The Highlander's Choice by Callie Hutton Read Free Book Online Page B

they succeeded?”
    “My siblings? Yes. A couple didn’t start off that way, but all have extremely happy marriages with devoted spouses.”
    They both sat, their thoughts keeping them occupied. The sun disappeared behind a cloud, causing Sybil to shiver.
    “We best be getting back.” Liam glanced at the gathering clouds. “I dinna wish to get caught in another storm.”
    The ride back to Dundas was quiet, each of them occupied with their thoughts. How different the lass and her family were from what he’d held as the truth. He quickly pushed away the thought that kept nudging at him.
    If I can change my mind about the English, what would it take to change Sybil’s idea of Scots? And do I want to?

Chapter Five
    “Come,” Sybil called at the tap on her bedchamber door.
    It was the day after her ride with Liam. They’d spent the rest of the day in indoor pursuits since the storm that had threatened had arrived with a vengeance shortly after luncheon. The men had gathered in the library doing whatever it was men did when they gathered, and the ladies had taken to the drawing room, with Lady Boswick, Duncan’s aged aunt, acting as hostess.
    “Since the weather has cleared, we are going on a picnic today!” Margaret said excitedly as she danced into Sybil’s room. “Cook is fixing several baskets and all the young ladies and gentlemen will ride in wagons to the picnic site. Isn’t that wonderful? I’ve never ridden in a wagon before.”
    “That sounds like fun. In that case, I will wear one of my older dresses.” Sybil reached into her trunk and after pawing through the contents, pulled out a heavier brown muslin gown.
    “Why? We will have tables and chairs. The servants are bringing them out and setting them up now.”
    Sybil laughed. “You know me better than that. I don’t plan to sit prettily when I can be investigating all the beautiful woods.” She turned and held her hair up so Margaret could undo her buttons.
    “Although we are the best of friends, I will never understand you, Sybil.”
    Shrugging out of her gown, she slipped the other one over her head and wiggled until it fell into place. “You seemed quite at home yesterday afternoon in the drawing room. What do you think of Lady Boswick?”
    “Scary, at first.” Margaret’s fingers worked to fasten the buttons. “But after she ordered me to sit near her and we talked at length, I found her to be gruff only on the outside.”
    Sybil turned and grasped Margaret’s shoulders. “Are you truly happy? Will Duncan be a worthy husband to you?”
    “I must admit I was a bit frightened when we arrived, but Duncan has been remarkable. He has done everything to make me feel at home. I think this may be a very pleasant marriage.”
    Pleasant.
    While she was happy for Margaret, Sybil wanted no part of a “pleasant” marriage. She desired passion and love. Marriage to a man who could stir her emotions, make her enjoy the pleasures of the marriage bed. She’d seen the looks her sisters gave their husbands, and her brother his wife. That is what she wanted—a connection that linked two people, as if no one else in the world existed. A man who would become part of her very soul.
    A man like Liam.
    Good Lord where did that thought come from?
    …
    Four wagons filled with excited guests rolled slowly over the hill. The sun was strong and had already dried up most of the moisture from yesterday’s storm. Unlike the Englishwomen who all carried parasols to protect their skin, the Scottish ladies enjoyed the warmth from the infrequent sun on their faces.
    The gentlemen were in two wagons and the ladies in the other two. The picnickers shouted back and forth about the games they would play, who would be on whose team, and which teams would likely win. One Scottish woman in particular, Moira Crawford, as she was introduced to Sybil, spent most of the ride bantering back and forth with Liam.
    She’d arrived last evening with her parents, and first thing