Highland Heiress - By Margaret Moore Page 0,25

apart, he forced himself to think and speak like the solicitor he was. “How much are you willing to offer to settle the suit?”

“What do you think Robbie will be willing to accept?”

He had learned long ago that women could be as clever or good at negotiating as men, having dealt with many wives and widows of merchants who were just as canny as their husbands when it came to business transactions, and some much more so.

Although he was well aware he had to think clearly and carefully during any negotiation, none of the other women he’d bargained with or represented had been as intriguing or interesting as Lady Moira, and he had certainly never kissed any of them, circumstances that were making it extremely difficult for him to keep his focus strictly on the business at hand.

He was also well aware that it would be to his advantage to try to get her to make the first suggestion as to an amount. “Ladies first, as they say.”

“I suppose I should make it clear that while I’m willing to discuss a settlement, I make no admission of guilt or misconduct on my part. As for any emotional distress, I’m quite sure I didn’t break Robbie’s heart, so any offer I make is done with the sole intention of ridding my life of him once and for all.”

She spoke in such a calm and cool manner, he could well believe she had forgotten their kiss. Or—almost worse—that it had not been the mind-shattering, heart-stopping experience for her that it had been for him.

“You sound very certain of my friend’s feelings, or lack of them,” he noted. “You can’t see into a man’s heart, can you?”

Or what would she see in his?

“You can’t see into his heart, either,” she returned. “I realize you’re his friend, but as a lawyer, you must also be aware that people lie.”

She tilted her head to study him, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that she understood him, and all men, too well. “If he ever truly loved me, why does he want to hurt me now? Why not simply let us go our separate ways? After all, his reputation will recover much sooner than mine.”

She was right, and yet he had a job to do, whether he wanted to or not. He had told Robbie he’d represent him, so represent him he must. “Do you not consider that his anger could be proof of his pain? If he cared less, it would be easier for him to let the matter drop.”

She was clearly not at all convinced by his argument. “Then what about his actions after I told him I couldn’t and wouldn’t marry him? I have it on good authority that he was with another woman that very same night.”

Unfortunately, Gordon could easily believe that Robbie had indeed sought either comfort or oblivion in the arms of a woman as soon as possible. Nevertheless, if he’d done so that same night, Robbie should have told him that, because she was right to think it would make his case weaker.

“So, he’s not been completely honest with you, either,” she observed.

Somewhere between Edinburgh and Dunbrachie he’d obviously lost the ability to maintain an attorney’s dispassionate mask, at least when speaking to Lady Moira MacMurdaugh.

He also seemed to be taking everything Lady Moira said at face value, which he really ought not to do. She did, after all, have a reason to discredit his friend. “How do you know this?”

“My father had it from the innkeeper where Sir Robert met the woman.”

“In other words,” he began, determined to do his best for Robbie as well as remain as cool and composed as she and reveal nothing more of his feelings, “your source is gossip.”

“Do you really think my father would have told me that if it wasn’t true?”

“I have no idea what your father might say,” Gordon replied, “and he is hardly in a neutral position. As for whether or not I was informed of Sir Robert’s activities on the night in question, if a man seeks solace with a woman, he need not confide that to a friend, or his lawyer, or anyone. Nor does that mean his pain is any the less.”

“Nevertheless it suggests that he was consolable, and if so, the pain of our broken engagement was not so severe that he should receive five thousand pounds in reparation. I would think five hundred would be more than sufficient,” she finished, her eyes shining with