The Highlander's Redemption. Marguerite Kaye. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Marguerite Kaye
Издательство: HarperCollins
Серия:
Жанр произведения: Историческая литература
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781408923627
Скачать книгу
enough diversion.Such a shame it would be for such a lovely one as she to throw herself away on someone who didn’t deserve her. Her response to his kisses had taken him aback. His own response had been equally surprising. Calumn was not a man accustomed to losing control, but there was a depth of sensuality in her which was obviously yearning to be released.

      Releasing it was absolutely none of his business, Calumn told himself. None, no matter how tempting the idea was. Misguided Madeleine might be in choosing to marry for the sake of her family, but at the end of the day, it was her decision. And as to seducing her just to prove a point—no! No matter how attractive the proposition was, it was strictly against his own rigid rules of conduct. But that did not prevent him from thinking about it.

      Madeleine awoke the next morning to an insistent tapping on the door of her chamber. Still befuddled with sleep, she tumbled out of bed and opened it, wearing only her shift. Calumn stood on the other side, already dressed, filling the small room with his presence. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, gazing up at him in bewilderment.

      He reached down to twist a long coil of her platinum hair around his finger. ‘You look even more like a mermaid than usual, with your hair down like that.’ His eyes widened as he took in her state of undress. The neck of her shift was untied, revealing the smooth perfection of her breasts.

      She caught the direction of his gaze and blushed, placing her arms protectively over herself, trying to bat away the hand which toyed with her hair. It was a nice hand. Warm. The fingers long and tapered. Not soft but work-roughened. He had not the hands of a gentleman, but nor were they of a common labourer. He had interesting hands. Realising she had been holding on to one of them for far too long, Madeleine dropped it.

      ‘It’s a bonny day,’ Calumn said. ‘I thought I could show you a bit more of Edinburgh while you wait on her ladyship getting in touch.’

      ‘That would be lovely, but I’m sure you must have business to attend to.’

      ‘Nothing that can’t wait, and at least if you’re with me I can be sure you’re not getting into any trouble.’ He smiled down at her. ‘Don’t look like that, you know perfectly well you shouldn’t be going about a strange city on your own, and you know perfectly well you don’t really want to. Allow me to be your guide. I want to.’

      The clank of a pail heralded Jamie’s arrival with hot water. It was an appealing idea charmingly proposed. After clearing the air last night, and spending such a pleasant dinner, Madeleine could think of no reason to refuse it. ‘Thank you. I’d like that,’ she said, with a smile she tried hard to restrain.

      ‘We’ll go out by the Bow Port,’ Calumn said, taking her arm at the gate of Riddell’s Court half an hour later, ‘then we can walk through the royal park. I’ll show you where Prince Charles Edward stayed in the lap of luxury while he was in Edinburgh—and where his men were forced to camp in less salubrious conditions.’

      They proceeded in their usual fashion through the Edinburgh streets, Calumn striding with graceful ease through the crowded thoroughfares and mazelike wynds. ‘Thank you for taking the time to show me around. Despite what you said, I am sure you have other things you should be doing,’ Madeleine said, clinging to his arm.

      Calumn cast her a shrewd glance. ‘Are you fishing?’

      Her dimples peeped. ‘A little. You don’t strike me as a man who would be content to be idle. Jeannie told me you’d been teaching her brother how to fight with a sword.’

      ‘Did she now? And no doubt she told you I’d been in the army too?’

      Remembering Jeannie’s warning about Calumn’s reticence on the subject, Madeleine nodded warily.

      To her relief Calumn seemed not to take offence. ‘I joined up at sixteen. ‘Twas my father’s idea. I was in need of some discipline, he said, and to be honest I was relieved to get away from him—I was just beginning to see that what he called the old ways were more or less tyranny. We were forever at outs. A couple of years’ service is all he intended, enough for me to learn how to do as I was bid, then I was to come home and do as he bid.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘But the army made me; my regiment was more like a family to me than my own blood. After two years, though my father ordered me home, I stayed on. Two years became six, the rift between us became a gulf, but the more he created the less inclined I was to obey and as for him—even now he’s on his last legs, there’s no give in him.’ Calumn’s face darkened, then he shrugged. ‘I was a good officer and I worked hard to earn the respect of my men. There’s any number of wee laddies in these parts like Jeannie’s brother who think to escape as I did, though what they’re running from is poverty rather than despotism. I spend a fair bit of my time teaching them the tricks of the officer’s trade. Not that any of them will be able to afford a commission, mind, but if they know how to use a sabre and a foil, if they have some education and understand the basic rules of warfare and command, it will give them an advantage in moving up the ranks.’

      ‘I imagine you are an excellent teacher—though with that temper of yours, I would not envy the boy who gets it wrong.’

