Kissing the Countess by Susan King

soon enough. She will not want to miss this either," Finlay said.
    Bemused by Finlay's quiet rebelliousness and squelching a streak of resistance himself in the current company, Evan glanced toward the door. Anticipating Catriona's arrival, he felt like an anxious schoolboy.
    "Lord Kildonan, it is true that Catriona was caught in a state of undress," Reverend MacConn said. "Can you explain that?"
    "She fell in an icy burn, and her clothing was wet. She was chilled to the bone, which was dangerous in such cold temperatures. She was shivering violently, her teeth banging together, and she was blue around the lips. I suggested that she remove her wet things, have a little whisky, and... bundle with me in the blanket to keep warm."
    "Ah, bundle," Finlay said. "That makes sense to me."
    "Not to me," Mrs. Rennie said. "They were alone. He told her to do these things—and she complied. What else do you suppose he told her to do? Thomas, I feared the new Lord Kildonan would be no better than the old, and now it is proven. Luring a young lass like that—oh!" She sniffed into her lacy handkerchief.
    Evan's temper soared, fast and hot, but he quelled it by placing his fingertips together in a controlled arch. "I assure you the young lady was not harmed. And you have no reason to judge me by my father's behavior."
    "You were alone for a day and a night," Thomas MacConn said. "You could easily have taken advantage of the girl when she was so vulnerable."
    How on earth was he to answer that? "I admire your daughter, sir, and treated her with respect." Well, he had, in a way. Frowning, he gazed at them defiantly over his steepled fingers.
    "The lass will not admit to anything either," Mrs. Rennie said, "out of some misplaced loyalty, I suppose."
    Evan regarded them in cold silence, keenly aware of his growing loyalty to Catriona and his anger toward her hard-hearted aunt and her stern father, who showed surprisingly little backbone. The brother, though, seemed worth his weight in gold.
    He would not explain last night any further. Catriona was clearly in deep disgrace, and he had caused her ruination. The awareness sat on his shoulders like a heavy stone.
    "Thomas, the implication is clear," Mrs. Rennie said.
    Thomas MacConn frowned. "Aye. The lass is ruined and in a state of sin." He glared at Evan. "And you, sir, are to blame!"
    Standing, Evan leaned forward and smacked his palms on MacConn's desk. "All that we did," he said, low and fierce, "was help each other survive."
    "A convenient way of wording it," Mrs. Rennie sniffed.
    Evan sucked in his breath. True, the girl had been innocent, and he had gone too far. His passion and flaring need for her had taken him by surprise, overwhelming his will and common sense. Offended by the lack of compassion in a righteous household, he knew he had little defense.
    "I have the utmost respect for Miss MacConn. And it was hardly a romantic rendezvous," he snapped.
    "However indelicate it may be, we must know what happened last night," the reverend's sister said. "Did you—"
    "Judith, that hardly matters now," Thomas said with surprising reasonableness. "The fact is that they were alone and unchaperoned overnight, and that is the awkwardness of it."
    Judith Rennie gave her brother a stare so fierce that Evan thought the big man might buckle under its force. Then she turned her pale gaze on Evan.
    He was not about to give way to tyranny. "I will not discuss particulars. You are determined to make your conclusion, madam. What difference the details?"
    Mrs. Rennie gasped, while Finlay huffed a laugh. "My guess is that they behaved themselves. Catriona is strong willed but levelheaded, and my sense is that Lord Kildonan is a gentleman and can be trusted."
    "Everyone knows about this, or will soon enough," Mrs. Rennie insisted. "Word will go all the way to Inverness and Fort William and beyond. You know that Mrs. MacAuley loves to gossip. She will write to her kin in the cities, and your father's name