Page 56 of Wild Hearts

She glanced into the mirror to make sure she looked her prettiest, and ran lightly downstairs to await her visitors. The firm knock upon the door sent her own heart hammering as she opened it-herself and bade them enter.

Patrick Stewart's steel gray eyes went wide with instant recognition. "My damsel in distress. What are you doing here?" he asked warmly.

The sullen look had left his brother's face and had been replaced by one of smoldering admiration. She took her time, pouring them brandy and thoroughly enjoying herself. They both drained their glasses in a single swallow and replaced them upon the silver tray.

"My father has explained your brother's offer for me, Your Grace," she began formally.

"You are the daughter of the Earl of Ormistan?" He smiled as her identity became plain to him.

In that moment, a devilish desire to tease him overcame her, and she said sweetly, "I have decided to accept your brother's offer."

The smile vanished from his face instantly. While his brother waited in vain for an introduction, Patrick's eyes never left her face. He gazed at her unblinking, as the minutes stretched between them. Finally, he broke the tension. "Summon your father," he commanded with quiet authority. As she dipped him an obedient curtsy, his eyes traveled to the soft curves of her breasts, which rose above the neck of the familiar green gown.

It took only a moment to call her father, and she let him go into the Stewarts alone. Patrick wasted no time. "I withdraw the offer I made you yesterday." Before his brother could protest, he said, "I formally request that you betroth your daughter to me, the Earl of Orkney."

Magnus beamed: "I am aware of the great honor ye do me, Your Grace. I am totally satisfied with the match, but my daughter is her own woman and a little headstrong, I fear. She will need to be wooed and won before I can give ye my consent."

Patrick bowed formally. "I shall return this evening." It was a statement of his intent.

Magnus went in search of her, and he didn't have far to look. "I don't know what ye've been up to, and I don't care. Ye've done it, lass. He actually offered for you!"

"You didn't accept, did you?"

"I know ye better than that; besides, the terms haven't been agreed upon yet, but I think y'er wise enough to know ye'll never receive a better offer than this. Ye will reign like a queen in yer own right." Magnus chuckled. "The wee laddie wi' him was fair grinding his teeth with disappointment."

"I'm afraid that was my fault. I told Patrick I would accept his brother's offer."

"By God, y'er a Cockburn, all right. Every last one devious to the bone!" He laughed. "He's coming back this evening, as soon as he rids himself of the wee laddie."

"Why didn't you tell me? Get the cook to prepare a proper meal. None of that muck that we get at Court. Mrs. Hall, I need you again. I want to wear something very dramatic for tonight, something far removed from this frothy thing I'm in now."

In the end, she decided upon black lace and diamonds. With Mrs. Hall's tireless help, she braided her hair into a high coronet and fastened it with jeweled pins. It emphasized the prominence of her delicate cheekbones and gave an alluring slant to her eyes.

The moment Patrick Stewart saw her, he knew her answer would be yes. He was shrewd enough to realize by the way she had dressed, she was showing him she could fit the role of a queen. Oh, he knew she would lead him all around the park, giving neither a nay nor a yea, but he was certain of the outcome.

After dinner, Magnus went out for the evening so that the couple could be completely alone. Tabrizia brought the decanter of brandy and placed it at his elbow, and they made themselves comfortable before the fire.

"What have you heard of me?" he asked quietly.

She raised her eyes to his level, gray ones and knew it would be impossible to lie to him. "That you need money to build your own kingdom. That the King hates you and the Queen loves you."

He nodded gravely. "It is all true, I'm afraid, and there is yet more." He hesitated, then said tentatively, as if regretting that he had to impart the information, "I have two small children, a boy and a girl." He was not prepared for her reaction.

"Oh, how lovely, I adore children." The radiance that glowed from her face told him she would be tender toward his children. He hastened to explain further. "You don't understand. If we have a son, he cannot be my heir. The son I have from my first marriage will get my titles, my land, my castles."

"I see," she said slowly. "But if you have your own kingdom, could not you build him a castle of his own and create new titles for him?"

He moved to sit beside her on the loveseat before the fire. His fingers traced along her delicate jawbone. "If you give me a son, I promise I will do these things for him." He smiled. "I think you are as ambitious as myself."

She shrugged her beautiful, bared shoulders. "I have learned that might is right. Power is the greatest thing on earth."

He raised an eyebrow. "Not love, my little cynic?"

"I know nothing of love," she said clearly.

"You were married," he said.

"I know nothing of love," she repeated.

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