Some Enchanted Evening Read Free Page B

important, Clarice thought with satisfaction, Miss Rosabel's nose and chin were no longer pointed, and the softened hairstyle gave her a girlish loveliness. "Give me an hour and think what I can do!"
    Cautiously Miss Rosabel touched her face. "Am I pretty?"
    "Very pretty," Clarice assured her.
    "My skin feels so clean and fresh!" For the first time, a smile broke across Miss Rosabel's face, and the men rumbled in admiration. They hadn't noticed her before. Now they did. She wasn't yet beautiful, but she was young and healthy, and she would be swamped with offers to walk in the evenings.
    She would have to be careful. Most men treated a single woman with honor, but sometimes they did not, and Clarice anxiously scanned the crowd, looking for potential trouble.
    Extracting a swath of soft blue material from her saddlebag, she draped it across Miss Rosabel's bosom. The color made an already attractive face even more attractive, and she said, "So, ladies and gentlemen, is this improvement worth ten pounds from Billie MacBain?"
    "Yes!" the crowd roared, and everyone looked around for Billie.
    Clarice laughed. Laughed with the pleasure of a win against Billie and a dozen guaranteed sales. "He sneaked away five minutes ago. But I've made my point. You can buy the face cream from me now, and if you'd like to know more royal secrets, I'll be staying at the inn —"
    The handsome gentleman reached up and caught her hand. He spoke at last. "It would be best if you stayed up at the manor . . . Princess."
    She'd seen MacKenzie Manor as she rode into Freya Crags. Set well off the road on a rise, four stories high and twenty glass windows across, with gargoyles poised on the roof and bronze double doors so big they should have been at home on a cathedral. The gray, forbidding stones weighed down the ground and chilled Clarice's heart. It was as if the house warned her to ride on, and she did, urging Blaize along the road at a brisker pace. Her reaction surprised her, for she prided herself on being practical and not at all skittish.
    Perhaps she disliked the place because of her knowledge of its owner. Her spy in the town had written her about Lord Hepburn, a ruthless man who ordered his lands and his family like a despot. Clarice didn't want to stay in the house, and she didn't want to be anywhere near this fellow, who was probably the steward or the butler or ... or a man too gorgeous for his own good. Or hers.
    So with a superior smile that frightened off most men, she tugged to free her hand. "You're very free with your master's invitations."
    He didn't release her, and he didn't look frightened.
    A rustle of laughter spread through the onlookers.
    "No!" Miss Rosabel pinched her elbow hard.
    Clarice flinched. She'd made a mistake, although she couldn't imagine what it was.
    In a soft voice with a hint of brogue he said, "I'm free with the invitations to MacKenzie Manor for good reason."
    No. It couldn't be.
    But it was. "I'm Robert MacKenzie, the earl of Hepburn. I'm the laird of Freya Crags — and the master of the manor." He kissed her fingers. His breath warmed her flesh, and for one moment she thought his tongue touched her skin. "I'm not a prince, but still, I insist. Stay at the manor with me."
     
    Chapter Three
     
    Don't just aim high, reach oot and grab some happiness along the way.
    — The Old Men of Freya Crags
    Clarice wrenched her hand back. No. The most handsome man in town couldn't also be the most powerful. He couldn't be.
    But as she looked into Lord Hepburn's eyes, she realized — of course he was. He exuded authority. Her luck had indeed taken a turn for the worse — but she had talked her way out of more desperate situations. "I wouldn't dream of imposing on your hospitality."
    "To have a lovely woman visit in my lonely home is not an imposition." Lord Hepburn's voice was mild, deep, and implacable, and he looked just like he sounded.
    She could only hope she didn't look like she sounded, for her voice sounded