School For Heiresses 3- Beware A Scot's Revenge (17 page)

“Oh, go on with you,” she said, but her eyes were misting. She wiped them with a scowl. “Now see what ye’ve gone and done, letting me blather on about the evictions? It only makes me angry, and there’s naught to be done about it.”

Annie rose and went to check on the pot of water, then called up to her maid-of-all-work. “I’ve got the water boiling, Sally! Time to start hauling it upstairs for our guests’ baths.”

Holy Christ, he’d assumed she was boiling water for washing.

WhenVenetia shot him a panicked look, he groaned. Just the thought of a nakedVenetia , water sluicing over her fine limbs, her breasts pink and flushed from the steam…

He swore under his breath and rose. “Don’t trouble yerself with drawing us a bath, Annie,” he said, though he would dearly love to rid himself of the stink of the road.

“It’s no trouble, is it, Sally?” she said to the maid as the girl came in.

“Oh, no, ma’am, no.” Sally grinned, exposing one missing tooth. “Already hauled the tub into the guest room and put out the towels and soap. And I found some fresh lavender and rosemary in the garden to sprinkle in it, too.” She castVenetia a shy glance. “For the lady.”

Lachlanclenched his fists. Wonderful.Venetia would not only be naked and clean, but sweet-smelling, too. As if he didn’t already have enough trouble keeping his hands off her.

“You don’t mind sharing the water, do you?” Annie asked as she poured it into two buckets for Sally, who headed up the stairs with them.

Venetiahad risen, too, and was looking to him for help in getting out of the awkward situation.

“No, of course not,” he said. “But…er…I’ll head into town and arrange for the gig, so my wife can have a nice long soak. I’ll bathe when I return. Cold water’s good enough for me.” Right now cold water was
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exactly
what he needed.

“Yes, that’s an excellent idea,”Venetia chimed in cheerily.

Too cheerily.
Mo chreach,
what was he thinking? He couldn’t leave her alone here. She’d steal a horse and head off toLondon before he was half a mile away. He was already forgetting she was his captive, not his wife.

“I’ll go to town and take care of arranging for the gig,” Annie said, thankfully. “Ye’re both tired and in need of a hot bath and a good sleep.”

Sally popped into the kitchen and Annie added, “Why don’t you take Lady Ross upstairs and help her undress whileLachlan and I bring in more water to put on for the washing?”

“Yes’m,” Sally said, and headed for the door withVenetia following after. Only after they were gone didLachlan realize his error. He’d letVenetia go off alone with Sally. Cursing under his breath, he strode for the stairs. “I’ve got to ask my wife something,” he muttered. “I’ll be back to help you with the water in a bit, Annie.”

But first he had to make sure his “wife” didn’t bring yet another new ally over to her cause.

Chapter Thirteen

Dear Cousin,

Teaching ladies to be wise isn’t the same as teaching them to be cynical. Is it cynical to make sure
that a man isn’t just out for what he can get from a woman? I think not. Only if I taught my
heiresses not to trust any man could you call me cynical. But in the times we live in, a woman
must learn to protect herself from scoundrels.

Your perturbed relation,

Charlotte

V
enetia surveyed the guest room as Sally ushered her in. Tucked beneath the eaves, it was dark and not overly large, with a tiny coal grate set into the wall. Aside from the tin tub dominating the room, the other furnishings were a washstand, a sturdy walnut chair, and a beech bedstead scarcely large enough for one person, much less two.

Worse yet, the bedchamber had only one small casement window. Even if she could squeeze through it, she’d never survive the fall to the ground. That left her only one alternative—enlisting the maid’s help. Because Venetia was
not
spending the night withLachlan in that skinny bed.

’Tis big enough for two people newly wed.

She groaned. Even ifLachlan proved more a gentleman than she’d initially thought, she dared not lower her guard. Any man who hated her father so much would never marry her. She’d end up ruined and unwed, and her life would be over.

No, she mustn’t spend the night alone with him here. She’d take her chances with wildcats on the road
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back toEdinburgh before she’d do that.

“How well do you know the laird?”Venetia asked. If Sally shared Annie’s fondness forLachlan , she wouldn’t be much help.

