Page 55 of Tempted
“Guilty as charged. The lady’s beauty is what ye admire, not ma poor talent.”
In the far corner of the room Damaris blushed. She recalled sitting for the portrait as if it had been yesterday, and she knew in her heart that Colin had had more than a brotherly affection for her.
“I shall leave ye in the hands o’ the servants If there is a Douglas who does not do yer bidding instantly an’ tae yer satisfaction, I shall deal wi’ him.”
Damaris stared as a dozen servants carted in the ten trunks, carpet, bedhangings, and fantastic bathtub. After more than fifteen years of relative solitude, here was change indeed.
A young squire came in carrying oat cakes and wine, but Tina could not be tempted. Ada took the tray from him and sent him for hot water for the bath. “Have you eaten anything at all today?” asked Ada, eyeing Tina’s pale cheeks.
Tina shook her head and wrinkled her nose. “Oat cakes would be like sawdust in my mouth.”
“Well, I dare not let you have wine until you put something on your stomach. You are outrageous even without wine” Ada set Nell to work unpacking and hanging Tina’s clothes in the massive wardrobe “While you have your bath, I’ll lay out your gown Now, where in God’s name did I put that small cream ruff that matches this dress?”
It was a full two hours before Lady Valentina was bathed and gowned in the heavy cream satin with its bodice embroidered with delicate seed pearls Its modest square neckline allowed only the merest swell of breast to peep above it, and her chin was held high by the small pearl-rimmed ruff Her fiery hair fell about her in a loose silken torrent as befitted a maiden. Her shapely head was so proud and high, it almost looked too small to carry the luxurious weight of her tresses
Her father escorted her down the staircase, but Ram was not there to receive her. Instead, the Earl of Angus slipped a proprietary arm about her and said, “She belongs tae Douglas now, Rob. Let me look ma fill afore Ram has at her.” He bent his dark head toward her, and the whisky fumes almost overpowered her. “Come intae the hall, lass, while I show ye off. Every Douglas within a hundred miles has ridden in tae ogle ye an’ steal a kiss.”
As Ram’s brother approached them, Angus said, “Nay, Gavin, ye randy young swine, let an auld man’s flesh enjoy rising tae the occasion”
Inside the vast hall was an impossible crush of dark-visaged Douglases, all shouting and shoving, cursing and laughing, drinking and arguing. The smell of scores of bodies, mixed with acrid smoke from the vast fireplace and the cooking smells of the great platters of food that were now being carried in, caused Tina’s empty stomach to do a flip-flop. When she felt herself sway, she clung to Archibald Douglas’s arm tightly and gave him a disarming smile. He licked dry lips and tried to peer down the front of her exquisite gown. “Ye ha’ delicious titties, lass—aye, an’ a delicious mouth. God’s passion, ye’ll suck each other dry afore mornin’!”
Tina’s face was no longer pale but blushing delicately at Archibald’s coarse appraisal of her charms. It was almost with relief that she saw Ram detach himself from a group of men and make his way across the hall toward her. Archibald turned her about with his powerful arm. “By Christ, the Douglas cooks have done us proud. Only look at this, lass.”
A sow with her twelve baby piglets had been roasted whole, and her young had been placed artistically at her teats as if they were still suckling. Valentina, used to Mr. Burque’s tasteful dishes, had never seen anything so obscene in her life. The blood drained from her lips, and she went down in a faint.
Ram Douglas stepped back from her, his eyes narrowing. Angus jostled everyone aside. “Christ, ye rough bunch o’ uncivilized beasts! Let the lassie breathe.”
The moment Tina’s head was lowered, her faintness left her, and she allowed Angus to aid her to her feet. “The lass is faint wi’ hunger. Christ, I could eat a well-salted saddle myself, my belly is fair rumblin’! Ramsay, where the hellfire are ye? Let’s get the mumbo-jumbo out o’ the way so ye can get some food intae this lass.”
