Eventually, Lady Alison MacAndrew, a strongly-built, handsome woman with a deep, almost masculine voice, spoke irritably.
“Will you two please go for a walk or something? You are looking so tragic you’re beginning to annoy me!”
Lady Patricia opened her mouth to object, but it was too late. Grace and Fergus were already disappearing out of the parlor and heading for the stairs to the first level of the turrets. When they reached the parapets, Grace turned to him and looked into his eyes, smiling as she saw the expression in them.
“You’re even more beautiful than I remember,” Fergus told her softly.
“And you are more handsome,” she replied. “You are taller than I remember, too.”
Fergus put his hand on her waist and sighed. “I never want to stop looking at you,” he murmured. He put his hand up to caress her cheeks, leaned down to touch his forehead against hers, and once again Grace shivered in the anticipation of his kiss.
A few seconds later, he lifted his head and looked intently into her eyes, then leaned in to kiss her, as he had been dreaming of doing for months. However, right at that moment a guard, then another, then another came striding past until it seemed that the place was full of them.
“Come,” Grace took his hand and they went downstairs again, but as soon as they arrived at the bottom Fergus’s father spotted him.
“Fergus! We need your opinion here!”
Fergus groaned, but Grace giggled. “They look determined. You’d better go.” Then, she said wickedly, “we can catch up later.” She winked, and Fergus grinned.
He strode over to the other men and they chatted for a few moments, with Fergus and William gesticulating in the air with their arms, as though describing the shape of something.
Grace could see that it was going to be a long conversation, so she left and went back to the parlor, where she found herself alone again. She stood looking out of the window again but saw nothing. All she could think about was how good Fergus’s body had felt against hers, how he smelled, how his arms felt so strong and unyielding around her.
Presently, she heard the voices of the two Lairds behind her.
“Honestly, Wallace,” Laird MacAndrew was complaining. “If I could, I would change Robert to Fergus. They are both good boys, but Fergus has so much more connection with the ordinary people, and he works harder too.”
Suddenly the two men noticed Grace, who was still standing with her back to them.
“Grace!” her father cried. “I didn’t know you were still here.”
“Hmm…?” she turned around, looking as if she had been in a daydream. “Did you say something, Father? I was miles away.”
“Nothing important, my dear,” her father answered, smiling in relief.
Grace was not especially enamored at the thought that she would have to share the room with two Lairds and their conversation, so she excused herself and went upstairs to change into another dress. She wanted to look perfect for Fergus.
She was glowing with happiness and pride to think that his father should think so much of her beloved, that he would give the estate to him if he could. What a great pity Fergus had not had the sense to be born before Robert! Whether he was the Laird or not was not important, but she wanted Fergus to be recognised for his skills. She could not wait to be married to him.
As she looked through her clothes, she spotted her riding habit and decided to ask Fergus to go for a ride with her. There were plenty of horses in the stables that would suit Fergus, and although her mother would insist on sending a groom with them, she felt sure they would be able to slip away for a moment. She grinned. The more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded.
Just then, Crissy came in and looked her up and down suspiciously. “You are up tae mischief,” she remarked.
Grace hated the way Crissy could read her mind. “I am just going out for a ride!” she protested.
“I heard young Fergus is visitin’.” Crissy remarked. “Be careful, lass. I am sure he is a very nice boy, but at your age ye can get carried away so easily.”
Grace put up a hand for silence. “Thank you for the warning, Crissy, but I will be fine.”
“I hope so,” Crissy grunted. “Just watch yourself.”
* * *
As if he had read her mind, Grace met Fergus at the entrance of the courtyard on the way to the stables.
“I was going to look at your horses,” he said, smiling.
“And I was going to ask you to come for a ride,” she suggested, raising her eyebrows in question.