Page 48 (1/2)

Chapter One

London

1883

Miss Claire Willoughby fell in love with Harry, the Eleventh Duke of MacArran, the first ti room But it wasn’t just the incredible beauty of the man that made Claire love hiarden-hoe handle, or his thick blond hair and brilliant blue eyes Nor was it his legs, wellunruly horses, and exposed to their best advantage beneath the brilliant green kilt No, it wasn’t what she saw that made her sway on her feet: it hat she heard

At the sight of the kilt, with the silver-topped sporran hanging from his waist, the ivory-handled dirk in his heavy sock, the tartan thrown over one shoulder and pinned with the laird’s badge, she heard a lone pipes She heard the wind across the fields of heather and the drone of the pipes She heard the guns of Culloden and the cries of the s as they grieved for their fallen men She heard the shouts of joy at victory; the silence of misery at defeat She heard the sound of hope at the rise of Bonnie Prince Charlie and heard the despair when he was defeated She heard the treachery of the Ca wail of pain of the Scots in their centuries-old battle against the English

All the sounds echoed in her head as she watched Harry, this enerations of MacArran lairds, walk across the roo young man, but Claire looked beyond that and sahat she heard She could i at the head of a heavy oak table, a silver goblet in his hand, flickering firelight reflected on his face as he called on his men to follow him Here was a leader of men

What Harry saas a short, boso American woman as pretty, true, but what made her almost beautiful was the expression on her face She had a look of eagerness, a look of interest in all things and everyone When she looked at Harry he felt that he was the only one on earth worth listening to There was curiosity and intelligence in her big brown eyes Her small, trim body moved quickly, and she walked with a purposefulness that most women didn’t possess

Harry quickly cairl of action She couldn’t sit still even for a s Claire suggested outings and ordered the lunch and all Harry and his friends had to do was show up She h and she entertained him Sometimes she talked toothat recounting soo could bring tears to her eyes There seeures, who she said had led lives of great bravery and importance When she talked of these men, her eyes turned drea her lovely bosom

It hen she mentioned that Harry’s dead brother was one of her heroes that he sucked a cherry pit down his windpipe and nearly choked to death Miss Claire Willoughby, never at a loss for action, pushed him over a chair so his belly slammed into the back of it, then she hit him between the shoulder blades so hard the pit flew across the drawing room to land with a splash in the punch bowl

It was that action that ht for the job Bramley House needed a mistress who could think and react quickly And all of Harry’s houses needed a mistress who had Claire’s money

As for Claire, she was stunned at having a Scottish duke pay attention to her When she was in Harry’s presence, she could hardly breathe She listened to him and looked at him and smiled at him She said what she hoped he wanted to hear and did what she hoped he wanted her to do And when she was out of his sight, she thought about hihed

Claire’s ht when she found out that her daughter was pining for a man as a duke “But he’s also the laird of Clan MacArran,” Claire said, but thatto her mother

Arva Willoughby had once been a great beauty and now she didn’t seeed above and below her corset She wasn’t going to allow her daughter, as much too studious for Arva’s taste, toin her power to instruct her daughter in the art of winning a man

For one thing, Arva didn’t allow the young people to spend tiether Arva said that ahih of her husband after they were e too

“Mother,” Claire said, exasperation in her voice “The duke has not asked me to marry hiet to know him?”

As usual, Arva had an answer for everything “You may think you know about life because you’ve spent your few years with your nose in a book, but you know nothing whatever about men and women”

Claire was too happy to allow her ht of Harry and his ancestors striding across the Scottish Highlands

It was only after she’d known Harry for over a an to have doubts “Mother, Harry and I never see to talk about He listens to me and smiles at me, but he never comments on what I say Sometimes I think His Grace doesn’t even knoho Bonnie Prince Charlie is”

“My dear child, whatever are you co and he’s a duke What more could you want?”

“Someone to talk—”

“Hah!” Arva snorted “What does conversation e? After the first year you never so ood servants you don’t need to say that much Your father and I haven’t spoken to each other in years and we love each other madly”

Claire looked down at her book