Page 2 of Won By The Highlander

They both turned predatory eyes to Orla.

She shook her head violently. ‘No. You cannot mean me. I shall never marry. How many times must I say this?’ Orla knew she must be nimble to escape her parents’ conniving. ‘Besides, any alliance you make with one clan will merely fuel the resentment of all the others. How can you favour one family without slighting the rest of our friends, and you have often said it is a delicate balance, juggling influence to your advantage, have you not, Father?’

‘A shrewd observation, Orla. See Ada, she may be a little rough around the edges, but our daughter has a keen mind. If we wed her in haste, we might gain an ally with one hand and an enemy with the other.’

‘Aye, she is right,’ nodded her mother. ‘And that is a stumbling block in choosing a potential suitor.’

‘Can we not say that some young buck has fallen in love with Orla and cannot do without her?’

‘Use your wits, Dunbar. No one will believe that, and since when did anyone in their right mind marry for love?’

‘I did,’ said Dunbar, wearing an oily smile. ‘And I have never in our whole marriage had cause to regret it and….’

‘Oh, shut up, Dunbar.’ Ada continued to pace. ‘If it cannot be true love, then it must seem like a matter of chance, fairly done, and with no favour shown to any party.’ She wagged a skinny finger at her husband. ‘Oh, I have it.’ She beamed at him. ‘A most excellent scheme. Aye, we must make our Orla a prize to be won in an open contest.’

‘Our Orla, a prize?’ Her father wore a look of incredulity.

‘I am still in the room, Father,’ said Orla with wounded pride.

‘I mean no offence, daughter, but you must own that your reputation has proceeded you, and we do not have a line of suitors beating at our door, do we?’

‘Aye, true enough, Dunbar,’ said her mother. ‘She’s not much to look at, for she will always slouch and scowl, and she never flatters men as they like. But with her vast dowry, she is a prize, nonetheless. But we must make it seem like the most worthy suitor has won her hand. The young lads hereabouts must prove themselves worthy. A card game, perhaps?’

‘You would chance my future happiness in a card game? You cannot be in earnest?’ said Orla.

‘Aye, ‘tis too risky. We might end up joined to an undeserving family. I’ll not throw away Orla’s dowry on an scoundrel from bad stock,’ huffed her father.

‘So it cannot be completely random,’ said Ada. ‘A game of skill will weed out the less fortunately endowed young men. And we only need one winner, so what is he good at?’

‘What do you mean, he? Who are you talking about?’ cried Orla.

‘Why, Robbie Dunn, of course. We’ve had our eye on him for some time, my dear.’

‘Robbie Dunn! Of all people. He won’t want me. He’s never looked twice at me in all his life, and there’s every lass in Inverness after him for a husband.’

‘Which is why you must catch him first, Orla,’ said her mother. ‘I’ve not seen a finer physique on a man nor a better seat when it comes to the hunt. I swear the lad came out of his mother astride a horse. And he is very accomplished at archery and swordsmanship.’

‘Aye, especially swordsmanship, from what I hear,’ said her father with a leer.

‘Dunbar, we’ll have no more bawdy talk. From now on, we must groom Orla in the ways of being a lady.’

‘It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?’ he replied with a snort of derision.

Orla’s mother refused to be distracted from her conniving. ‘A horse race will do it. Robbie is a magnificent rider and knows every wall, glen, and fallen tree in the county. He will win, and we will get our way without offending anyone. But to really tempt him, I believe we have to throw in that land up at Wildwood Glen, which his father has always coveted.’

‘Must we? I hate to part with the land, Ada,’ wailed Dunbar.

‘But you are forgetting one thing,’ cried Orla. ‘Robbie will not want me.’

‘Not want you?’ exclaimed her father. ‘Why, they will be getting a fine, sturdy lass, daughter of one of the most influential lairds in the county. And you will do just as well as any of your sisters.’

‘All my sisters have been sent to the beds of rich and powerful men, so you don’t need another alliance. I shall not do it. It is humiliating, and I would rather die…or…or join a nunnery.’

Her mother snorted back laughter. ‘As if they would have you, my love.’

‘But Robbie Dunn is too…I mean, he is such a….’

‘Smug, arrogant little bastard,’ offered her father.

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