“You do realize that Connor will never love you? He’s no capable of that emotion, no for any woman. He may marry you, but it’ll be a poor, cold life.”
She shrugged indifferently. “It doesn’t matter how he feels about me. I make my own decisions based on my own feelings.”
“You make yer decisions poorly then. Yer a prime example of why women should no be allowed to think for themselves. Love is no a reason to wed. Marriage is a business transaction, pure and simple. Each of the parties has something the other wants.”
He reached out and grasped the pendant, allowing the back of his hand to rest against her breast, as he lowered his head toward her again.
Cate shoved against his chest, but this time he didn’t budge, and with her back against the balcony railing, she had nowhere to run.
* * *
Connor felt her absence the instant she stood to leave.
When he’d first gone to meet her this evening, there had been a moment there in her bedchamber where he’d almost lost control, almost fallen into the trap of thinking of her as belonging to him.
When she’d stood in the doorway, her hair flowing about her as it had that first time he’d seen her, he could have sworn it was desire he saw in her eyes. Then, with his hands on her bare shoulders, feeling the heat of her body, the trembling beneath his fingers, his mind had wandered briefly and he’d wondered what it was he might see in the depths of those eyes if he lifted her to the bed and stayed there with her.
He’d come to his senses. It had taken considerable effort, but he made sure he didn’t make that mistake again throughout the evening. He’d kept his distance. He’d remained unaffected by her.
Until he felt her leave.
She’d slipped out the door to the balcony and then, shortly after, his cousin had followed her. When moments later he followed as well, it was only to see to her safety, or so he told himself.
He slipped silently into the shadows of the dimly lit balcony, stopping to pick up a cloak he found lying on one of the tables near the door.
Now he was growing increasingly agitated watching as she flirted with Blane, going so far as to place her hands on his cousin’s chest. He took a deep breath. It didn’t matter to him what she did. His only concern was that she honor her pledge to aid him in saving his sister. Once that was done, she could return to her own time and seek the company of as many men as she pleased. That was, after all, what women did.
Keeping to the shadows, he edged closer to the couple on the balcony. From there he could listen to the faithless wench. Only in the interest of making sure she kept her pledge of course, or so he told himself.
This close he could hear her words and, even in the dim light of the balcony, he could easily see her expression. From this vantage, the scenario was entirely different.
Backed against the rail as she was, Cate reminded him of a frightened doe as Blane took her pendant into his hands and obviously moved to kiss her.
She hadn’t been caressing Blane’s chest; she was trying to push him away.
The realization staggered him. It took every ounce of Connor’s self-control not to spring out and smash his fist into his cousin’s pretty face.
“I’m no interrupting, am I?” he asked as he slowly stepped into the pool of light.
Relief flooded Cate’s face. “Connor.” She started toward him, but stopped immediately since Blane still held the pendant.
“Blane?” He looked pointedly at his cousin’s hand, lingering on the jewel.
“Ah, good eve’n, Cousin. I was just admiring yer . . . fine gift to yer lovely betrothed. Did you realize the stone is an exact match for her eyes?” Smiling, he allowed the jewel to slide from his hands as he backed away.
“Aye, Cousin.” Connor gritted his teeth. “I’d noted the match. I could no hae missed it.” He turned his back to Blane. “I’d hae joined you earlier, Caty, but I wanted to get a cloak for you. I ken how easily you get chilled.”
He didn’t miss the grateful look on her face as he pulled her against him and draped the wrap around her. She trembled in his arms, and he once again fought back the urge to do physical damage to his cousin.
“Come, lass, we’ll get you back into the warmth of the hall now.”
“Wasnae that yer mother’s jewel?” Blane still smiled, but his narrowed eyes gave him a calculating look. “I’d no hae thought you’d put something belonging to yer mother on a woman of yer own.”
Blane was attempting to provoke him, but he refused to be drawn into a fight here with his uncle’s men so close by. There was Cate to think of now. He had, after all, promised to see to her safety.
