Colin chuckled. The soldiers’ expressions were mutinous, but they put up no fight. Mayhap they were just relieved to get out of this alive. Colin wouldn’t have minded killing them, but two dead soldiers would raise questions and bring unwanted attention. This was by far a better alternative, and humiliating to boot.
Colin and Sinclair made their way back to the women, who were dressed and standing side by side as if waiting to be chastised. Colin had to bite back his smile; they both looked miserable. Innis’s head was bowed, her long hair hiding her face. Maggie stood so close to Innis that their shoulders were touching. She was looking stonily at a spot just over Evan’s shoulder.
Sinclair’s expression was thunderous as he stomped right up to Maggie. It took everything inside of Colin to not step between them. Maggie could hold her own with her brother, as Colin had witnessed before, but still, he wanted to protect her.
“So help me God, Margaret Sinclair. I ought to put ye across my knee and beat ye senseless. Ye could have gotten Innis killed,” Evan nearly roared.
Her gaze, flat and emotionless, flickered to Evan, then away as if she didn’t care.
“Evan,” Innis said quietly.
“No’ a word out of ye, Innis. No’ one word.”
“This wasn’ entirely Maggie’s fault,” Innis said, ignoring her husband’s warning.
“It’s always Maggie’s fault,” he said.
If Colin hadn’t been watching Maggie so closely, he would have missed the very slight wince.
“That’s not fair,” Innis said in her quiet way.
“What’s no’ fair is waking MacLean up from his much-needed sleep to come searching for ye two. What’s no’ fair is duping the guards into thinking Maggie was out riding with an escort when the two of ye were alone and put yerselves in danger.” He turned back to his sister. “Ye’ll never learn, will ye?”
The words echoed inside Colin, for they were what his father and then his brothers had said to him, and he knew how deeply they could cut.
“We were simply bathing,” Maggie said.
“I provide ye with tubs to bathe in and servants to bring ye water. Ye do no’ need to ride all this way unprotected to bathe in a freezing-cold loch.”
“I thought ye would like that Innis and I were becoming friends,” Maggie said.
For a long moment Evan didn’t speak, but his expression didn’t bode well for Maggie, and Colin held his breath. “What I would like is for Innis to teach ye how to act like a lady. Not for ye to teach Innis yer bad ways.”
“Evan!” Innis said, outraged.
Evan sliced his hand in the air. “I’ll no’ talk about this anymore. Mount up. Maggie, ye can walk or ye can ride with MacLean. I do no’ much care what ye do.”
Evan helped a tight-lipped Innis up on his horse while Colin waited for Maggie to mount his. She just stood there and watched Evan and Innis with a stony expression that told him nothing of what she was thinking. He’d been dressed down enough by his father and brothers to guess at her thoughts, though.
Innis looked back once at Maggie with sorrowful eyes. Whatever had happened at the shores of Loch Rumsfeld had brought the two women closer. It wasn’t until Evan was out of sight that Maggie marched over to Colin’s horse and mounted smoothly, then waited for him.
He hopped up in front of her and they started off, but he made sure to keep at a distance from Evan and Innis, thinking that Maggie wanted nothing to do with her brother at the moment.
It felt familiar, riding this way. Maggie was light enough that it didn’t bother the horse, and she fell into the habit of watching their back.
He felt the slight tremors coursing through her. Against his will and completely inappropriately, Colin’s mind flashed back to the dream he’d had before Evan had barged into his room. Quickly, he pushed the image away. Now was not the time.
“They were jessies,” Maggie said. “They had no idea how to fight.” She sounded disgusted with the English soldiers, and Colin grinned. They fell into an easy silence after that, but Colin couldn’t get Evan’s tirade out of his mind.
“Maggie, what yer brother said—”
“I do no’ want to talk about it.”
Colin hated the way Evan treated Maggie, and he hated even more Evan’s plans for her. He badly wanted to tell her that he would leave with her tonight if that was what she wanted, but what would that prove? He couldn’t take her to his home, and when he was able to return, he had no idea what he was returning to. He had nothing to offer her. So he kept his mouth closed, and they rode to the Sinclair keep in silence.