Sally blinked at the unexpected question. “This is the first I’ve met him, my lady. But I must say he’s a fine-looking gentleman, fine-looking indeed.”

“That fine-looking gentleman is not who he seems. Yesterday—”

“—we traveled so hard and fast that we barely had time to think, much less bathe,”Lachlan finished as he swung open the door. His scar stood out in high relief against his ashen brow, but his eyes were as dark and angry as the wind-sculpted rocks near Braidmuir. “So we vastly appreciate your going to so much trouble for us, Sally.”

Venetia’s stomach roiled. Leave it toLachlan to guess what she would try.

“I didn’t mind a bit. The water’s nice and hot for you.” Sally smiled atVenetia . “If you’ll take off your gown, I’ll help you with your corset.”

Venetia frowned atLachlan , who cast her a thinly veiled smile that told her she had no chance of getting him out of the room now. But at least he had the decency to turn his back and head for the window so she could undress.

HastilyVenetia undid her gown, wondering if he meant to stay in the room the entire night. She’d go dirty rather than sit naked in a tub with him present. Yet she dearly wanted to bathe. Just the sight of the steaming water made her skin tingle with anticipation.

“Is there a key to this room, Sally?”Lachlan asked from where he stood at the window, holding the dimity curtain aside to gaze out.

“Yes, sir.” Sally cast Venetia a puzzled glance as she tookVenetia ’s gown.

“My wife has a tendency to walk in her sleep.” The blithe lie rolled offLachlan ’s tongue with ease. “So if you’d fetch the key, I’d be most grateful. I can’t have her falling down the stairs in the dark, can I?”

Curse the man. He thought of everything.

“No, sir, of course not.”

When Sally hesitated, glancing at Venetia,Lachlan faced her, his jaw set. “Thanks, lass. And bring whatever nightclothes you can find for my wife. I can take care of her corset.”

Bobbing her head, Sally slipped out. In two strides, Lachlan was behindVenetia .

“Lachlan—”

“Quiet!” He began to undo her laces with a swift efficiency that gave her pause. Clearly the man had performed this service for other women, curse him.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” he went on. “When Sally returns with the key, I’ll make an excuse for sending
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her off. Then I’ll step outside, you can hand me the rest of yer clothes, and I’ll take them down to Annie so you can have yer bath.”

She twisted her head to look up at him. “Alone?”

“Alone.” He met her gaze coolly. “Though I’ll be locking the door, ye ken?”

“Fine.” She stifled her disappointment. At least she’d get a private bath. Her corset fell away, and he caught it, then held it out to her. But as she took one end of the padded fabric, he held the other end fast. “You have to promise, though, that you won’t try to escape through the casement. Even if you get through, there’s nothing below to cushion yer fall, so you’ll break yer damned neck.”

“I already determined that for myself, thank you very much.”

He arched one eyebrow. “Good. At least you’ve got
some
sense.”

Sense, but not much clothing at the moment. Fortunately, he kept his gaze fixed on her face. That bit of gentlemanly consideration gave her hope. Perhaps sharing a room with him tonight wouldn’t be too awful, after all.

“I’ll give you an hour to bathe while I help Annie,” he went on. “That shouldn’t rouse her suspicions.” He released her corset. “But when I return, I’ll expect you to be out of the tub and dressed, do ye ken?”

Clutching the corset to her chest, she nodded quickly.

“Then you can turn yer face to the wall while I undress and bathe.”

Dear Lord, he meant to bathe, too? What a tempting image
that
conjured up, of him sliding naked into the steaming tub, slicking soap over his taut muscles.

“If you don’t mind, that is,” he said.

He was eyeing her peculiarly now, and she realized she’d been running her gaze over his body with shameful thoroughness.

“No…I don’t…that is, if you want to bathe…” At his knowing expression, she forced herself to stop babbling. “I was just wondering…” How to ask this? “We’re not really going to share the bed, are we?”

The minute his eyes deepened to that luscious chocolate brown, she knew she shouldn’t have asked. “I ought to
make
you share it with me, princess, since ye’re so eager to be my wife.” The soft burr of his brogue resonated in the pit of her belly, especially when he added, “Might as well carry the pretense to its logical end, wouldn’t you say?”

