He heard a faint sound. The muffled sharp intake of breath. She was listening all right. His chest tightened as he realized the pain he must be causing her. Not yet engaged for a full day and he was already making claims on her land. But he was doing the right thing. The best thing for Meg. It was that knowledge that propelled him on, though each word he spoke pushed the dirk a little deeper in his chest.
Huntly looked surprised. “Oh?”
“Yes, Mistress Mackinnon has agreed to become my wife. As I’m sure you are no doubt aware, the situation is ripe with opportunity.”
Huntly smiled. “So I was right. You did have designs on the lass.”
Alex feigned a “you caught me” look. “She is tempting,” he pointed out.
“Yes,” Huntly agreed. “A very tempting morsel to an ambitious man like yourself. With the right support, you could be chief.”
Alex paused, uttering the word that would seal his fate, driving Meg away forever and sending her right to Jamie. He tensed, his body fighting against it. He wished there were another way.
“Exactly,” he lied. Megwastempting, but for none of those reasons. But she would never marry him now. Not thinking that he meant to usurp her brother’s position.
“And the consideration you refer to?”
“If necessary, when the time comes, a good word with the king.”
Huntly gazed at him thoughtfully. “I will see what I can do. We are agreed, then?”
Hearing the gentle swish of skirts moving away from the door, Alex ventured a quick glance to see that Meg had left. He stood up. “I will think on it.”
Huntly looked mildly surprised that Alex had not accepted right there, but he nodded as Alex walked out the door. His legs moved with the forced stride of a man going to his execution. He still had one thing left to do before he departed. It was time to talk to Meg. Or, he supposed more accurately, allow her to talk to him.
Meg had started the day with no more clarity of mind than she’d gone to bed with. She loved Alex and was convinced that he was the right man for her clan. Even knowing that he did not want to marry her, she couldn’t disappoint her father and fail her clan by breaking the engagement simply because of her pride. There was too much at stake.
He cared for her, she knew he did. Surely he would come around…eventually?
With that thought in mind, she’d gone to break her fast, hoping to find him.
If only she hadn’t.
She’d thought it odd to see him talking with Lord Huntly again. Not wanting to interrupt, she’d hung back, intending to wait until they were finished with their conversation.
Their voices carried right to her, as if set on a course straight for her ears. She’d been shocked to hear Lord Huntly’s proposition to hire Alex and even more shocked by Alex’s response. She must have misunderstood. Alex wouldn’t fight against Highlanders—against his own brother—would he? The very idea was repugnant. Meg might take a pragmatic view of the problems facing the Highlands, but she would never condone taking a sword against her own people. But it wasn’t the first time she’d questioned his loyalty. She recalled how she’d found him playing cards with a group of the king’s men not long after he’d arrived.
What did she really know of his activities? She’d attributed a higher purpose to his fighting with the MacGregors. But what if there wasn’t one? Her heart started to pound.
Pounding that turned into a full-fledged hammer with what she heard next.
“I’ve recently come into some lands.”
It didn’t sound like him. This opportunistic stranger couldn’t be Alex. There had to be some mistake. But it was the same golden head, the same strong, handsome features, and the same sensual mouth that had kissed her with such passion last night. She felt a moment of panic, waiting for what might come next.
“Ripe with opportunity,”he said. She held the significance of a piece of fruit.
“…you could be chief,”said Lord Huntly.
And the response that had cut her to the quick:“Ex
actly.”
No.She bent forward, clutching her middle as if the blow had been physical. She didn’t want to believe it. Would never have believed it if she hadn’t heard it for herself.
He might not want to marry her, but that didn’t stop him from turning the situation to his advantage. He intended to challenge her brother’s authority. The worst part was that he would undoubtedly make a fine chief. But not like this. Not by betraying her and ousting her brother.
Like Ewen Mackinnon before him, the boy who’d so cruelly destroyed her girlish dreams, Alex was just another man who wanted to use her for his ambition.
