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It wasn’t a question, but a statement. Esme lifted her gaze, looking at him as she shook her head.

“I will not take anything that I do not earn,” she said quietly.

“Not even a gift?”

She sighed heavily. “If you do not want to help me any longer, then please say so,” she said. “I am free of Lady Ayr now. I can go south and find an English castle and find work there as a maid or a nurse. All you need to do is tell me and I shall be on my way.”

He shook his head. “I told ye that I would help ye and I will,” he said. “I’ve just never met a lass like ye, Esme. I’m trying tae understand ye.”

She stiffened. “That is because I am not like the women in Scotland,” she said with a hint of rage. “No soy débil y sin sentido como esas tontas morenas.”

She was off speaking her language again, angrily. “What does that mean?” he asked calmly.

There was fire in her eyes. “It means that I am not weak and mindless like those foolish wenches.”

He grinned. “Even Isadora and Lilia? They are Scottish.”

She backed down a little. “Not them,” she said. “They were very kind to me.”

“Ye had a chance tae know them a little?”

She nodded. “They were very helpful.”

“Good,” he said, his eyes glimmering at her. “But I suspect ye’ve not known many kind Scotswomen.”

Esme cast him a long look. “My only experience with them has been at Culroy Castle,” she said. “They are a self-centered lot with little time for a woman who is not of Scottish blood. In fact, they are why I need to earn money.”

“What do ye mean?”

She was starting to calm down a little, the fire in her eyes fading. “Because they stole my money,” she said. “When I came to Culroy, I had a purse with a good deal of coinage that my father gave me. I kept close watch on it, always making sure it was safe. One of Lady Ayr’s wards was friendly to me and I trusted her, but she only wanted my money. She stole it from me and then denied it.”

“How do ye know it was her?”

“Because she was the only one who knew where I hid it,” she said, pain in her voice. “A week after it disappeared, Lady Ayr moved her household to Trinity House and this lass showed up one day with a new emerald brooch. She said it was a gift, but I heard her tell the other ladies that she bought it. When I told Lady Ayr, she made the lass give me the brooch, but it turned up missing a couple of days later. No one seemed to know anything about it.”

Titus wasn’t surprised to hear any of that, especially not from Culroy Castle. “Let me guess – Lady Ayr did nothing.”

Esme shook her head. “She refused to get involved,” she said. “She told me that she did as much as she intended to do about it. And that is why I must earn money for my passage, my lord.

He snorted in disapproval. “I’m sorry for ye,” he said. “But not surprised. It seems that villainy and wickedness runs rampant through the ranks of the Duke and Duchess of Ayr.”

She was watching him closely. “You have experienced it, too?

He almost told her some of his experiences but thought better of it. He just wasn’t the kind of man to open up about himself. He wasn’t comfortable doing it. But something told him it wouldn’t be long before he was opening himself up to Esme. She was easy to talk to, open and honest.

It was just a feeling he had.

“Aye,” he said, rising out of his chair. “Now, promise me ye willna run off while I sleep.”

He was changing the subject and Esme went with it. He didn’t want to talk about himself and she respected that.

“I promise,” she said. “Are you feeling poorly?”

He shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But I intend to sleep for a few hours before the bouts tonight. Unless the cottage is burning down or the barbarians are at the door, dunna disturb me.”

She nodded seriously. “I will not,” she said. “But… but may I continue my chores?”

He was in the process of turning for his bedchamber door when she asked. He paused to look at her.