Fiona looked around the room. Though it was one of the cleaner rooms in the castle, the rugs were still dusty and the mantel hadn’t been wiped in weeks. She’d thought of seeing to it that the house staff did a better job, but that would only pander to Malcolm’s comfort. Besides, why should she make such an effort to make Kilkairn a lovely place when Malcolm refused to allow her to live elsewhere for even part of the year?

She shook her head. “Murien, it would take weeks to get Kilkairn ready for a large ball. I don’t know how—”

“Then have a small one and hire help from the village. I don’t care. I just know that you have hit upon the perfect plan to show Miss Katherine Macdonald that she does not belong in the same room as St. John. That she is outclassed by far. Meanwhile…” Murien tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair, a sly smile on her lips. “Meanwhile, I shall do what I can to show St. John I am indeed the one to fear—that I am the woman he is to marry.”

“And how will you do that?”

“Leave that to me. You just take care of the ball. We’ll show St. John the pitfalls of having a consort like Kat.”

Fiona bit back a sigh, wishing Murien didn’t appear quite so happy about seeing Kat in such a humiliating situation. But Fiona would do it—she’d have the ball if for no other reason than to win the wager and keep her marriage intact.

Feeling miserable, she excused herself and went to her room to indulge in a good cry.

To the chagrin of more than one person, Devon came back to the clearing twice more over the next two days. Both times, despite Murien’s attempts to lure him into staying at the castle and Simon’s attempts to convince Kat that there was too much work to be done, Devon succeeded in carrying Kat off on Thunder. They rode far and wide, exploring pathways and galloping over meadows. And every day they’d have lunch beneath a tree of Kat’s choosing.

Devon kept the conversation light on purpose. And at the end of every ride, before they mounted up for the ride home, Devon would kiss Kat. Just once. Just enough to leave her—and him—wanting more.

It was the sort of seduction he’d never before carried out, one slowly paced and carefully planned. Every day was a tempting challenge, and Devon found that he was enjoying every minute of it.

Of course, he didn’t really think he needed to protect himself from Murien anymore…her charms did not appeal to him, which somewhat surprised him since she truly was the exact type of woman he’d pursued over and over. Perhaps that was why Kat was so appealing; she was just…Kat.