Page 32 of The Groom Wore Plaid
He held up a hand. “Don’t bother saying it again. Now I suggest you finish your meal.”
Darkness had fallen by the time dinner was done, and when she would have retreated to her room, Owen took her arm.
“Come with me to the library,” he said.
Suspiciously, she clutched her law book to her chest, in case he tried to take it from her.
With a sigh, he said, “I have the telescope prepared for you to see the moons around the planet Jupiter.”
Reluctantly, her imagination was captured. “There are moons around Jupiter? I remember ye telling me about the planet long ago.”When ye were trying to seduce me while lying to me about your betrothed.“Have ye not changed your tactics to get a woman alone?”
He leaned in and gave her his most seductive smile. She caught her breath, even though she knew he was putting on a show.
“Do you wish to come or not?” he asked.
“I’ll come. I don’t want to make ye seem rejected before your clan.”
“Your concern moves me,” he said dryly.
When he would have straightened, she drew him closer and spoke with a sincerity she hadn’t planned. “Itisconcern, Owen, whatever ye might think. I fear for ye.”
They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment. And then he shook his head, and the rejection pierced her, though she should be used to it with him.
In the library, she knew he was trying to makethings simple as he talked about the telescope, showing her the eyepiece mounted on the side of the polished wooden tube. Never once did he make her feel inferior because she had so little knowledge of her own.
“This is a reflecting telescope, invented in the 1660s by Isaac Newton, who died earlier this year.”
She nodded solemnly and let him talk on about the different mirrors used in the various telescopes, and how they reflected light. She didn’t understand most of it, but for once, she didn’t allow herself to become frustrated. He would teach her, she saw that now. He didn’t think of her as a mere woman, too stupid to understand manly concepts. Being treated that way was . . . refreshing. He seemed like a different person, as if the weight of his responsibilities as chief and earl fell away, and the guarded way he held himself around her faded. He was just another scholar, full of enthusiasm for learning. His father had tried to crush that thirst for knowledge, but Owen hadn’t allowed that to happen.
“Just six years ago,” he continued, “John Hadley presented a revised version of Newton’s telescope at the Royal Society. I was fortunate to be there and see its demonstration,” he said, his eyes unfocused as he remembered what was obviously a momentous occasion for him.
“Ye spent most of your time in England,” she observed. “I’m curious why ye didn’t become a Hanoverian instead of a Jacobite. By all rights, ye should havebeen more loyal to the Crown than our King Over the Water.”
“I won’t forget that Scotland’s king—England’s true king—had his throne taken away from him, and we Scots had more and more taken away from us. We were promised our equal place in Parliament, and then it was denied us. Those rights still haven’t been fully restored. There are new customs and excise taxes—”
He broke off when Maggie stared at him in disbelief.
“I did spend my entire life in Scotland,” she pointed out.
“Then you know I could go on with our grievances,” he answered smoothly. “It still infuriates me. Famine only made things worse. When the Jacobites tried to bring our king back to Scotland and his rightful rule, I supported it.”
She frowned. “My brother Hugh was eighteen during the Fifteen rising. He fought in it. But you were only sixteen. Surely ye didn’t participate.”
He looked back through the eyepiece of his telescope.
“Owen?”
“No, I didn’t fight,” he said, meeting her gaze, “but not because I didn’t want to. I was in Scotland when the call came to gather the clans. My own people went. I planned to go with them. And then I was hit from behind.”
Maggie inhaled with surprise.
“When I woke up, trapped in a coach, we’d alreadycrossed into England. My father kept me a prisoner at one of our estates for that entire autumn and winter. Over ten thousand Highlanders gathered to defend our country and our king, and I wasn’t there.”
“Ye ken it didn’t turn out well, Owen,” she said quietly. “So many mistakes were made. The Earl of Mar delayed when he should have pressed forward. Men deserted while our leaders argued over what to do next. And then when we finally fought at Sheriffmuir, Mar refused to engage our entire army, and the Duke of Argyll and his much smaller force were allowed to withdraw.” She sighed. “Even the Scottish contingent that marched into England surrendered. How ironic that both sides claimed victory.”
Owen was watching her with interest. “You know the details well.”
She shrugged and felt a warm embarrassment steal over her, then silently berated herself for it. It wasn’t in her plan to win his admiration—she was supposed to be his idea of a terrible wife. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut and play dumb? It was too late now. “My mother brought me back to Larig Castle as the clans were gathering, figuring I’d be most safe there. My brother eventually returned from the battle, wounded, and—and he told me everything.” She’d almost said she helped nurse him back to health, but she didn’t want Owen to know she had any healing skills.
