Page 117 of The Scottish Duke
Evidently oblivious to his mood, she turned and glanced at him.
“I know my way around a marsh, Alex,” she said. “And this one as well. I used to come here when I had a free moment. It’s relaxing.”
“Relaxing? Are you daft? People have died here, Lorna. The ground appears solid until you put a foot on it.”
“I’m safe as long as I don’t go any farther, Alex.”
“Yet this is the place you choose to bring Robbie?”
“Is that why you’re so upset? Because Robbie is with me?”
“No, damn it.”
She calmly closed up her dress and placed Robbie on her shoulder. His son looked up at him and smiled. Could an infant be amused?
Perhaps Robbie was ridiculing him for his worry now when he’d remained away for so long. A thought so chastising that it had the effect of banishing his anger. He hadn’t acted all that protective, had he?
“Why have you come here?” he asked, sitting on the log beside her.
Robbie slapped at him with his fist, and he grabbed it, kissed the boy’s knuckles, then immediately felt foolish for doing so.
Lorna’s eyes seemed to warm as she glanced at him.
“I used to come here on my half day off,” she said. “I’d wager that you explored it as a boy.”
“I was shown how to navigate it by our gillie,” he admitted.
“I can’t imagine that your parents were happy with you for exploring Devil’s Marsh.”
“They weren’t. My father said something in Latin, as I recall. Something to the effect that some fools outgrow their stupidity and he fervently hoped I was one of those. My father’s word was law and I respected him greatly. The worst thing was disappointing him. I didn’t learn, until much later, that he’d done the same thing as a boy.”
“I hated disappointing my father, too,” she said. “He would get that look on his face, one that meant I’d done something wrong. I couldn’t bear that expression.”
“What had you done?”
She shrugged. “It almost always had something to do with a sketch. Or I wasn’t patient enough while he was studying something. Or I’d wandered off on my own. I did that a lot.” She gave him a smile. “You’ve explored every inch of Blackhall land, haven’t you? I’d be willing to wager that you’ve carved your initials into more than one tree in the forest.”
He shook his head. “That would be wanton damage,” he said. “But as far as exploring, yes. What kind of Russell would I be otherwise?” He glanced around him. “My ancestors died for this land. They held onto it at great cost to themselves. It’s in trust now for Robbie.”
“Did you have a dog as a boy?” she asked.
He glanced over at her, smiling.
“I’ve always had a dog or two,” he said. “Why do you ask?”
“For some reason I see you with a dog,” she said. “One of the larger ones with long hair and intense intelligent eyes.”
“I had a dog like that once. Her name was Persephone. My sister named her. She’d been studying Greek gods and goddesses at the time, I think.”
“I never had a dog,” she said. “My father promised me that if we ever settled down into one place we would get one.”
“Did you?”
She shook her head. “No, by then he was too sick.”
“I should get Robbie a dog.”
“Wait a little while,” she said, smiling. “At least until he can walk.”
