“It is rather lumpy,” she conceded, shifting in discomfort. “And I will own it is a trifle small.”
“Small?” He gave a disbelieving snort. “A bairn couldn’t fit on that thing did he bend himself in half! She’s done this deliberately, I am telling you,” he added, his dark glare daring her to disagree. “She’s getting back at me for this afternoon, the vindictive old hag!”
Caroline’s lips twitched with humor. “I’m sure that’s not true,” she murmured, and the quivering note in her demure voice had him stalking over to bend over her.
“ ’Tis so true,” he said, cupping her chin and tilting her face so he could study her. “And I can see by that smile you’re doing your best to hide that you approve of her devious methods. Converted you to her evil ways, has Aunt Egidia?”
Although her eyes remained downcast, he could tell she was doing her best not to laugh. “Your aunt is a most intelligent lady with many sterling qualities to recommend her,” she said, her cool, precise accent enchanting him.
“Indeed?” he asked, his annoyance with the bed forgotten as he began brushing kisses across her mouth. “And what might those sterling qualities be? I cannot say as I’ve noticed them.”
“She is very direct,” Caroline said, tilting her head to grant his lips freer access.
“Rude,” he translated, nibbling the scented flesh.
“She has excellent advice which she freely offers.” Her hands drifted to his narrow waist.
“Meddlesome,” he corrected, and cupped her breasts, his thumbs lightly caressing the sensitive tips.
“She told me to let you make love to me whenever you wished.”
Hugh’s head snapped up at the soft words, disbelief giving way to delight as he gazed down into her flushed face. “Did she now?” he drawled, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Well, then, ’Tis as I have always said; Aunt Egidia is a woman of rare good sense, and you are to do just as she bids you.”
In answer Caroline flicked open his robe, smiling up at him as she boldly stroked him. “Very well, sir,” she said, her voice a wanton’s sultry purr. “If that is what you wish.”
The next morning Caroline was awakened by a loud thump, followed by a stream of the foulest language she’d ever heard. She opened her eyes and found Hugh sprawled on the floor.
“The plague take that tightfisted, black-hearted daughter of the devil!” he raged, rolling onto his back and rubbing his head. “She is trying to kill me!”
The picture of her handsome husband sitting on the floor naked and cranky as a babe had Caroline biting her lip. “Are you all right?” she asked, doing her best to sound solicitous.
The black look he shot her made it plain her efforts had been for naught. “No, I am not all right,” he retorted furiously. “My legs are numb, my back is in agony, and now my bloody head feels as if ’twas kicked by a horse! I’m nae spending another night in that hellish thing,” he added, pointing an accusatory finger at the bed. “I’ll be crippled for life if I try!”
Despite her best efforts a strangled giggle escaped her lips, and she was instantly pinned by a narrow-eyed glare. “Are you by chance laughing at me, wife?” he queried silkily, reaching up to capture her ankle in his strong hand.
“I shouldn’t dream of it, husband,” she said demurely, and then spoiled the effect by breaking out in a wide smile. “Do you need assistance getting up, or is it your intention to remain where you are? If so, I shall have to warn the maids. I would not wish them to be shocked by your dishabille.”
His fingers tightened warningly. “One good tug, leannan, and you’re down here with me. Then we’ll treat the maids to a sight that will have their eyes popping from their heads.”
“You would never be so ungentlemanly,” she said, then gave a squeal of laughter when he proved her wrong.
“You were saying, my lady?” he asked, pinning her to the faded carpet with a supple shift of his body.
“I was saying I shall have the bed replaced by nightfall,” she said, thrilling to the unexpected love play. “Now, will you please let me up? Your sister has promised to take me about the shops, and I don’t wish to keep her waiting.”
“And what of our aunt’s sage advice?” he queried, ignoring her efforts to free herself with lordly indifference. “Or have you’ve already forgotten her words to you?”
She slipped her hands into the thick russet hair cascading about his face. “I’ve forgotten nothing,” she assured him, wrapping her fingers about a strand and pulling firmly. “She also advised me to box your ears at least once a day, lest you become too full of yourself is how she phrased it, I believe.”