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4Rg7RXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgADAEAAAMAAAABAfQAAAEBAAMAAAABArwAAAECAAMAAAADAAAA ngEGAAMAAAABAAIAAAESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEVAAMAAAABAAMAAAEaAAUAAAABAAAApAEbAAUAAAAB AAAArAEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAgAAAAtAEyAAIAAAAUAAAA1IdpAAQAAAABAAAA6AAAASAA CAAIAAgADqYAAAAnEAAOpgAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNiAoTWFjaW50b3NoKQAyMDE1 OjA4OjEyIDE3OjA2OjMzAAAEkAAABwAAAAQwMjIxoAEAAwAAAAEAAQAAoAIABAAAAAEAAAXcoAMA BAAAAAEAAAg0AAAAAAAAAAYBAwADAAAAAQAGAAABGgAFAAAAAQAAAW4BGwAFAAAAAQAAAXYBKAAD AAAAAQACAAACAQAEAAAAAQAAAX4CAgAEAAAAAQAAFrUAAAAAAAAASAAAAAEAAABIAAAAAf/Y/+0A DEFkb2JlX0NNAAH/7gAOQWRvYmUAZIAAAAAB/9sAhAAMCAgICQgMCQkMEQsKCxEVDwwMDxUYExMV ExMYEQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMAQ0LCw0ODRAODhAUDg4OFBQO Dg4OFBEMDAwMDBERDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAz/wAARCACgAHID ASIAAhEBAxEB/90ABAAI/8QBPwAAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAwABAgQFBgcICQoLAQABBQEBAQEB AQAAAAAAAAABAAIDBAUGBwgJCgsQAAEEAQMCBAIFBwYIBQMMMwEAAhEDBCESMQVBUWETInGBMgYU kaGxQiMkFVLBYjM0coLRQwclklPw4fFjczUWorKDJkSTVGRFwqN0NhfSVeJl8rOEw9N14/NGJ5Sk hbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2N0dXZ3eHl6e3x9fn9xEAAgIBAgQEAwQFBgcHBgU1AQAC EQMhMRIEQVFhcSITBTKBkRShsUIjwVLR8DMkYuFygpJDUxVjczTxJQYWorKDByY1wtJEk1SjF2RF VTZ0ZeLys4TD03Xj80aUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9ic3R1dnd4eXp7fH/9oADAMB AAIRAxEAPwDg3NQXNVt7UB7UwFqkIANVInsEiISr91gHzTkNmqj2yeVB7Q13gCrO4NZ/BEp6tjY5 rY3CqeGyb7LPfba+HbGeo7+jYvqbN9ON6dllXsfkKMmW4jxfgvAj1PC0nBrhoQSqtgj5LexOtVPD m9RxW5LDo2ullNDGDybXj73u/wCvMUA/6uix9no2NIG+uu4l7Jn3V7a9vqWbfdTXY77P/pclN9yY sSxnwMPWP+5l/wA1eIRNETH+F6XCCdXqs7Efk1mzDo2iA57hsB8bLaaWuo2O/wBG2j2f6ZEzszpr 74x8Gksgb3sNte5x59Gtljaq2s/m/wCZ/SfzidxyuuA7XfpUYRq+MbucktOzI6SKjRf025l1TtpI tFbw4fSrvf6Hv/t43r/8Kj4l3QMhzaX9PbS5tdljnm60eo9jHWU4lX6X9E6+wbPWt9X/AIOqtA5C AScc9O3B/wB+oYgTXHHXvxfwcWFIBa+VX0mmy6m6g1VuxWW4FtIe422vYxzLn2X2u243qeqx1bWf o9no/wA/WstolOhPiF0R5+KzJDhNWD5MISU9qSesf//Q46xo5HdAexL7bUNHOI8yCpC2h4kWNPlM H/pKMWGuWraIC6PpuJVf9XcLpbmtGb1PIysvp1hDQfVq+z4WPiPue5myjqHo5uP/AOHPsa564ydP krGPjgM9w55CddBUTRL07sTpebjdNw6S27F6dm5GE+xrm0HLutx682r9YdLamdR6jiX4eJd/gsP0 FXwOiszGUO6p0IdMJ6jgYstGVSLK77LK8un08q+x2/axv6yz3/8AXFzeXtgjx0VNxLiC4lxA2gkk kAcN1SB0XcY7PS4FVeZ009R6b0SrOyn5Bptw6/tFzcalldZxn/ZKLxmWWZ733+pn3Wvq343p1eja i9Z6Cx1eZT0zAs+30PwHjFpNmS+unIw33ZX0Tb69f7Q9P9Y/qf4OxYOF1S7Fr9D0sfJo3GwVZNLb Q15DWusrd7bWb21s9Rnqejb/AIStTsyLcrIbkXPJte5jXPYAwhvso2VNpDGVV10tbVVVUz02V/o