Drowned in the River Tweed. Cut up and used as fish bait. Pushed from a balloon at a thousand feet up. Shot for a goose. Hugh could easily think of a hundred more ways to punish the Earl of Nithsdale for the conduct of his wife, but none of them struck him at the moment as painful enough.

The woman was a nuisance. A simple introduction was not sufficient. She immediately launched into a barrage of two dozen questions before pausing for breath. Lady Nithsdale was not just a nuisance. She was an absolute menace.

Somewhere in that library, he thought, he had a volume on the torture techniques of Torquemada.

Looking at the pallor of Grace’s face right now, the memory of their kiss drifted to the shadows. Her condition worried him, and he recalled the words she’d spoken to him in the carriage barn. I’d find it trying to be inspected and judged in strange company. He didn’t blame her. The countess’s behavior was unpardonable. The defendants in his courtroom were treated with more regard.

“That’s quite enough, Lady Nithsdale,” he said in a tone that, for a moment at least, silenced the woman. “Enjoy your ride, ladies. Have a good day.”

He motioned for their carriage driver to proceed.

“Wait!” The countess found her voice before the carriage set off. “M’lord, we haven’t yet made good on the reason for our call, on the offer we made to your sister.”

She waited for no one to speak a word and turned to her companion.

“Mrs. Douglas, this is your chance to solve the Borders’ greatest mystery in a decade. Can you tell us if, in your extensive travels, you ever crossed paths with this young woman?”

Lady Nithsdale’s companion leaned forward, studying her like cat eyeing her prey. This was too much. Hugh was angered on Grace’s behalf.

“That is more than enough,” he ordered sharply. “Our intention is to help Miss Grace regain her strength, not cause her more agitation.”

“Well?” the older woman shrieked, not to be robbed of this moment. “Do you know her?”

“Pardon me, m’lord. I’ve met a great many people in my travels. I cannot recall if this young lady was ever introduced to me.”

“Very well. That’s settled.” Hugh shot a warning look at the driver. “Off you go, man. I’ll not say it again. Have a good day, ladies.”

Grace stood stock still, her blue eyes warily following the carriage’s departure. A shaking hand reached up and pushed away a strand of curls dangling down the side of her face.

Thoughts of their kiss edged back into his mind. The sweet taste of her lips as she’d brushed them against his, granting him permission. He’d lost his mind. The play of their tongues, the press of her body, the urgency to take everything she offered was not like him. He couldn’t recall ever feeling catapulted as he was to those uncertain heights of passion merely by a kiss. His gaze took in the rise and fall of her breasts beneath the gray coat, and he knew he was in trouble.

His sister’s words came back to him. What if there was a husband? Grace wore no ring, but what assurance did that provide? What if she was engaged? Or if she was simply attached to someone she didn’t remember.

And what was Hugh after? An affair.

Until her memory returned, Hugh was the one in possession of the past. He was the one who needed to exercise more control in the present.

The carriage disappeared from view, and when Grace turned her sapphire gaze back to him, he was a lost man.

“I’m ready to go back.”

As they led the horses along, he was relieved to see the color come back into her face.

“Lady Nithsdale’s rudeness is legendary, I’m afraid. She holds everyone else accountable for any lapse in behavior and all the while she behaves abominably. Her visit to Baronsford was the reason why Jo bowed out of this ride. My sister wanted to spare you this meeting. They have to be taking the roundabout way back to Nithsdale Hall. It was unfortunate that they ran into us.”

“I’m grateful to Lady Jo, but encounters like this are inevitable. I can’t hide in my room forever. And they didn’t ask anything truly inappropriate, however astonishing the force of her delivery was. My embarrassment stemmed from my inability to provide answers that would satisfy them.”

“You’re being far too kind. Lady Nithsdale was rude and undignified. And I was negligent in exposing you to some of the most insupportable behavior the Borders has to offer.”

“A vivid reminder that I need to plan on ending my stay at Baronsford,” she said. “I’m not afraid of anything your neighbor can do to me personally, but it’s not fair to allow you and your sister to become a target of such attention. I have a sense that whatever Lady Nithsdale thinks of me, her opinion will be spread far and wide.”

The words stung him. She was already talking of leaving. But what could he expect? Just because she’d been delivered in a crate addressed to him, that didn’t make Grace a gift he could keep.

“Without any memory of your past, you have no way of knowing whom to trust. Where would you go?”

“The only thing of value I possess is a diamond that I don’t recognize. I understand your concern. You think someone might take advantage of me if they learned I’m carrying a stone of value. For this reason I’d ask you to hold onto it for now as security for a loan of enough money for passage to Antwerp.”

“Antwerp?” he asked sharply.

“You told me that’s where the shipment originated. By going there I have a better chance of finding friends or family. Perhaps I’ll remember what I’ve forced myself to forget.”

“It’s impossible. You’re not well enough. It’s been only four days since your fever broke. You can’t be exposing yourself to the dangers and rigors of travel so soon.” He couldn’t let her go. Not yet. “And who would take care of you once you got there? What would happen if you fell ill again?”

Her gaze swept over his face, lingering unconsciously on his mouth. Hugh wondered if he’d driven her to this hasty decision by kissing her. He wanted her, and she had matched his passion. But perhaps he’d frightened her.

“Baronsford is well equipped to handle gossip,” he continued. “It has weathered scandal before. You couldn’t possibly bring a greater scandal to its walls.”

She shook her head in disagreement. “Once again, you are being too kind. But I can’t abuse your hospitality.”

“I won’t have you leaving so soon. Neither will Jo. We’re finished talking about it.”

“We’re finished talking about it until when?”

Grace herself was a glittering diamond amid the gray pebbles of his mundane existence. But that was no excuse for keeping her here. No reason to think he could dictate her life.

Even so, she should stay until his clerk returned from Antwerp, Hugh thought. He’d received a single letter from MacKay, sent back express as he’d directed. No one in Antwerp was looking for any missing American woman. He was to meet with British embassy officials in Brussels, not half a day’s ride away, who’d contacted him, asking for a meeting. Assuming nothing came of that, the man requested instructions of Hugh.

“A fortnight. We can revisit this in a fortnight. Agreed?”

He wished he could read her mind as she stared straight ahead. He couldn’t make her stay. The back of their hands brushed as they walked. He looked down, expecting Grace to withdraw hers. But she didn’t. Her gaze lifted to his face. This wasn’t a decision she was making lightly. It was not his imagination. She was torn. He saw a wistfulness in her eyes, a longing that matched his own.

“A week. I must go as soon as I’m able. We’ll discuss this again in a week. And if I’m well enough then, you agree to loan me enough for passage to Antwerp.”

“Fair enough.” He’d been given nothing at first, now they had a week. And if he had his way, they’d be adding more days until they had a firm answer regarding who she was and where she’d be going.

Before either of them could say anything more, Grace’s attention was drawn to the sound of young voices behind them. Turning around, he saw nearly a dozen children of various ages running through the field with a maid in pursuit.

Grace waved back as couple of small girls shouted greetings at them.

“Who are they? Where did they come from?”

He motioned to the tower house, only partly visible through the trees. “That’s where they live. Heading for the loch, I should think. There’s a particularly nasty marsh below where we walked that has more frogs than one can count.”

“They all live up there?”

“All of them.” He counted them. “I believe the two youngest ones are missing.”

She smiled, turning around and watching them disappear one after another into the trees.

“They can’t all be siblings. They look too close in age.”

“My sister can answer all your questions. That’s the tower house I told you about. It’s Jo and Violet’s project.”

She was still smiling when she looked up at him.

“And that,” he said, gesturing toward the departing children. “That is the best of the Borders.”