Hugh scowled. “Witch,” he muttered, rolling to his feet before pulling Caroline to hers.
“That is no way to talk about your aunt,” she said, shaking back her hair and sending him an admonishing frown.
“Who said ’twas Aunt Egidia I was speaking of?” he asked, spinning her around. “Now go ring for my breakfast, wife,” he ordered, adding to her outrage by giving her bare behind a playful slap. “I’ve a powerful hunger this morning.”
Although she’d been joking when she’d promised Hugh to buy a new bed for them, Caroline made the cabinetmaker’s shop her first stop. To her relief she found exactly what she needed within minutes of her arrival, and by employing a judicious mixture of flattery and bribery she was able to secure the shopkeeper’s ardent promise to have it delivered by nightfall. Pleased with the bargain she’d struck, she ordered several other pieces to be delivered as well, only stopping to think how her purchases might be received after she and Mairi had left the shop.
“You don’t think your aunt will be angry, do you?” she asked, sending Mairi a worried look. “I wouldn’t wish to give offense.”
“Och, no!” Mairi assured her with a lilting laugh. “Knowing Aunt Egidia, she’ll like as not lift her skirts and dance a jig when she sees all this fine new furniture. She’s a Scot, after all, and there’s nothing more pleasing to a Scot than to be getting something for nothing. Dinna fash yourself over it.”
“Then perhaps she wouldn’t object if I purchased some new drapes for our bedroom?” Caroline asked, thinking of the dusty, rotting shreds of velvet dangling crookedly from the broken rods. “And a new carpet would not go amiss as well. The floor is dreadfully hard.” She clapped her hand over her mouth, her cheeks suffusing with color as she realized what she’d said.
Mairi gave another lusty roar of laughter. “Purchase what you like, Caroline, and never mind what Auntie may say,” she said, giving Caroline’s arm a sisterly squeeze. “But don’t you think you should wait until after you and Hugh buy a home? Not that you aren’t perfectly welcome to remain with us,” she added quickly at Caroline’s stunned expression. “And of course, once Hugh gets Loch Haven back, you’ll live most of the year there. But you’ll be wanting your own house, won’t you? For when the bairns start coming.”
Caroline could think of nothing to say, the art of dissembling beyond her. From Mairi’s remarks, she gathered Hugh had decided to keep the truth from her, just as she’d neglected to tell his aunt more than was necessary. She’d become so adept at avoiding the stark reality of their marriage that there were times when she managed to fool herself as well. An obvious error on her part, she decided, struggling to draw a shaky breath.
“Caroline? Is something wrong?” Mairi was regarding her with genuine alarm. “Oh, I’ve hurt you, haven’t I, with my heedless tongue and prattling ways!” she cried, her green eyes full of distress. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, truly I did not!”
Her sister-in-law’s anguish brought Caroline back to herself, and she gave a quick shake of her head. “No, no, Mairi, that’s not it at all, truly,” she said, giving the unhappy girl an impulsive hug. “It is just I’ve never had a home of my own, and I—I am a little overwhelmed at the thought, that is all.”
“Are you certain?” Mairi eyed her worriedly. “Hugh will pin my ears back if he should learn I’ve ups
et you.”
“Of course I’m certain,” Caroline said decisively, reaching a swift conclusion. “And you’ve not upset me in the slightest. In fact, you’ve just given me the most wonderful idea I have ever had. Come with me!” And she turned back toward the street they had just left.
“Wait!” Mairi hurried to keep abreast with her. “What is it? Where are we going?”
“To find a solicitor,” Caroline said, recalling the office she’d seen on the last corner. “I am going to buy a house.”
Chapter 12
Loch Haven was his. Hugh stared down at the letter in his hand, his jaw clenched tight as he struggled to put a name to the emotions boiling inside him. Relief was there, aye, but so was anger, joy, stunned incredulity, and a deep, scalding bitterness that overwhelmed everything else. He felt much the same after a battle, when he found himself still alive while death and horror were piled at his feet. He felt … He threw down the letter and wearily rubbed his eyes. Christ, he didn’t know how he felt.
