“No. He was my father’s head groom.”
More evidence, should he need it, that Kit came from society’s upper echelons. Humble crofters didn’t have head grooms.
“He’s a good man.”
“Aye, that he is.” For the first time since Quentin had started this interrogation, he caught a hint of a smile on her face. “He put me on my first pony, not long after I could walk. While I was growing up, nobody could keep me out of the stables. Joseph was always kind to me.”
“So a natural choice when you needed help?”
She frowned. “I told you I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
He rose and threw some more peat on the fire. “You may as well tell me everything, Kit. We could be stuck here for days on end, and we’ll need to talk about something.”
He was sorry he’d been so flippant, when she lurched to her feet and regarded him in dismay. “Days on end? Surely not.”
“Sit down,” he said wearily. “I told you you’re safe.”
She regarded him for an uncertain moment before subsiding back onto the stool. “We don’t have anything to eat.”
He smiled with what he hoped was reassuring confidence. “Let’s worry about that if it turns into a problem. At least there’s plenty of peat so we won’t freeze.”
“If you hadn’t found this hut, we could have died out there,” she said, her expression somber.
“Don’t think about that.”
“Lucky you remembered this place.”
“I love Glen Lyon and I know it well. The Douglas family is a close one. There are frequent visits in both directions between Hamish and his sisters’ families. I’m his sister Prudence’s oldest son. My father’s estate is in the east near Perth.”
“Do you have brothers and sisters?”
As he spoke of his background, Quentin saw her nervousness ease. He supposed it must be a relief to shift the attention away from her plight. Except his attention wasn’t away from her plight at all. He hoped if he told her something about himself, she might return the favor.
“Yes, two brothers and three sisters.”
“And you love them?”
A smile curved his lips. “They’re a blasted nuisance most of the time. Two of my sisters are engaged. One’s still in the schoolroom with my brothers.”
“I should have known,” she said. “You’re so good with Andy and Will. It’s clear that you’re used to dealing with children.”
Now that was interesting. It seemed Kit had been watching him, too. “At least I’m used to dealing with my brothers and sisters. I’m fond of the little terrors. I’m sure they’d like you.”
She made a strangely wistful gesture. “I would have loved brothers and sisters. You’re lucky.”
He was. Luckier by far than this jittery girl. “Laing came to Glen Lyon two years ago. That was when your father died.”
She went back to looking like she contemplated the end of the world. “Neil, my stepbrother, took over running the estate until I was old enough to take charge. Laing couldn’t stomach him as a master, so he found this post at Glen Lyon.”
Shock shuddered through Quentin and had him rising to his feet and staring down at the slight woman opposite him. The woman with the unassuming air and the shabby work clothes. The woman who seemed to have convinced everyone except him that she was a humble stableboy.
“By God, I know who you are.”
Fear glittered in her beautiful eyes, as she jerked to her feet once more and backed away. “I told you who I am.”
“Aye,” Quentin said with an edge. “Kit, also known as Christabel, who has a rare gift with horses and bairns, and a stepbrother who deserves a good thrashing.”
“That’s right,” she said, continuing to watch him warily. And with good reason.