Devil of the Highlands Page 0,42

the grass toward the path.

"I am sorry, husband. I really did not see the bull," Evelinde said quietly, as he marched her up the path toward the castle.

Sighing, Cullen glanced at her as they passed the stables, really seeing her for the first time now his fear and anger had cleared. A frown immediately reclaimed his lips. The woman's hair was a knotted mass on her head, and the gown she wore was so big it was gaping in the front for all and sundry to see what she did and did not have.

"What the devil are you wearing?" he asked with dismay.

"I—" Evelinde glanced down at herself and gasped as she saw the state of her dress. She then reached behind her back, gathering up the excess material into one fist so the front was more fitted and didn't reveal so much.

Cullen scowled as he glanced over the gown. It looked familiar, but wasn't hers he was sure. At least it wasn't one of the ones he'd packed for her.

"Me laird!"

Cullen paused and glanced toward the wall at that shout to see one of the men waving at him. "What?"

"A traveling party is approaching," the man yelled back.

Cullen scowled, then glanced to Evelinde. Not that she noticed. Her attention was on the back of her gown as she twisted about trying to see something, though, he wasn't sure what she was looking for, and at the moment, he didn't have time to find out.

"Get to our room and change into something that fits ye," he ordered, giving her a little push toward the keep. "I have to see who this is."

Evelinde moved toward the keep, but she wasn't moving very quickly. It was difficult to walk quickly with your upper body twisted as far to the side as ye could turn it so you could examine the back of your skirt. She was searching for the pin she'd borrowed—without permission—from Cullen's chest. It had obviously come undone, letting loose the material she'd gathered at her back, and she was hoping it was caught in the folds of her gown somewhere. Unfortunately, a thorough search through the fabric proved it wasn't still there.

Pausing, Evelinde bit her lip and glanced back toward the paddock. Most of the men had dispersed; only a few were still making their way from the area. Gnawing at her lip now, Evelinde glanced in the direction she thought her husband had gone and saw him hurrying up a set of stairs carved into the stone wall. No doubt he was heading up to see who was approaching, she thought and glanced back toward the paddock again.

Evelinde really didn't wish to go anywhere near the bull again, but she also didn't want to have to explain to her husband that she'd lost his pin. What if it held some sentimental value? It could have been his father's, or even his mother's. Even if it wasn't, it had looked valuable. She was sure there were both rubies and emeralds in the broach.

Sighing, Evelinde gave up her position in the middle of the path and headed back to the paddock. She moved slowly, eyes scanning the dirt for the pin as she went, but she didn't see it. By the time she reached the fence, every last man who had been gathered there was gone. It seemed the celebrations were over.

Evelinde paused where she had the first time she'd reached the fence and looked inside the paddock for the bull. Angus was nowhere to be seen, but that was what she'd thought the last time and so looked a little more closely, realizing that it wasn't a rectangle as she'd first assumed, but an L-shape, the back end turning sharply and running along behind the next paddock and out of her line of vision. No doubt that was where the beast had been, back in the area she couldn't see, Evelinde realized, and decided she'd best not try to check the paddock itself now.

Lips pursing, she tightened her fingers on the fence before her with frustration, then suddenly recalled the struggle she'd had with her skirt on climbing the wooden frame. Perhaps the pin had popped open and dropped off there, she thought, and began to search the ground outside the fence, running her slipper back and forth over the grass, hoping to reveal it. When that didn't work, she knelt and began to crawl over the space, running her bare hands over the grass, willing to risk being