Highland Defender (Scots and Swords #2) - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,2
this hour so I offered tae go.”
“And ye lost yer sausages for it.”
She turned in the direction she had come as if to see the butcher. “I dunna suppose he’d give me more,” she said wistfully. “It was foolish tae come this way. I dunna relish telling Lady Currie that I lost her meal.”
“I canna imagine she’ll be happy about it,” Bane said, taking a second look at the woman. She was a pretty thing, with chestnut hair and eyes the color of the sea. In fact, she was damned fine. Too fine to be a maid. “Are ye her maid?”
The woman turned to him. “I am whatever she wants me tae be,” she said. “Today, it was a messenger.”
That was an odd answer. “What’s yer name, lass?”
“Lucia.”
“Do ye want me tae go with ye and tell Lady Currie that ye were set upon by a thousand thieves and the sausages stolen?”
A ripple of surprise washed over her features, shocked that he would make such an offer. But quickly, she shook her head and turned away.
“Nay,” she said. “Though I thank ye for the offer. I’ll face her on my own.”
It seemed as if there was nothing more to say. Truth be told, Bane had only made the offer because he thought she was a pretty lass and he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to part ways with her yet. Not that he had any designs on her; he’d never had designs on a woman in his life.
But this lass… There was something about her that caught his eyes.
“Then I wish ye well,” he told her, struggling to stand up. “I hope ye have an understanding mistress.”
As he reached his feet, the world began to rock unsteadily. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, the heavy drink, or the knock on the head. Or all three. These days, it was difficult to know what, exactly, ailed him because there was so much. He turned to walk away but he ended up staggering into the wall. Lucia reached out to steady him.
“Are ye well?” she asked.
He nodded, trying to push her away so he had some room to move and not topple over on her.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll be on my way.”
Two more steps and he lost his balance and went to one knee. She was on him in a flash. “This is my fault,” she said. “I hit ye in the head and now ye canna walk. Where is yer home? I’ll help ye there.”
She sounded repentant, not at all like the defiant and frightened woman he’d tried to help moments earlier. The remorse in her voice made her sound softer, much more in line with her beauteous looks. But he thought on her question—Where is yer home? He didn’t want her to see where he lived, a shoddy loft filled with old straw and the ghost of his life that once was.
He didn’t want this pretty lass to know how low he’d fallen.
“I dunna need help,” he assured her, trying to get to his feet again. “Ye’d better be on yer way.”
He all but yanked his arm from her grasp, laboring to move on, gripping the stone walls as he moved. But his legs felt like jelly and he’d barely taken a few more steps when he came to a halt and simply leaned against the wall for support. But it wasn’t because he couldn’t make it any farther.
He wanted to see if she was still watching him.
As luck would have it, she was.
“Please,” she said, coming up beside him. “Let me take ye home.”
“I have no home.”
She eyed him. Given that he was wearing rags and smelled of piss, it wasn’t difficult to believe. The man looked as if he’d been wallowing in the sty with the rest of the pigs.
She grabbed him by the arm.
“Then ye’ll come with me,” she said firmly. “Can ye at least walk?”
Bane was intrigued. So she was inviting him to go along with her, was she? That was the best invitation he’d had in months. Feeling the least bit naughty that he wasn’t refusing her invitation, he pretended he was worse than he actually was.
He hadn’t had a woman’s pity or attention in quite some time.
“I can walk,” he said quietly. “But…but yer help would be appreciated.”
With Lucia holding his arm tightly, as if she could support a man of his size, Bane let her lead the way.
Perhaps his terrible day was going to get brighter after all.