“Yehaveto do naught,” he corrected gently. “Yer mam and I said from the beginning—the choice is yours. Aye, the alliance is useful. It strengthens ties. But it isnaecrucial. We would stand without it.”
“But we agreed—”
“In word only,” he said. “Nae hands shaken. Nae contracts signed. Aye, there would be some difficulty, changing minds does that, but it’s nae impossible.”
Her heart stumbled at the possibility, hope surfacing. “But what doyewant me to do?”
He touched her cheek. “I would have ye consider what ye can live with. Thomas would never harm ye—of that I’m certain. He’s more puppy than hunting hound, fond of comfort, eager to please. That counts for something. But courage,” he added, meeting her eyes steadily, “is harder to live without than many people ken. And I will nae force my daughter into a marriage that leaves her diminished. I would sooner see the matter ended than see ye bound to a man ye canna respect.”
Elena nodded slowly, considering all of this.
“At the end of it,” Liam said, “the choice is yours. Ye’re nae a child, Elena. I’ll advise when asked. I’ll protect where I can. But I willna decide this for ye.”
She looked down at her hands, turning his words over with care. Duty rose to meet her thoughts as it always had. She had been raised among men who bore responsibility without complaint—her father most of all.
“I want ye to be proud of me,” she said at last.
Liam’s expression softened. “I am always proud of ye, lass.”
“But I want to do my part,” she went on. “I ken what’s expected. I ken the weight of it.” She hesitated, then lifted her chin. “That doesna make the choice an easy one.”
“No,” he said quietly. “It doesna.”
Elena swallowed and curled her fingers into her palms, then dared to ask, “I canna imagine there’d be any... benefit in tying our family to the Jamisons?” she said carefully.
Liam’s expression and stance tensed. The mildness vanished, replaced by something sharper—alert, assessing. He studied her closely.
“Is there some reason,” he asked carefully, “why ye believe thereoughtto be?”
For a moment, she did not understand—and then she did, and heat rushed up her neck. “Nae—nae,” she said at once, eager to head off whatever conclusion he was drawing. But as the meaning settled, and with it the knowledge that if therehadbeen any dishonor between her and Jacob they would be having averydifferent conversation indeed, her shoulders sagged. With far greater disappointment than before, she added, “Nae. There is nae reason.”
She didn’t see it, but her father was barely able to contain his answering grin in that moment. When she glanced up at him eventually, he shuttered his expression.
“To answer yer question—there is nae advantage to be gained. Nae land secured, nae power strengthened. Only that two families already close would remain so.”
Dejected by the answer, though she’d known in advance what it would be, she nodded again.
“Take your time,” Liam said at last. “Think clearly. Choose with open eyes.”
“I will.”
Liam bent and kissed her cheek and left her to stew with her wild thoughts.
Chapter Fourteen