Angry and impatient, he rose to his feet and stalked over to stand before the fireplace. He should be delighted at his victory, he told himself, gazing down into the flames. This was the day he’d worked toward since returning to Scotland. He should be happy, and yet that intangible emotion eluded him as ever it had done. He’d won all he’d ever wanted, and yet he felt as if he was on the brink of losing it all. It made no sense.
He was no closer to unraveling the mystery when Gregors opened the door. “Ye’ve a visitor,” he said, his sour tone making it plain he blamed Hugh for the fact. “Do I bring him in or send him packing?”
“Who is it, Gregors?” Hugh asked, so grateful for the interruption that he didn’t care if it was the king of England himself who had come calling.
“A Mr. Raghnall come from Loch Haven,” Gregors informed him with an impatient scowl. “Will ye be seein’ him or nae? I’ve no’ the time to stand here blitherin’ about the matter.”
The mention of his old friend lightened Hugh’s black mood considerably. Here was someone who would appreciate his news, he thought, a smile of welcome already forming on his lips. “Send him in,” he ordered. “Oh, and Gregors,” he added as the butler turned to leave, “bring in a bottle of whiskey as well. We’ve much to celebrate this day.”
The butler gave a disapproving sniff. “The takin’ o’ spirits in the midst o’ the day is an abomination,” he said severely, then closed the door with a slam.
A few moments later there was a tap at the door, and Lucien Raghnall stepped inside.
“Lucien!” Hugh hurried forward to offer his hand. “ ’Tis good to see you! What brings you to Edinburgh?”
“I’ve come to see you,” Lucien said grimly, shaking Hugh’s hand. “Rumors aplenty are flying about the village, and I thought it best to learn the truth of them from you.”
The blunt words took Hugh aback. “What sort of rumors?” he asked, waving Lucien toward the pair of chairs set before the fire.
“Rumors that you’ve succeeded,” Lucien said without preamble. “Rumors that Loch Haven is yours, and that once more the MacColme dragon will fly above the castle keep.”
An image of his family’s pennant snapping in the cold breeze brought a lump to Hugh’s throat. “Aye,” he said softly, the joy he hadn’t been able to feel before now filling his heart. “Fly again it will. Although I’d like to know how ’Tis common knowledge already,” he added, frowning in confusion. “I’ve only received final word of it this morning.”
“Servants’ tattle,” Lucien informed him, sprawling easily in the chair. “Pickerson, the man who bought the castle from the bailiff, was ill-pleased to learn of your efforts, and was loud in his complaints to all who would listen. And a few who would not,” he added with a wry smile. “He came to the inn one night to speak of it, full of bluster and moral outrage. Would you believe it? He actually expected us to take his side against yours, and seemed much surprised when we would not.”
“Considering the feeling against me when I left for Bath, I would have thought there would be many who would stand with him,” Hugh observed, recalling his cold reception. “My own cousin amongst them.”
“Ah, but that was before you restored Loch Haven to the clan.” Lucien’s gray-blue eyes danced with laughter. “And as for your cousin, well, Angus MacColme was ever a bitter man. He never forgave your father for being the laird, and he’ll never forgive you for the same reason. Dinna mind him.”
Hugh accepted the sad truth of that with a sigh. “What else did this Pickerson have to say?” he asked, turning his mind to other matters. “Will he make trouble, do you think?”
Lucien gave an expansive shrug. “He’s threatened everything from barricading himself in the tower to burning the place down about him, but I doubt he’ll do either. The bailiff made it plain that did he damage one stone, he’d be charged double the price for repairing it, and that seemed to give the limmer pause. You know how parsimonious are these sons of York,” he added with a chuckle. “They put us spendthrift Scots to shame.”
The arrival of the whiskey, brought by a glowering and muttering Gregors, provided a brief diversion, and Hugh waited until he had served Lucien and himself and left the room. “You said there were other rumors,” he said, savoring the golden whiskey with a contented sigh. “May I ask what they are?”
“Now, that’s the odd part of it,” Lucien said, sipping thoughtfully. “The talk is that you’ve wed, and not only that, but that you’ve taken to wife some cold bitch of an Englishwoman with a fine title and pockets dripping with gold.”
