Page 11 of To Wed an Heiress
“In all honesty, your airship does look something like a dragon.”
“Perhaps it does,” he said. “It’s designed along the lines of a governable parachute.”
“Whatever you call it, it’s very dangerous, isn’t it?”
“It has an element of danger, yes. But doesn’t everything? Your traveling from America, for example. Wasn’t that dangerous as well?”
“Not until you crashed into our carriage.”
He only smiled at her again.
She studied him for a moment before speaking. “Thank you for your ministrations on my behalf.”
“You’re welcome. Be careful when you wash your hair and have the stitches removed in a few weeks.”
“Did you cut very much?”
“You probably won’t even notice that it’s missing.”
She honestly doubted that, but he was trying to be nice. She could at least be the same.
“I’m sorry if I appeared arrogant or imperious. I didn’t mean to be.”
“It was my fault for thinking of you that way. I have a tendency to view beautiful women with a somewhat jaundiced eye.”
Talking with him was not very easy. He threw her into constant confusion. First, he was rude and boorish. Then he’d called her arrogant and now he labeled her beautiful. If his aim was to keep her off-kilter, he was certainly accomplishing that.
No one had ever called her beautiful before. Oh, her parents, yes. And Gregory, of course, but he was trying to marry her. As James Rutherford’s daughter she could have been as plain as a rock and he would have called her magnificent.
She could feel her cheeks warm and it wasn’t the stitches, the whiskey, or the accident. Embarrassment and determination kept her silent. She wanted to ask him why, exactly, he thought she was beautiful. What was it about her appearance that made him think such a thing? Such questions would be unwise and immodest.
Now was the time for her to gather up Ruthie and be about their journey again.
This morning Mr. McAdams had said it wouldn’t take very long to reach her mother’s family home. Before the accident they had been on the road a good three hours. Perhaps she needed to speak with the coachman and find out what he considered “very long.” She had no idea where they were or how much longer it would take to reach Macrory land.
Strangely enough, she wanted to tell Lennox that she would never forget him, that this interlude at his fascinating castle would be a tale she would tell everyone when she returned to America. Depending on her audience, she might confess to how handsome he was. She certainly wouldn’t tell people that they had grated on each other at first.
“Thank you for everything,” she said. “I misjudged you as well. Perhaps I tend to look at handsome men with a jaundiced eye.”
“Then it’s good that we won’t see each other again,” he said.
She was foolish to feel disappointed at his comment. Of course they weren’t going to see each other once she left his castle, but he didn’t have to seem so pleased about the fact.
“You’re right,” she said. “We must be gone. Thank you for the loan of your carriage. I’m sure it won’t be long to our destination. This morning Mr. McAdams said we should reach Aultbean in a matter of hours.”
“Aultbean?” he asked, walking to the sink once more.
She nodded. “It’s the closest village to my mother’s family. The Macrorys.”
He turned and faced her. His smile was gone and in its place was the same intense look he’d given her earlier.
“Your mother’s family? You’re a Macrory?”
“In a way, I guess. I’m a Rutherford, but my grandmother was a Macrory. Before she married, of course.”
“Then you’ll need to leave here as soon as possible,” he said.
Without another word he strode from the kitchen, leaving her staring after him.
