Page 73 of The Last Debutante
“It gladdens my heart to hear it,” she said, and smiled. “Sheisquite bonny.”
“So are you,” Jamie said, noting the lack of conviction in his own voice.
Isabella noticed it, too. Her smile grew cool. “I risked my heart coming here today, Jamie. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d refused to see me. But I think—I have always thought—that we are destined to be together. Haven’t you? For the sake of our love, and for the sake of our clans—you and I both know the Campbells and Brodies can only be made stronger with our union.”
Jamie glanced away. What she said was true.
Isabella cupped his chin to make him look at her again. “You and I can be made stronger, too. I’ve never believed otherwise, even after all that has happened between our families. But the Brodies are ready to forgive it for the sake of our clan. The question remains... will you?” She rose up on her toes and kissed the corner of his mouth. “I still love you, Jamie Campbell, I do,” she whispered. “I hope you still love me.” She kissed him fully.
Her lips were soft and warm, and the male in Jamie responded. She was right; of course she was his future. She was the natural, logical choice. He closed his eyes and kissed her back.
Apparently hewasthe sort of man to take pleasure with one woman in the afternoon and kiss another that evening. Why, then, could he not rid himself of the image of Daria lying on her back, her arms folded behind her head, smiling up at the blue Scottish sky?
JAMIE SLEPT VERYlittle that night, his heart warring with his head, his body feeling as if a good part of him had gone missing. He was up well before dawn, staring into the cold hearth, thinking. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting there—hours, maybe—when the sound of a barking dog filtered into his consciousness. He roused himself, shaking out his injured leg, and walked to the window, yawning as he pushed it open. The barking caught his attention again, and he leaned out to look.
He saw the red head of the boy first, racing across the expanse of green of the bailey, Anlan and Aedus at his heels. The boy reached for something in the grass, pushing Anlan’s snout away from it, then turned and held it up. From that distance, Jamie couldn’t make out what it was.
He was about to turn from the window when Daria suddenly appeared, the train of her day gown trailing in the grass behind her, leaving a path in the morning dew. She took the thing from the boy, and together they examined it. A moment later, the boy stepped back and Daria threw the thing, very poorly, across the lawn. It scudded and fell into a pond.
The dogs raced for it. Aedus reached it first and bounded away with it, Daria and the lad, Peader, chasing after them. Aedus jumped into the pond with the thing held between his jaws, then trotted out, his tail held high, proud of his victory.
Just as Daria and Peader reached him, Aedus and Anlan both shook out their coats, spraying them. Peader squealed with harsh laughter. Daria draped her arm around his shoulders as the two of them headed back to the keep, leaving the dogs with the toy.
And Jamie stood at the window for a long time after they had disappeared from view, thinking.
After breakfast, he went to the throne room for a standing Friday morning discussion of clan business with Duff, Robbie, and Geordie.
“Are you ill, Laird?” Duff said as Jamie walked in, and glanced at his pocket watch.
“I am well,” Jamie said, and sat heavily in his chair. He had no desire to hear the clan business this morning. No desire whatsoever.
Duff put his watch back into his pocket. “I had a wee chat with the Brodie laird this morning before they took their leave—”
“They’ve gone?” Jamie interrupted, surprised.
“Aye,” Duff said. “Said they never meant to stay as long as they had, but they quite liked the dancing.”
Jamie nodded, dubious. He hadn’t exactly settled things with Isabella or her father. He’d left her last night with a question still twisting between them. Were they reconciled, or not? “What news, then?” he asked, and absently rubbed his thumb along the gash in the chair’s leather.
“The Brodies have proposed a devil’s bargain,” Duff said. “They want a renewal of the betrothal, aye? But if we canna come to agreement on the terms, then they’ll agree to sell land to Murchison.”
“What has one to do with the other?” Jamie asked as his muscles began to tense.
“Nothing but satisfaction,” Duff said.
“Meaning?”
“The land borders ours in the east.”
Jamie stared at Duff, understanding then what they had done. Either he agreed to renew the engagement with Isabella, or the Brodies would work with Murchison to squeeze him out. The land meant nothing to the Brodies—they couldn’t graze cattle in those hills or farm it.
But Murchison could put dozens, if not hundreds, of sheep there. It would be only a matter of time before they encroached on Campbell land and began to compete with the cattle for grass. With the tenants in the west agreeing to sell, and the Brodies selling in the east, the Dundavie lands would be surrounded by sheep, with no escape but through a marsh. “I see,” Jamie said. “They intend to extort a marriage, aye?”
Before Duff could answer, Geordie scribbled on his slate.Hav care.
Jamie looked curiously at his brother.
Geordie wiped the slate clean and wrote again, holding it up to Jamie.Yur hart.
