To Seduce a Highland Scoundrel by Cameron Collette

Author:Cameron, Collette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, inc.
Published: 2020-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Unable to sleep after reading Camden’s letter this afternoon, Graeme had spent the evening sequestered in the library. The mantel clock chimed one in the morning, and he brushed a hand over his bleary eyes.

The fire burned low in the grate as he fingered the whisky glass he held in his left hand. As he was wont to do when alone, he’d rolled his shirtsleeves up. His waistcoat, jacket, and neckcloth lay flung across another chair.

Thor, Vidar, and Freya lay sprawled before the fading fire, their soft snores and rhythmic breathing an accompaniment to the clock’s gently tick-tock.

Never before had he been so damned conflicted. Not even when he’d made the difficult decision to stay neutral during the Jacobite Rising. Sion had just died, and the last thing his clan had needed was more heartache.

Since her arrival, Berget had turned his well-ordered life upside down; arse over chin upside down.

Pleading a fierce headache, she’d asked to be excused from dining with the family tonight. Whatever her letter had contained, it had upset her enough to keep her in her chamber.

Always compassionate, Marjorie had agreed and, at once, sent an herbal tea concoction of some sort to Berget’s chamber along with a dinner tray and the order for bathwater scented with lavender oil.

Graeme hadn’t missed the pain whisking across Marjorie’s features today when she’d seen him and Berget together. He couldn’t explain, even to himself, why the young widow drew him the way she did or the complex emotions she kindled. Emotions he didn’t want to feel, much less examine closely.

It was an almost irresistible force he could neither name nor pretend to comprehend. His spirit was inexorably woven together with Berget’s.

It made no sense…was illogical, impractical, and possibly risky.

But mayhap now, Marjorie would finally understand he would never return her regard. He loved her as a sister. Nothing more.

Drumming the pads of his fingers on his thigh, he stared unseeing into the glowing embers.

Camden’s letter verified most of what Berget had already disclosed.

While that relieved him and raised her in his estimation, for she’d been truthful with him in part, Camden’s investigation also revealed her letters of recommendation were likely forged. No such persons as the Honorable Hortensia Millikan or Ladies Charlotte McLendon and Patrice Ferguson were known to anyone Camden had questioned in Edinburgh.

That left Graeme with a difficult decision, one that left him wholly conflicted.

Berget performed her duties with exemplary skill and care. The lasses already adored her, and although it was probably too soon for her to forge a friendship with Marjorie, the women shared mutual respect for one another.

In the short time Berget had been part of the keep, he’d come to look for her throughout the day. He soundly cursed himself for a fool each time he did, however.

Permitting his eyelids to drift shut, Graeme pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose.

What would he have done had he been in her position?

Facing another unbearable marriage, and with despicable parents who had no

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