"I fear there are no good men left in the world."

*

It was late, but not that late when the carriage pulled up to the front of the mansion. No butler waited to open the front door, and as they approached, they could hear music inside. Hannish and McKenna quietly entered, stayed in the shadows of the foyer and watched. The servants had moved all the new furniture in the parlor aside, and Alistair and Dugan were teaching the younger sisters how to waltz. Donnel and Blanka sat watching, Brookton looked as though he was trying to get up the nerve to ask Sassy to dance and surprisingly, Shepard was playing a violin.

"One, two, three, turn," Alistair said, holding Cathleen just a bit closer than arm's length. He was so tall she could not put her hand on his shoulder, and had to settle for his upper arm instead. Furthermore, she could not get the rhythm of the waltz quite right. The turn seemed to be a problem and each time she got it wrong, she glared at Alistair. "'Tis your fault," she insisted.

"How have you come to that conclusion?" he asked.

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"It just is, is all."

"I see," Alistair said, sticking his indignant nose in the air.

Meanwhile, Dugan was holding Sassy too close for her comfort. She moved the arm he had around her twice, before she intentionally smashed his toe and walked away. Everyone roared with laughter.

It fell to Millie to teach Ronan and he seemed to be catching on quickly. The cooks were also seated, preferring to watch rather than participate.

"I dinna even know Shepard had a violin," Hannish whispered.

"He is very good," McKenna agreed. "I have been meaning to ask him to sing for us again."

As soon as Hannish walked into the parlor, the music stopped and everyone turned to look. He boldly walked to Sarah, bowed and said, "Shall we show them how 'tis done?"

Sarah smiled and curtsied. "I am honored, Sir."

Hannish offered his arm, walked her to the center of the room and nodded for Shepard to play. Their dancing was impeccable, as though they had been practicing for weeks, and Alistair watched every move. Two turns around the room, he had had enough of that, tapped Hannish on the shoulder and took a grinning Sarah away from him.

Hannish pretended to be quite insulted and went to stand next to Sassy. "I believe he likes her."

"Just now you noticed?" she asked.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since the day we came."

"I see." He returned her smile and then watched Prescot approach McKenna in the foyer.




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