Page 85 of To Wed an Heiress
“Where have you been?” her grandmother asked.
She didn’t answer that question. Instead, she asked one of her own.
“May I borrow one of the Macrory carriages? I need to travel to Inverness.”
At her grandmother’s silence she continued. “I won’t annoy you with my presence any further, Seanmhair. Ruthie and I will return to New York.”
“Not until you’re married.”
Mercy took a deep breath, tilted her chin up, and kept her gaze fixed on her grandmother.
“I have no intention of marrying Gregory. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not in an eternity. You can yell at me. You can threaten me, but I will not say the words that bind me to that man. Nor will I allow you to dictate my life.”
“Your parents have raised an incorrigible child.”
She couldn’t say that she was incorrigible. Perhaps determined was a better word. But she was most definitely not a child.
“It may surprise you to hear that I do not care about your opinion of me,” Mercy said. “From the very moment I arrived here you’ve made it abundantly clear that you loathe and detest me. I can only admit that, regrettably, the feeling is mutual.”
Ailsa’s mouth was open in a perfect O. Had no one ever stood up to this woman before?
“You were with him, weren’t you?”
She wasn’t going to answer that question, either.
“You’ve been sniffing around Caitheart like a bitch in heat ever since you arrived in Scotland. We’ll see what your fiancé has to say about that.”
“Gregory is no longer my fiancé. Why are you so determined to marry me off to him? He’s a Yankee, Seanmhair. You know, like my father? You’ve made your opinion of him well known, too.”
“Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?”
“Someone without any respect for you, unfortunately. At the very least, I should value you because of your age. I find that I can’t even do that. You’ve criticized my mother, my father, and me. You’re determined to make me bend to your dictates. You’ll pardon me if I don’t participate.”
“You’re a whore and we don’t associate with whores in this house. You’ll stay in your room until your father arrives.”
Mercy stared at her grandmother.
“Father is coming?”
“He left a week after me,” Gregory said, stepping around the corner.
She’d never considered him the type who would eavesdrop, but evidently Gregory was not above all kinds of behavior.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I didn’t know that you would slink out in the middle of the night, Mercy.”
She wasn’t going to mention Lennox’s name. Nor was it any of Gregory’s concern where she’d been. She’d formally renounced their engagement. Just because he didn’t agree wasn’t a consideration.
“I’m disappointed in you, Mercy. I will, of course, forgive you.”
“I don’t want your forgiveness, Gregory. I don’t need it. I don’t want anything from you.”
He only smiled, an expression that sent chills down her back.
Mrs. West suddenly entered the foyer and sent a wild look toward Mercy. Before she could ask what was wrong, Lennox appeared.
If her grandmother was angry, it was nothing to what Lennox was feeling at the moment. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw clenched. His grip on Mercy’s valise was so tight that his knuckles were white.
