Free Flirting With Fortune by Erin Knightley

her, as if it were rebelling against the straight and narrow. “I cannot tell you how much I have looked forward to this afternoon. It may have been only a few days, but it felt much longer. I fear my family may never allow me to utter the name ‘Sir Frederick’ at the breakfast table again.”
    He’d been looking forward to it, too, though his reasons had nothing to do with his father and everything to do with the lady beside him. It had been a long week. A very, very long week. In addition to his all too brief visit with Beatrice, he had called on just about every eligible female on his list, making an effort to get to know each of them a bit. If he could have found one, just one, that seemed to be an even halfway decent fit, he would have considered it a success. But so far, none of them had seemed right.
    The only bright spot had been the promise of seeing his little
stór
again. It was refreshing to know that she was outside of his reach and he therefore had no need to be on his guard or feel as though he were some sort of hunter stalking an unsuspecting prey. The smile came easily to his lips as he looked down at her. “Well, then, I hope the day lives up to your expectations. Believe it or not, I’m not the best guide when it comes to the works themselves. I know little about the mechanics of painting.”
    “I didn’t expect you to. Techniques I understand—it’s the master himself I’d love to hear more about. Feel free to impart any juicy bits of gossip you may have along the way,” she said, tossing a teasing look his way before releasing his arm and turning to take in the room. “Truly, just being here is one of the greatest treats I could imagine.”
    He clasped his hands behind him, watching her as her gaze flitted from one portrait to the next. The oddest sense of pride wended its way through his bones, making him stand straighter. There were few things that he had to offer anyone, but it felt damn good to know that he could give her this. In fact, no one else could offer her the sort of insight into his father that he possessed. In this small thing, they were perfectly matched. “Perhaps we should start at the beginning,” he said, sweeping his hand to the back corner of the room.
    “Do they have some of his landscapes after all?”
    “Sadly, no. Even if the committee had been interested in them, I don’t know of a single owner who would be willing to loan their piece. Several went to friends in and around Edinburgh, and you already know how Lord Northup feels about sharing.”
    She chuckled. “Indeed. I remember wondering if he stocked crocodiles in that moat of his. Though I suppose the castle is intimidating enough in and of itself.”
    “What, he dinna welcome you with open arms?”
    “Hardly. Although, I suppose I should be grateful that no arrows were trained on us nor boiling oil at the ready.”
    “That you know of, anyway.”
    This time she put a hand to her lips as she laughed out loud. “So true. We could have had an army of archers trained on us from those arrow slits and we’d have never known.”
    “Northup was just odd enough to do it, too. Any man who wishes to have his portrait painted in a full suit of armor while holding his small dog and being fanned by his servant has more than a little madness running through his veins.”
    Her eyes widened at this piece of gossip. “No! However did your father convince him to forgo such a splendid pose? If I remember correctly, there was no armor or servants, and he was instead astride a rather magnificent black stallion. That much I know for sure, since Papa commented on the impressive stature of the beast.”
    Colin nodded, maintaining a perfectly straight face. “I believe it was an argument of the earl’s magnificent figure being obscured by the armor.”
    “Oh, well, I can see how that would be a perfectly valid argument.”
    “Once the armor was overruled, Northup decided the dog and servant simply wouldn’t make