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  He looked down at the dog and nodded.

  Again she wanted to put her arms around him, but she remembered all too well how she’d been at that age. Lady Marion had been patient with her, and she would do the same for Pip.

  She turned to leave, but he stopped her. “How did you do what you did to Dougal today?”

  Her mouth twisted. It had been rather amazing. She hadn’t really been convinced all of her practice would pay off. But it had, and she was proud of herself. “Practice.”

  His eyes darkened again. “Did he teach you?”

  She shook her head. For years she’d pestered Gregor every time he came home to teach her how to defend herself, but he always put her off “until next time.” Finally, she grew weary of waiting and asked John. “No, John taught me.”

  Pip paused for a moment and looked up at her uncertainly. “Do you think that maybe you could teach me?”

  She grinned. “You wouldn’t mind taking lessons in warfare from a lass?”

  He thought for a minute, obviously taking her question seriously. “Not if you can teach me to do that.”

  She laughed. “Well, why don’t we see what you can do tomorrow?”

  He stared at her, a look of cautious excitement on his bruised and battered face. “Really?”

  She smiled. It was still so hard for him to believe that anything good would be coming his way, but she was determined to change that. “Really. But you’ll have to work hard.”

  His black head was nodding so enthusiastically, she feared he might start his nose bleeding again. “I will, I promise.”

  She hid a smile. “Then come to the practice yard after your chores. John and I should be done by then.”

  A few times a week—more if she begged him hard enough—John found time to squeeze in a few practice sessions with her in between his other duties. With Gregor and their youngest brother, Padraig, off fighting, it had been left to John to keep watch over their holdings for the time being. Although John was anxious to return to the battle, Cate looked forward to their training more than anything—except for Gregor’s visits.

  Reminded that the very man was likely waiting for her and the children in the Great Hall, Cate hurried to get the salve and see what could be done about Pip’s poor face. She had to ensure that Gregor’s second impression was better than the first. A wry smile turned her lips. Given the first meeting, that shouldn’t be too hard.

  Four

  With Cate requisitioning the tub, Gregor made use of the river to wash away the two days of grime from the saddle. On a hot summer day, a dip in the River Lyon was invigorating and refreshing, but about a week from mid-winter’s day, it was like jumping into ice water. Cold enough to freeze your bollocks off.

  He hoped.

  The prurient thoughts about his wee “ward” weren’t just an annoyance, they were also bloody embarrassing. A man of his experience should have some control over his thoughts and his body, damn it. But apparently, he was reduced to relying on cold water until he could find a husband for her.

  To that end, the first thing he’d done after meeting with John was make a list of suitable men in the area—not too old, not too young, not too rich, not too poor, not too noble of blood, but not a peasant either. He was seeking a man who would appreciate the generous tocher that Gregor intended to provide, but who would not require an important family alliance. Although Cate would benefit by her connection with him as her guardian, her father had been only a man-at-arms of one of Bruce’s vassals.

  It was a delicate balance, but Gregor intended to make the best connection for her that he could. It was what she deserved. He couldn’t see her with a simple husbandman or cottar. There was something oddly noble about the lass. She certainly acted like a queen sometimes—or at least with all the bloody authority of one. Perhaps one of his retainers? A member of a local chieftain’s meinie? The second or third son of a local chief?

  In the end, he’d come up with a half-dozen names. He would have the clerk start writing to them immediately. As Gregor was home for the holidays for the first time in years, he would be expected to hold a feast for the Hogmanay celebration, which would be as good a reason as any to bring them here. With any luck, the betrothal would be all wrapped up by the time he was called back in early January.

  But he feared it was going to be a long few weeks until then.

  Returning to the tower house, Gregor started to climb the third set of stairs before catching himself and going back down to the second. Christ, he’d been chieftain for six years, and he still had to remind himself that he was “the laird.”

  It was a position that had never been meant for him as the third son. God knew, he wasn’t cut out for the responsibility. His father would have hated to see the clan under Gregor’s leadership. After Alasdair’s death, his father had put all his faith in Gregor’s second-oldest brother, Gille. It probably would have killed him to know that Gille had fallen not long after he had on the same battlefield, leaving his “useless” third son as his heir.

  There were two chambers on the second floor, the laird’s—now his—being the larger. John slept in the other. Cate slept on the third floor (with his mother before she’d died), in the chamber Gregor had shared with his brothers as a boy.

  He’d never paid much mind to the size of the tower house before, but now he regretted that his father hadn’t had time to begin the plans he’d made to build a new, modern keep of stone. The old wooden walls had seen better days, and the building—although serviceable—was simple and rustic, not fitting for the laird of the most important chieftain of the MacGregors. Isolated in the Highlands as they were, the wooden palisade fortifications had been adequate until recently.

  But it was the other defenses that Gregor was thinking about. Distance and separation were what he needed, but the small tower house—the small, intimate tower house—provided little of that. He was far too conscious of that single flight of stairs.

  After exchanging his war clothes for a fresh tunic, surcoat, and leather breeches, Gregor knew he’d delayed long enough. But he relished the first precious few hours of peace before the throng descended. It was always that way when he returned after so many months away. He knew it was expected—and partially his fault for staying away for so long—but sometimes he felt like a carcass in the sun with the buzzards pecking away at him. The men wanted a decision about some dispute, requests for delays in the payment of rents, or to put off their service, and the women …

  He groaned. They wanted a piece of him, too. Some a bigger piece than others. He sometimes thought it would be worth getting married just to avoid having to evade all the “offers” that came his way. But then he would remember that getting married meant he would have a wife.

  MacSorley, who was the king of the nicknames (it was how many of the Guardsmen had ended up with their noms de guerre), had taken to calling him “Slick” or the “Sorcerer,” referring to Gregor’s propensity to “magically” evade the traps of the more marriage-minded lasses who threw themselves in his path. According to MacSorley, Gregor had slipped out of even more bonds than MacRuairi, who was an expert at getting in and out of anywhere. It wasn’t too far from the truth. Eventually, Gregor knew he would have to get married—he might not like responsibility, but he recognized when he had it—but right now his only focus was on the war.

  As he was leaving his room, he caught a glimpse of the bed and was tempted—damned tempted—to collapse on it, draw the fur-lined blanket over his head, and forget about everything for a while. Maybe Bruce was right. Maybe he needed this break more than he’d realized.

  How long did he have before it started? If the noise coming from below in the not-so-Great Hall was any indication, not long. Damn, it sounded like a feast in there.

  A moment later, standing inside the entry and scanning the crowded room, he groaned. There were already at least forty of his clansmen in the room. By tomorrow morning, there likely would be twice that many.

  He picked Jo