Free Call Home the Heart by Shannon Farrell Page A

as well during her visits to his family's estate at
    Dumbarton, and lately at his new home just by Dunoon on the Firth of
    Clyde.
     
     
He had always loved living near the water, and had purchased the
    estate from a bankrupt laird. He would no doubt sympathize with her
    plight, and admire her for trying to do the right thing by the poor
    wretches who were dependent upon her prosperity for their own.
     
     
Neil and Alice had been married the previous year, and had been
    insistent that Muireann visit often. Muireann knew it was because
    Alice wished to show off how well she had done for herself in the
    marriage stakes.
     
     
Though Neil was fairly handsome in an earthy sort of way, his
    deciding point had been his wealth. Muireann sometimes felt sorry
    for Neil for having made such a poor bargain. She was certain that
    the only person her icy sister loved was herself.
     
     
Muireann's visits at Dunoon House would have seemed interminably
    long if Neil and his much younger brother Philip, a few years older
    than herself, hadn't taken it upon themselves to entertain her. She
    had been allowed the run of the estate, and there had been a
    conspiracy of silence regarding what she had got up to whenever she
    hadn't been under the sharp eyes of Alice or her mother.
     
     
Muireann was an excellent horsewoman, a good cook, and had assisted
    at the births of many calves, lambs and foals. She had little fear
    of men, for she had practically grown up with Neil and Philip as
    part of her family, and her Uncle Arthur and his large family of six
    boys had come to live in the gate house at Fintry many years before.
     
     
Muireann had been a terrible hoyden in her younger days, she knew.
    But at least the boys had been given a good education. Her father
    had emphasized this as the only way the penniless lads would ever be
    able to make a living for themselves. Muireann had insisted so
    intently that she be allowed to take lessons with their tutor that
    she had eventually been allowed to join them in the school room, and
    possessed Latin, French, German, and an excellent grasp of
    mathematics.
     
     
Three of the boys were now in business in London, Paris and
    Edinburgh, in jobs with financial institutions and trading houses.
    Muireann wondered if they might not be able to give her some advice.
    The three youngest were still at Fintry, working in various
    positions to help their uncle run the mighty estate.
     
     
Neil's brother Philip might also prove a potentially useful ally,
    since he was the owner of a fleet of small trading schooners which
    plied the coast of England and Scotland. But Philip was in Canada at
    the moment, although Neil was looking out for his business interests
    while he was gone.
     
     
"Are you all right in there?" Muireann suddenly heard Lochlainn
    inquire.
     
     
"Fine, fine. I'm sorry, I was just making some plans in my head,
    that's all," she replied quickly. Giving her hair a last rinse, she
    put down her flannel washrag and stood.
     
     
"Anything for me to worry about?" Lochlainn teased, for in truth, he
    wondered what went on in her mind all the time.
     
     
"Not at the moment, though you'll probably worry anyway," Muireann
    called as she rose and began to dry herself off. She wrapped the
    towel turban-like around her dripping tresses, and hastily rubbed
    herself down, before pulling the nightdress over her head. Then she
    did up her robe, and came out from behind the screen.
     
     
"Do you have a pair of scissors handy?" she asked as she towel-dried
    it and then ran her brush through it quickly, impatiently tugging
    out the worst of the knots.
     
     
Lochlainn nodded and then watched in horror as she took her whole
    hank of wet hair in a huge handful and snipped off nearly three feet
    of it, causing it to curl up just above her shoulders. Then she
    looked at herself in the mirror and trimmed the remainder until it
    was completely even.
     
     
"There was no need for that!" Lochlainn protested