She swallowed, wishing that the very idea didn’t send a thrill chasing along her every nerve. “You know perfectly well that I didn’t mean—”

“Dinna fash yerself, lassie,” he bit out. “I’m not fool enough to put myself within two feet of you when ye’re dressed like that. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

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“That’s fine, then,” she said, relieved. Or so she tried to convince herself. “Thank you.”

“Don’t be thanking me yet,” he grumbled. “The night is young, and I still mean to make you pay for upsetting all my plans.”

Realizing he was just blustering to save his pride, she teased, “And how will you do that, pray tell?”

“Mayhap I’ll take a page from yer book and sing you to sleep.” He shot her a glance of mock menace.

“That’ll show ye, won’t it?”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing you sing,” she admitted.

That seemed to unsettle him, for he turned his gaze away with a frown. “You say that now, but when my voice sets the dogs to howling, you won’t be so eager.”

Just then Sally returned with a fresh chemise and the key to the room. True to his word, Lachlan sent her off on some errand, then went to stand outside whileVenetia finished undressing and handed her clothing out to him, wrapping the dimity coverlet about her for modesty. Only after he’d locked her in and headed downstairs did she abandon the coverlet to climb into the tub.

She sank into the water with a sigh of pure pleasure. A bath was lovely enough, but to be left alone to enjoy it was bliss. It seemed like ages since she hadn’t hadLachlan or Jamie looking over her shoulder every minute.

She scrubbed her hair and her body with the soap, the familiar scent of lavender and lye bringing tears to her eyes. How long before she saw home again? Would she ever? Somehow she couldn’t seeLachlan handing her over to Papa without getting what he wanted in return. And she couldn’t see Papa giving it to him.

This entire thing couldn’t end well.

As soon as she bathed to her satisfaction, she dried off and donned Sally’s chemise, which was rather snug in the bosom. Then she climbed into the bed, pulled the cover up to her chin, squeezed her eyes shut, and turned her face to the wall. If she could fall asleep beforeLachlan returned, there’d be no talk between them, and perhaps he wouldn’t be tempted to do anything. Oh, what was she thinking?
He
wasn’t the one she should worry about. Despite his grousing, he’d been a perfect gentleman in nearly every instance.

Meanwhile,
she
was softening toward him to a dangerous degree. She’d always prided herself on her ability to see past a man’s handsome face to the character that lay beneath. Flattery had never swayed her, for she could spot insincerity even beneath the smoothest compliment. Yet whenLachlan spoke of wanting her, she turned into a puddle of pudding. She sighed. Why was that? Why did she keep forgetting this was just about him and Papa, and she was only a tool forLachlan to get what he wanted?

Perhaps it was because he’d been forthright about his aims after he’d kidnapped her. He’d stated his case baldly and let her determine the truth for herself. Even the sad tale of theHighlands at dinner had been brought up by the widow, not him. He hadn’t attempted to use it to gain her sympathy.
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And what a shock to discover thatLachlan wasn’t the only person who hated Papa. All that talk about sheep and forcing out the crofters…could it be true? She’d heard her father’s Scottish friends expound upon how they’d improved their land with sheep farming, but she’d never considered where that left the tenants who’d tilled it. Somehow she’d thought both were living together in harmony. But now snippets of things she’d heard inLondon came back to her. One of Mrs. Harris’s good friends was a newspaperman named Charles Godwin, who’d often written about “injustice in theHighlands

.”Venetia had paid his essays no mind, since everyone said he was a wild-eyed radical. Now she had to wonder. And there’d been one lord who’d complained of trouble with his crofters. Unfortunately, whenever she’d stumbled upon such conversations, she never got to hear the rest, for the gentlemen didn’t discuss such matters before ladies. So she’d had trouble piecing together what was really happening.

Lord knew Papa never talked about it, except to rail against his backward countrymen. But since he was always railing against something, she pretty much ignored him. Now she wished she’d paid closer attention.

Punching up her pillow, she tried not to think about tonight’s discussion. ButLachlan ’s words rang in her ears.
Annie’s husband spoke out against the sheep farming…That’s when the earl had his steward
dismiss him.