Page 114 of To Wed an Heiress
“Don’t be ridiculous, Elizabeth. You’re going nowhere.”
They both turned to see Ailsa standing at the head of the stairs.
“But it’s Thomas, Mother. He’s alive.”
The news should have been greeted with joy. Instead, Ailsa merely continued to look at her daughter without emotion, her eyes flat.
“You’re not going anywhere, Elizabeth. Don’t be a fool.”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything, merely folded the letter carefully and tucked it once again into her pocket.
Mercy glanced at her grandmother again. Why didn’t she remember Ailsa as being so heartless? Had losing her farm and her house to the war changed her so drastically? Or had she always been this way and clung to those setbacks as a reason to be even more bitter? Even so, she had no right to deny Elizabeth happiness.
A few minutes earlier her aunt had given her advice. Now she turned to the older woman and said, “You must go to him, Elizabeth. You both have suffered so much. You deserve to be happy now.”
“Don’t interfere, Hortense.”
“I have always hated that name,” Mercy told her grandmother. “My name is Mercy. If you don’t address me by that, I will not answer you.”
“What an impudent little trollop you are.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Mercy said, turning back to Elizabeth. “I’ll repeat the same words you said to me. Love is not so easily found that you can afford to give it up. Go to him.”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything. She didn’t even look at Mercy. It was as if all the life had suddenly left her.
Ailsa had won.
A hundred years earlier Lennox would have arrived at Macrory House armed with a cudgel, spear, and a hundred clansmen behind him. Or maybe he would have simply ridden in through the enemy’s gates and made off with the daughter of the house riding pillion. For good measure he would have stolen a number of cattle as well.
Now he was accompanied by only three people, but he was in a reiver’s mood. He was all for pillaging the house and laying waste to the whole of the ostentatious structure the Macrorys had built.
Perhaps there was something showing in his face, because McNaughton’s expression changed when he opened one of the double doors. For a second there was real fear there before the man’s expression shifted to his usual sneer.
He’d disliked McNaughton from the day the man had arrived in Edinburgh to bring him news of Robert’s death. Douglas hadn’t come himself, but Lennox had excused the man due to his age. However, he could have sent someone other than McNaughton, a dour man who’d made himself disliked in the village and beyond.
Lennox didn’t bother asking for permission to enter. He gained admittance simply by pushing the other man out of the way and making his way into the house.
Connor, behind him, didn’t utter a conciliatory word. A good thing, because Lennox wasn’t concerned about making friends here. He was a Caitheart and this was a Macrory establishment.
In the annals of Scottish history, the Macrorys were newcomers.
He strode through the house, the others silently following. McNaughton trailed behind, continually talking.
“This is a breach, Your Lordship. You cannot enter without the Macrorys’ permission. You do not have the right.”
“You should save your breath,” Lennox finally said, turning and addressing the older man. “Words aren’t going to stop me.”
McNaughton’s face was as red as the tassels on the nearby curtains.
“Send for Douglas if you wish. I don’t care.”
The last time he was here, only a week or so ago, he hadn’t paid any attention to his surroundings. Now he made note of the soaring majesty of the staircase, the shiny marble floor, and the tapestry hanging above the landing. The castle there looked too much like Duddingston. No doubt it had been commissioned to make the upstart Macrorys feel a little better about their lack of history.
Stopping in the middle of the foyer, he looked up at the second floor. He didn’t know which room was Mercy’s. He doubted McNaughton would tell him. Jean probably would, but he didn’t want to get her in trouble.
He looked over his shoulder at Irene on the off chance that she knew, but she only shook her head.
Two maids poked their heads into the foyer, took one look at him, and disappeared. No doubt they went to announce his appearance to all and sundry.