But once they got there, they were faced with yet another unwelcome surprise.
Chapter 16
Evan was standing in the middle of the courtyard, talking to a man Colin had never seen before. Colin immediately was on guard, mainly because the atmosphere was tense and subdued.
Innis stood behind Evan, her hands folded demurely in front of her, her head bowed as if she were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, which was a difficult feat, since she was wearing breeches and a wet shirt and no shoes.
Colin rode up to the strange scene and slid off his horse to stand a little behind Evan and guard his back.
Maggie dismounted and stood next to Innis, but it was her expression that gave Colin pause. Her face had lost all color and her hands were trembling. When she looked at Colin, her eyes were bleak.
Evan finally turned to Colin. “MacLean, meet Hugh Fraser, chief of the clan Fraser.”
Colin nodded to Fraser, who responded with his own terse nod.
“I’ve heard of yer clan,” Fraser said. He didn’t elaborate, but from the twist of his lips, Colin could guess that what he’d heard wasn’t good. Fraser was a short man. Short and squat but powerful, with little to no fat on him. He put Colin in mind of the wild boars that roamed the Highlands. Boars could be mean, nasty creatures.
Colin’s first instinct was to get as far from Fraser as he could. If an English sympathizer, then he might be aware that the English were looking for Colin. Besides, Colin had no interest in being around Scots who betrayed their country and their heritage.
But he was stupid enough to want to stay and protect Maggie from the man.
“Ye caught us off guard,” Evan said. “We were no’ expecting ye for a few days.”
“My plans changed and I found myself in the area sooner than anticipated. I trust Lady Margaret is in residence?”
“Of course,” Evan said after a slight pause.
Behind him, Colin felt Maggie shift and willed her to stay silent.
“I’d be happy to finally make my betrothed’s acquaintance. If all goes well, mayhap we can speed up our original plans and I can wed her on this visit. It will save me from traveling this way again.”
What a fool Fraser was to think that he could wed because the timing was convenient for him. Maggie wasn’t a piece of cattle to purchase at a moment’s notice. Colin understood enough about women to know they needed to plan the wedding ceremony and to have new clothing made. They needed to be wooed.
But for Evan and Fraser, this was no more than a cattle purchase. Fraser would offer a degree of protection for Evan and clan Sinclair, and Fraser would…What would Fraser gain from this union?
Maggie stepped around Colin and he automatically moved to drag her back behind him, but she shook his hand off her arm. “I am Lady Margaret,” she said.
Evan stood rigid, his expression unreadable. Innis made a small sound of distress, and Colin bit back a groan.
Fraser’s dark eyes looked Maggie up and down, starting at her worn boots, the breeches that had been mended at the knees several times, her shirt with wet patches one could almost see through, and her wild hair, still damp from her swim and sticking up in all directions. She even had a red mark on her chin where the English soldier had made contact. She stood before Fraser with her chin raised, her shoulders back, and no apology in her expression.
Fraser turned to Evan. “What’s the
meaning of this?” he asked in such a civil tone that Colin had to hold back a shudder. Instinct told him that Hugh Fraser was not a nice man.
“I apologize for my sister’s appearance,” Evan said, shooting Maggie an angry look. “As I said, we were not expecting ye for another few days.”
Fraser eyed Maggie again, taking his time as if she truly were cattle and he was trying to decide if she was worthy of his purchase. His perusal took so long that even Colin began to feel uncomfortable.
“My apologies, my lady,” Fraser said. “For arriving unannounced and finding you unready to greet me properly.”
Maggie’s hands clenched at her sides. “Apology accepted, my lord. Ye should have sent word with the new date of yer arrival. Maybe then I would have been prepared for ye.” She lifted her head a fraction more. “Now if ye’ll excuse me”—she looked around at Evan, Innis, and Colin—“I will retire and put on some dry clothes.”
