Free Never Kiss a Laird by Tess Byrnes Page A

chance?”
    Her long
suffering maid held up a small volume.   “There is this.   There are many
recipes for rabbit and chicken, and as soon as we get one of those, we’ll be
fine.   What we have right now, however,
is these vegetables, and a sack of oats.”
    “Oats,’ Sally
repeated with loathing.   She had
volunteered to make breakfast, and had discovered that it was harder than she
could have ever imagined to turn oats and water into
something edible.   Miles had manfully
eaten his full portion of lumpy, slightly charred and entirely tasteless
oatmeal, but Millie and Sally had decided that tea would suffice.  
    Millie suddenly
noticed the muddy grey cloak that Sally held.   “Where did that come from?”   She
took the cheap garment from Sally, and held it up by her fingertips, eyeing it
distastefully.  
    “I have rescued
a waif,” Sally admitted.   “Can you make
this wearable again, Millie?   And bring
tea into the front room?”
    “Miss Sally,”
Millie said suspiciously.  
    “Not to worry,”
Sally reassured her.   “I found a girl who
was wet-through and stuck out in the storm and brought her back with me to warm
up.   We can give her a cup of tea, and
once the rain has stopped I will saddle Beauty and take her to her home.”
    Millie merely
shook her head, and put the kettle on the stove.   A long acquaintance with her mistress had
inured her to surprises.  
    When she entered
the sitting room a few minutes later, carrying a tray with a pot of tea and
three cups, Millie had to admit that their visitor did not look very
troublesome.   She was small and slim,
with thick brown hair that fell past her shoulders, and was attired in a
serviceable black dress, such as a maid might wear.   She had plain features, and a worried expression,
but did not look disreputable or criminal in nature.
    “Thank you, Millie,”
Sally looked up as she entered.   “Put the
tray here please, and let me introduce you to Bridget.”  
    The girl stood
and curtseyed politely.   “How do you do,
ma’am.”
    Millie’s
expression softened.   “Very
nice to meet you, Bridget.”   She
poured a cup of tea and handed it to the girl, who took it gratefully.
    “I was just
asking Bridget where she was heading to when she got caught in the storm,”
Sally said.   She looked a question at the
girl, who colored painfully.
    “I am a maid up
at the Castle, ma’am,” Bridget replied.   “Or was, I should say.   I was
turned off, and had been home to see if my mam and dad would take me in, but
they turned me away.   I was trying to get
to the village, when you found me.   I was
thinking they might need a maid at the posting house or summat .”
    “Why were you
turned off?”   Millie broke in.
    “Oh, don’t ask
me that, ma’am,” Bridget quavered.  
    “Don’t be
afraid,” Sally’s compassionate nature could not stand to see the girl in such
distress.   ‘You have nothing to fear from
us.”
    “It wasn’t
anything dishonest, ma’am,” Bridget assured them.   “I didn’t steal, or anything like that.   I fell in
love with the carrier’s lad, and Mrs. Cameron, that’s the housekeeper up at the
Castle, she found out and told the Laird, and I was let go without a
character.   How am I to find another job
without a character?”   She sniffed loudly
and her eyes filled.   “I’m sorry miss, I don’t know why I’m crying like this.”   She accepted a handkerchief from Sally, who
put an arm around her and gave her a quick hug.
    “Where is the
carrier’s lad now?” she asked.   “Does he
know what has happened to you?”
    “Oh, no, Miss,”
Bridget hiccupped.   “He works in London, and isn’t expected
back for a fortnight or maybe more.”
    Millie, who had
been watching Bridget closely, suddenly spoke. “Why did your parents turn you
away?”
    Bridget
reddened, and eyed Millie with a scared look.   “They were ashamed of me,” she muttered.
    “Because?”   Millie
continued