Page 85 of The Wrong Bride
“I cannot in all honor marry you, Lady Catriona,” Hugh said. “I love your cousin, and I’ve already taken her to wife in the time-honored way of our people.”
Riona groaned. “Hugh!”
Owen drew his sword with a metallic swish. Thesun, peeking through clouds, glinted along it with menace. “Then any discussion is over. I accept your challenge, McCallum, and this just won’t be to first blood, but to the death.”
“Owen!” Cat cried. “I thought you wanted to be a man of science! I won’t allow this. No one is going to die! If Laird McCallum loves Riona—” And then she gazed at Riona with trepidation. “But do you lovehim?”
Hugh’s gaze burned into Riona’s, but he did not beg her for her favor.
Riona covered her mouth with both hands as her tears spilled at last. “I feel so ashamed.”
Cat’s expression mellowed into tenderness. “Don’t cry, Riona. Don’t be ashamed. None of this was your fault. And I’m not betrayed—I don’t even know him!”
For a moment, there was no further sound but the wind. Riona and Hugh simply looked at each other, and in his gaze, at last she saw love and anguish and guilt, and a terrible farewell that seemed to crush her chest. He would honestly fight to the death to make this right?
“I won’t stand for this!” Maggie cried. “There has to be another way.”
For a long, tense moment, the silence was unbroken. Hugh glared at Owen, and although Owen gave him back equal menace, at last his gaze turned to Maggie and stayed there. He wasn’t hiding his emotions now, Riona saw. There was speculation in his knitted brow, and then his forehead cleared with a momentary wide-eyed look of realization and then deep satisfaction. It all flashed by quickly, and Riona wasn’t certain what she’d seen.
But then Owen spoke. “I have another proposal, McCallum. I will marry your sister and seal the peace between our clans once and for all.”
Riona gasped. Maggie went still, but she made no protest.
Hugh glanced between them frowning. “My sister? What connection is there between ye?”
“You were in England half the year, she was in Edinburgh,” Owen said. “We have spent time together once or twice, have we not, Maggie?”
Her chin came up even as a revealing blush washed across her cheeks. But still she did not protest the idea of marriage between them.
Hugh gave his sister a baffled stare. “Maggie, ignore his ridiculous idea. Ye don’t need to marry him. This is my disaster, and I will fix it.”
“A marriage between our clans is all that’s necessary to make things right,” Owen said. “I will be satisfied with Maggie as my bride.”
Now it was Cat’s turn to give her own brother a frown. “What is going on? You two knew each otherthatwell?”
Maggie didn’t answer.
A knowing smile curved Owen’s lips, even as Hugh’s eyebrows lowered in an ominous frown.
“Maggie, say yes,” Owen said, his voice rough at the edges. “You alone know what happened between us. Together, we can make a new contract, and our people can share this land again. Your brother and my cousin can be together; my sister need never fear marrying a man she’s never met. Of course, her dowry will be held for her future husband,” he said to Hugh in warning.
“I have my own dowry, though it isn’t as large as Cat’s,” Riona added, and risked a glance at Hugh. For the first time, she felt a touch of hope.
She could see he was torn between protecting his sister, and the chance that their love—and the contract—might be saved. But Riona could never be happy if she felt that Maggie was reluctant.
Maggie was studying Owen as if he were a strange plant whose use she was trying to ascertain. Owen let her look her fill, confidence in his straight shoulders and the curve of one eyebrow as he awaited her decision.
“I will marry you, Owen,” Maggie finally said, her voice cool, almost detached.
Owen sheathed his sword with finality and even triumph. Riona wondered if he’d come here already prepared with this plan. Her cousin was a smart man. But he was also an earl, who could have married into another titled family.
“There will be no marriage if I forbid it,” Hugh said angrily. He strode to his sister, taking her shoulders. “Maggie—”
Maggie put her fingers against his mouth, and Riona could have sworn they trembled.
“Hugh, I want to do this,” she said with quiet resolve. “Owen’s right—this will solve all the problems between our clans. I may not know him well, but I do know him. And for me to be able to bring about a peace that’s been absent for generations? I will feel such pride, Hugh.” She lowered her voice and spoke with even more solemnity. “And thisfeelsright to me.”
She emphasized the word “feels” in a way that seemed to relax Hugh.
