Free Duchess of Mine by Red L. Jameson Page A

legs. “I—I should have
asked first, but I thought I could help. I’m sorry.”
    Duncan’s mother stood transfixed a few feet
from Lady Fleur looking at the pile of dead weeds then to the
lady’s dirty hands. “I should have done it myself. I’m so
embarrassed I had weeds for ye to find.” She looked over to Rory.
“Oh, Honorable MacKay, ‘tis such a pleasure to have ye at my house.
Dear me, but I had weeds for the lady.”
    Surmising the situation quickly, Rory said,
“Nay, weeds grow so fast. ‘Tis hard to keep up. I think the lady
merely wanted to help.”
    Lady Fleur smiled at him and nodded. “Please,
don’t be embarrassed. As, er, Mr. MacKay said, weeds can grow
overnight, sometimes within hours, right? It’s the gardener’s
plight, weeds. I was only trying to help. I’m sorry.”
    Mrs. Cameron smiled at the lady. “Would ye
care to go inside and clean up a bit? Then the lads can talk for a
spell, the way they always like to do.”
    Lady Fleur nodded and waved at both Duncan
and Rory. “Excuse me, but I’ll be right back.”
    “All right,” Rory said, then noticed Duncan
held his hand up in a proper wave to Fleur who smiled as she
stepped away. Duncan even bore a small grin for the lady.
    Once Lady Fleur disappeared into the giant
stone house, Duncan and Rory turned toward each other, both their
smiles gone.
    “Duncan,” was the only blasted thing he could
think to say.
    “Captain MacKay.” Duncan bowed his head a
little.
    Well, mayhap he’d overreacted earlier, Rory
reconsidered, since Duncan had clearly opened with a respectable
title.
    “Did the troops find anything?”
    Rory shook his head. “Nay. Not a thing. Not a
trace of any mosstroopers either.”
    Duncan grunted an acknowledgement then looked
toward his mother’s house.
    “I thought perhaps I should buy her new
things.” Rory wanted to kick himself at the way his voice sounded a
pinch intimidated—higher than usual and perhaps a tad whiny too.
“Did ye ken what she lost, so I could replace whatever it was?”
    Duncan looked at Rory again, his red brows
arched slightly. “I can’t believe it, but I forgot to ask what she
lost. Good thinking, Captain.”
    The compliment mixed with the fact that
clearly Duncan hadn’t thought of what Rory had shot a boost of
confidence in him that he’d wished he’d had all day. Rory didn’t
know what it was about Duncan, mayhap the slight age difference or
the fact that the man had half a foot on him or he had much more
battle experience, but he felt slightly off balance around him.
Rory’s brother, John, had asked for Duncan to help train the
troops, which Rory hadn’t felt he needed. But the truth was, he
did. Duncan knew a hell of a lot more than he, and Rory was trying
to glean as much as he could. Afterwards, he’d prefer to be rid of
Duncan. Besides, wasn’t the man itching to go back to Sweden? It
was obvious he hated being here by making ugly scowls every time
someone said the word Durness.
    But Rory thought this one of the most
beautiful places in all of Scotland. He’d been to the Lowlands,
he’d been to London, but for him nothing compared to MacKay
country. Ach, the lochs that surrounded the land, the majestic
green hills, everywhere was a treasure of colors and sights. Hell,
he even loved learning about the agriculture. What kind of
irrigation ditch could bring the most water to which kind of crop
had been fascinating to study, and he was seriously considering
offering some farmers a little money for trying their hand with a
few potato crops. With all his thoughts regarding the land, Rory
often wondered if he might appreciate it more than his older
brother, always so busy with the politics of survival, thanks to
conniving Cromwell.
    Rory couldn’t help but smile up at Duncan
after receiving the praise. “Thank ye. That’s kind of ye to
say.”
    Something about Duncan seemed to relax as he
nodded. But he looked toward his mother’s house again, which
annoyed