She walked away with all the dignity of royalty, and in that moment Colin admired her more than anyone else he knew.
“I’ll have Innis see t’yer rooms,” Evan said to Fraser.
With her head still bowed, Innis slid away and hurried up the steps into the dark recesses of the castle. There was no telling what Fraser was thinking after seeing Evan’s wife and sister dressed as they were. Colin felt for Sinclair, who appeared to be embarrassed by his kinswomen; but at the same time, Colin wanted to laugh at the fantastical scene. He wanted to applaud Maggie for not cowing to the man, and he wanted to slap Evan on the back and wish him luck with his soon-to-be brother-in-law. And he would have if he hadn’t felt deep apprehension over the entire affair. An affair he had no business getting in the middle of, he kept having to remind himself, and yet he felt a need to protect Maggie. Maybe because she’d protected him when he was sick. Maybe because he couldn’t stop thinking of the kisses they’d shared. Maybe because he was an ijit and should mind his own business.
“I’m going back to bed,” Colin muttered, and walked off before he ended up doing something really stupid, like throwing Maggie onto the back of his horse and riding away with her.
—
“I’ll no’ do it.” Maggie crossed her arms and glared at Innis, who was wringing her hands and looking like she was going to cry at any moment.
“Please, Maggie, I beg of ye. Ye must put the gown on.”
Maggie had been shocked to see Fraser in the courtyard. She’d always felt a little sick at the mention of his name, but to see him made her stomach roil in a most unpleasant way. It wasn’t that he was unpleasant to look at. It was the way he looked at her, like a piece of tasty meat that he would consume whole. She got a strange feeling being around him, and it wasn’t the heart-melting, bone-weakening feeling she had around MacLean. This was altogether different and unwelcome.
She didn’t like Hugh Fraser at all.
She couldn’t marry him. She just couldn’t, and Evan had to see that as well. Fraser’s tone was cutting and hurtful, not to mention rude. He’d made it sound like her fault that she wasn’t prepared to meet him when, by his own admission, he’d arrived days ahead of time.
“I’ll no’ wear the gown,” she said. “No’ this time. No’ ever. If a man does no’ like me as I am, then I don’t want him.”
“He came to see ye,” Innis pleaded. She’d already changed back into her gown. Her hair was pinned up and she looked the proper lady of the house, something Maggie would never be able to accomplish.
“He came because his plans changed and he wanted to get the wedding ceremony over.” To her mortification, her throat grew thick with unshed tears. How horrible of him to even say such a thing! Evan entered without knocking, and Maggie threw him a furious look. “Ye can at least knock. I could have been dressing.”
“I heard ye yelling from down the hall and I knew ye were no’ dressing. Wear the damn gown, Maggie.”
“Nae.” She lifted her chin and swallowed the lump in her throat. Fraser was not worth crying over.
Evan snatched the gown off her bed and thrust it at her. “Just put the gown on,” he growled.
“Nae.”
“Margaret Rose Sinclair, I swear by all that’s holy…” He sighed and lowered the gown. “Maggie. This has got to end. Ye canno’ go about in breeches for the rest of yer life.”
“It’s always been fine before. Why has it changed now?”
He balled up the gown in his hand and looked down at it as if it held all the answers. “Ye’re a woman now, and it’s past time ye act like one.”
“Is that all there is to it?”
Evan looked up at her quickly, then away. “I made some wrong decisions when it came to raising ye. I should have forced ye to be a lass and not a lad. Ye have to know that it’s unnatural…” He looked at her with pleading eyes.
“I’m unnatural?”
Innis stepped forward. “That’s no’ what he meant, Maggie. Evan did the best he could. He was just a boy himself when yer parents died, and ye were so small, just a wee one. But it’s time for ye to be the woman ye can be. Ye can still be strong, a gown will no’ change that.”
“I do no’ like him,” she said.
“In time ye’ll grow to like him,” Evan said.
She would have laughed at that absurd comment if she weren’t so frightened. Surely her brother wasn’t going to make her wed that awful man. “Ye saw how he looked at me.”
