“Aye.” Dominic once more kept his answer brief. He was insulted on Laurel’s behalf, and didn’t appreciate the king’s role in betting that Laurel would shock everyone and be more obedient to Brodie than other women were to their suitors or male relatives. She’d proved her naysayers wrong despite her past as a hellion. Once known as the “Shrew of Stirling,” Laurel had come into her own when she met Brodie. They complemented one another in a way Dominic had never seen in another couple. Even during his most blissful days with Colina, he’d never felt he and his wife had what he saw between his brother and sister-by-marriage.
“It’s just as well that you came instead of your brother. It’s time you remarried.”
“What?” Dominic blurted. “I haven’t been widowed for even a year, and you’re already negotiating my next marriage. And I’m a second son. What does my marriage matter? You didn’t arrange my betrothal to Colina.”
“I didn’t have to. You were a besotted pup trailing after her until Brodie agreed to your marriage. But it was a convenient tie to the MacLeans.”
“A bluidy load of good it did. She was never loyal to the Campbells. She was naught more than a spy.”
“I see you haven’t put the past behind you yet.”
“It’s barely been six months. No, my anger hasn’t subsided. Talking aboot her does little to help.”
“Tread carefully, Dom,” King Robert warned. Dominic opened his mouth with another rejoinder, but thought better of it. “A marriage to Laird MacArthur’s sister would end these troubles, and it would align the two clans once more. You share a common heritage.”
“We don’t need to align ourselves with them. You just solved that problem, Your Majesty. And at the moment, I am not at liberty to commit myself to someone.”
“Oh? Has the grieving widower already found someone else? In less than a year?” King Robert taunted, but there was a bite to his tone.
“I have. The lady is considering my offer.” Dominic remained tight-lipped about Emelie, not wanting to name her as his intended in case she declined. He wouldn’t share the circumstances of his offer, either.
“Do you believe Lady Emelie will accept?” King Robert chuckled at Dominic’s struggle to keep the surprise from his face. “Come now. Do you think aught goes on here that I don’t know aboot?”
Dominic thought there was plenty that went on that the king didn’t know about, but he wouldn’t point that out. His surprise stemmed from King Robert’s interest in Emelie and him. They’d danced together at least twice each night for the past four days. He’d accompanied her on walks each morning when the queen went for her morning constitutional. They hadn’t spent a great deal of time together, but they’d had an opportunity to get to know one another better, and Dominic suspected she would agree to at least the handfast. The more time he spent in her company, the more he hoped she would.
“If you know of my interest, why suggest someone else? Is it because the Dunbars are Lowlanders and too far away to do much good along Campbell borders?”
“Err—no. Henry Pringle recently courted the young lady. Everyone believed he would ask for her hand, but I knew his father was arranging a marriage to Laird Elliot’s daughter.”
“And no one knew to warn Lady Emelie?” Dominic cocked an eyebrow. He was certain the queen knew and could have spoken up. They’d allowed Pringle to play Emelie for a fool, and now she was dealing with the consequences alone. At least until she and Dominic married, as he hoped.
“Naught was said,” King Robert hedged. “I believe it was more of a dalliance than a courtship.” King Robert’s eyebrow rose to match Dominic’s. The latter understood the implications.
“I’m aware of all of the circumstances of that brief courtship.”
“And it does not bother you that Lady Emelie is un—”
“Your Majesty,” Dominic warned. He glanced at those who might hear their conversation. “I have asked her to consider a handfast, if not a marriage. If she agrees, she will be my wife. A wife I will defend.”
“Settle, Dom. I’m not impugning her. I’m merely ensuring you are aware of what you’re getting yourself into. Your first wife was a virgin when you wed. I assumed you wished for the same again.”
“What I wish for and what Lady Emelie is or isnae is nay one’s business but our own. Nay one’s neb needs pushing into our marriage if there is one.” Dominic kept his voice low, his brogue heavy, and the censure to his king clear. He risked much being defiant to the monarch, but he wouldn’t accept anyone implying Emelie was less than worthy of marriage.
“Very well. And I thought Brodie was the hot-tempered one of the two of you.”
“We’ve always been as alike as two peas in a pod.” Dominic grinned as King Robert grunted. They’d been stubborn children, haranguing their mother to no end. But what appeared as recalcitrance to some was the determination that kept them alive during one battle after another, and it was what made Brodie an irrefutable leader.
“Do you think Lady Emelie will agree to your offer?”
“I hope so. I am giving her time to decide without pressure.”
“You make a handsome couple, though you look like Goliath to her David.” King Robert grinned at his jest. Dominic pursed his lips, but there was mirth in his eyes. He saw nothing wrong with Emelie’s petite height. He rather liked it. Colina had been tall and willowy; Emelie couldn’t be more her opposite.
As strongly as he’d been attracted to Colina, Dominic’s desire for Emelie made any past lust pale in comparison. At first, he suspected it was merely the deluge after the drought. But now he knew his desire for Emelie came from far more than a dry spell. He forced himself to temper that lust whenever he was near her, not wanting her to fear he would use her as Henry had. Fear plagued him that if they married and consummated their union, it might be harmful to her. It was the only aspect where her diminutive size worried him. He feared crushing her even if she wasn’t pregnant, but it terrified him that he would injure her or the babe.
But when Dominic was alone in his chamber each night, his memory inevitably floated back to the feel of her in his arms as they danced only hours earlier. It was the sound of her laughter and the twinkle in her blue-hazel eyes as the sun shone on them during their walks. Those plagued him until he eased his longing with his own hand. The same maid who’d helped prepare his first bath upon his return came back each evening. She continued to make the same offer, and he was sorely tempted to accept, merely to ease his aching bollocks in a way far more satisfying than he could offer himself. But he would look at her, and it was Emelie he longed for. He declined each time and groaned as he entered the warm water. The bath eased not only his aching muscles from training in the lists but his aching need to explore Emelie’s body.
“Ahem,” King Robert cleared his throat. “Mayhap you could remember where you are and with whom you sit rather than thinking aboot your lady-in-waiting. Mayhap the more appropriate title would be mon-in-waiting.”
