“More’s the pity, I’m thinking.”
“—and she won’t be marrying any Scot bastard, clan lord or not.”
“Shall we refrain from insults, if you please,” Devlin tried to interject, but neither man was paying him any mind at this point.
“Were you no’ listening, mon?” Lachlan said to Cecil. “’Tis no secret that I bedded her. All and sundry know of it by now. So there’s no choice. She must marry me, or suffer the consequences—”
“Exactly,” Cecil shot back. “She courted the consequences, she can bloody well live with them. And she can count herself lucky if I can find a penniless lord who will overlook her tattered reputation and take her off my hands for the dower that comes with her.”
“You’d do that tae her, when my marrying her would end the scandal?” Lachlan asked incredulously.
Cecil snorted. “The gel did it to herself. She knew she’d never have my permission to marry a damned Scot. If she can never hold her head up again because of it, that’s no one’s fault but her own.”
“What say you, Kimber?”
“I—” she began.
But her father cut her off. “She has no say. And she won’t cross me on this,” he added confidently. “She knows I’d disown her if she does, and that would be a scandal she couldn’t live down.”
“For yourself as well, I’m thinking,” Lachlan said in disgust. “Are you that much of a fool, mon?”
Cecil went red in the face again. “The only fool here is you, Highlander. And you’ve no further business here, so I’ll thank you to leave.”
“Don’t be kicking people out of my study, Richards,” Devlin said coldly. “I reserve that right.”
But Lachlan had already turned about with a muttered low curse and stalked off. And staring at that empty doorway, Kimberly felt the most devastating disappointment.
It wasn’t quite what she’d expected. Actually, it wasn’t what she’d expected at all. She’d warned Lachlan that he wouldn’t be happy marrying her, true, but shehadtaken it for granted that he would do the right thing after all was said and done, and marry her anyway.
He’d put up a good showing, of course. And he obviously found her father and his harsh sentiments despicable. But it came down to the simple fact that Lachlan couldn’t afford a penniless wife, when his own dire circumstances demanded a rich one. Disowned meant no dower, and in his mind, he needed that dower.
38
Kimberly was still exhausted when she came downstairs to breakfast the next morning. Funny, that she’d never had a problem with sleeping before she met Lachlan MacGregor, but now…actually, it wasn’t funny at all. And last night, there hadn’t been any noise to keep her awake. Instead, she’d gone to bed with a lump in her throat that just wouldn’t go away, and it refused to let her have any peace.
She could put aside her common sense and tell Lachlan that her father’s money didn’t matter, that she was as rich, if not richer, with more money than he could ever need. He’d marry her then, and there’d be no doubt that it was because of the money, not because he wanted her. Of course, she’d already known that. But having it proved beyond a doubt would hurt. But would it be any more than she was already hurting?
The prospect of her father having to buy a husband for her, some man she’d never even met, was what was tearing her up inside, not that Lachlan didn’t really want to marry her. And seen that way, wherein was the difference? If she bought Lachlan instead, by telling him about her own money, at least she knew what she was getting. And there was the lovemaking. With him, it was very nice, too nice maybe. But with someone else…she shuddered to even think of it.
She could tell him the truth and leave it up to him. If he’d been just waiting for an excuse to get out of the marriage, however, then it would make no difference. He’d use the new scandal instead, of her father disowning her. Or he’d still marry her…
She decided to tell him. And her opportunity arrived sooner than anticipated. Lachlan was in the hall outside the breakfast room when she approached, and he came toward her to take her arm and steer her toward the parlor instead, which was empty that time of the morning.
She waited to find out what was on his mind first. He told her the moment he closed the doors behind them.
“It occurred to me, Kimber, that you’re of an age tae no’ be needing your da’s permission tae marry.”
“That’s true enough,” she replied carefully. “But he wasn’t joking, Lachlan, in what he said last night. He really will disown me if I marry without his approval.”
“I didna doubt that. ’Twas what I found incredible and utterly despicable, that a father could be that cruel tae his own blood.”
She shrugged, very used to that reaction in people who had to deal with her father, but had never done so before. “Perhaps it might help if you understand why he hates all Scotsmen,” she remarked and gave him a brief accounting. But when she finished, she conceded, “On second thought, it doesn’t help to know, does it? His prejudice is and always has been of an unreasonable nature.”
“’Tis no’ important why he is how he is,” he replied. “Unless there is the chance of him changing. He didna seem like a man capable o’ changing his ways tae me, but I dinna know him as you do.”
She sighed. “I know it’s possible to change bad habits, but with him, it’s a bit more than that, I’m afraid. Even the fact that he’s met someone new since my mother died, that he wants to marry, and he’s very eager to marry her, hasn’t changed his attitude. It’s not just his prejudice, you see. That has only to do with Scots. It’s the way he is normally, a harsh, autocratic man, and I don’t think he’s ever been any other way. So no, I wouldn’t ever expect him to change.”
“As I thought. Then I need tae ask if you’ll defy him and marry me wi’out his blessing? I should’ve asked you last night, but I was tae angry and shocked, and only thinking o’ wringing his blasted neck.”
