Her frown deepened, she couldn't find the words, but there'd been a sense of excitement, of daring, of challenge. Not elements she generally met in her daily round of duties. Then again, perhaps it was simply her healer's instincts prodding her? Catriona humphed. "Whatever, he can't be the one The Lady means for me-not with a face like that."
Was The Lady sending her a wounded male, a lame duck for her to cure? His eyes, those hard edged features, hadn't looked lame.
Not that it mattered; she had her instructions. She would go to the highlands, to McEnery House, and see what-or rather, who-came her way.
With another humph, Catriona slid deeper beneath the covers. Turning on her side, she closed her eyes-and willed her mind away from, once again, seeking the stranger's face.
Chapter 1
December 5,1819
Keltyburn, The Trossachs
Scottish Highlands
"Will there be anything else, sir?"
An artful arrangement of sleek, nubile, naked female limbs sprang to Richard Cynster's mind. The innkeeper had finished clearing the remnants of his dinner-the feminine limbs would satisfy that appetite still unappeased. But…
Richard shook his head. Not that he feared shocking his studiously correct gentleman's gentleman, Worboys, standing poker-straight at his elbow. Having been in his employ for eight years, Worboys was past being shocked. He was, however, no magician, and Richard was of the firm opinion that it would take magical powers to find a satisfying armful in Keltyburn.
They'd arrived in the hamlet as the last light left the leaden sky; night had fallen swiftly, a black shroud. The thick mist that had lowered over the mountains, hanging heavy across their path, obscuring the narrow, winding road leading up Keltyhead to their destination, had made passing the night in the dubious comfort of the Keltyburn Arms an attractive proposition.