162
" I've never had a better piece o' roast. But it was the apple pie as made the meal. It was flaky and sweet, all buttery,with-"
"Enough!" Dougal's stomach growled loudly. "The food I was given was not fit for consumption. Ride to town today, and fetch some foodstuffs. Some apples, tarts, a few meat pies-whatever will keep well."
"Aye,me lord.Do ye want an apple now? I've one here I was saving fer yer horse."
"Thank you." Dougal pocketed the apple.
"Not very hospitable, giving yer poor victuals and a lumpy bed."
"This is all part of their plan. Mr. MacFarlane regrets giving up his house on the gaming table, and his daughter is determined to regain it. "
― Karen Hawkins , To Catch a Highlander (MacLean Curse, #3)
169
" I'll stir up the fire in the stove in the tack room. If ye're committed to this folly, then ye'll be wanting somethin' to eat before ye return to the house."
Where the delectable Sophia was probably in the kitchen at this very moment, ruining his dinner. Despite his throbbing eye, Dougal reluctantly grinned. "You're right, I shall want my dinner first. And a bath."
"Which would be cold if ye got it in the houes, I suppose?"
"And filled with itcing powder, as well, if they think of it."
"I'm glad we'll be leavin' soon," Shelton said grumpily. "
― Karen Hawkins , To Catch a Highlander (MacLean Curse, #3)
173
" If'n I was ye,I'd do nothin' else but hunt."
"I've no doubt you'd do just that, for a more lazy individual I've yet to meet-other than myself,of course."
Shelton beamed. "Thank ye,me lord! 'Tis a rare day I can consider meself an equal with ye on any grounds."
"You're welcome," Dougal returned gravely.
"Aye,ye've made bein' lazy a form o' art that few-look!" The groom pointed eagerly at the soft shoulder of the road, where a fox print appeared. "Cooee,looks fresh, too!"
Dougal eyed the thicket beyond. "Fresh or no, it would take a better man than me to get a horse over this uneven ground without breaking a leg."
Shelton shot him a sharp look. "Ye're many things,me lord, but unskilled on a horse ain't one of 'em."
"You unman me, Shelton. I don't know how to react to such excessive praise."
The groom's expression turned to one of long suffering. "There ye go ag'in with the nonsense, me lord. Are ye sure ye ain't a bit Irish?"
Dougal grinned. "Not that my mother would admit to. "
― Karen Hawkins , To Catch a Highlander (MacLean Curse, #3)
176
" Angus, when you're done with the brick, I shall add some oiled rags. That will make it smoke even worse."
Angus turned an admiring glance at his partner in crime. "Miss,ye've a gift fer this,ye do."
She chuckled,the sound just as seductive, except for the hint of mockery. "I'm becoming as adept at this as the new owner is at shirking his duty."
"Now,miss,he might have a good reason not to rush here."
"Like what?"
"I don't know.Perhaps he won several houses at the card game and has been visitin' them all."
"It's far more likely he was waylaid by a lass with loose morals. From what I hear, the man's a lace-bedecked profligate."
Blast the woman and her rude assumptions! He may have stayed in Stirling to sample the charms of a widow, but that did not make a lace-bedecked profligate.What burned the most was that she was correct in her assumption about what had kept him away from his new acquisition. "
― Karen Hawkins , To Catch a Highlander (MacLean Curse, #3)