LITMIR.BIZ

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boot-clad feet under her chair, Esme turned her head toward the square-paned window that overlooked the soggy inner garden and didn’t deign to answer.

      She must speak to Jamie about MacLachlann’s insolence. If MacLachlann wouldn’t treat her with the proper respect, there had to be other men in London who were equally capable of finding out information. Her brother need not employ MacLachlann for that purpose, even if he had gone to school with Jamie.

      With a self-satisfied smirk, MacLachlann strolled over to the desk and, with one long, ungloved finger, tapped the documents she’d placed there. “I wonder what your brother’s clients would say if they knew his sister was as good as a partner in the business? That it was a woman who wrote the contracts, wills, entailments and settlements and did most of his research for him?”

      Esme jumped to her feet. “I merely help him compose the first draft of such documents and find legal precedents for him. Jamie always writes the final documents and checks everything I do. If you dare to say or imply otherwise to anyone, we’ll sue for slander. And if you write it anywhere or tell any member of the press who reports it, we’ll sue for libel—not that you’ll be able to pay any damages.”

      “Settle down, Miss McCallan, and put your law-book mind at ease,” MacLachlann replied in his most patronizing manner. “I won’t tell anybody about all the work you do for your brother.” His customary smirk left his face for the briefest of moments. “I owe him too much.”

      Just what? she wanted to ask. Jamie had never told her exactly where or how he’d encountered MacLachlann in London. Jamie had simply brought the obviously inebriated man home, let him sleep in the spare room and then given him employment as a sort of investigative associate. Naturally she’d had questions, most of which Jamie declined to answer, saying only that MacLachlann had fallen on hard times and was estranged from his family. Only later, through snippets of conversation between the two men, had she learned that MacLachlann had disgraced his family with his wastrel ways.

      She’d also discovered, through firsthand observation, that he could be very charming when he wished to be, especially with women, who then responded as if he’d somehow turned their minds to porridge.

      Not hers, of course. She was far too wary and sceptical to be swayed by his shallow charm, should he ever have attempted to sway her with it.

      She glanced at the gilded clock on the mantelpiece and saw that it was now nearly 4:00 p.m.

      “Impatient, are we?” the wastrel inquired.

      “You may have nothing better to do than loiter,” Esme declared as she started for the door, “but I do. Good day.”

      “What, you’re going to leave me here all alone?” MacLachlann demanded with bogus dismay.

      “Yes, and gladly,” she snapped as she opened the door and nearly collided with Jamie.

      “Ah, here you are, then, the pair of you and no blood spilled,” her tardy brother said with a smile, his stronger accent telling her that despite his apparent good humor, he was upset.

      “I finished the documents you wanted,” she said, curious about what had happened, although she would never ask such a question with MacLachlann in the room. Hopefully she could find out later, when she and her brother were alone. “I discovered an interesting precedent in a case from 1602, concerning a sheep whose ownership was disputed due to lack of an earmark.”

      Jamie hung his tall hat on the wall hook by the door. “I’ll deal with Mrs. Allen’s suit tomorrow,” he said, running his hand through his close-cropped brown curls as he went around the scarred and ancient desk they’d found at a used furniture shop. “And while I thank you for bringing the papers, I have another matter with which I hope you’ll both assist me.”

      A swift glance in the wastrel’s direction proved he was no more keen to have anything to do with her than she was with him.

      “Sit down, Esme, and let me explain. You, too, Quinn, if you please,” her brother said, nodding at the chair.

      Regarding her brother with a combination of curiosity and dread, Esme did as he asked. She again perched on the edge of the chair, while Quinn sat on another equally small chair and tilted it back so that all the weight rested on the back legs.

      “You’re going to break that chair if you lean back in such a fashion,” Esme charged.

      “Care to make a wager on it?” MacLachlann replied with that mocking grin she hated.

      She didn’t give him the satisfaction of answering.

      “I’ve asked you both here,” her brother began as if neither one had spoken, “because I need your help with a matter that requires legal expertise and discretion, as well as a certain amount of subterfuge.”

      “Subterfuge?” Esme repeated warily.

      “Surely you’re not so naive as to believe the practise of law doesn’t occasionally require some creative espionage,” MacLachlann said, “at least when it comes to finding out facts that some people would prefer to keep buried.”

      “I understand there may be facts that need to be ferreted out, but subterfuge sounds illegal,” she protested.

      MacLachlann rolled his eyes and looked about to say more, but Jamie spoke first. “It’s not the method I would prefer. However, I fear that in this instance, subterfuge may be the only way to find out what I must,” he said. “Certainly it will likely be the fastest, and the sooner the matter is resolved, the better.”

      Esme forced her qualms, along with her dislike of MacLachlann, into a corner of her mind and focused on her brother.

      “I had a letter from Edinburgh this morning. Catriona McNare needs my help.”

      Esme’s mouth fell open as she stared at her brother. “Lady Catriona McNare asked for your help? After what she did to you?”

      Jamie winced before replying. Although she felt her indignation more than justified, she was sorry she hadn’t been more circumspect.

      “She needs the help of someone she can trust, and a solicitor’s confidential opinion,” he said. “To whom should she turn but me?”

      Anybody except you, Esme thought, remembering the night Catriona McNare had broken her engagement to Jamie.

      Poor Jamie’s face had been as white as snow and his eyes full of such mute misery, she’d spent all night outside his bedroom door, afraid he might harm himself.

      “There are plenty of solicitors in Edinburgh she could hire,” she said.

      A resolutely determined look came to her brother’s usually mild coffee-brown eyes. “Catriona’s asked for my help, and she’s going to get it.”

      “Help with what?” MacLachlann asked, reminding Esme that he was still there.

      A studious expression had replaced his mocking smirk, and it made an astonishing difference. Not an improvement, exactly, for smirking or otherwise, MacLachlann was a good-looking man. It did, however, hint that there might be some measure of sincerity in him after all.

      Probably about a teaspoon’s worth.

      “It seems her father has suffered some financial setbacks,” Jamie explained. “Unfortunately the earl won’t confide in her or reveal exactly what he’s been doing with his money or what documents he’s been signing. She’s afraid the situation will get worse unless something is done.

      “I would go to Edinburgh myself, but if I arrive and start making inquiries, people will wonder why. Nobody will know you, though, Esme. We didn’t have a chance to introduce you to anybody before …” He hesitated for the briefest of moments. “Before we left for London.”

      And a new life, far away from Lady Catriona McNare, the Mistress of Duncombe.

      “There’s nobody I trust more when it comes to assessing legal documents than you,

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