Ashe nudged his horse into a gallop, Sorcha prayed that Dougal had an unusualamount of difficulty guessing what she had done and in finding his way toGartmhor.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ruaristretched and smiled down at the woman he held in his arms. He had no idea whathad happened to the others after Sorcha and he had raced back within the wallsof Gartmhor and he did not care. Beatham and Margaret were undoubtedly staringinto each other’s eyes and murmuring nonsense at each other. He was not sure hewanted to think about what Neil and her little man were doing. Dougal wouldsoon be at the gates of Gartmhor, and he would have to rouse himself to dealwith that. For the moment he refused to think about what he faced or whatanyone else was doing. He simply wished to savor the pleasure of having Sorchaback in his arms.
Sheraised herself up on her elbows and smiled at him. “I was a wee bit worriedthat ye wouldnae welcome me back, but I think ye have done a verra fine job ofit, Sir Kerr.”
“AndI intend to welcome ye a few more times ere your troublesome brother comespounding on my gates.”
Sorchagrimaced. “I pray he isnae going to be too furious and unreasonable.”
“Oh,he will be furious, but he isnae completely without wits. He has to see howweel this solves the whole problem. I wouldnae like it either if I were in hisboots, but he only suffers a small loss, and there is much to gain if heconcedes.”
“Whatdoes he gain?”
“Yewill make a fine marriage.”
“Oh,with whom?” she asked and laughed when he scowled at her.
“Idinnae think I make such a poor choice of husband.”
“Nay,although there were all those brides who fled from ye as if ye were the devilhimself come to drag them down into hell.”
Heeyed her suspiciously. “Are ye about to confess to having a hand in that?”
“Me?”she asked with an overdone innocence.
“Aye,ye.”
Sorchacould tell from the glitter of amusement in his eyes that she would suffer nopenalties for her interference. It was probably time to confess to what she haddone. He was going to marry her, and although the thought of how he hadsearched for a wife still nettled her a little, she could see the amusing sideof what had happened.
“Oh,weel, I suppose one ought to start one’s marriage with a clean soul. Aye, Isent them running from ye.”
“Iwas sure ye did, but I could ne’er figure out how.” He turned so that she wassprawled beneath him, but the scowl he tried to give her quickly turned to agrin as he saw the laughter in her lovely eyes. “What did ye do to them?”
“Mostanything I could think of.” She laughed along with him. “I mostly watched themto see if they were nervous, for ye are an imposing mon and ye werenae in thesweetest of tempers at that time. Most were easily afrightened by your temper,”
“Oh-ho!So that is why ye were always stirring up my anger.”
“Mostof the time. There were times when ye had angered me, and I felt I must pay yeback in kind. There was only one lass who needed a bit more persuasion, and thereasons why arenae so flattering to you.”
“Dinnaetry to soothe my poor vanity. I had no illusions as to why most of those lasseswere allowing themselves to be picked over like ripe fruit. I am a good match.”
“True,although ye need not sound so proud of that. This one lass was verra eager toshare in all that makes ye such a good match—especially your coin and yourposition in court. I needed to do a little extra to make her leave. Ivor gaveme a hand with that one.”
“MyUncle Ivor assisted you? He was never the helpful kind.”
Sorchabriefly grinned and nodded, “I ken it, but he thought this would be fun. I amnot sure what he did, but I could tell that he had thoroughly enjoyed himself.Weel, that lass may have coveted your purse and position, but she didnae wishto abide where there were ghosts.”
Helaughed and held her close, nuzzling her neck until she giggled. “I should makeye pay dearly for interfering in my life, but I can only thank ye for saving mefrom making a verra poor decision. Rosse tried to tell me I was wrong in what Ithought and was trying to do, but I didnae wish to heed his opinion.”
“Weel,ye had held to that plan for a verra long time. ‘Tis not easy to see thatsomething ye have set your mind to is not the wisest thing to do.”
“Andmarrying ye is the wisest thing for me to do?” he said, smiling at her toassure her that he was teasing.
“Ofcourse.” She sighed and became serious for a moment. “I had decided even beforeI began the game in earnest that even if ye did not choose to marry me, Icouldnae let ye marry those others. They were all so wrong for ye, and ye werenot looking closely at the lass who came with the dowry and breeding.”
Hethought that over for a moment and finally nodded. “Nay. In truth, I forgottheir faces the moment they rode away. That is how little they lingered in mymind.”
