School For Heiresses 3- Beware A Scot's Revenge Read Free Page A

the servant, who announced them as
    “Masked Lady” and “Flora MacDonald.”
    No one in the packed ballroom seemed to heed their entrance, except a tall man near the doorway who swung around to stare at them when their “names” were announced. He barely spared a glance for Aunt Maggie, butVenetia he assessed with a thorough, rather unsettling perusal. Then he lifted his glass in a silent toast.
    Her “English deportment” demanded that she squelch such presumption from a stranger. But he was a particularly attractive stranger and she was in costume, after all. Besides, his Stuart tartan showed he was probably just playing Bonnie Prince Charlie to her Flora.
    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html So she acknowledged his toast with a nod…and made sure to look him over. Despite his brawny build and the jagged scar marring his high brow, he captured the royal manner to perfection. He suffered a white powdered wig with regal dignity, and he kept his posture stiff and his bearing as aloof as any monarch.
    But the rich chestnut-brown eyes gazing at her through the black silk mask weren’t remotely aloof. They burned with startling fierceness. And they seemed oddly familiar, too. Before she could wonder at that, Aunt Maggie was hurrying her to the receiving line and Colonel Seton.
    “Ah, you’ve come at last!” the colonel exclaimed as he seizedVenetia ’s hand, apparently recognizing the two of them despite the masks.
    The widower looked rather dashing tonight in the tartan of Robert the Bruce. With his full head of steel-gray hair, his soldier’s fit form, and his brilliant blue eyes, he cut quite a fine figure for a man well past forty.
    With a furtive glance somewhere behind her, he said in his usually booming voice, “Delighted to have you here, Lady Venetia. Most delighted.”
    “Shh, Colonel,” she chided. “You aren’t supposed to reveal my true identity until the unmasking.”
    “Right, right, forgive me. Quite a blunder, what? It won’t happen again, Flora.”
    She laughed. “I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway. The place is probably filled with Flora MacDonalds and Bonnie Prince Charlies.”
    “No, indeed. We have princes to spare, but you are the only Flora.” He leaned close with a conspiratorial air. “The other ladies preferred more ornate costumes.” He slanted a glance at Aunt Maggie, then broke into a jovial smile. “Like the fine one your companion is wearing. And who exactly is she dressed as? You didn’t mention her costume yesterday.”
    “She’s a queen,”Venetia lied.
    “Which one?” he persisted.
    “Come now, sir,” her aunt said dryly. “It should be obvious that I’m—”
    “Very pleased to be here,”Venetia hastened to say. “We both are.”
    “Excellent!” He rubbed his hands together. “Have you asked her about tomorrow, the outing toHolyroodPark ?”
    “Yes, and she said she’d be delighted to go.”
    “ ‘Delighted’ wasn’t quite the word I used,” Aunt Maggie muttered.
    “What?” Colonel Seton asked, bending nearer to hear over the din.
    “She said, ‘Thank you for thinking of us, sir.’ ” When her aunt snorted,Venetia went on quickly, “It’s Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html sure to be tedious in town tomorrow with no activities scheduled for the king, so we’re grateful for the diversion.”
    “Splendid! But are you sure you don’t want to visit Rosslyn Chapel?”
    “No, indeed,” her aunt cut in. “I promised Venetia’s father we wouldn’t stray fromEdinburgh .”
    Venetiasighed. They’d arrived here by ship, so she’d barely seen any of the countryside. But the specter of the Scourge still haunted Papa and he wouldn’t take the chance of her running afoul of any “Scottish brigands.”
    “ThenHolyroodPark it is,” the colonel said cheerily. “We’ll march up to Arthur’s Seat after our picnic. The view is spectacular, though the climb