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The carriage turned froht lane lined with trees Beth sat back and breathed the pure air The pace Ian had kept since Paris exhausted her Now, in this still place with birdsong overhead, she could at last rest

The coachate to a lane that led to an open park The gatehouse was s above it--two lions and a bear on a red background The lane sloped doard in a wide curve toward the house spread across the bottom of the hill

Beth half rose in her seat, hands pressed to her chest

"Oh,rose four stories in height, with tiny s peeking out of round cupolas under the vast roof Rale of the house, like arlittered across the monstrosity of it, punctuated here and there by doors and balconies

It was the largest house she’d ever seen, comparable only to the Louvre she’d just left in Paris But this wasn’t a rean Her new home

The coachman pointed at the pile of house with his whip

"Built just before the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie, m’lady The duke then wanted no e and laborers for lish burned the place after Culloden, but the duke, he built it back again, and his son after Nothin’ keeps down a Mackenzie"

The pride in his voice was unrinned "He’s clan Mackenzie, too," the boy said "Takes credit for it, like he was there"

"Shut it, lad," the coach, only adjusted his hat over his eyes as though hethe trains had vanished

Beth clutched the edges of the seat and stared, drynized the Palladian elements--the oval reathed with stone curlicues, the arched pediments, the symmetrical placement of everyand door across the enors, like the stone balustrade that encircled the marble entranceway, the modern bellpull beside the front door

Not that Beth had to ring to get in As Ian handed her down, the double doors opened to reveal a tall, stately butler and about twenty servants waiting in a marble-tiled hall The servants were all Scottish, all red-haired and big-boned, and all sh the door

Ian didn’t introduce her, but as one, every maidservant curtsied and every s of various sizes and colors that barreled through the hall and headed straight for Ian

Not used to dogs, Beth pulled back, but laughed as they reared up on Ian, burying hi tails Ian’s face relaxed, and he smiled And, to her astonishment, he looked direcdy at them