“What’s done is done, Blane. I’ll no discuss my mother or my betrothed with you.” Once again, he fought back the urge to vent his rage on the man, instead moving Cate past his cousin, before pausing at the door to turn back. Blane was his kin, his flesh and blood. He’d grant him this one warning. “My thanks to you, Cousin.”
Blane’s face momentarily revealed his surprise. “For what?”
“Why, for watching over my wee Caty, of course. Without you here to look over her in my absence, someone may hae thought to take advantage of her.” He glared at his cousin, waiting until the other man looked guiltily away. “I would hate to ruin the celebration for my lady by forcing her to see me kill someone simply because that man thought to put his hands on what’s mine. And she is mine.” He knew Blane understood when his cousin paled.
“As always, it’s my pleasure to be of assistance to you, Cousin.” Blane bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment, but did not meet his eyes.
“You do realize he wasn’t watching over me, don’t you?” Cate asked in a whisper as they closed the door.
“Aye, lass, I ken the truth of the matter.” He walked her through the hall and toward the stairs to the upper chambers, his arm still wrapped protectively around her. “He’ll no bother you again. Blane was ever the braggart, but he kens how it stands between us now. You hae no need to fash yerself over him.” He’d see to that.
“Where are you taking me?”
She looked up at him with those amazingly innocent eyes, and, for just a moment, he was filled with an overpowering need to hold her close.
Instead he moved away, placing a bit of distance between them. He wasn’t a fool and he wasn’t about to act the part of one again. Her rejecting Blane had nothing to do with any feelings she might have for him. She was simply waiting until she could go home, nothing more. This attraction to her now was nothing more than his having denied himself the pleasure of dealing with his cousin as he would have preferred. His body sought some physical release. Nothing more.
“It’s late and we’ve an early morning. The church service starts promptly. You want to see the banns posted, aye?” When she nodded her agreement, he gave her a little push up the stairs. “I’ll go find Mairi and send her up to keep you company. Go on now.” Is that disappointment in her eyes?
She went up a few of the stairs and then turned, quickly coming back down, stopping when she was just high enough to be face-to-face with him.
“Thanks for being my knight in shining armor.”
Before he could guess her intent, she leaned forward and, resting her hands on either side of his face, placed a soft kiss on his lips.
“And for rescuing me from the horrible blond dragon.”
Then, smiling brightly, she disappeared upstairs, stopping only to toss the cloak back down to him.
The cloak floated around his head and fell to the floor. He was entirely too stunned to notice anything other than the feel of her hands lingering on his face where she’d held him captive.
CHAPTER 9
It had been entirely worth any amount of embarrassment she might suffer tomorrow.
Cate fell back onto her bed, arms clasped tightly around her middle, smiling in satisfaction. The look on Connor’s face had been priceless. He was always so in control, so arrogant and above what was happening around him. It was th
rilling to know she could rattle him just a bit.
Now she could hardly wait for Mairi to arrive so she could attempt to find out more from the girl. If what Blane had told her was true, it was no wonder that Connor didn’t trust his uncle to watch over his sister.
Thinking of Blane sent a shiver through her. That man had seriously frightened her tonight. But then Connor had shown up, just like the knight in shining armor she’d claimed him to be before she’d kissed him.
Not that she could really consider what she’d done on the stairs tonight to be a real kiss. That had been no more than an impulsive indulgence on her part, with absolutely no participation from him at all. Perhaps if she hadn’t run away so quickly . . . Perhaps he’d have kissed her again as he did the night he’d first come to her? She couldn’t help but wonder as she brought her fingers to rest on her lips. For a man so strong and rugged, his mouth had been amazingly soft.
Lost in that particular daydream, she didn’t notice the knock at her door until the pounding became frantic.
“What is wrong with me,” she mumbled to herself as she got up to answer the knock. Fantasizing about Connor was a bad idea. Hadn’t she very nearly made a horrible mistake by letting herself imagine Richard to be more than he actually was? No, she had learned her lesson. She wouldn’t make that kind of error again.
