Page 2 of In the Highlander's Bed

“How can I, with you reminding me of it every time I turn around?”

Thomas grinned, unrepentant. “You’re just lucky it’s such a pittance or even I might be tempted.”

“As if you’d dare,” Gordon shot back good-naturedly. He and Thomas had been boyhood friends. Many a time, each had trusted the other to guard his back. “You aren’t so big and ugly I can’t still take you.”

“What? And mark your pretty face? The lasses would never forgive me, would they, Robbie?” Thomas settled himself more comfortably against his tree before continuing philosophically. “Then again, such golden looks are wasted on Gordon. He’s practically a monk.”He rolled his eyes heavenward. “God, why couldn’t you have given that face to me? I’d have put it to good use. Instead, it’s my lot to console all the lasses Gordon rejects. Sometimes it’s more work than one man can stand.”

Robbie’s teeth flashed white in his smile. “I’m always happy to help if you need it—”

“I can manage,” Thomas assured him quickly. “Some tasks are a pleasure.”

Gordon only paid half an ear to their banter. He’d never enjoyed cooling his heels, although it seemed as if he’d been waiting forever for that moment when he could avenge his father’s death.

Whatwouldhis father have said?What advice would he offer in circumstances such as this?He’d been a prudent man, an honest one.Hewould have waited.

“I’m going in,” Gordon said.

“Later?” Thomas asked.

“No,now.” Gordon turned and headed back toward where they’d left the horses. “I’m going to the dance.”

Thomas and Robbie hurried to catch up with him. “What are you planning to do?” Thomas asked furiously. “Walk in there and ask Miss Constance for a dance?”

“Yes. That’s a good plan,” Gordon answered.The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He rubbed a hand over his chin. “I need to shave. Any of you have your kit with you?”

“I do,” Robbie said. It stood to reason. Robbie was the dandy of the group.

“Let me have it. And your jacket, too. It’s better than my own.”

They’d reached Brian, who appeared confused that they’d returned so quickly and without Miss Constance. But before he could ask questions, Thomas blocked Gordon’s path, saying, “Have you forgotten you are a wanted man?” There was no teasing in his tone now.

Gordon laughed, his spirits rising at the challenge. “Those soldiers won’t recognize me,” he said with confidence. “Or even my name. Most likely they haven’t ever heard of Nathraichean. And if they have, they’ve forgotten, especially when there are heiresses to court. They are thinking about themselves. But someday soon, lads, they will know our names, and they’ll never forget them. As for now, I’m going to the dance. I want to see this Miss Constance up close, and perhaps, with a wee bit of luck, I may pry her away from watchful eyes and save us a climb up a wall. Or were you looking forward to that, Thomas?”

The giant grumbled his answer.

“What was that?” Gordon prodded.

“I said, come here, and I’ll shine your boots,” Thomas answered with little grace. “If you want to play the gentleman, then I won’t stop you. I might even come to your hanging so I can laugh.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Gordon replied, slipping on Robbie’s coat. “Now, what do you believe the odds are that I can steal one of those officers’ fine horses as I’m leaving?”

“Grab the gray,” Thomas advised. “It will show up better in the dark when they come chasing you.”

Gordon grinned.

Desperate women resorted to desperate measures.

That’s why Constance Cameron had decided to run away tonight. She’d had enough of Scotland, enough of England, and enough of her overbearing sister Charlotte. She wanted to go home, to return to the Ohio Valley, where she could talk to folks without wondering who was introduced to whom, dance without being “taught” steps, andreada book instead of walking around with it on top of her head.

She didn’t need poise or deportment—and she especially didn’t need, or want, a husband.

The husband part had been Charlotte’s dream,not hers. What Constance longed for was the freedom of the valley. She was homesick, and if she didn’t get away from dreary Britain soon, she feared she would turn into a vain, silly creature like all of Madame Lavaliere’s other pupils.

To that end, Constance had been feverishly planning her escape ever since she’d learned that theNovuswas leaving for New York from Edinburgh harbor. It was a stroke of luck that the ship’s departure was timed around one of the monthly dances held in the academy’s sitting room. The day of these dances, everyone was too preoccupied with themselves to care what anyone else was doing. In the midst of all the preening and furniture moving, she hadn’t had any difficulty hiding a bundle of clothes under a shrub out in the garden.

As soon as everyone was involved with dancing and men and all the petty dramas of women, Constance was going to steal out the garden doors, grab her precious bundle of belongings, and head for Edinburgh. The ship would depart in four days. In that timeframe, she couldwalkthe distance to Edinburgh harbor if necessary.

She had no worry about paying her passage. Charlotte’s new husband, the despicable butvery wealthy Lord Phillip, was overly generous with her allowance. Constance had no qualms about using it for this purpose. After all, it was because of him she’d been sent to Madame Lavaliere’s. The money was tied away in a scarf in her bundle.