Victoria’s breath caught as she realized the magnitude of the task looming before her. Both Sir Dominic and Alec had been deliberately vague in describing her new duties, and now she knew why. To live in a remote Highland manor with a family of brash men would be daunting. While the earl was obviously a gentleman, though grim to the point of unwelcoming, Mr. MacDonald was another matter entirely. Unwelcoming couldn’t begin to describe his behavior.
But it was now also clear she was actually expected toteachthe Kendrick brothers—well, something. And, good Lord, who knew what other ghastly surprises were in store when the rest of the brothers finally surfaced?
“These must be the twins,” Alec said, stating the obvious. The young men were the proverbial peas in a pod.
Her cousin had stood and inserted himself between her and the strapping young brothers, as if to protect her. At the moment, however, the only people needing protection were the twins. She was sorely tempted to box their ears for behaving like utter cads.
The earl rose, looking rather like Zeus, with thunderclouds roiling about his head and lightning sparking from his noble brow. “Yes, I regret to say these sorry specimens are my brothers.”
He stalked over, crowding the twins step-by-step toward the fireplace. By the time the young men’s shoulders hit the edge of the mantelpiece, their mischievous expressions were more those of sheepish boys in a great deal of trouble.
“We were just excited to meet the lassie,” the twin on the left said, the obvious leader. “We meant no harm at all, Nick.”
“Aye,” chimed in the other one, nodding his head so vigorously his unkempt red hair flopped in front of his eyes. “No harm at all.”
“First of all, you will cease using that absurd brogue,” the earl ordered. “You were raised in a gentleman’s household, and you will speak and act like gentlemen. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Nick,” they said in chorus. Their almost incomprehensible accent had already diminished, now simply coloring their voices with a hint of the Highlands. Victoria suspected they’d been putting it on, probably to annoy her.
Who in his right mind could expect her to tutor these grown men? That wasnotwhat she had agreed to in coming here.
“Secondly,” Arnprior continued, “you will not refer to the lady as eitherlassie,Sassenach, or any other disrespectful term. You will address her as either Miss Knight or ma’am. Is that clear?”
Two red heads bobbed in unison. “Yes, Nick.”
Arnprior nodded tersely and took a few steps back. The twins’ shoulders came down from around their ears. They were obviously a handful, but it was clear they respected their older brother—perhaps even feared him.
Victoria shifted in her chair, suddenly uneasy. The earl was a stern man who demanded respect, as she would have expected from someone who’d commanded a military regiment. But she hoped he wasn’t cruel or angry, because she’d had enough of that to last a lifetime. Even the lure of money or a sterling recommendation couldn’t compel her to stay under his roof if such was the case.
Arnprior propped his hands on his hips, perusing his brothers with a look that now spoke more of resignation than anger. “And I suppose you were so eager to greet Miss Knight that you couldn’t take the time to change instead of coming here looking like unwashed field hands?”
“The lads were just muckin’ about with a bit of honest work,” said Mr. MacDonald. “There’s no need to be naggin’ at them.”
The old man had been surprisingly quiet the last few minutes. Perhaps even he’d been startled by the earl’s fury and had thought better of getting involved.
Arnprior shot him a hard look. “And where, pray tell, have they been mucking about? More to the point, were you mucking about with them?”
“Aye. I took them to old MacBride’s. He needed help with some of his sheep pens, and the lads offered to lend a hand.”
“Repairing sheep pens?” Arnprior said sardonically. “That doesn’t sound like the lads. Normally, they’re getting into the kind of trouble that requires me to make financial restitution to some unfortunate soul.”
“Nick, old man, there’s no need to embarrass us in front of the lady,” protested one of the twins.
“Gosh,” said the other with a comical grimace. “You’re making us look like a pair of jingle brains.”
The earl snorted as he took in their pleading expressions, then flicked a glance to the stone-faced Mr. MacDonald. A fraught silence stretched out, broken only by the crackle of flames and the hissing of resin in the grate.
The twins, now rather red-faced, peered nervously at their grandfather. Clearly, there was something amiss, something Victoria thought the earl was trying to puzzle out.
“Let it go, Nicholas,” the old man finally said. “At least for now.”
Turning from his grandfather, Arnprior lightly cuffed the nearest twin on the shoulder. “You’re both daft lads. And you’ll be the death of me yet.”
His brothers grinned at him with affection and relief. “We know, but you love us anyway, don’t you?” said the cheekier one.
Arnprior let out a short laugh. “God knows why. Now, come meet Miss Knight properly, and remember your manners.”
When he turned back to her, the storm had fully passed and a glint of humor now lightened his gaze. The gleeful smile the twins exchanged behind his back, as if they’d just pulled one over on their big brother, also went a long way to relieving her concerns about Arnprior’s temperament. She suspected his stern demeanor was necessary to keep his chaotic household under some semblance of control.
