Page 40 of The Texan Duke
“I beg your pardon?” Felix said.
“It’s not a bad size,” Connor repeated. “It’s not as big as the XIV Ranch, but it’s a good size.”
“I suppose this ranch of yours is so much bigger,” Felix said, derision coating every syllable.
Connor didn’t comment, merely put down his wineglass, sat back in his chair, and regarded Felix almost as if he were a child misbehaving at the dinner table.
“The XIV Ranch is one of the largest in Texas,” Mr. Kirby said before Connor could speak. “If not the world. It’s over two million acres.”
No one said anything for such a long time that Elsbeth knew she would forever recall this occasion when the McCraights were struck dumb with disbelief.
The duchess turned to Mr. Kirby, her face blank of any expression.
“Certainly you’re mistaken,” she said. “Two million acres? How is that possible?”
“A little over two million acres,” Connor said. “More than two hundred miles. It takes a number of days to ride from one side of the ranch to the other.”
Elsbeth sat back in her chair. Of course nothing at Bealadair had impressed him. She couldn’t even conceive of two million acres.
What could Scotland possibly offer him? His ancestry, the history of his forbearers, except that hadn’t seemed to impress him, either. What would cause him to be glad he’d come to Scotland? Would anything?
“I’ve heard that you Texans are given to exaggeration,” Felix said.
Felix had just made a grave error. Surely everyone at the dinner table could figure that out just by looking at Connor’s face. His expression had smoothed, but there was fire in his eyes.
Didn’t Felix have any concept of self-defense? Didn’t he realize that Connor’s expression was, if not murderous, then certainly threatening?
“I’m certain Felix did not mean to make that sound like an insult,” Elsbeth said.
Not one person took up the refrain.
She looked across the table and met Mr. Kirby’s eyes. He seemed strangely amused. Perhaps he had never seen anyone challenge Connor quite like Felix was doing at the moment.
She didn’t know anything about Texas. Was it an unruly place where a man needed to protect himself?
Dear heavens, did he have a gun?
To her horror, Felix evidently had the same thought.
“I suppose you can hit a bull’s-eye while balancing your rifle over your shoulder and not even looking at it. Is that correct?”
One of Connor’s eyebrows inched upward, but he still didn’t say anything.
Mr. Kirby, however, spoke into the silence. “Connor is an excellent shot, Mr. Gillespie.”
Only that. No challenge, no taunting of the other man. Felix must’ve heard something in Mr. Kirby’s words that no one else did.
Felix glanced from the older man back to Connor.
“Would you care to have a match, Your Grace?”
The worst thing about that question was not that he was actually challenging Connor to a shooting contest. No, Felix had to inject derision into the way he saidYour Grace. As if he knew how much Connor disliked being addressed in that fashion. It was almost as if he were saying,Youdon’t deserve the title, you ignorant American.
She sent a quick look to Mr. Kirby, but he wasn’t looking at her. His attention was on Felix.
“I didn’t bring my guns with me,” Connor said.
Guns?
