Page 42 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
A short while later, Lindsey and Maxwell met Kenna at the stables. Lindsey was wearing a warm woolen cloak and dress, and Maxwell was dressed in a similar cloak with breeches and a warm jacket.
Kenna, in her tattered maid’s uniform with the saddle blanket wrapped around her shoulders, felt not only cold but vulnerable, as her flimsy clothing marked her out as their social inferior. She had no idea how she was going to make it back to the McDonald estate without being chilled to the bone. Even in the relative comfort of a carriage, it would still be freezing.
She need not have worried. As soon as Lindsey saw her, she cried out in horror, “Kenna! What are you wearing? You cannot travel in that!”
“I have nothing else,” Kenna replied.
There was no self-pity in her tone; she was merely stating facts.
“I am so sorry,” Maxwell said regretfully. “I forgot. Let me get you something better to wear.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Lindsey snapped at her brother. “You are a man. Ladies’ clothing is only important to you when you are taking it off! Let a woman do this.”
She took hold of Kenna’s arm and whisked her away to an anteroom, where she found her a stout jacket and a warm cloak.
“Men! You can’t trust them to tie their own shoelaces!”
As Lindsey shook her head in irritation, Kenna chuckled softly. No wonder Maxwell was slightly in awe of his sister. Her husband, too, seemed to go wherever she led, and the servants respected her too. She was indeed a force of nature. Kenna had no doubt that if the baby were a girl, she would be just like her mother.
In no time at all, Kenna was attired in a warm jacket and cloak, and they made their way to the carriage. She was relieved to find that she was not left out of the conversation, which mainly revolved around Maxwell’s exploits in the year that he was away.
Kenna learned a lot about him. He had been involved in some strange goings-on in his travels, such as the time when he had been so desperate for money and a bite to eat that he had dressed up as a bear to perform at a traveling fair. He had stayed with them for a few days and would have been happy to ride further with them, but they were evidently not willing to keep him since they paid him and let him go.
Then there was the time he had picked up the fat wallet of a rich man who had dropped it while riding through the streets of Edinburgh. The man had been utterly astounded that anyone would be so honest as to return a wallet stuffed with cash. He gave Maxwell a reward of a pound, an enormous sum of money for a man in his circumstances.
“That kept me in food for a month,” he said thoughtfully. Then he laughed. “I also had the chance to take advantage of the comforts of a lady of the night, who had seen the transaction.”
Kenna’s eyes widened in astonishment, even as she felt a dart of jealousy pierce her.
“What did you do?” she asked.
Maxwell chuckled. “I said no, of course. I have no wish to die an early death of some dread disease.”
Kenna was slightly shocked, but not surprised, that Maxwell would raise such a subject in front of his sister, but then she remembered that Lindsey was made of stern stuff! However, she noticed Lindsey giving her brother a warning frown, and she changed the subject immediately.
“Where did you sleep?” she asked.
He flicked an almost imperceptible glance at Kenna and shrugged.
“Barns, stables, anywhere I could find that was reasonably warm and dry. In the end, I knew I had to come home, but the route home, as you know, passes by Invercree. I knew it was dangerous, but I could not go a step further, so I sheltered in the stables, and that was where this wonderful woman found me.”
He looked at Kenna, who blushed and gathered her cloak more tightly around her.
Lindsey caught the brief glance that passed from one to the other, then, with the intuition for which she was renowned, she felt the attraction crackle between them and smiled to herself.
19
When Kenna felt Maxwell’s eyes on her, she lowered her gaze to her hands, then looked out of the window. If it had been possible, she would have thrown herself across the carriage and into his arms, but she would not allow herself to think that way. They might see each other in passing, but they would never be intimate. It was not the way of the world.
When they reached the entry to Invercree, Lindsey alighted first, then Kenna, and after her, Maxwell.
As soon as they walked inside the courtyard, they were surrounded by guards, and when Lindsey asked for Laird McDonald to be called, Maxwell’s heart began to race. He felt as if he could not move, as though his feet were nailed to the floor. God, how he wished this was over, one way or the other!
A moment later, Laird McDonald came out, looking much older than the last time Maxwell had seen him. He bowed to Lindsey, ignored Kenna, and looked squarely at Max.
Max bowed. “M’Laird,” he said politely, “it is good to see you again.”
“I wish I could say the same for you,” Laird McDonald replied grimly. “Come to my study.” Suddenly he noticed Kenna for the first time. “Kenna! Where have you been? Your mother has been worried sick about you!”
