He scoffed. “Did ye nae think of this before ye came?”
She threw up her hands. “No, I did not! I did not expect to be marshalled into an engagement, for one thing. I was going to slip in, draw your liking, slip out, and then visit my sister. None of this was meant to happen. But ithashappened, and now cannot be undone.”
He abruptly turned away, stamping back to the fireplace. Snatching up his half-whittled log, he sat down heavily on a stool.
“Yer society troubles daenae concern me,” he responded shortly.
“I shall die alone and impoverished!”
“Daenae be so dramatic.”
“I am notdramatic. I amtellingyou that if I return to London with my reputation in tatters, nobody will want me. Nobody. I have few enough friends, but those with any sense will drop me. I won’t be invited to any parties. Nobody will want to be seen with me. Nobody will want me, Callum. I can tell that you do not particularly want me either, but…”
“Oh, is that so?” he muttered, leaning over the log and applying the blade. A thin curl of wood peeled away, falling to the ground in a long, supple spiral. “Goodness, lass, ye certainly do keneverythin’, eh?”
She lifted up her chin. “I don’t appreciate your sarcasm.”
“I didnae use it for yer appreciation.”
“Well, then, can you at least help me understand why you are so dead set on not marrying me? If our betrothal were to be a serious thing, then perhaps it would be a good thing for us both.”
“A good thing for ye, perhaps.”
“For us both,” she repeated sternly. “Now, perhaps I am not as pretty as some of the other Keep ladies… heavens, I’m considered quite a plain thing in society, but?—”
“Plain?” he interrupted, an edge coming into his voice. The blade stilled, and he lifted his head, cool eyes finding hers. He stared at her, not even blinking, and Melody found herself unable to look away. “I daenae care to hear ye speak of yerself like that.”
She sniffed. “Well, it’s true.”
He pointed the little knife at her, the point glinting. “Ye willnae talk about yerself in those terms. Nae in me hearin’. Do ye understand?”
“I understand,” she echoed, blinking in confusion. Why on earth did he care how she described herself?
“I have told ye before,” he continued, returning to his whittling, “I daenae wish to marry. I have me reasons, and they are good reasons.”
“That’s just it, you see,” Melody whispered, risking a step forward. “You don’t wish to marry, but nor do I. If we married, we could form the sort of marriage that suits us both. I came here because I was fleeing the marriage my father was arranging for me. I did not have the power to refuse. Youdo,but you are constantly nagged by your grandmother and counselors about marriage. Neither of us is happy. If we marry, we can kill two birds with one stone, but we do not need to enter into a more traditional marriage. It’s perfect!”
“Is it?” he muttered.
“We could make it work,” she added eagerly. “We could befree.”
“Free? Freedom is a fine concept, but it’s a rare thing to find in reality,” he responded tightly. “I have never ken a free person. I myself am nae free. I tell ye what, lass. Listen well, as I’ll nae be repeatin’ this.”
Melody held her breath, biting the inside of her cheek hard enough to make it sting. In her head, the same words revolved, again and again.
I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to go home.
Other thoughts bombarded her, mostly uneasy conjecture regarding Callum’s wife. He said that she had taken her own life, which meant that thekinslayeraccusation could not be aboutthat.
Or could it? He freely confessed that she had taken her life because of him. Had he driven her to it? Was he a cruel husband?
No, Melody thought at once.He is not a cruel man. Whatever flaws he has, he is not cruel.
I hope I am not wrong about this.
“At the end of our month of betrothal,” Callum continued, slicing off an entire corner of the wood, “we’ll revisit this. If ye still want us to wed, we’ll talk about it then.”
That was better than Melody could have hoped for.
