Amanda Scott Read Online Free Page B

such language in my presence, sir.”
    Her sudden hauteur nearly made him smile. He said, “You are quite right. I should not. I beg your pardon.”
    She grimaced, tossing her head. Then, looking at him more narrowly, her voice laced with suspicion, she said, “You are not begging my pardon because you mean to make me marry that horrid creature, are you?”
    He sighed. “No, Bridget, I will not make you marry him.”
    “Good, because he is horrid and cruel, not to mention old enough to be our father. I daresay that, if the truth were known, he murdered his first wife.”
    “He did no such thing, and I hope you have not spouted such gibberish to all and sundry,” Michael said curtly.
    She shrugged.
    “Look here, Bridget, you know that I owe Campbell a good deal of money, do you not?”
    “It is not your debt,” she said, tossing her head again. “Everyone knows that it was Papa who borrowed that money from him. I do not see why you should have to pay him a penny. When Papa died, by rights the debt should have died with him.”
    “You know that is not how such things work. I inherited our father’s debts just as surely as I inherited Mingary. It is my lawful duty to repay Campbell in full.” He did not add that he had no notion of how he was going to do so.
    “Then pay it,” she snapped. “I am sure it is no concern of mine, Michael, and I find it quite tediously boring always to be hearing how poor we are. You have said that Sir Renfrew wants the forests. Why do you not just sell them to him?”
    “Because I do not want him to burn them if there is any way to save them,” he said. “Already quite half of the Highland forests are gone, and in any case, he is willing to forgive only half of the debt in return for them.”
    “Then tell him he must forgive the whole debt,” she said, flinging her arms wide. “Really, Michael, that seems quite ridiculously simple to me. Indeed, if you were at all wise about such things, you would tell him that he can have only half the forestlands as payment for the whole debt, and then make him pay good Scots silver for the rest of what he wants. If you did that, sir, I could go to Edinburgh for weeks and weeks and wear lots of pretty dresses.”
    “Bridget, even you must see that I cannot force him to accept my valuation of the forests or the land. I have only until the third anniversary of our father’s death to repay the debt, and I cannot demand terms of him that he is unwilling to grant.”
    “The third anniversary!” Her eyes grew wide. “But it will be three years on the first of June, Michael. That’s less than two months away.”
    “Yes, I know. So you see—”
    “You will just have to sell the dogs,” she said flatly.
    “Even if I could do that—”
    “But why can’t you? You are forever telling me how extremely valuable they are, that at one time a single leash of deerhounds was the fine whereby a noble lord condemned to death might purchase his reprieve! You just don’t want to sell them, Michael. You care more for your dogs than you do for me!”
    Coldly, Michael said, “If I do, it is because they are better behaved.” He was sorry for the words, however, the instant they left his mouth.
    Bridget’s generous bosom swelled with indignation. “How dare you say such a horrid thing!”
    “I should not have said it, but it is very often true, Bridget, and if you want to find a gentleman willing to marry you one day, you must learn to think occasionally of someone other than yourself.”
    “I do think of others! At least, I would if I ever saw anyone else to think about. But thanks to you, I never do. I am stuck here in this horrid pile of rocks for months on end, without a single, solitary person to talk to, Michael.”
    “You exaggerate, my dear. There are any number of people here to talk to.”
    “Oh, servants,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
    “Not just servants,” he said, keeping his temper with difficulty. “We are