eyes. " Baldwin —"
He gazed at the princess in adoration. "I marked it just minutes ago in case the urge took ye to use the head in the wee small hours. "
Rowena ' s eyes widened.
Douglas closed his.
" He means use your head, " Gemma said forcefully.
" I do? " Baldwin said.
Gemma smiled grimly. " Yes, you do. Why, didn't you tell me only an hour ago that you were concerned the princess would run out of candles if she wanted to read late at night?"
"No, " Baldwin said, looking confused. "I said nothin ' of the sort. "
Rowena smiled in embarrassment. " I ' d hoped that we could overlook my rank and forget protocol during my stay. "
" That shouldn ' t be hard, " Gemma said under her breath, "seeing that we never knew protocol in the first place. "
" X marks the spot! Worthless turds and booty! " Douglas grunted in exasperation as he propelled the rowboat toward a cluster of cattails. " Why didn ' t we just run up the old Jolly Roger or break open a cask of rum with our cutlasses? Why didn ' t we knock her over the head with Simon ' s wooden leg and announce, ' We are bloodthirsty pirates? '"
" Hell, Captain," Baldwin said, " ye ' ve got nothin ' to be ashamed of. I'm proud to have served under the Dragon. "
Night was falling over the glen. Douglas plied the oars in silence, staring at the grinning dragon on the prow. His brooding gaze drifted to the sheltered tidal island in the middle of the loch.
"Where is Aidan? " he asked suddenly.
"Aidan is off by himself, sir, doing whatever 'tis he does when he is all alone," Dainty said. "Besides, you ' ve warned everyone not to offend the princess. He ' s probably staying out of the way for fear hell say something oafish in her company."
"Aidan is not the only one who must watch his behavior, " Doug las said. "The princess is chal lenging me. All that talk about producing heirs. I begin to wonder if the woman means to bait me like an animal. "
Dainty grinned, rowing in rhythm with Douglas ' s broad strokes.
They had met as galley slaves on the Barbary Coast about fifteen years ago. Due to his size, Dainty had soon become the captain ' s overseer. He had saved Douglas from a flogging or two, given him a few more, and by the time they'd staged a mutiny, they had already plotted a future of piracy together.
Douglas sighed. "She could possibly mean to divine my true nature. I wonder why Matthew has not informed her I ' m a pirate and first-rate rapscallion. "
" Ye are that, sir, " Baldwin said. " The biggest bastard I ' ve ever served."
" I told Matthew I ' d reformed, " Douglas said. " Could it be that he actually believes me? "
Dainty chuckled. " Where are we going to hide Delight, sir? "
" In those trees over— " Douglas stared in disbelief at the figures gathered along the shoreline. He swore. " So much for privacy. "
The two other men in the boat swung their heads around to look. About thirteen or so villagers stood at the water ' s edge. The women wore worn loose-spun kirtles, the men age-faded plaids. Several of them doffed their bonnets in respect at Douglas.
Pirate lord or not, he belonged to them and they to him. Along with his charter for the earldom, he had assumed the burden of defending the dying clan MacAult, whose back had been broken by the tyranny of Oliver Cromwell.
A few of the braver souls waded out into the loch to help him bring the boat to shore.
Douglas expelled a deep sigh, not certain what to do with these people.
They weighed him in the silence, the pirate he ' d been, the nobleman he now claimed to be simply because the Stuart king had put his signature to paper.
And in the end they obviously chose to believe the kinder illusion, castle laird and defender, a man with a dutiful heart.
Or no heart at all. It did not matter.
Douglas wasn ' t sure who he was himself, and he felt faintly ridiculous as they studied him with their wry Highland humor, and acceptance of life's absurdities, each pretending not to notice the replica
He gazed at the princess in adoration. "I marked it just minutes ago in case the urge took ye to use the head in the wee small hours. "
Rowena ' s eyes widened.
Douglas closed his.
" He means use your head, " Gemma said forcefully.
" I do? " Baldwin said.
Gemma smiled grimly. " Yes, you do. Why, didn't you tell me only an hour ago that you were concerned the princess would run out of candles if she wanted to read late at night?"
"No, " Baldwin said, looking confused. "I said nothin ' of the sort. "
Rowena smiled in embarrassment. " I ' d hoped that we could overlook my rank and forget protocol during my stay. "
" That shouldn ' t be hard, " Gemma said under her breath, "seeing that we never knew protocol in the first place. "
" X marks the spot! Worthless turds and booty! " Douglas grunted in exasperation as he propelled the rowboat toward a cluster of cattails. " Why didn ' t we just run up the old Jolly Roger or break open a cask of rum with our cutlasses? Why didn ' t we knock her over the head with Simon ' s wooden leg and announce, ' We are bloodthirsty pirates? '"
" Hell, Captain," Baldwin said, " ye ' ve got nothin ' to be ashamed of. I'm proud to have served under the Dragon. "
Night was falling over the glen. Douglas plied the oars in silence, staring at the grinning dragon on the prow. His brooding gaze drifted to the sheltered tidal island in the middle of the loch.
"Where is Aidan? " he asked suddenly.
"Aidan is off by himself, sir, doing whatever 'tis he does when he is all alone," Dainty said. "Besides, you ' ve warned everyone not to offend the princess. He ' s probably staying out of the way for fear hell say something oafish in her company."
"Aidan is not the only one who must watch his behavior, " Doug las said. "The princess is chal lenging me. All that talk about producing heirs. I begin to wonder if the woman means to bait me like an animal. "
Dainty grinned, rowing in rhythm with Douglas ' s broad strokes.
They had met as galley slaves on the Barbary Coast about fifteen years ago. Due to his size, Dainty had soon become the captain ' s overseer. He had saved Douglas from a flogging or two, given him a few more, and by the time they'd staged a mutiny, they had already plotted a future of piracy together.
Douglas sighed. "She could possibly mean to divine my true nature. I wonder why Matthew has not informed her I ' m a pirate and first-rate rapscallion. "
" Ye are that, sir, " Baldwin said. " The biggest bastard I ' ve ever served."
" I told Matthew I ' d reformed, " Douglas said. " Could it be that he actually believes me? "
Dainty chuckled. " Where are we going to hide Delight, sir? "
" In those trees over— " Douglas stared in disbelief at the figures gathered along the shoreline. He swore. " So much for privacy. "
The two other men in the boat swung their heads around to look. About thirteen or so villagers stood at the water ' s edge. The women wore worn loose-spun kirtles, the men age-faded plaids. Several of them doffed their bonnets in respect at Douglas.
Pirate lord or not, he belonged to them and they to him. Along with his charter for the earldom, he had assumed the burden of defending the dying clan MacAult, whose back had been broken by the tyranny of Oliver Cromwell.
A few of the braver souls waded out into the loch to help him bring the boat to shore.
Douglas expelled a deep sigh, not certain what to do with these people.
They weighed him in the silence, the pirate he ' d been, the nobleman he now claimed to be simply because the Stuart king had put his signature to paper.
And in the end they obviously chose to believe the kinder illusion, castle laird and defender, a man with a dutiful heart.
Or no heart at all. It did not matter.
Douglas wasn ' t sure who he was himself, and he felt faintly ridiculous as they studied him with their wry Highland humor, and acceptance of life's absurdities, each pretending not to notice the replica
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