Page 28 of The Groom Wore Plaid
He glanced down at his mother. They stood just inside the great hall, near where Maggie was giving Cat a friendly hug good-bye. And then Maggie disappeared down a corridor. She’d already made a formal curtsy to his mother, who hadn’t appreciated the gesture.
“Mother, we’re to be married,” he said, trying to keep his tone patient. “You’d have to be more worried if I was indifferent to her.”
“I do wish you’d reconsider and find another way to fulfill the contract. Do you know that in times past, these McCallum women actually made and sold thread in Edinburgh?” She sounded as aghast as if they’d offered their bodies on the street.
“I appreciate that they’re hardworking women trying to better their clan,” he said, an edge to his voice. “You certainly have had friends who’ve done the same. Life in Scotland is not always as easy for some as it is for us.”
“Easy? And do you think your father and I haven’t worked hard for this life we’ve given you?”
“You worked hard making sure Cat did not have to live under the marriage contract.”
Lady Aberfoyle flinched. “Your father kept things from me, you know that.”
“And I know you guessed some of what was happening, how Father was lying to Hugh McCallum about his betrothed. You and Father set this in motion. There’s no stopping it now.”
“Even if you wished to?” she said in a hesitant voice.
“I don’t wish to. I know my duty. Safe travels, Mother.”
He should have kissed her cheek, but instead he opened the door and led her outside to the stairs down to the courtyard. A dozen mounted men would guide the Duff women for the long day’s journey to Larig Castle.
A servant told him that Maggie was in the library, a place he knew she thought of as her refuge, outside of the room he’d given her. It was good that he had something to offer her that she cherished.
He stepped into the open door and saw Maggie seated at a table with two large books spread out before her. She looked up and regarded him soberly, saying nothing.
“Cat and my mother have left,” he said, stating the obvious.
She nodded, then lowered her gaze to the booksagain, as if in dismissal. But just as he was about to demand her attention, she shoved the books away from her, until one teetered on the far edge of the table.
“Your sister has a knowledge of this library I envy,” she said tiredly. “I might not appreciate your mother, but I can be grateful on Cat’s behalf that your mother granted her the education I was never allowed.”
“Maggie—”
“Oh, they tried to give me a woman’s education,” she said with bitterness. “I can read and write. My mother tried to teach me to sew, to knit, but even playing the viol was difficult. I cannot hold a fan with any mastery.”
She was trying to convince him that she was a failure at the womanly arts, but he didn’t believe her. And then her expression turned sad, and her next words rang with truth.
“I cannot understand these books. I’ve never read literature before. I feel like the ignorant Highlander we’re always accused of being.”
“I don’t need a wife who comes to me knowing every one of life’s skills.” He was still angry that she was fighting a situation they both simply had to accept. It seemed illogical and flighty, not some of the good womanly attributes her mother had tried to instill in her. Why did she have to be so abnormal from other women—going on about childish dreams, threatening to break the vow she’d made to him? If he had to be married to a woman out of obligation, thank God that at least she sometimes amused him.
And there was always the promise of their wedding night. He allowed his gaze to drop below her face, lingering on her full breasts and narrow waist. Her hips were hidden from him, but not for long, a little over three weeks. He was counting down the days.
Maggie let out a noisy sigh. “I thought we were having a conversation about education, something supposedly so important to you, but instead your mind seems on—on—” She waved her hand between them.
“I was telling you what I preferred in a wife. This”—he waved his hand as she had—“is one of the things I definitely prefer.”
“I’ve already said I won’t marry ye!”
Owen knew she loved her brother, and that saving Hugh’s life and honor was why she’d agreed to the betrothal in the first place. Their marriage would save lives wasted in a needless feud—her clan would still have access to their prized land, where they’d been sharing the perfect ingredients for the whisky that had been making both clans coin ever since the marriage contract had been signed at Cat’s birth.
And yet Maggie kept insisting that a dream of his death was making her reject the best solution to satisfy the contract. He’d be flattered that she cared about his well-being, if he wasn’t so frustrated.
“Maggie, I’m not going to discuss our marriage again. It will happen and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
“I can refuse to say the vows.”
“In front of both our families, whom we’re protecting with this farce of a marriage?”