Evan’s gaze was apologetic and bleak. “Because he was no’ expecting ye to be rumpled and wearing rags.”
“I was no’ wearing rags.”
“Must ye argue about everything?”
“Only about what’s important, and this is my life ye’re asking me to compromise for yer own peace of mind.”
“Ye think I do this for my peace of mind?”
“Why else would ye make me do this?”
He hesitated and seemed about to say something, then thought better about it. “I truly do think ye’ll grow to like him someday.”
She knew she wouldn’t. Not after the way he’d looked at her and spoken to her. He had not one bit of humor in him. How could she marry a man who never saw humor? “And what if I do no’? I stay married to him for the rest of my miserable life?”
His jaw clenched and he shoved the gown at her, forcing her to take it. “Put the gown on. I expect ye at dinner wearing that gown and acting like a lady.” He turned on his heel and stomped out.
“Please, Maggie,” Innis said. “Please do as yer brother says. It’s important to him that it appears he is in charge of the household. Ye’ll make him look bad if ye continue to act this way in front of Fraser.”
Maggie felt as if Innis had thrust a dagger in her side. “I thought ye were my friend, Innis.”
“I am. But I’m also yer brother’s wife. His reputation is important to him and this clan. Ye need to know when to do something that’s right for others even if no’ necessarily right for ye.” Innis walked out and closed the door quietly behind her, leaving Maggie stunned and hurt and angry.
Innis and Evan were telling her to act right, to marry Fraser, to be someone she was not in order to preserve Evan’s reputation. Neither of them cared a whit about her and her feelings. If it were one night, she would consider it, but this was her future they were talking about. Her entire life.
She looked at the gown, a dark red, and wondered how much of her soul Evan and Innis were expecting her to sacrifice for them.
Chapter 17
Colin was eating with the rest of Sinclair’s men; there was an air of expectancy surrounding the great hall. Evan and Innis were dressed in their best and sitting on the dais. Fraser had arrived a few minutes earlier and taken his place next to Sinclair.
Word had spread that Fraser was not pleased with his betrothed. Colin heard everything from “As well he shouldn’t be” to “How dare he besmirch our Lady Margaret.”
Colin fell into the “How dare he besmirch our Lady Margaret” category. Obviously, the bastard had no idea of the g
em he held in his hand. At the same time, Colin had to admit that he was a bit pleased Fraser was such an ass. He didn’t deserve Maggie, and Maggie obviously didn’t want anything to do with Fraser, so if Fraser didn’t like what he saw, then in Colin’s opinion the man could just ride on out of the Sinclair holding and save everyone the trouble.
However, he had a sinking feeling that Fraser wasn’t inclined to ride on out, and that had Colin scowling as he chewed his food.
As time dragged on, the buzzing conversation grew more animated. Quiet bets were made that Maggie wouldn’t come down to dinner. Colin knew that would be the ultimate insult to her brother, and he wondered if she was brave or foolish enough to defy him so openly. As he well knew, she was both brave and foolish so he had no idea which way to bet.
And then she was there, standing at the foot of the stairs, looking defiant and scared at the same time. Colin paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth and the conversations around him stopped. He put his spoon down and swallowed his last bite of food, although it got stuck halfway down.
It was as he’d predicted so long ago in the darkness of the cave.
Dressed as a woman, she was magnificent.
The russet-colored gown was the perfect complement to her porcelain skin and dark hair and eyes. She’d tucked her hair behind her ears, and it curled becomingly to her jaw. Those sculpted cheekbones stood out, high in color, and it wasn’t applied for effect. She was blushing becomingly, although Colin would bet money it was from anger.
Her gaze found his, and for a long moment there was no one else in the room but her. Everything dimmed until all he saw was the fear and uncertainty in her expression, the flash of appeal for his help, before it was squelched and she lowered her gaze.
Colin was nailed to his seat, desperately wanting to whisk her out of there but knowing it would be a foolish move because he had nothing to offer her.
He looked down and pushed his trencher away.
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