“Well, you used to consider the consequences of your actions,” she said thoughtfully. “But now you have brought an Englishwoman into the castle—whom you obviously prefer over me, since you threw me over in favour of her. Are you so besotted with the Sassenach that you did not realise how much your people despise her?”
Duncan was so angry that he dropped the pretence of civility, stood up and leaned over the desk so that he was almost nose to nose with Iona.
“Eliza would never betray me,” he growled, “and you and I were never betrothed; the contracts were not signed, and there had been no betrothal ceremony.”
“But we had an understanding,” she replied. “It may not have been written on paper, Duncan, but it was there. You acted dishonourably, and you know it.”
Duncan laughed cynically. “An understanding? If you think a few words between your father and me count as an understanding, then you are sadly mistaken, Iona. I said nothing to your father which could have been construed as an offer of marriage.”
Iona sighed. “Well, what is done is done, I suppose,” she said, and her face had an expression of sadness and regret.
For a moment, Duncan thought that she was genuinely hurt, before she stood up, and moved around the desk.
“You always were too trusting. I have known you for years and although it is very endearing, it’s one of your worst faults. And how long do you think it will be before your English bride betrays you? Here in the heart of this fortress where she can destroy us from inside? No, Duncan, you need someone who understands you—someone like me.”
Iona took a step closer, but Duncan was too close to the desk and could not back away any more. He was about to take her by the arms and push her away, but Iona reached out and put a hand on his chest, then stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.
Eliza was almost out of breath by the time she reached Duncan’s study, but while running she had been going over and over in her mind what the elders were discussing. Tainted blood? Clearly their opinion of a half-English Laird was that he was vastly inferior to them—their arrogance was staggering, but it was not her pressing concern at that moment.
When she reached the door, however, she was surprised to hear a woman’s voice alternately raised in anger, then laughing. She stood outside trying to hear what was being said, but could only hear the higher pitch of the female, and the deep rumble of Duncan’s voice. The words themselves were inaudible, so Eliza opened the door very cautiously, then stood listening.
“…someone like me.”
Eliza realised that the voice was Iona’s, and when she pushed the door open, she stood frozen with shock.
Iona was kissing Duncan, pressing her body against his from chest to knee, and as far as Eliza could see, he was not resisting.
“Duncan!” she yelled, her body quaking with rage.
They sprang apart, and as soon as Iona saw her, her face broke into a wide smile of malicious satisfaction.
“Eliza,” she said sweetly. “How good to see you!”
Eliza shot Iona a look that would have killed her had it been an arrow. However, the smug grin did not disappear from her face—if anything, it intensified.
Eliza felt her face redden with rage and strode forward into the room, stopping a few feet away from them.
“I was a complete fool to think I meant anything to you, was I not?” she asked furiously.
“Eliza, this is not how it looks!” Duncan protested. He tried to break away from Iona, but she held on to him so tightly that he would have had to knock her down to get away.
“Eliza, please listen to me!”
“Why?” Eliza scoffed. “You have nothing to say that I could possibly want to hear!” She put her hands on her hips and raked them both up and down with a scathing glance. “You deserve each other!”
She fixed Duncan with a dark glare. “I will go back where I came from, and I will find a way to repay you for every penny you wasted on buying me if I have to beg, borrow or steal it!”
Iona gasped and looked from Eliza to Duncan and back again with an expression of shock that Eliza was not sure was entirely genuine. “You mean—the mistress of the Clan and the Castle was bought?” Her voice had risen to a squeak of disbelief. “This is utterly disgusting! An absolute scandal.”
“You have no need to worry, Lady Iona,” Eliza’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “I will be leaving soon, and I will never be the mistress of anything or anyone.”
“Eliza!” Duncan cried. “She kissed me. I?—”
“Of course she did!” Eliza snapped. “How big an idiot do you think I am, Duncan? Well, it turns out that you are right—I am a complete fool because I was too blind to see that you were only playing with me. How you two must have been laughing behind my back!”
Eliza marched over to the door and paused to give them both a venomous look. “Goodbye. I hope never to see either of you again!”
Then she left, slamming the door behind her so hard that it shuddered and rattled on its hinges.
