“Hurt me? Did ye think I agreed to marry Katherine? Did ye plan to continue the affair once she and I wed?” Rab watched Douglan, knowing his younger brother better than the man knew himself. “Ye did. Well, ye’re a right pair. Ye deserve each other. Since ye’re the spare, Douglan, there’s nay reason ye canna marry Katherine and make yer bairn legitimate.”
“Rab—” Katherine spoke up.
“Nay. Dinna speak ma name. Dinna try to convince me of aught. But I will thank the pair of ye. Ye made breaking things off with Katherine so much easier. I dinna need to feel a moment of guilt for walking away from a pregnant woman. Ye can have each other.”
Rab marched through the door without looking back. He was nearly to his horse when Douglan caught him. Douglan grabbed Rab’s arm and yanked. Rab whirled around but didn’t strike back as Douglan expected. Instead, Rab laughed.
“I came here to break things off with Katherine. Ye both tried to trap me, but ye ken the same as I do, I could and would never marry her. Ye ken I couldnae because she doesnae bring the dowry or connections a laird’s wife must have. And ye ken I never would because she isnae the right one.”
“I dinna understand how ye’re nae angry. I didna set out to betray ye, Rab. But I ken I have.”
Rab stood, watching his brother as he tried to sort through his emotions and thoughts. They raced between wanting to launch himself onto Bolt’s back and ride away to trying to understand why he didn’t want to bash his brother’s head in for betraying him. But once more, the only thing he felt was relief.
“Douglan, Katherine is a beautiful and seductive woman. I dinna fault ye for being attracted to her. I suppose I should be livid and feel betrayed, but I also ken ye, little brother. Ye arenae the type to covet what I’ve had. If ye’re involved with the lass, it’s because ye care for her enough to choose her over me. I understand that.”
“I love her, Rab.”
“But does she love ye? She must have been bedding us at the same time.”
“Never both of us when ye were here.” Douglan glanced away. “Nae that, that makes it any better. We didna want to humiliate ye by having people ken she wanted me over ye. She thought to end it with ye, then we could make it seem as if we got together once she was nay longer yer leman. But then the bairn.” He shrugged. “It wasna aboot tricking ye or trying to pass ma bairn off as yers. I ken ye dinna want an illegitimate child any more than I do. But if everyone kenned she carried ma child when she was still yer leman, well, nay one would come out unscathed.”
“People must already ken ye’re tupping her.”
Douglan grasped Rab’s leine. “Ye may have tupped her. Ye may have fucked her. But that isnae what’s between us. I am going to marry her, so dinna ever speak that way of ma wife again.”
Rab swatted Douglan’s hand away and adjusted his leine. “At least, ye have some loyalty to one of us.”
“I dinna understand why ye arenae furious. Why were ye coming to break things off? Father received a missive from Maxwell Douglas aboot Catriona, but Father hasnae said aught aboot ye marrying. Have ye found someone else at court?”
Rab lifted his chin and set his jaw, challenging his brother to say aloud what Rab was certain Douglan had deduced. Douglan shook his head.
“Nay, Rab. Ye will get both of ye killed.”
“Ye love yer Katherine, and I love mine.”
“But ye’re the heir, like ye said. Ye must marry to make an alliance nae make a feud worse.”
“Then wee brother, ye should prepare to be laird one day. If Father disinherits me, then ye’ll be in charge. If he doesnae disown me or kill me, then we might actually have a truce with the MacFarlanes. Father doesnae wish to attack them ever again, and he was always fond of Kitty. He willna wage war against her people once she is one of us.”
“Mayhap. But Mòr willna think twice aboot wiping us from this earth. And I canna say that I blame him. The mon canna be expected to lose yet another kinswoman to us.”
“Ye make it sound as though I’m going to force maself on Kitty and drag her to the altar at knifepoint.”
“That’s how he’ll see it nay matter what the lass tells her uncle.”
“Dinna tell Father I was here, and dinna say a word aboot Kitty and me. But ken that they willna stop me this time.”
“What of yer duty to the clan?”
“I’m nae stepping aside. Father will have to put me aside. Marrying Kitty might be the one thing that ends this feud. If Father and Mòr canna come to a truce, the king willna allow it to continue once we’re bound by marriage.”
“And what has the king had to say so far?”
“Naught. I havenae seen him.”
“Bluidy bleeding hell, Rab. Ye left court without even meeting with the king. Are ye trying to ruin us all? We’re unlikely to have any land left after he adjudicates against us, and we’ll be worse off than the MacGregors if ye marry Kitty with nay one’s consent.”
“She and I are both of a legal age to marry. If Mòr and Father, and even King Robert, canna accept it, then like I said, ye’ll be the next laird. But if they have any sense, they’ll realize that rather than fighting one another, we’d do well to fight alongside each other against those who harry us both.”
