“When will we leave?”
“After your father and brothers go home.”
“That could take a while, Petro. My sire is slow to forgive.”
“I will dispatch a reply to the earl.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Arguing accomplishes nothing,”Alex said, growing weary of Laird Oliphant’s temper.
“Ye broke trust with me, Alex.”
“I could say the same of ye.”
The two men exchanged hard looks.
“The king willna approve of this unsanctioned marriage.”
Alex dinna care. “By the time he grants ye an audience, Keely will be heavy with child.”
“I am not leaving here without my daughter.”
“Then ye will not be leaving at all.”
Laird Oliphant grunted as he sat down in the closest chair and rubbed his temples. “The news of yer brother’s death saddened me.”
Alex took a deep breath. “The Sutherlands will pay dearly for it.”
“Ye are no match for the earl.”
“I willna wage open war on the man,” Alex said. “But my brother will be avenged.”
“Ye’d make my daughter twice a widow?”
“Does that mean ye accept our marriage?”
“I canna say yet. I am not a cold-hearted bastard—Keely’s feelings do matter to me. More than anything, I want to know why she ran to the Sutherlands instead of coming home. I dinna have a heavy hand with her as a child. If anything, I spoiled the lass.”
“Keely doesna need to be here to explain. The answer is simple. She tried to keep her word and married John out of obligation.”
“What else is there? Our fathers took wives chosen for them. Romantic entanglements are for the young who doona have titles and lands to secure,” Laird Oliphant said. “I commanded her to marry yer brother for strategic reasons.”
“Father,” Broc said. “If what the scholar told us is true, surely ye can appreciate Keely’s reason for not coming home. Would ye have let her stay? Though I will never understand why she chose the Sutherlands.”
“Of course not,” the laird said emphatically. “She would have been sent back to her husband.”
Alex knew there was no way to change the man’s mind yet. It would take time. So instead of deepening the resentment between them, he decided to invite him to stay. “Perhaps the best way to see that our marriage deserves yer blessing is to spend some time here.”
“Ply me with food and drink? Is that what ye plan to do?”
“I think it will help.”
Laird Oliphant rewarded Alex with a toothy grin. “I like the way ye think, MacKay.”
“Then it is settled?”
“Temporarily. Who am I to refuse eating and drinking on someone else’s gold? My sons are gluttons, and so are my retainers.”
