Later that same day, she and Laren went for a walk. They chose a path that led down by the loch, and that was where they caught Irwin hunched over talking to himself by a group of bushes.
Or at least Margaret thought he was talking to himself. A moment’s listening brought about the sound of meowing.
“Irwin, what are you doing?” Margaret asked.
The man practically jumped out of his skin. “Nothing, my lady,” he said, using his big body to block her view of the kitten.
“You are doing something,” she insisted. “You have a kitten? Why are you hiding her?”
His gaze dropped to the ground. Irwin could look so guilty.
“What is it?” she pressed.
“My ma didn’t want the kitten. She said she’s sickly.”
“Sickly? How?” Margaret asked.
“She’s not born right,” Irwin answered, picking up the small white cat and showing her to them. The cat had wide blue eyes . . . and folded-over ears. Just like Owl’s.
“She was fine in the beginning,” Irwin said, “but after a few weeks her ears bent over. Ma said that’s a sign the cat’s not strong. She told me to bring her out here and let her go to fend for herself, but I like the wee creature. I don’t want to leave her.”
“Let me see,” Laren said, taking the kitten from the big man. She held the kitten up for Margaret to see. “Her ears are funny.”
“Her ears are a blessing,” Margaret said as she reached to pet the kitten, who licked her gloved finger with a tiny rough tongue. She wasn’t a copy of Owl. Her eyes were the blue of the sky and she had a patch of black under her chin and on one paw. “You see her, right?” she asked them.
“I see her,” Irwin replied with his easy simplicity.
“I’m holding her,” Laren said. “She has the most unusual eyes, even for a cat. They seem to swallow her little face.”
“Yes, they do,” Margaret agreed, feeling a mixture of happiness and sadness. They all saw the kitten. But this cat was not Owl . . . still Margaret understood that here was a sign from Rose. A gift on this day when she’d made such a happy announcement. And, perhaps, the confirmation Margaret had wanted that Rose now rested peacefully.
“I’d like the kitten,” Margaret said to Irwin. “That is, if you will let me have her.”
“You don’t think she is sick?” he asked.
“I believe she is very healthy, and I like her ears.”
“I do as well,” Laren said. “We have been needing a cat in the house.”
Irwin smiled his pleasure. “Then you can have her, my lady. I was having trouble keeping her safe. You know I always take care of the pigs, but she keeps finding trouble. Just now I found her caught in the wild rose bushes here. I scratched my hand rescuing her.”
“You are very kind,” Margaret said to Irwin, meaning the words. “And you have done a good job protecting her.”
The big man blushed at her praise.
“And we shall call kitty Rosie after the rose bushes Irwin rescued her from,” Laren said, taking complete command of the cat. “That is the perfect name.”
“Yes, it is,” Margaret agreed. “The perfect name indeed.”
Heath was happy to see the cat as well, and as Rosie grew, her folded-over ears remained.
She proved herself to be a good and astute mouser, earning the approval of Cook. And there was no one in the house who wouldn’t happily play with her or let her curl up in his lap.
However, once James Robert Macnachtan was born on a brisk morning in November, Rosie forgot about the rest of them. She purred her approval of this new member to their household and from that moment on became Jaime’s self-appointed bodyguard, or as Heath said, Jaime’s bodycat.
And as time passed, Marybone became known as much for the barn cats with the folded-over ears, wide, comprehending eyes, and almost human intelligence, as they were for the horses the Macnachtans bred.
As for the laird and his lady, theirs was a mighty love story, the stuff of which legends are created.
Margaret took to keeping a journal, the sort chatelaines pass down from one to the other. On the first page, she wrote these words to her children: “Love well, love fully, love completely. Because in life, love is all that truly matters.”
Coming Winter 2014
The Bride Says No
the first in a brand new series
from Cathy Maxwell
and Avon Books
About the Author
CATHY MAXWELL spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question, “Why do people fall in love?” It remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness. She lives in beautiful Virginia with children, horses, dogs, and cats.
Fans can contact Cathy at www.cathymaxwell.com or PO Box 1135, Powhatan, VA 23139.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
By Cathy Maxwell
The Chattan Curse
The Devil’s Heart
The Scottish Witch
Lyon’s Bride
The Seduction of Scandal
His Christmas Pleasure
The Marriage Ring
The Earl Claims His Wife
A Seduction at Christmas
In the Highlander’s Bed
Bedding the Heiress
In the Bed of a Duke
The Price of Indiscretion
Temptation of a Proper Governess
The Seduction of an English Lady
Adventures of a Scottish Heiress
The Lady Is Tempted
The Wedding Wager
The Marriage Contract
A Scandalous Marriage
Married in Haste
Because of You
When Dreams Come True
Falling in Love Again
You and No Other
Treasured Vows
All Things Beautiful
Coming Soon
The Bride Says No
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE DEVIL’S HEART. Copyright © 2013 by Cathy Maxwell, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition MAY 2013 ISBN: 9780062070272
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062070241
FIRST EDITION
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Cathy Maxwell - [Chattan Curse 03] Page 25
