Page 9 of Victorian Bride

He looked amused. “Is that so, lass?”

“I don’t see how it could be interpreted otherwise.”

For a moment, he simply stared at her, silent. A grin broke out across his face. “You are quite an usual specimen of femininity. Has anyone ever told you so?”

“And you are condescending and arrogant, but I suppose many have told you that.”

“Mya!” Eleanora gasped beside her.

“Just what kind of scandalizing language are you using on poor Lord McGregor?” Lottie asked, appearing at Mya’s elbow. “You’ve turned Ella completely red.”

The man in question didn’t seem at all perturbed by Mya. He was, in fact, laughing. Mya’s jaw clenched. He was absolutely, insufferably annoying. The name, though, sounded familiar, and she wondered for a fraction of a second if she had known him before, only to remember that the name was one Eleanora had used the day before. Lord McGregor, the man who had found her in the back field. Mya felt her cheeks heat. The man who had likely saved her life. And here she was berating him on a public street. Not that he didn’t deserve it.

“I am glad to see your encounter with that arrow doesn’t appear to have dulled your spirits any, my lady,” Lord McGregor said, bowing politely before straightening quickly.

Mya glanced down and then opened her mouth to answer him, but he was already gone, disappearing into the crowd. She snorted. Of course he had made thoroughly sure he had the last word. It was just the kind of thing a man like that would do.

“I cannot believe you spoke to Lord McGregor that way,” Eleanora said, sounding as though she was not sure whether she wanted to be admonishing or impressed.

“Because he rescued me?” Mya asked. “Or because he has a title in front of his name?”

Lottie laughed.

“Both,” Eleanora said. “Either.”

“I spoke to him that way because he's a condescending ass,” Mya pointed out to gasps from both of the other women. “And he completely deserved it. Running into me and then pretending as though I was the person who was in the wrong when he knew full well that it was his fault.”

“Maybe he did not know,” Lottie suggested. “Men can be rather oblivious.”

“I think it's rather hard to be unaware of nearly stepping on a person.”

“You would be surprised,” Eleanora said, obviously speaking from experience in the matter.

“Either way.” Mya shook her head. “I don’t like him.”

“The man saved your life, and you dislike him because he bumped into you at market.” Unlike Eleanora, Lottie didn’t sound conflicted. She sounded delighted by the whole thing, as though Mya had done something particularly thrilling.

When she put it that way, it did sound a little ridiculous, but she wasn’t going to take the words back. “Yes.”

“Living with you is going to be utterly fascinating.” Lottie laughed, taking Mya’s free arm. “I cannot wait.”

They continued together through the market.

Chapter 4

The back field, Mya discovered, was a stretch of land at the foot of the hills that sloped up beyond the house. It was not landscaped the way the rest of the grounds were, only crossed by the tracks deer had worn through the vegetation. Lord McGregor, she was told, often walked there. Though it was Lottie's property, his land adjoined their own, and she did not mind him wandering through.

On a morning three days after their trip to Inverness, and her first encounter with the lord, Mya decided to take a walk there herself. Eleanora and Lottie were each in their studios, working on projects that she had no part in. Both had invited her to sit with them if she liked, but Mya found she was restless after the days of rain that had kept them all inside.

It was curiosity that led her back beyond the garden. Perhaps a rather morbid curiosity, actually. She wanted to see where she had been found before she had woken up in Lottie and Ella's guest room.

Finding the place, however, proved to be nearly impossible. There were no distinctive landmarks in the field beyond the occasional rock sticking up from the grass, and no one had told her any specifics. Some part of her had half expected to find a sign of some sort. Blood, maybe. Or grass trampled in odd patterns. But there was nothing. She had given up and was turning to make her way back to the house when a figure came over the rise ahead of her.

It had to be Lord McGregor, she realized almost instantly. Who else would be walking through Lottie and Eleanor’s back field? Or someone as tall and roguishly handsome—even from far away. Mya briefly considered pretending as though she hadn’t seen him and going on her way, but he had appeared so close to her that she was fairly certain he wouldn’t be fooled. Before she could make a decision either way, he’d raised an arm and called a hello. Mya wondered if he thought she was one of the ladies of the house. It was highly doubtful that he had any interest in apologizing for his behavior at the market. Sighing, she waved back at him.

“Good morning, Miss Mya,” he said as soon as he was close enough that he didn’t have to shout.

“Lord McGregor,” Mya said, only just verging on polite.