Page 12 of A Highland Duke to Claim Her Heart

“You are right,” he said at last, as the awkward silence stretched between them. “I should have told you. I hope you will accept my apology.”

Lady Cassandra did not say anything at first, and before she could, Annabelle had stepped forward, her smile shy but also determined.

“Did you go swimming, Lady Cassandra?” she asked. “Can I go swimming with you next time as well? Papa never lets me go…”

“The lochs are far too cold and deep,” Ewan said at once, giving his daughter a stern look. “When you are older, and a stronger swimmer,thenI will consider it.”

“Your father is very wise,” Lady Cassandra said, surprising Ewan. She was smiling down at Annabelle, her eyes warm. “The lochs can be quite dangerous. I was very lucky to be rescued from one earlier by a very brave man.”

“Do you mean my father?” Annabelle asked, her eyes widening, and Lady Cassandra laughed.

“Indeed, I do!”

Annabelle’s face lit up. “He is very brave!” she declared. “He is always rescuing people, me most of all.”

“Then you are a very lucky little girl indeed,” Lady Cassandra said.

Her smile was so sincere, so moving, that Ewan felt warmth settle in his chest.

“We should get you inside, Lady Cassandra,” he said. “I do not want you to catch a chill.”

Before anyone could move, the front door closed with a bang, and Ewan looked up to see a middle-aged woman marching across the drive toward them, a hard look on her face.

“Cassandra!” she cried. “What on earth is going on? Why do you look as if you have nearly drowned? Do you have any notion of how indecent you look!”

The woman—whom he would now wager was Lady Pembury—then caught sight of him, and she froze. Her eyes went wide, and she sank into the deepest curtsy he had ever seen.

“Your Grace!” she murmured. “I was not expecting—you were thought to be away for another day or two! Please forgive mydaughter, she does not usually appear in public in such a state of undress!”

“There is nothing to forgive,” Ewan said, bowing as well. “Your daughter fell into one of the lochs, and I was fortunate enough to be close by, and was thus able to rescue her.”

“Rescue…?” Lady Pembury’s eyes widened in horror. “But… were you seen?”

It did not escape Ewan that Lady Pembury’s first response was not after the well-being of her daughter, but after appearances. When he glanced at Lady Cassandra, he saw that her face had hardened, and he wondered if this was always the case with her mother: more worried about propriety than even her daughter’s life.

“Come, Cassandra, we must get you changed and warmed,” her mother said, seizing her by the arm and practically dragging her back toward the house. “We will see you at dinner, Your Grace. In far more formal attire, I assure you.”

And indeed, when Ewan arrived at dinner that evening, it was to find Lady Cassandra and her mother dressed to formal perfection.

In fact, it wouldn’t have surprised him to learn that her mother had insisted that Lady Cassandra dress more formally and demurely than was necessary. She was in a muted dark red dresswith a high collar, one simple jeweled necklace, and long white gloves that hid every inch of skin on her arms.

It was as if Lady Pembury had been so shocked by her daughter’s scandalous appearance earlier that she wanted to prove that Lady Cassandra was, in fact, the very paragon of modesty.

It did little, however, to hide her beauty.

In fact, now that she was no longer soaked through and shivering, Lady Cassandra’s beauty was even more striking.

As Ewan watched her covertly from the head of the table, he couldn’t help but notice how her auburn hair seemed to spark like fire in the candlelight, how long and elegant her neck was, how alive with intelligence and curiosity her brown eyes were, and how full and sensual her lips.

He swallowed, then reached for his wine glass, suddenly too aware of himself.

He should absolutely not be noticing the curve of his future sister-in-law’s lips, or the ways her eyes lit up as she spoke to Alaric and Lillian, who were sitting across from her, or the way that Annabelle kept glancing at her with undisguised curiosity.

Alaric had returned that evening from the neighboring estates without any news: Christopher had not been to any of them inthe past few weeks. It seemed that he had, indeed, set sail for Amsterdam.

“It is unusual for a child of five to dine with the adults, is it not?” Lady Pembury, who was sitting to Ewan’s right, asked in a carrying voice, the disapproval in her tone evident to all.

“It is,” Ewan said, inclining his head slightly. “But Annabelle is only staying until the end of the first course. And only because we have guests tonight.”