A cruel hand closed over hers as Ram Douglas plucked her away from Angus. He dragged her up on the dais that had been set up in front of the massive fireplace. A loud cheer went up and rolled about the hall in a great wave. As Tina looked into the dark, closed face of Ram Douglas, she knew only that he was furious. His anger, barely repressed, was there for all to witness. He had been forced to this union against his will, and as she stood beside him, she felt his rage wash over her. She wanted to cry out that she too had been forced against her will. Surely he could not lay all the blame upon her. She felt what could only be his hatred.
Ramsay was blackened by hatred. His hair and eyes were midnight black, his doublet also black, relieved only by the cream ruffle of his silk shirt at neck and wrist. A devil consumed him at this moment. He had seen her faint. Did she dare come to him with another man’s bairn in her belly? If she was carrying Hamilton’s by-blow, he would kill him—aye, and then he’d kill her. He’d snap that beautiful, fragile neck with his bare hands.
A curl of fear spiraled in Tina’s belly. If he ever unleashed that savage temper upon her, there would be none to save her from the dark Scot.
He knew she was far too beautiful to be good, but if she had come to him pregnant, he would destroy her and take pleasure in the act. He tore his dark eyes from her and looked out at the sea of Douglas faces. Admiration and desire were writ plain in every male face. The vixen had seduced the lot of them with the shrug of a shapely shoulder. Her allure was devastating. He was too proud and stiff-necked to let them see that she might have tricked him. Suddenly he clasped her wrist and held her hand on high. He picked up the crystal wine goblet filled with ruby liquid and said the words that would bind them in the hand-fasting.
The traditional period was for one year At that time they would wed, or they would part if either of them wished to end the union.
Valentina picked up her goblet and repeated the pledge They drained the glasses, then hurled them into the fireplace, shattering the crystal into a million fragments. The crowd went wild. Ram’s hands were ungentle upon her as he bent her back forcefully to submit to his kiss.
She knew the kiss was not for her but for the clan gathered before them, to show his mastery of her. It took every last ounce of Tina’s determination, but she started out as she meant to carry on. She yielded to him, submitting her soft mouth, her body, and her will to his. He stared down at the warm creature in his arms, all soft womanly submission, and raged inside
At table, none of the food seemed to appeal to Tina. With a bellyful of wine on her empty stomach, her blood was up and she was almost ready for him, but she noticed that he himself ate little and drank much, and she feared that drunk neither he nor she would have any control whatsoever.
When half a dozen dark-visaged Douglases started to banter with Ram, he arose and went down the long hall with them, laughing for the first time that day. Tina felt abandoned and glanced about her for support, but everyone seemed to take their cue from Ramsay to stretch their legs. She spied Duncan, but the moment she spoke to him, she could see that he had drunk so much, he was unsteady on his feet. “Where’s Davie?” she asked hopefully.
“Fuckin’ his way through the Douglas maids,” Duncan said, grinning like a heathen.
She recoiled from him. What made men so coarse? They were like animals, every last one of them!
“Come, lass—the villagers outside ha’ been linin’ up fer hours fer just a glimpse o’ ye.” To her amazement, it was Archibald Douglas who was offering her his arm. No man in Scotland had a worse reputation than the Earl of Angus. He was known to be ruthless and power-mad. It was rumored that every man in Scotland feared him, even the king.
Tina reckoned that he must have a hard head for liquor since he had consumed whisky steadily for most of the day but seemed to have himself well in hand. She was secretly amused to discover that Archibald had allied himself to her. She knew that Janet Kennedy had been his mistress, and she thought perhaps the family resemblance had taken his fancy. Whatever it was, she would seize this opportunity to parade on his arm. If the Douglas Clan saw that she had their chief’s approbation, they would accord her respect, perhaps even fawn upon her. His influence was all-powerful, and Tina had decided that power was no bad thing to have.
They walked together for an hour, during which time Tina charmed him with her prettiest behavior. She was gracious to all, be they prince or peasant, and Angus approved of the way she acknowledged the adulation she received. She hung on his every word, realizing she would never find a better tutor, for he knew more about the affairs of the country in general and of the Douglases in particular than any man alive.
After he had introduced her to yet another Lord Douglas, she laughingly protested, “My lord, enough, I cannot tell one from another. I was always told Scotland had more sheep than any other commodity, but I’m beginning to suspect there are more Douglases than sheep.”
