"Be sure to take Hugh's daughter to Castle Doom on the way. That will give her a rare view of the Highlands. No doubt you've been there?"

Castle Doom was the nickname of a ruined fortress on top of a ferociously steep hill, and it had some of the grandest views in central Scotland. "It's been years since I visited the place, but you're right, Troth would enjoy it very much. We'll stop on the way to Kinnockburn."

He was determined to make her journey a memorable one, because he suspected that it would be his last chance to win Troth's heart.

So exhilarated that she discarded caution, Troth skipped over to Kyle and caught his hands. "Come, my lord. I swear you're the only man here I haven't danced with yet."

" You haven't danced with me," Caleb Logan said, his eyes gleaming with discreet lust. He was one of those men who was stimulated by the thought of mounting exotic women, Troth suspected.

Face straight, Kyle said, "Troth Montgomery, meet Caleb Logan, who was once your father's partner."

"Good evening, Mr. Logan." Troth curtsied gracefully, as if she hadn't seen him often in Canton. But Logan had obviously not made the connection between the interpreter Jin Kang and his old partner's daughter, and she wasn't about to enlighten him. "I heard of you from my father, of course, though it's been many years."

"What did he say?" Logan asked curiously.

"That you showed great promise, and you'd end up a rich man."

Logan laughed. "Hugh must have had a bit of the second sight."

While the trader was still chuckling, Troth detached Kyle and led him onto the floor as the dance music was starting. "I hope you haven't drunk so much whiskey you'll fall flat on the floor."

He smiled at her wickedly. "I'm enough of a Scot to dance best when I've had a wee dram or two or three."

It was the truth, too. He danced the old Scottish reels with passion, swift, sure footwork, and a clasp that dizzied her with his nearness when it was time to whirl her around. Damning the consequences, she gave herself up to the magic of the moment, for dancing was the closest thing to making love that she dared do with him.

When the reel was done, he took her arm and steered her to the table where cool, tart lemonade was being dispensed. As they sipped their drinks, he asked, "Have you been doing your chi exercises? I came by the Montgomerys' garden the last couple of mornings, but didn't see you."

"I'm afraid not. My grandmother and aunt have been keeping me too busy. I had no idea that so many cousins existed in the world," she said guiltily, knowing she could have found time if she'd wanted. But this early in her acquaintance with her father's family, she didn't want to do anything as strange as wing chun in the garden. Though they'd accepted Troth Montgomery without reservation, she'd wait a bit before introducing them to Mei-Lian. "Wouldn't Mairead make a wonderful tai-tai?"

Kyle laughed. "I think she already is."

James Montgomery leaped onto a chair and called out, "Now that we're all here and merry, I'd like to propose a toast, so if ye havena a glass in yer hand, get one!"

After everyone complied, James raised his glass to Troth. " 'Tis blithe to meet, woe to part, and blithe to meet once more. May the sun always shine upon ye, niece, for ye've brought my brother home."

Tears in her eyes, Troth clutched her lemonade as everyone drank to her. She wanted to say something in return, but her throat had closed up.

Then Kyle said in a voice that carried to all corners of the room, "And here's to the Montgomerys of Melrose, who have proved that there is no hospitality in the world to match that of Scotland."

Everyone drank to that gladly. Troth's tears almost spilled over as Kyle gave her an intimate smile. No one else in the world could understand what tonight meant to her.

A wild skirling pierced the conversation, transfixing everyone in the room. "The piper's come! Aye, the piper's here!"

As people flooded out into the courtyard, Kyle kept an arm around Troth to keep her from being squashed. He always made her feel so safe when there was physical threat. It was emotional situations that made her wary.

Wind-tossed torches in the courtyard illuminated the approach of a Highland piper in full regalia, kilt swinging and bagpipes wailing to set the hair on a man's neck straight up. Troth watched, rapt. No wonder soldiers would follow a piper to hell and back.

She also understood why the pipes were played outdoors-the sound would be shattering inside. When the first tune ended and the crowd was applauding, she asked Kyle quietly, "I thought pipes were more from the Highlands?"

"Yes, but all Scots mourned when Highland dress and customs were suppressed after the Forty-Five uprising. Now that kilts and pipes are legal again, they're welcome everywhere in Scotland, especially since the Highland regiments won such honor fighting Napoleon. He called the Highlanders 'devils in skirts.' "

James Montgomery emerged from the crowd with a pair of swords and ceremoniously crossed them on the ground, then announced, "My sister Annie's husband, who fought with the Gordon Highlanders at Waterloo, will do a sword dance."

Troth had met Tam Gordon, a slight, quiet uncle by marriage, but hadn't known of his military past. The piper began to play and Tam stepped forward. His feet moving with dazzling agility, he danced around the swords, his arms raised and exultation on his face.

Kyle said in her ear, "It was considered an omen of victory the next day if the dance could be done without touching one of the swords."

"Can you do the sword dance?"

"I learned it as a boy, but one must wear a kilt to do it properly. Trousers are too tight for true Highland dancing." He placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "Dominic is fond enough of Scotland, but it never spoke to him as strongly as it did me. Perhaps it was because I was given a Scottish name and he wasn't."

Troth had a brief, dizzying image of Kyle in full Highland dress. He'd be a sight to send any female heart into palpitations. Her skin prickled as she remembered their lovemaking among the apple trees of Dornleigh. For a brief time there, minds and doubts had not come between them…

Sword dance finished, the piper began to play a reel. As couples formed, Kyle caught Troth around the waist and swung her into the music. "It would take a heart of stone not to feel like a Scot tonight."

"And my heart isn't stone, my lord!" Laughing, she surrendered to his lead, her skirts swinging and her hair spilling loose as they danced with the fierce freedom their ancestors had known. Under the black sky and flaring torches, she forgot past and present, forgot everything except the wild wail of the pipes and the man whose masterful hands and strong body warmed the night and ignited all her senses.

She tried to remember the good reasons for not lying with him again. But pain and pride seemed distant and unreal, while the call of the blood was hot and urgent and infinitely more compelling.

Perhaps on their journey to the Highlands they could have one last fling-and the devil take the consequences.