Taming the Heiress Read Free Page B

rooms, and here the niceties of existence were legion. But Meg preferred the simplicity of island life, where days were vibrant, tradition brought reassuring routine, and the beauty and power of Nature was real and immediate.
    She glanced along the length of the library, where her companion and former governess sat reading in a far corner. Mrs. Berry's black skirts spilled out of the confines of a green leather wing chair. Meg looked for her other companion, Mrs. Shaw, Sir John's young, widowed daughter-in-law, then remembered she was discussing menus with the housekeeper, a duty Meg gratefully entrusted to her capable friend.
    Both ladies had been of invaluable help to her over the past seven years, and they made sure to be nearby whenever Meg met with male advisers and business acquaintances, as Mrs. Berry had unobtrusively done this morning.
    A knock at the door preceded a young maid, small and brown-haired, dressed in dark gray with a white apron and cap; she looked into the room. "Ma leddy, Mr. Hamilton is here."
    "Thank you, Hester. Send him in, please."
    Moments later, a tall, lean, dark-haired man crossed the room with a brisk step, his face familiar and welcome, his brown eyes twinkling. Meg smiled in delight to see her secretary.
    "Good morning, Lady Strathlin."
    "Guy! Do sit." He did, taking a leather chair opposite her desk. His long body was relaxed and agile, and his natural verve made her feel more energetic.
    "I apologize for being late."
    "No matter. Sir John was here, all in knots over my proposed home for young ladies."
    "He can be a sour old screw, but he has your best interests at heart. I stopped by Uncle Edward's law office before coming here, or would have helped you fend off Sir John. Hello, Mrs. Berry. On loyal duty, I see," he called pleasantly. Mrs. Berry smiled and waved, then went back to her reading.
    "Please look through these." Meg pushed several letters toward him. "I've added a list of the replies I think necessary."
    "Very good. Where is Mrs. Shaw this morning?" He glanced around the library, and Meg thought she saw a slight flush spill through his cheeks.
    "Downstairs making up menus with Mrs. Louden. They are all in a kerfuffle over the soiree, though it's two months away."
    "It is certain to be an extravaganza." He smiled as he flipped through the letters.
    Watching him, Meg saw an etching of sadness in his fine brown eyes. Widowed a few years earlier, Hamilton kept his grief private and his mood calm and uplifting. He efficiently saw to his duties as Meg's secretary and oversaw her correspondence as well as her travel and social schedule. A new lawyer and new widower when Meg first employed him as her secretary, his humor and graciousness had made him a true friend.
    "Sir John said that Frederick also disapproves of Matheson House for Young Ladies. Apparently Frederick told him that he and I are engaged to be married."
    "How odd. I suppose Sir Frederick has wrongly interpreted your kindness toward him."
    She tipped her head, considering. In the first years of her inheritance, she had relied on her cousin's counsel as a banker, and later, when he was in mourning for his wife and his bills were mounting, she had given him some respite from a financial deal that had gone poorly. "I thought it important to show loyalty to a friend. I meant nothing else by it."
    "My dear, you are a generous friend, as I can attest myself. Not only are you lovely and good-hearted, but you are the richest woman in Scotland. As a man, may I say that it is a perfectly lethal combination."
    "Oh!" Meg felt her cheeks heat.
    "Any man could fall in love with you, and some might scheme to marry you due to your fortune." He smiled. "Not me, my dear. I do adore you, but I keep you firmly on a pedestal, where you belong."
    "I shall only topple." Meg laughed a little. "But you're wrong. No one else has asked for my hand but Sir Frederick."
    "If any fellow makes an unwanted advance toward you, I want to hear about it." Guy