“I will.” Serendipity nodded, managed a few bites, then paused and looked first at Duncan, then at Malcolm. “Thank you both for all you did today. I fear things would have gone much worse without the two of you.”
Duncan accepted her kind words with a polite nod. “Think nothing of it, my lady.” He had never been comfortable with praise because, in his experience, it was always a double-edged sword. His father had lavished kind words on guests at their home, but whenever he afforded any to Duncan, a clout to the head always followed, along with a sternBut you should have done so much better.And his father was usually correct. Heshouldhave done better.
He cleared his throat and shook off the pain of his past as if it were an annoying insect. “How far do ye mean to travel tomorrow?” he asked Merry. “The snow could prove to be quite deep.”
“Broadmere Hall is in the Lake District,” she said, “near Binnocksbourne. Naught but a few hours, but with the snow, I am sure it will take longer.” She bit into a buttery crust of bread, coating her top lip and making Duncan lick his own.
“Ye should stay here until it is safer to travel,” he said, entranced by the way the tip of her tongue cleaned the butter from the outside of her mouth. “There are no more rivers to cross, but ’twill still be bitterly cold.”
“Do you and Malcolm intend to remain here until it is safer?” Her eyes glinted with a slyness that warned him he best word his answer with care.
“I shall check the roadway in the morning before we set out.” Hedared to reach across the table and dab the last of the butter off her mouth with a fold of linen. “And have no doubt, lass, I shall be more than happy to share my intentions.”
Her beguiling blue eyes flared wide with surprise, but she smiled, clearly accepting his unspoken challenge. “Good, my lord. I look forward to hearing them.”
Chapter Three
Merry shifted onthe hard wooden bench, built like a church pew with shoulder-high sides on each end, trying to find a more comfortable position. She and Serendipity had shared the space as best they could by propping against the sides and letting their feet meet in the middle with their cloaks covering them.
Unable to bear the cramped position any longer, but not wishing to wake her sister, Merry forfeited the bench to Serendipity by easing up to a sitting position against her side of the pew. She smiled as Serendipity immediately wiggled into the extra space and buried her head in her arms. Poor Seri. She’d had such a hard time with this. She deserved what little comfort could be found.
Merry pulled up her feet, hugging her knees in a most unladylike way as she indulged in a jaw-cracking yawn. The frost-covered windows appeared to be growing lighter, their crystalized panes gleaming with an almost silvery glow from the rising sun. It was then that she noticed Duncan watching her with an intensity that made her shiver.
“Good morning,” she said quietly, so as not to disturb the others. The common room still echoed with snores, sleepy grumblings, and shifting. Across the large space of the area, from the kitchen behind the bar, the faint rattling of pans and the stoking of fires could be heard.
“Morning, lass.” He shifted in the chair he’d positioned on her side of the bench, facing the room in case anyone approached their littlecorner. Jasper had sat at Seri’s side, and Malcolm had placed his seat on the other side of the table directly in front of them. “Did ye find any rest at all?” he asked so softly it felt like a caring touch.
“I did find some rest.” She refused to complain. Yesterday could have gone so much worse.
“Ye snore louder than yer sister.”
“I do not snore.”
“Aye, ye do.”
His weariness and tension seemed to have eased a little, but he still didn’t smile, making Merry wonder if he ever did. Handsome as sin, even with his sternly furrowed brow, how breathtaking would he be if he actually smiled?
She shooed away his teasing with a flutter of her hand. “I was merely helping you remain alert. You said you wouldn’t sleep.” And he hadn’t slept, as far as she knew. Each time she’d shifted and opened her eyes, he had been slowly scanning the room, sitting there like a mighty god upon his throne with his arms crossed over his chest. The man had to be exhausted. Concern for him plucked at her heart, making her worry. “Will you be fit to travel after going without rest?”
With an expression of disbelief, he cocked his head like a dog surprised by a possible act of kindness from a cruel master. “Do ye worry for me, lass?”
“Well, of course I worry for you. You are my champion. My hero. I wouldn’t want any ill to befall you because of your taking care of me and Seri.” She rose from the bench and stretched while rubbing the small of her back. “Good heavens, one would think me well into my dotage with all this stiffness. I am ashamed of being so soft and coddled.”
“Merry, do be quiet. Some of us are trying to sleep. Go find one of the dogs or cats to talk to.” Serendipity curled her arm tighter over her face, covering her eyes.
Merry covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
Duncan arched a brow. “One of the dogs or cats?” he repeated in a rumbling whisper.
“My sisters and I insist on keeping Broadmere Hall well stocked with cats and dogs because we know it annoys my brother.” Moving forward, as far as the table in front of them allowed, she stretched and rolled her shoulders, trying to work the tight kinks out of her neck. Good heavens, she had not weathered the sleeping arrangement well at all.
“Dinna be ashamed of being soft. Ladiesshouldbe coddled.”
She glanced back at him. He had risen from his chair and was stretching too.
“I do not wish to be a hothouse lily,” she said, “with short-lived beauty and no staying power.” She returned to the bench and knelt on it to scrape some of the frost off the window behind it. “Mama christened me Merry Julianna Heather. She said that even as a babe, she recognized my independence and resilience.” The sad pang she always felt whenever she thought about Mama made her pull in a deep breath. “I want to be like wild heather. Resilient and enduring.”
When he didn’t comment, she turned and looked back to find him staring at her with an expression she didn’t understand. “What is it, Duncan?” she asked ever so softly. “What is it that troubles you so?”
