Page 20 of When the Laird Conquers

She pulled a face.

Goodness, what is wrong with you? He is not a wild animal.

She realized that Iona had not responded, and turned to search the old woman’s face for any sign that she should worry more, not less.

The housekeeper looked puzzled, her lined forehead creased into deeper runnels of confusion. “Kill ye, lass? What on earth are ye talkin’ about?”

Immediately, embarrassment bloomed in Agnes’s face. “Right, exactly, he wouldn’t. I knew he wouldn’t. I was not at all being serious when I said that,” she replied, sounding about as convincing as she felt. “But… Oh, Iona, I am scared. Maybe I shouldn’t be, maybe I have no reason to be, but I am. And I cannot get my foolish mind to stop conjuring up visions of him making me his dinner. I suppose it is the ‘wolf’ nickname that I read about, playing all sorts of tricks on me.”

“Och, well, ye’re right about one thing,” Iona said, mischief in her eyes. “He’ll likely want to devour ye.”

Agnes stared at the housekeeper in abject horror, her eyes wide, her mouth agape. Was she about to hear the truth of this place? Did Iona know why the clan was so feared? Had the old woman been… preparing her for a terrible fate?

Seeing her face, Iona burst into rich laughter, wheezing out an apology. “I’m sorry, lass. I shouldnae have done that, but I couldnae resist. What sort of folk do ye think we are, that we’d be eatin’ people?” Her laughter ebbed into a soft chuckle. “Ye mustnae believe everythin’ ye hear.”

“You were… joking with me?” Agnes rasped, dazed.

The housekeeper squeezed her shoulder gently. “Aye, lass, I was just teasin’. The cook here is very good, and the Laird isnae so bad once ye get to ken him. Ye’ll be fine.”

Releasing a shaky breath, Agnes managed to force a smile. She had let her imagination run away with her, and the housekeeper had pointed it out in a way that had made her see it for herself.

Gordon was not going to devour her. Unless, of course, she had missed another joke somewhere?

What else could she have meant?

Agnes frowned and shrugged off the thought. There was no other meaning.

“I suppose I should not keep him waiting,” she said, putting on a brighter smile, though her reflection exposed how strained it appeared.

Oh well, there wasn’t much she could do about that. She would just have to hope that the dining hall was as gloomy and dim as everywhere else, so Gordon wouldn’t see just how worried she was.

Where is she?

Gordon scowled at the clock on the hall’s mantelpiece as it ticked at a leisurely pace, taunting him with the fact that Agnes was already half an hour late to dinner. Even five minutes late would have roused his irritation, but thirty? It was an insult.

Either that, or she wasn’t coming.

He swirled the wine in his cup, his jaw clenched in frustration. A muscle under his cheekbone twitched to the beat of the ticking clock, his patience wearing thin with each passing second.

“Nay, I’ll nae have this,” he growled, pushing back his chair.

He was halfway out of his seat, ready to get up and drag the lass there himself, when the dining hall door opened.

Agnes peeked in. Meeting Gordon’s stern gaze, she pushed the door wider and entered the hall.

“Apologies,” she said. “I got lost.”

He took her in. She looked beautiful, her golden hair pinned in a loose bun, wavy locks framing her flushed face. Her gown was a color and style he wasn’t familiar with, both shapeless and suggestive, though he couldn’t explain how. Maybe it was the ribbon under her bust, hinting at a narrow waist. The perfect hourglass he had seen through the window last night.

Her smile wasn’t as bright as usual, her gaze lowered, her demeanor more shy than aggressively cheerful.

“Sit,” he instructed as he resumed his seat.

She walked to the chair opposite him, and he watched her every step like the wolf he was, noting how the movement of her dress’s silky fabric offered more hints of the figure beneath.

He knew he probably should have pulled her chair out for her, but she was already there, doing it herself.

Hands clasped in front of her stomach, she sat down and flashed him a timid smile. “So… you wanted to discuss the rules?”