It would have been different had her great-grandmother lived. She knew that. Tutors had been hired for Jemmie, but no one thought to teach Catriona how to read and write until she forced herself into Jemmie's lessons. When the startled tutor told her parents that their daughter learned faster than their heir, she was allowed to stay. Consequently she had been educated as a boy was, but only until Jemmie went away to school. After that it had been up to her.

She had insisted that her parents hire a tutor who was fluent in French so she might command that language. And she saw to it that the young man employed by her family also spoke Italian, Spanish, and German. Considering how thoroughly educated both her parents had been, there was no excuse for their neglect.

Twenty years after their marriage, Heather and James Hay were more in love than ever. The neglect of their offspring was innocent, a matter of thoughtlessness. The children were well fed, well clothed, and well housed. It did not occur to the young Master of Greyhaven or his wife that their children needed more than these essentials. The boys had felt secure in the warm love of their nurses, but their daughter had needed more. Ellen More-Leslie knew it, and did her best. But Cat Hay grew up spoiled and willful, with nobody to check her.

Standing in front of her pier glass, the girl studied herself. Tonight she would meet her betrothed for the first time in several years. He was twenty-four, and had been to the University in Aberdeen. He had also been to Paris, traveled extensively in Europe, and spent time at Queen Bess' court in England. He was handsome, assured, and well-spoken, she knew. He was also about to sustain what she hoped was a severe shock to his ego. She smoothed the forest-green velvet of her gown, and, smiling, went off to see her parents. To her surprise her oldest brother was there too.