Page 62 of Wed to the Highlander
Wrapped in the warmth of his arms, Maggie felt the shift as the quiet Duncan returned.
Propping herself on an elbow, she glared down at him. “It’s too late to change your mind. You promised.”
“Me sayingfinewhile you’re seducing me, is not an unbreakable vow, lass. I’ll return—alone—but I’ll be back. Every few weeks, and in plenty of time for the bairn’s birth.”
“No,” she replied.
“Aye,mo chridhe.”
Suddenly, their argument was reversed.
“The land, the people, the tentative truce with the Camerons, my crumbling castle, none of it has changed.” His arms tightened around her, his voice turning raspy. “I won’t bring you back to that chaos. You’re safe here and thriving. When your time comes, you’ll have a physician only minutes away.”
A brief silence fell between them. Then she said simply, echoing his words from earlier, “You’ll not dissuade me.”
“Maggie…”
She touched his cheek, gently. “I love you. I want our child to know you. I may not have come willingly into the marriage, but now I’m here to stay. If you’re returning, I am too. Because I’m your wife. And my place is by your side.”
He inhaled sharply, wariness tightening his throat. “It’s still a mess.”
“Then, we’ll face it together.”
He didn’t argue with her female logic. Smart man.
She felt it in the way he held her, in the silence that followed—not just agreement but the ache of a man who couldn’t bear to let go.
Chapter 20
Duncan MacPherson had never been a man who accepted charity easily. Pride was bred into his bones, stitched into every thread of his clan’s tartan. Yet here he sat—in a velvet-lined private car his brother-in-law had arranged—surrounded by comforts he hadn’t paid for and couldn’t afford. He’d sold off what wasn’t entailed from his Rothbury estates: horses, heirlooms, even the silver. And still, the ledgers refused to balance, no matter how tightly he cinched the purse strings.
High Glen remained intact for now. But the ledgers were bleeding, and the land itself seemed to be slipping away beneath his feet. They had to hold on a few months longer then he could make everything right with their creditors and repay Andrew every penny.
Maggie lay curled beside him, her bonnet tipped low, fingers loosely entwined with his beneath the loosely woven wool blanket he’d covered her with. She’d been lively that morning, chatting with him and her mother until lunch, and only now had sleep claimed her.
He looked up as the dowager duchess took the seat across from them, her gloved hands folded over a slim, leather-bound volume. Her gaze flicked to Maggie with the sharp, vigilant eye of a mother hawk. But when she glanced his way, he caught something else—calculated concern, quiet dread, and perhaps a glimmer of doubt about the wisdom of this return.
Lord knows, he’d had more than a glimmer.
“I need to have a frank discussion with you, my lord,” she said, her voice low and serious.
“Why waste time with any other kind, Your Grace,” Duncan replied.
She hesitated then looked to Maggie, her expression softening before becoming resolute. “Don’t take offense, but I must ask plainly. Do you trust everyone residing under your roof—with your wife and child’s lives?”
The question should have caught him off guard, but it was one he’d asked himself countless times. Isla and Agnes came immediately to mind.
“Maggie has shared about our permanent guest and her champion, I take it,” he said cautiously.
Catherine nodded then tapped the book in her lap. The gilt title glinted faintly in the afternoon light:Compendium of Medicinal and Domestic Herbs. “I’ve had a suspicion for some time.”
Duncan raised a brow but said nothing, waiting for her to continue.
She flipped the book open to a marked page and handed it to him.
The header read:Pennyroyal.
Its uses included digestive aid, skin treatment, insect repellant—and abortifacient. As he continued scanning the page, the dowager summarized the important parts. “The herb can be lethal in high doses. As it slowly kills you, it can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, weight loss, and hallucinations, to name a few.”
