Page 41 of To Wed an Heiress
Connor returned to the kitchen, only his damp hair a sign that he’d been swimming in the loch.
Lennox explained Mercy’s idea about going to Macrory House and asking for Mrs. West’s help. Connor agreed that it would be wise to speak only to the housekeeper about his errand.
After Connor left them, Lennox stood, going to the fireplace and stirring the blaze with the poker. She could feel the warmth of the fire from here and was grateful for it.
“You’re very good at building fires,” she said.
“Needs must,” he said. “My lodgings in Edinburgh were almost always cold. There I only had coal. I missed a wood fire. I like the smell of them.” He turned to look at her. “Irene says that they’re the best way to cook, better than our stove.”
“Where is she now? At Macrory House?”
He shook his head. “At the market. She goes there every week around this time.”
“Is there any coincidence between her being gone and your flying?”
His grin was boyish and utterly charming. “Perhaps.”
“Has she been with you long?”
“With the family, yes. Fifteen years, now, ever since our parents died. She was very fond of Robert.”
Irene was also very fond of him, but surely he knew that.
Her curiosity about this man didn’t surprise her in the least. Lennox was unlike anyone she’d ever met. He was fearless, iconoclastic, and so much his own man that he was almost a king in his castle.
“Who taught you to swim?” he asked.
“Fred Brown,” she said. “One of my guards. I always loved the water and swimming brought me some freedom. Fred was always nearby, but sometimes I forgot about him.”
“Why a guard?”
She debated how to answer him. She could always just smile or change the subject. How odd that she wanted to tell him the truth.
“Two reasons. My father is very wealthy. He worried that I might be stolen away and held for ransom.”
“And the other reason?”
“My parents had five children. Three of them died in infancy. I even carry their names. Other than me, there’s only my brother, Jimmy, and he . . .” Her words trailed off. She’d never spoken to anyone outside the family about Jimmy.
Lennox studied her. She wondered what he saw.
“Are you spoiled as well?” he asked, surprising her.
“What a very strange question,” she said, grateful that he hadn’t asked anything about Jimmy. “If I say no, will I be forced to prove it in some way? If I say yes, what does that say about me?”
“That perhaps you’re honest. Are you?”
“Honest? Or spoiled?”
“One doesn’t presuppose the other,” he said.
“Are you as direct with everyone, or only females who save you from drowning?”
“I would’ve extricated myself,” he said.
She smiled at him, recognizing bravado when she saw it.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
