As High as the Heavens by Kathleen Morgan Page B

conversation?
    At the consideration, it was all Duncan could do to
master his excitement. If it were true, his shared resemblance with Colin Stewart wasn't the miracle at work
here this night, but the great gift he was being offered
in the opportunity to spend an extended period of time
in Heather Gordon's presence. Perhaps fate had indeed
stepped in this day, and that fate was smiling most kindly
upon him.
    "Are ye saying," he forced himself to ask, "that ye're
offering yer daughter as my personal tutor?"
    "Aye, if ye'll have her."
    Have her? Was the man blind as well as daft? This
was a gift to kill for!

    "If ye say she's fit to teach me what needs to be taught,
aye, of course I'll have her."
    At his apparent doubt as to her abilities, Heather shot
him a baleful glare then, clamping her mouth tightly,
swung her gaze back to the fire. Duncan hid his smile
of satisfaction. Good. As hard as she tries to hide it, she
isn't as docile or accepting of all this as it would first
seem.
    "Heather is an extremely well-read, intelligent young
woman." Robert contemplated the contents of his goblet momentarily before taking another swallow. "Ye'll
be hard-pressed, I'd wager, to find her lacking in any
subject."
    "And, once again, I'll take yer word on it." Swiftly,
Duncan turned his attention back to the older man, lest
he reveal the extent of his pleasure with the situation.
"How much time will this transformation require? And
where will it take place? I can't leave the Highlands for
any extended period of time just now."
    "We haven't much time to spare, only three months
at most. The plan is to rescue the queen within the first
week of May. And as far as the place..." Robert shrugged.
"It'll be best to do it here. It'll be easier to maintain the
secrecy of the project as far from the queen and the
court spies as possible. Angus has agreed to put ye up
in his house for the interim. That way ye can have daily
access to Heather and yer lessons."
    Duncan met his father's gaze, then turned back to
Robert, shaking his head. "Three months doesn't seem
an adequate time to me. But, as before, I'll take yer word
on it that yer daughter can teach me what I need to know by then. It won't be convenient, though, for me to stay
here wi' Angus. My mither's ill and my father can't spare
me for so long a time. I can't work our steading, then
ride back and forth to here every day. It's a half day's
ride each way, ye know."

    Robert turned to Angus. "Can't ye spare a few men
to help Malcolm in the time we require Duncan's presence?"
    The Mackenzie laird considered the request, then nodded. "Aye. It'll be difficult, but it can be done."
    "Well, difficult or not," Duncan growled, a plan forming in his mind, "I won't agree to this no matter if Angus
can or can't spare the men. No purpose is served in inconveniencing all, when an alternate solution is readily
available."
    At his words, Heather jerked from her contemplation
of the fire, her gaze slamming into his with a watchful,
wary intensity. Duncan smiled. She senses the trap about
to be sprung. She's indeed canny and quick-witted.
    "And what solution would that be?" Robert Gordon
asked, his eyes blank save for a light of simple curiosity. "It's the last thing in my mind to inconvenience any
of us."
    "We've a fine, large cottage." Even as he smilingly
continued, Duncan's resolve hardened. "Yer daughter,
if she's truly set upon doing her part to help free our
queen, can surely endure three months there."
    "I'll do no such thing!" Heather, speaking out at last,
leaped to her feet. "It isn't seemly, nor are your quarters,
I'm sure, aught close to what I've become accustomed.
The lessons will be given here or not at all."

    Duncan leaned against the settle's tall, wooden back,
folded his arms across his chest, and shrugged. "Then
I fear, sweet lass, further discussion is pointless. If ye
won't budge from behind these walls, then yer father's
plans for the