Mairi stood at the door holding a decanter of the spiced wine that had flowed so freely at dinner. Cate found even the smell of it distasteful. Mairi, on the other hand, apparently had a real fondness for the drink. It made her quite talkative, which fit Cate’s needs nicely.
“Yer sure you dinna want any?” the girl asked as she plopped herself down on the fur in front of the fire.
“No thanks. I don’t see how you can drink that stuff.” Cate made the appropriate nasty face, and Mairi laughed, stretching her bare feet to the fire.
“Why have I never seen you in shoes? Don’t you have any?” Cate, already in her nightgown, asked as she joined her companion on the floor in front of the fire.
The girl gave her an indignant stare. “Of course I hae shoes, a whole pile of them. Weel, I hae three pair.” She then leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “I dinna wear them because it makes Anabella furious to see my bare feet. So I never wear slippers. I’m actually quite used to it now.” She sat back up with a satisfied grin, wiggling her toes.
“I take it you don’t like her?”
“I despise the harlot.” Mairi leaned back against the chair before she continued. “I do everything in my power to make her life miserable.”
She arched an eyebrow in a way that made Cate think instantly of Connor.
“She humiliated my brother, you ken? Marrying my uncle instead of Connor the way she did.” She turned to the fire and spat. “And him? Weel, he deserves no better than the likes of her. Truly that was the finest thing she ever did for Connor, though he canna accept the truth of it. She never loved him. She loves herself and her pretty clothes and being the lady of the manor.” Mairi tilted her head slightly, staring at her bare feet for a moment before turning an assessing gaze on Cate. “That’s all Connor needs, you ken? Just someone to love him.”
A change of subject was required—quickly, before Mairi could go for the obvious question. The one Cate couldn’t answer.
“Mairi, tell me more about the old customs. I understand that the banns are to post public notice of the marriage so that if there’s any reason you shouldn’t get married someone has a chance to speak up. But what happens after that?”
“By the old customs, after the third posting of the banns, the prospective bride and groom ride out to the surrounding countryside. They personally invite the people to come to the churchyard for the wedding and then to the castle after for the celebration. It can take a full day or more to ride to all the outlying areas.” She nodded wisely.
“Ride out. As in, riding on a horse?”
Mairi nodded her assent.
“Why don’t they just send messengers? Wouldn’t that be faster?”
Not to mention much safer for those prospective brides who happened to hate horses with a passion.
“Weel, that might be faster, but it’s no the way it’s done. You see, the riding-out is the groom’s chance to show off his choice of bride to his people, so they can see what a fine job he’s done of catching himself a beautiful and accomplished woman.”
“Accomplished?” That didn’t sound promising.
“Aye. Like how she speaks and looks, how she behaves toward his people, how weel she sits her horse, things like that. It’s all about a man’s pride, you ken?”
“What if she can’t, oh, let’s say, sit a horse? What does that do to the process?” Cate groaned inwardly, anticipating the answer she knew was coming.
“Weel, that would be an embarrassment for the groom, would it no?” Mairi chuckled to herself.
It was obviously time for another change of subject.
“How old are you, Mairi?”
“I’ll be eighteen end of the month. That’s when my dear, loving uncle plans to marry me off.” She shook her head. “He’s such a fool.”
The girl’s response took Cate by surprise. “I wasn’t sure you knew that. You don’t seem at all concerned about having to marry someone you don’t love.”
“Love?” Mairi snorted her disbelief. “I canna even tolerate the presence of the old goat my uncle thinks to give me to. He’s a filthy, lecherous old thing who, the maids say, beats his women. He’s gone through three wives already.” The girl nodded for emphasis before taking another drink from her cup.
“That’s horrible. Aren’t you terrified? What if you actually have to go through with this wedding?”
Mairi smiled, and from her expression Cate almost expected the girl to reach over and give her a pat on the head.
“It willna happen, so I’ve nothing to fear. Neither Connor nor Rosalyn will allow it. Between them and Duncan and my cousin Lyall, I’ve nothing to worry about. They’ve always protected me. They all ken the necessity of allowing me to make that decision for myself.”
