“How is your mother?” he asked at last, concentrating on his soup and not meeting her eyes. “Is she any better?”
Eager to be talking, Caitlyn gave him a beaming, friendly smile. “Not yet, but I am sure she will be. Teresa is a lovely woman and she has a lot of knowledge. I believe it will not be long before my mother is well again.”
There was a long, agonizing pause during which Alastair finished his soup. It was a few minutes before either of them could think of a thing to say.
Their main course was brought: venison with assorted root vegetables. It looked and smelled delicious, and Caitlyn’s face lit up in a delighted smile.
“This looks wonderful!” she said excitedly as she prepared to tuck in.
Alastair shrugged. “It is quite plain fare. Do you not have such at your castle?” His tone was arrogant and supercilious, and again he treated her to one of his hostile sideways looks.I wonder what is in their minds,he thought.What do they want from me? Was that a genuine accident?
Her smile faded.What a horrible man!she thought, staring back at him as his dark brown eyes gazed at her thoughtfully.
He could see the anger building up inside her, but it suited him to stoke the fire. “You had your accident very close to my castle,” he observed. “Was that chance, or deliberate?”
Caitlyn’s mouth dropped open. She could not believe what she was hearing. Then she decided that it was probably a perfectly innocent question which he had phrased clumsily.
“What are you suggesting, M’Laird?" she asked carefully.
“I mean”—he leaned close to her—“that your horse is uninjured, your carriage is not in pieces, and there were no serious injuries.”
“What about my mother’s dislocated arm?” Caitlyn retorted triumphantly.
“A fortunate but not very calamitous accident, and before you mention the light bruise on her forehead, she is only sleeping, not unconscious. Not serious, I think.”
For a few moments, Caitlyn could only glare at him, speechless, and the fleeting thought crossed his mind that she looked absolutely stunning when she was angry. He could almost see the sparks flying from her eyes, but he was too enraged himself to pursue the thought.
“Why would I risk my own mother’s life? And what do I have to gain by coming here?” she demanded. “You are not only rude, insulting, and disgusting—you are insane!” She stopped, breathless.
“How do I know that you are who you say you are?” he ground out. “For all I know that woman may not be your mother, and neither of you carries any sort of title. And your motive for coming here? Why, look at all this silver and crystal around you.” He spread his hands to indicate the silver and crystal flower glasses, the beautiful solid silver fruit bowl, and the heavy fluted candlesticks in which reposed fragrant beeswax candles. “Even a few of these would keep a crofter’s family going for a month. Moreover, Mistress, I may be all the things you say I am, but I am the rude, insulting, disgusting insane man who is putting a roof over your head! AND I am a laird—a wealthy man.”
Tears of rage had sprung to Caitlyn’s eyes, but she dashed them away impatiently in case he should mistake them for a sign of pain. She caught a gleam of triumph in his eyes and suddenly her rage left her. She pitied this man. He was angry and he was lashing out.
Now he stood up, turned his back on her, and walked away. She stood watching him for a while, still deeply hurt and wondering what was fueling the rage inside him.
When she went upstairs again she found that Eileen was still asleep.
“Did you give her more valerian tea?” Caitlyn asked, frowning. “I thought she would be awake by now.”
“She has had nae mair tea. Her fever has risen a wee bit, Mistress,” Teresa said, frowning. “But it will dae that afore it comes doon. It aye does an’ naebody knaws why. But I will sit with her a wee while longer. Nae doot she will wake soon. I think ye must have a wee bit dinner yersel’ then go tae sleep.”
“I am not hungry,” Caitlyn sighed. “And where will you sleep, Teresa?”
Teresa smiled. “I am used tae sleepin’ onywhere, Mistress,” she replied. “On the carpet, in a chair, on a couch...wherever I find a space. I bring my twa warm blankets wi’ me an’ I am as cozy as onythin’. I will sleep on thon comfy couch the night.” She pointed to the chaise lounge across the room. “Did ye eat?”
“I tried, but I am too worried about her,” Caitlyn answered, yawning. She would have liked a glass of mulled wine but she was afraid of bumping into Alastair, so she went to bed and lay tossing and turning for a while, unable to believe that their handsome host and savior could have been so hostile.
3
Apology and Argument
Caitlyn had a bath, assisted by a sullen maid, and after looking in on her mother to find that both she and Teresa were still asleep, she went down to breakfast with much trepidation in case Alastair was there. To her dismay, he was. He looked up from his kippers and saw her, then he noticed her apprehensive look. She was torn between going and staying.
Alastair had spent a sleepless night chastising himself for the way he had treated her the day before. What had gotten into him? He wondered if he was heaping the sins of someone else onto her, then shook the thought away. He would worry about it later, since today promised to be a busy day. Nevertheless, he had only just started eating and the thought of sitting there with nothing to say to her was unbearable. As well as that, despite her unwelcome intrusion into his home, he could not deny the way his body reacted every time he saw her. He was a man, and she was a very desirable woman, and it had been a long time since he had lain with anyone like her. These days, he was used to pleasuring himself.
She had not deserved his accusations; she was a very beautiful woman with gentle manners who had been friendly and grateful for his hospitality. As for doubting her identity—he had only to look and listen to her to know she was a woman of nobility.
He must apologize, but that was something he had not done for years, and he had probably forgotten how; he had forgotten many things in the last seven years since his father died. But he must try.
