and imperious ways. She cringed at the way he tugged at one side of his pale eyebrow when he looked at her, and loathed the way his greasy head shone in the light.
    She knelt in the damp grass beside the burn and pressed one hand to her breast, watching as the highlanders disappeared into the trees. Her rescuer’s aim had been perfect, killing the ram instantly. She did not like to think what would have happened had he not been in exactly the right place at the moment she needed him.
    She never would have made it to Loch Camerochlan to rescue Rosie. She wouldn’t even have made it back to her carriage.
    Maura rose to her feet and brushed off her skirts, though she was not able to get them completely clean. She started back through the woods, and nearly collided with Lieutenant Baird.
    â€œWatch it!” he growled.
    â€œI could say the same to you, Lieutenant. ’Twas you who nearly knocked me over.”
    He grabbed hold of her arm, his eyes flashing a barely suppressed anger. “I’ll do more than that if you defy my orders again.”
    A chill came over Maura as she pulled her arm away and pushed past her father’s loathsome lackey. He fell into step behind her and she suddenly realized the danger she was in. Mayhap worse than when she’d faced the angry ram.
    It occurred to her how very possible it would be for Lieutenant Baird to return to the carriage without her. He could tell his men that she’d fallen into the waterfall, and who would be there to gainsay him? They would take pains to recover her body, and when he returned her to Aucharnie Castle, no one would question Baird’s story. Why would they?
    The lieutenant had been a burr in her side since his arrival at Aucharnie Castle, but now she knew he was ever so much worse. She had been pleasant toward him at first, but he had misinterpreted her polite attitude as something altogether different.
    She needed to be wary of him. He’d quickly learned of her unfavorable status at home . . . Mayhap her elimination would suit her father more than her marriage to Kildary.
    â€œLook at yer gown!” old Bridget cried when Maura came out from the copse of trees. “ ’Tis ruined!”
    â€œNay, Bridget,” Maura retorted, turning impatiently to face the older woman, whose hearing was as poor as her temperament. She was exactly the kind of companion Maura expected her parents to send. One who was nearly as crotchety as Tilda Crane, and who had not let Maura out of her sight in the four days since they’d left Glasgow. “ ’Tis only slightly soiled. ’Twill come clean with some scrubbing.”
    Bridget’s scolding reminded Maura just how isolated she’d become in the two years since she and Rosie had been sent away from Aucharnie to their own separate prisons. Maura longed to see her sister, wished she could think of some faster, easier way to release the child from her confinement at Loch Camerochlan.
    If only she could trust one of her siblings to assist her. Aiden was the least pompous of her brothers, and the only one who might be prevailed upon. But he had a