Miss Knight gave Taffy a sweet smile in return. It seemed to light her up from within, turning her porcelain features from pretty to beautiful. He registered a slight shock at the realization before forcing himself to shrug it off. He had no interest in her looks, only in her abilities.
“Perhaps you could escort Miss Knight to her room to set aside her things,” he said more brusquely than he intended. “Then she can join us in the east drawing room for tea.”
When Taffy grimaced again, Nick sighed. “Is there some difficulty?”
“I’ve had to switch Miss Knight to a different room,” she said. “The chimney in the blue bedroom started smoking.”
Nick frowned. “It’s never done so before.”
If there was one thing he and Angus agreed on, it was the importance of keeping the chimneys and fireplaces clean and in good repair. Winters in the Highlands were cold, damp, and long. Winters in a drafty old castle on a loch were even worse. Without reliable heating, the household would be miserable for months.
“Something seems to have got caught in the flue.” Taffy’s tone told Nick everything he needed to know. Something hadn’t got caught. Something had been deliberately placed in the flue with the intention of causing mischief.
He had a good idea who the guilty party was.
“I apologize,” Nick said to his guests, resisting the impulse to gnash his teeth. “This seems to be a day for domestic calamity at Kinglas.”
“Might I suggest, sir, that you have tea while I see to a new room for the lady,” Taffy said. “The maid will unpack her bags, and we’ll have everything set to right in no time at all.”
“That sounds splendid,” Alec said in a hearty voice. “I’m famished, and I’m sure Miss Knight would relish a cup of tea.”
“Or a sherry,” the governess muttered in a barely audible voice. Then, no doubt realizing her slip, she blushed an enchanting shade of pink.
Despite his foul humor, Nick couldn’t help smiling. “I’m sure sherry could be arranged. Or even perhaps a stiff dram of Scotch. I wouldn’t blame you for needing it after our less-than-stellar welcome.”
She gave him a smile that finally reached her eyes, calling notice to the fact that theywerea rather spectacular shade of blue.
“Thank you, my lord, but a cup of tea will do just fine.”
“I’ll send Andrew in with the tea things,” Taffy said. She bobbed a curtsy and hurried off to the back of the house.
“This way,” Nick said, nodding toward the central stone staircase.
Robert, the castle’s youngest footman, scurried from his position by the front door and preceded them to the first floor, turning right to the east wing and the main drawing room. After bowing them through the door, the lad went off to fetch the tea tray.
“What a splendid place you’ve got here, Arnprior,” Alec said, taking in the spacious, Queen Anne–style drawing room.
This wing was hundreds of years newer than the main tower house, and had yet to start crumbling around their ears. The scrolled walnut furniture and the red and gold fabrics were rather dated and too grand for Nick’s taste, but the sixteenth-century tapestries on either side of the stone-surround fireplace, with their depictions of royal hunting parties, were magnificent. Taffy had managed to fill several tabletops with late-blooming mums in warm yellows and deep reds that matched the tapestries.
The best part was the view of the loch. The ornamental gardens behind the castle and the lawns running down to the water were already steeped in shadows as evening approached. The last glimmers of sunshine danced across the loch, making the whitecaps glitter like crystals flung from a giant’s hand.
Miss Knight headed straight to the windows. Although her slim build emphasized fragility rather than strength, she carried herself with a graceful confidence Nick found reassuring. Most ladies that tall often minced, seeking to minimize a characteristic considered unfeminine.
“This is a breathtaking vista, my lord,” she said, casting him a quick smile over her shoulder. “I had no idea Castle Kinglas was actually on the water.”
“It’s our constant neighbor,” he said. “One that is much more accommodating in the summer, I might add. The winter storms on the loch can be fierce.”
“I won’t mind,” she said. “I miss the ocean, and am glad to be near water again.”
The door opened and Angus stomped in, followed by Robert and Andrew. The footmen lugged in the tea things, along with a tray loaded with cakes and pastries. Cook had managed to pull off a decent tea.
“You grew up by the ocean, Miss Knight?” Nick asked politely.
She returned to join them in the center of the room. “Yes, in Brighton. My cousins and I spent as much time by the seaside as our parents would allow. It was always a treat.”
“Och, Brighton,” Angus said with contempt. “Where Prinny and those bloody royal dukes lark about with rakes and ladybirds, spending money they dinna have. I ken we’d be better off if they drowned in the Channel.”
Miss Knight paused in the act of pulling off her gloves, her features freezing in offended lines. Even Alec looked irritated, but his natural father was one of the royal dukes, although that wasn’t widely known. Nick was surprised, however, that Miss Knight was so thoroughly starched up, since the Prince Regent and his brothers were generally reviled. Angus’s comment was crass, but the sentiments were hardly uncommon.