Hugh was on his feet without even being aware of having moved. “What did you say?” he demanded, a deadly fury turning his voice to ice.
Lucien blinked up at him in surprise, his glass poised halfway to his mouth. “What?”
“Repeat what you just said,” Hugh ordered, fighting for control. “And remember well that you are speaking of my wife.”
Lucien’s jaw dropped, and he set his glass down with a thud. “Then ’Tis true?” he demanded, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You’ve married an Englishwoman?”
“And if I have?” Hugh growled, his hands clenching in fists.
“Then I would say you’ve taken leave of your senses!” Lucien shot back, rising also to his feet. “Good God, Hugh, what could you have been thinking? You must know the people would never accept a Sasunnach as mistress of Loch Haven!”
This was a fact Hugh had already considered, but he’d told himself that until the castle and lands were once more in his hold it didn’t matter. Now they were, and the problems of Caroline and what they would next do seemed insurmountable.
“It’s not a marriage that need trouble the people,” he said at last, thrusting a hand through his hair and turning away from Lucien. “It’s … temporary, I suppose you would call it.”
“Temporary?” Lucien repeated in obvious confusion. “I dinna understand. How can a marriage ever be temporary?”
Hugh hesitated, wrestling with his pride and his duty. Loath as he was to discuss his marriage to Caroline and the reasons behind it, he could see no other way. Reluctantly he told Lucien how he had come to meet Caroline, and of the deal struck between the general and himself. Safety for Caroline, Loch Haven for him.
“So that is why you marred the wench,” Lucien said when he was done. “It makes sense to me now. My apologies to you, MacColme, for doubting your honor. I might have known you wouldna have married one of the English without good cause.”
“But you can see why I must ask that you tell no one?” Hugh cautioned, eyeing his friend warily. “ ’Twould be disastrous for Caroline should the earl ever learn the truth of the matter.”
“I hope I know better than to wag my tongue like a foolish woman,” Lucien responded in an affronted tone. “I’ll nae say a word, if that’s what you wish. But dinna think I’m the only one wanting an explanation. What of your chieftains and the elders? Dinna they deserve the truth?”
Hugh busied hi
mself pouring another glass of whiskey. “Very well,” he said at last, picking up the glass and studying the amber liquor inside as if it contained the wisdom of Solomon. “You have my leave to tell them I married to secure the castle. But mind that is all you tell them,” he added, fixing Lucien with a deadly look. “Do I hear but a whisper of this other business, and I’ll cut the tongue from your head before I kill you.”
“As you wish, laird,” Lucien replied, inclining his head with grave courtesy. “I shall inform the clan of your marriage and the reasons for it. Is there anything else you wish me to tell them while I am about it?”
“Only this,” Hugh said, his lips thinning in a grim line. “For all intents and purposes Caroline is my wife, the lady of the castle, and I’ll have the life of any man who treats her with other than the greatest respect. Tell them that, Lucien, and make certain they understand you, for I’ve never meant a thing more in my life.”
Lucien eyed him for several seconds before responding. “Aye,” he said carefully, “I can see that you do, and I will do my best to follow your orders. But have you stopped to think what you ask may nae be possible? You’ve been a long time away, and you dinna know how things are. It will be difficult enough for some to accept you as laird, but if they think you have chosen an English wench above them, I—”
“Enough!” Hugh hurled his glass of whiskey against the fireplace. It shattered into a hundred glittering shards, and the whiskey inside stained the gray stones, darkening it as the liquid ran down the soot-stained bricks. Hugh stared at the spreading stain for several seconds, his hands clenching and unclenching as he fought to master the pain and rage inside.
“What is it you want of me?” he demanded, whirling around to confront a shocked Lucien. “What is it you all want? What else must I say, or do, or sacrifice and suffer before it will finally be enough to satisfy the lot of you?”
An uncomfortable silence followed his passionate outburst, and Lucien stared at him as if he thought him quite mad. “Hugh,” he began, the awkwardness in his tone almost painful to hear. “I am sorely shamed if I have offended you. I dinna mean to insult you; I give you my word.”
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