In the Heart of the Highlander (12 page)

He heard her regret. “I’ll teach you to dance at Raeburn Court.” He could hum a waltz if he put his mind to it. There was even a ballroom, unused for decades. He’d get someone to sweep the floor clean. He’d sweep it himself if he had to for the pleasure of having Mary Arden in his arms.

“I’m too old to dance.”

Alec thumbed the sole of her foot, earning an involuntary flex from her. He’d never given women’s feet much thought, but Mary did seem awfully fond of a foot rub. “One is never too old to dance.”

“I don’t want to waste our time there. I’m not apt to be invited to any balls anyway.”

“You never know.” Alec remembered his youth, spent in the company of the idle rich. He’d attended too many balls over the years in Edinburgh and London, carefully avoiding that third dance with suitable young ladies. Until Edith. Before that, he’d been interested in strictly unsuitable young ladies.

Meanwhile poor Mary was toiling in her family’s grocery store, no flirting or fripperies for her. Alec wanted to give her a bit of fun now, something that went beyond sexual congress. He gave her toes a squeeze. “Other foot, Miss Arden.”

“What if I can’t get my boots back on?”

He grinned down at her. “Why, then I’d have to carry you back to the hotel. I’d be the knight to your damsel in distress.”

Mary delivered her other foot into his cupped hands. “That would never do and well you know it! We cannot be seen together, remember?”

“Don’t be such a grump,” Alec said, removing the boot. “If you’re not going to relax and devote yourself to enjoying this, I’ll stop.” He began to knead briskly, and Mary closed her eyes
and
her mouth.

Her response to his touch was very gratifying. She didn’t make him feel freakish or clumsy, even though she was so much smaller than he. She didn’t seem to be afraid of him or what he might do to her when they consummated their odd friendship, either. She had literally entrusted herself into his hands.

Mary Arden was a most unusual woman. She deserved to dance.

Her lashes were several shades darker than her hair, tipped with gold, and they flicked every time he circled the center of her foot. Her lips parted, but she raised no further objections as one hand smoothed up her calf to circle that, too. Alec stroked as far as her garter. Above it was soft bare flesh which he didn’t dare to touch. Not yet.

He watched her turn liquid under his care, her body swaying until she nearly toppled backward off the makeshift bench. He pulled her onto his lap, unashamed of his erection and oblivious to the tender skin on his thighs.

He needed to kiss her again, but the brim of her hat was in the way. Though Alec tugged, the hatpin held fast. Mary was too dazed to help him, so he managed to duck under and plunder. He had no time for finesse—someone could come upon them at any moment.

So the kiss was quick, yet searing. Alec felt it to his own covered toes, and hoped he wouldn’t fall off the bench himself.

Chapter

15

D
rat. It was happening again, and she couldn’t possibly say no or try to stop him. Mary was making up for a kissless lifetime all in the space of two days.

She was pretty sure he was a master kisser, if her traitorous body had any opinion on the matter. She was alternately hot and cold and quivering like someone who was ill but in an absolutely delicious way. No doctors in white coats were required here in the hushed woods. No ether either to knock her out—she was almost unconscious already, lost in the bliss of his kiss. He had tucked her securely against his body, tipped her face upward, and was commanding her compliance. Mary closed her eyes, opened her mouth and gave in, licking and nibbling him right back.

She simply didn’t have the proper vocabulary—licking and nibbling did not sound at all attractive, biting even less so, yet he’d nipped her lip in the gentlest way that caused a paroxysm of sensation. Mary wanted to tear her own confining clothes off well ahead of Monday, which was a cork-brained idea if there ever was one. Here she was, barefoot and bereft of her common sense, cavorting with a known seducer in the middle of nature. Exposed. Exhilarated. Insane.

One of them had to disengage, but Mary was very much afraid it wasn’t going to be her. In fact, she was working on the buttons of his coat. She was more or less trapped in his bearlike hug, and had no objection. She was comfortable, except for the annoying twinges in her feet. But some tiny ray of awareness penetrated the fog of her lust, and she punched Alec’s chest.

