“Bloody hell, what did he hit me with? An anvil?""His fist.""You should put that fool in a bear-baiting pit. You'd make a fortune." Dougal struggled to rise.Sophia helped him on one side, Mary slipping under his other arm.The wind swirled a bit harder, sending dust into the air."Heavens!" Mary said, glancing over their heads at the sky. "That's the third thunderhead as has passed this way today."Sophia turned. A huge bank of thunderclouds hung overhead, roiling as if alive."We should get inside," she said uneasily.Dougal didn't even glance at the clouds as he held a hand over his bruised eye and cheek. "Bloody hell, I can barely see.”

“I'm not blind,you know." His gaze flicked down to her breasts, interestingly encased in her tight riding habit. "I can see very well."Her cheeks flushed, and she tried to pull away again.Behind Dougal came a bang, like the sound of a large door slamming, and Sophia's eyes widened. "Angus, no!" she cried."Ye misbegotten bounder!" Angus roared.Dougal turned just in time to see a huge fist hit him squarely in the eye.Thanks to Sophia, who'd jumped up and clung tightly to Angus's huge arm, the punch was softened. Otherwise, not only would it have knocked Dougal down (which it did), and not only would it have sent the world dark (which it did), and not only would it have blackened his eye (which it did), but it also might have killed him. Instead, Angus's slowed fist merely smashed into Dougal's face, spun him around, and laid him out as neatly as a piece of firewood.”

“Gor," she breathed when she picked up the nearly empty tureen. "Someone done eat the soup!""Never!" Angus said, his eyes as wide as saucers."All of it," she said, holding the tureen toward Angus.He peered into it as if expecting to see a hole in the bottom. "Well, I'll be.""It was excellent," Dougal said.Angus sent Dougal a look of respect. "Ye must have an iron stomach.""Indeed," Mary said, a worried look on her face. "I beg yer pardon, me lord, but do ye feel well? There was a bit of pepper in that soup."Dougal shrugged. "I'm fine. And I must get that recipe to give to my own chef.""Gor!" Mary blinked at him, unable to look away.Angus did the same.Dougal smiled inquiringly at Sophia. "I feel as if I've become an exhibit at the British Museum.”

“It near broke my heart to treat such a good piece of meat in such a way.""Aye," Red said with feeling. "I watched ye do it, and it near made me cry,too."Sophia laughed and hugged her father. "When this is over,Mary will cook you an entire leg of mutton, perfectly roasted and seasoned."His eyes brightened. "With mint sauce?""Aye," Mary said, beaming.”

“Perhaps you met my mother-she and I look very similar. She and my father traveled quite a bit before I was born.""That's possible,I suppose," he said, as if not enitrely convinced."Sir Reginald." Dougal broke in on their conversation, entirely against common etiquette. "Perhaps you mistake Miss MacFarlane with a dream." He let his gaze linger over her in a similar fashion. "I often do."Sophia's face burned. Fiona choked on her wine, and Jack patted her back, glaring at Dougal. The judge let out a snort of laughter, while Mrs. Kent sent dagger glances at Sophia, and Miss Stanton, oblivious to it all, asked for the salt.”

“The weather is certainly unpredictable here,isn't it?""It's always unpredictable when the MacLeans are involved."She turned to look at him. "You've heard the rumors of the curse?""I've heard them and believe them." He moved beside her. "Don't you?"The pocket she needed to reach was on his other side, blast it. "Do you think one of the MacLeans might be angry now?"He looked over her head to the gathering clouds, a frown settling between his eyes. "Yes," he said quietly. "One of them is growing more furious by the moment."A fresh wind now tossed the treetops about, the grass rippled like an angry ocean, and the clouds filled the entire sky.”

“Though he may dally with loose women, he's been raised a gentleman. He would never touch me unless I gave him permission." He might use incredibly powerful seduction tactics, but that was her problem, not Angus's."Aye," Mary said. "Don't ye remember how the miss took care o' the squire's son when he tried to kiss her in the garden?" She beamed at Sophia. "That was well done."Sophia grinned. "He limped for a week"Angus grunted. "The squire's son isn't half the man this one is. This is no boy ye're dealin' with here. He's a man's man;ye can see it in his eyes."She placed a hand on his arm. "Angus, if it will make you feel better, I promise to call for help if MacLean so much as looks askance at me.”