Free The Highlander's Dark Seduction (Secrets of the Darroch Clan) by Joanne Rock Page A

friend’s safety.
    Withdrawing the letter from her reticule, she reread the lines that had her worried:
    …I saw a man in the woods, dressed like a Highlander of days gone by. If that wasn’t strange enough, I pointed him out to the footman and he could not see the vision that was so clear to me! I am telling no one else about this for fear Father would threaten me with an asylum to push me into another marriage.
    Elizabeth clutched the note tighter while the rhythm of the rocking carriage shook it lightly in her hand. Had Lily been imagining things? She had attended finishing school with her back in New York and had never known her to be anything less than completely sensible.
    They’d both despised dancing class and vowed if they needed to dance well to impress a husband, he was not worthy of them. Back in those days, they hadn’t realized what a very serious business their marriages would be. Or how their small freedoms would be over once they were given to husbands who saw them only for their income potential. One particularly cutting remark she’d overheard two days prior had been that her features would have ensured she died a spinster if not for her fortune. Another man had likened her to the proverbial “bull in a china shop” when she danced at a recent party, even though she knew from an academic perspective that she performed the dance with textbook perfection.
    Elizabeth turned her attention back to the letter.
    …Part of me wonders if the remnants of the old Caledonian Forest surrounding Invergale are making me overly fanciful. A pity, though, since the Highlander I saw was a finely made man!
    Indeed, Elizabeth could empathize with wanting to wish an appealing man into reality. Her father and stepmother had bundled her off to London to find a husband with a title no matter how ancient or distasteful. They’d draped her with jewels and gowns that advertised her wealth more clearly than a Fifth Avenue shop window, an approach that only made her feel all the more awkward and unattractive by contrast beneath the glittering finery. They were disappointed that Elizabeth had yet to choose one of her few brave and desperately poor suitors while Lily had agreed to a match with an aging viscount shortly after arriving in London. Little did Elizabeth’s parents know how cruel Lily’s father could be in forcing his daughter to his will.
    A fact which made Elizabeth all the more eager to attend to her friend’s safety. Besides, a few days away from Balmoral ensured Auntie Sophia wouldn’t be able to parade her past potential fortune-seekers, especially the earl who’d all but threatened to compromise her reputation in order to secure her hand.
    Perhaps Elizabeth would find a finely made Highlander in the ancient wood surrounding Lily’s home instead. A very tall one, at that. The thought made her smile as she settled back against the leather bolster to rest her eyes. Soon, the rhythm of the jostling conveyance, coupled with the steady drum of horses’ hooves, soothed her with their strange lullaby. She’d been thinking about her trip the night before and hardly slept a wink….
    So when the carriage later jerked to a halt later, Elizabeth couldn’t be certain if she’d slept for a few moments or a few hours. Maybe she could tell by the position of the sun—actually, where was the sun?
    She yanked aside the red curtain that covered the decorative slats on her open window. Long shadows outside meant it was either nighttime or that they’d ventured so deep in the Highland forest that the trees obliterated the sun. Or maybe both were true. The scent of pine and decaying wood drifted into the dark conveyance on a cool breeze, the thicket unnaturally still, as if she’d awoken inside a dream.
    She shook herself to chase away whimsical thoughts. Yet, even the horses made no sound.
    “Lawrence?” Elizabeth called to the driver, a stab of panic going through her as she straightened.
    When he did not respond,