He drew back and looked down, his eyes clouded. “What was that for?”

“Someone’s coming! Can’t you hear? It’s like a herd of elephants.”

“Bloody hell.”

Mary found herself abandoned on the tree trunk as Alec sprinted through the woods. Goodness, he was as nimble as a buck in flight, his unbuttoned hacking jacket flying back behind him. He disappeared around the curve in the path just as two children and their governess came in sight.

“G-good morning,” Mary said, trying to smile.

The children, a very ruddy little boy and a pale older girl, smiled back. The nanny looked at Mary from her crooked hat to her dirty hem to her stockinged feet with undisguised horror. “I say, miss, are you all right?”

“No, I’m not. These da—uh, devilish boots. New, you know. I thought if I took them off I’d feel some relief, but now I’m not sure how I’ll get them back on.”

The young woman nodded. “I have just the thing. One never knows what one will need with these two.” She gave her charges a dark look and Mary felt instant sympathy for them. Out of a capacious reticule, a buttonhook was produced and put to good use. Mary’s feet were encased in agony, but at least she wouldn’t return to her room in shredded stockings. She stood up unsteadily.

“Thank you so much. Enjoy your walk.”

“Do you want us to accompany you back to the hotel? People might get the wrong idea if they see you,” the governess said.

Mary faltered. “What do you mean?”

“Penny, Jon, go look for some interesting rocks. Skip twenty paces, Jon, and Penny, you may take giant steps but no running.” The woman lowered her voice as the children ambled down the path, Jon shrieking with abandon. “You look ravished, miss, and that’s a fact. Has a man tried to interfere with you?”

“Why, no!” Suddenly Mary saw an avenue for getting tonight’s ball rolling. She dropped her eyes. “It wasn’t just any man, but Dr. Bauer. My doctor. He probably meant nothing by it, but he came upon me and . . . and . . . kissed me! Does it show?” She fingered her swollen lips, trying to look ashamed.

The nanny frowned. “Your doctor? The one who runs this place? That’s not right.”

“He left to go get some salve for my poor feet. Perhaps he was just overcome with the forces of nature. The woods, you know. Do you suppose there are banshees and brownies here? Supernatural creatures that make one misbehave quite against one’s will? I’ve read some folktales.”

“Nonsense. And don’t speak like that in front of the children or I’ll never get any sleep tonight. Time’s up!” she shouted.

Penny and Jon returned with a few pebbles, one of which Jon tried to put in his mouth before his sister slapped it away.

“We’ll walk back with you. Just in case. I am Eliza Lawrence, and this is Miss Penelope Hurst and her brother, Jonathan.”

“How do you do?” Mary said, bending to shake each grubby hand. “Is your papa the famous barrister?”

Penny nodded. This was the daughter with asthma that Oliver spoke of, poor thing. She looked a bit pinched but was not wheezing. The pure mountain air was alleged to be good for those with her condition.

It must be a challenge for Miss Lawrence to find suitable activities for two children with such obviously different needs. Jon Hurst looked like he needed a keeper all his own. He was disheveled from head to toe, and exuded the energy of a wayward puppy. No wonder the nanny carried buttonhooks and who knew what else in that big bag of hers.

The children scrambled ahead, and Miss Lawrence clutched Mary’s hand. “Penny isn’t in danger from the man, is she? She has an appointment to see him on Monday.”

“I shouldn’t think so.” Alec had said nothing about Bauer trying to debauch prepubescent girls, though there were plenty of men whose tastes ran in that dreadful direction. “Just make sure either you or her mother is present.” With any luck, Bauer would be gone by Monday.

“Penny’s mother is dead. It’s just me, I’m afraid.”

“Well then,
you
had better watch out. I think Bauer tries to take advantage of unmarried young women.”

“Well, he won’t take advantage of me.” Eliza Lawrence pulled a wicked-looking hatpin from her bag and waved it in the air.

“Are you happy in your position, Miss Lawrence?” Mary asked, reverting to what she knew best.