“But women here are given in marriage against their will all the time, usually when they’re much younger than you are now.” Cate had studied her history. She knew that to be a fact. She would be too terrified for words in this girl’s place.
“Och, aye. But it’s different with us, you ken? Rosalyn told you the legend, aye?” When Cate nodded, Mairi continued. “I’ve no got the power. That goes only from mother to daughter, more’s the pity.” She gave Cate a wicked smile. “There’s them I’d give a lesson to if I did hae it. The Faerie blessing is on my father’s side. So, though I dinna get the power, I still hae the blood of the Fae, so I’m still entitled to the protection of the blessing. According to the legend, there’s only one true love for each of us and, as a daughter of the Fae, the blessing grants me the right to find my own true love.”
“Then why is your uncle so set on forcing you into a marriage you don’t want?”
“Because he’s a fool, as I said. He’d never try to do anything like that to Rosalyn, you ken? But because I’m the daughter of a son, rather than the daughter of a daughter, he thinks he’s immune to the curse.” She shrugged. “Besides, he owes the MacPherson a great deal of money, so he thinks to pay his debt using me, poor excuse for a man that he is. And poor excuse for a woman I’d be to let him get by with it.”
Suddenly her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth. “Och, Cate, I’m so sorry. I dinna mean to say that yer at fault for yer father’s sending you to Connor to pay his life debt. Oh, Rosalyn’s right, I blether on entirely too much.”
She looked absolutely stricken with guilt, one huge tear rolling down her cheek.
Cate already felt close to this spirited young woman. She couldn’t allow her to think she’d said something wrong, especially over a situation that didn’t really exist. It wasn’t Mairi’s fault that she hadn’t been told the whole story.
She reached ou
t and took Mairi’s hands in her own.
“You don’t have any reason to be upset. It’s not like you think. My father didn’t really send me here. I came of my own free will, do you understand? I’m here because I chose to be here with Connor. My father’s a wonderful man. He’d never, ever consider forcing me to do something I didn’t want to do.” She laughed then. “And even if he did, my brothers wouldn’t allow it.”
“You hae brothers back home? Tell me about them.” Mairi freed one of her hands to swipe at her face.
“I guess you could say they’re just typical older brothers. They make me so angry sometimes. All three of them can be so very irritating, always thinking they can tell me what to do; always thinking they know what’s best for me, just because they’re older.”
“Och, aye.” Mairi nodded. “Like Connor.”
“But they love me fiercely. I know they’d do anything to protect me and keep me happy.”
Mairi nodded again. “Just like Connor.”
Exactly, Cate realized. She should have recognized earlier why she’d bonded with Mairi so quickly. They might be from entirely different worlds, but they had a lot in common. They’d both been sheltered from the real world by their families and they both faced marrying men they didn’t love. The only difference was Cate had been able to save herself from that fate. Now she had the opportunity to save Mairi as well.
“I had three brothers, just as you do,” Mairi said suddenly, her eyes again filling with tears.
“What happened to the others?”
“The oldest, Dougal, was in the battle where my father was killed. We lost him there as weel.” She again wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Kenneth was hunting and fell from his horse a couple of years later. They said he broke his neck and died as soon as he hit the ground.”
“I’m so sorry, Mairi. Were they a lot like Connor?”
“I canna say. I wasnae born until the month after my father and Dougal died. I dinna even really remember much about Kenneth, just bits of a tall boy laughing, leaning down to pick me up and throw me high in the air.” She sat up straight before continuing. “Connor says they were strong and true, both of them, so it must be. I light a candle for them on the anniversary of their birth each year. It would be just too sorrowful knowing they died with no one to remember and honor them.” She sighed. “No long after Kenneth’s death, my uncle sent Connor away to school. Connor was furious. I was just a wee thing but I remember that weel.” She shrugged. “Then the following year my mother died.”
Thirty Nights With a Highland Husband Page 8