“Not really. I would be if it was just Penny—she’s a lamb when she’s not sick. But Jonathan needs a firmer hand than mine. I like children well enough, but I’d rather work in an office, to tell you the truth. I took a secretarial course, and am a whiz at filing and organizing things. In fact I was one of Mr. Hurst’s typists until he needed an ‘emergency’ governess. I’ve been at it for a year now and he seems disinclined to replace me.”

Mary didn’t wonder. Miss Lawrence was blond and very pretty, too much of a distraction for the clerks in a law office but lovely to look at over the breakfast table. “Why do you stay?”

The young woman shrugged. “I need the position. My mother is unwell, and the pay is generous. But if Mr. Hurst thinks of marrying again, I’m sure I’ll be out on the street. No wife will want me under her roof, for all that Mr. Hurst has been a perfect gentleman. I don’t even think he knows what I look like, his head is so filled with torts and briefs.”

The man must be married to his job or myopic. Mary reached into her own reticule and fished out her card. “When you get back to London, go to the Evensong Agency. Mrs. Evensong will find the ideal job for you. She always does.”

Eliza Lawrence added the card to the detritus in her bag. “Why thank you, miss. I don’t even know your name!”

“I’m sorry. It’s Mary Arden. I’m here with my aunt and my brother.”

“Oh! I believe Mr. Hurst is playing cards with your brother tonight.”

“Is he? Oliver did tell me that he had something planned.”

They passed through the last of the trees to the rolling lawn. A game of croquet was in progress, and the thwack of tennis balls could be heard coming from the tennis courts below. Mary was not much of a sportswoman—apparently she could not even
walk
—and had no interest in taking advantage of the activities provided for the guests. Miss Lawrence excused herself to chase after Jonathan, and Mary contemplated how she could spend the rest of the day.

If she were home, how would she be spending her Saturday? Behind her desk, sifting through letters and bills. The office was open six days a week, and she frequently interviewed prospective clients and applicants on Saturdays. When had she given herself the day off to go to a museum, or even shop? All work and no play was making Mary a very dull girl.

She walked through the crowded enclosed veranda where the waitstaff was serving tea and crumpets. She’d eaten a filling breakfast, which had inspired her to go on her unlucky walk to work it off, and was not tempted to stop. The scenery had been lovely, but the view from above was the real draw. Mary took the lift to the top floor, climbing the last few steps to the Ladies’ Tower. It was empty of hotel guests, which suited Mary’s mood.

From the four sides of the open tower she could see for miles. The river glinted in the distance, tiny men standing in it and casting their lures to tinier fish. A puff of smoke heralded the arrival of the morning train to the village station, bringing more guests. Closer to hand, wagons carrying fresh produce were lined up at the trade entrance, and maids and footmen scurried about. The hotel was a vast enterprise, a boost to the local economy, and Mary hoped Bauer’s exposure would not doom its success. Surely another doctor could be found, someone who wouldn’t ruin vulnerable women.

Mary took a deep breath of fresh air. Who wouldn’t want to live up here for half the year? The hotel closed for the winter, though sometimes that meant October when it snowed early. There was a nip in the air even now for a sunny June morning.

Mary leaned over the balustrade, a gust of wind warring with her hat. She really should go down to her room and fix herself—she remembered Eliza Lawrence’s look of dismay. But she was searching for someone in all the beauty and activity below.

And then she saw him step out of the woods, straightening his jacket and pulling his plaid cap from a pocket. How far had he run down the trail before he deemed it safe to come back? Did he get as far as the falls, which were, in Mary’s opinion, breathtaking? Almost worth her blistered feet. He’d probably seen them hundreds of times growing up here; his land bordered the hotel’s. Did he take all this scenery for granted? He was a man of privilege, accustomed to the finer things in life. Perhaps trees and mountains and rivers meant nothing to him.

She raised a hand. Of course he didn’t see her. Mary was used to not being seen, but today she wished that Lord Alec Raeburn would look up and know someone was watching over him.