“I talked to Loraine last night,” Cora said, visibly trying to calm down. “She mocked me for wearing your mother’s dress and insinuated that I was too poor to buy one of my own. I told her that I was proud to wear it, but she said that she would never wear your mother’s clothes because she did not wear cast-offs. She cared nothing about your love for your mother. She is completely selfish.”
“Perhaps you are the jealous one!” he spat back. “I am never going to be yours, Cora. Do not even consider it. In fact, I have decided that if I cannot have Loraine, I will live a bachelor’s life. I have cousins who can inherit.”
Cora hooted with laughter. “Thank you, Clyde, but not every woman finds you irresistible,” she sneered. “I can certainly resist you. You may be tall and handsome, and have many qualities other men lack, but you live your life in the constant fear that you will be rejected because your mother died and left you. You adore her and compare every woman you meet with her, but Loraine falls woefully short. Neither Minetta nor I can understand what you see in her.”
“Do not mention my mother!” he cried furiously. “You know nothing about her!”
“I know that she left a hole in your life that you have never been able to fill,” Cora retorted. “I know that you loved her, and you are still angry at her for leaving you. Perhaps Loraine is a desperate attempt to fill that hole.”
“And you are scared of going on with your life without the protection of a man!” he yelled, thrusting his face towards her, his green eyes almost black with rage. “Do not lecture me, milady, when you cannot even stand on your own two feet and look after yourself! Why do you need a man to help you take back your castle? Your father was a well-respected laird and had many allies.”
Cora gave a cynical laugh, shaking her head. “You have no idea what it is like to be a woman, M’Laird,” she growled. “No man will take me seriously. If I am married, I am merely a womb to carry heirs, but I have no authority and no influence. As a single woman, I am worth nothing except as a bedmate; otherwise, I am useless!” She jabbed her thumb into her chest. “I wish you could walk in my shoes for a day, because you would feel what it is like to be helpless!”
They gazed at each other in mutual rage for a moment before Cora turned to leave, but she stopped at the door to look back at him. “If M’Laird’s head still pains him, I will happily part it from his shoulders!”
She swept out, slamming the door behind her, leaving Clyde furious. Her last remark had been a flippant piece of gallows humor, and he felt a flicker of amusement. Cora was defiant, exasperating, and willful, but she was also exciting, had strength and determination in great measure, and despite himself, he had begun to respect and admire her. However, these qualities were not enough to build a marriage on...were they?
He thought about Loraine for a moment and realized in a moment of blinding clarity that she was never going to change her mind; he had been a fool to think she ever would. He sighed and poured himself a “hair of the dog” in the shape of a glass of whiskey to cure the headache. He swallowed it in one gulp, then set out to work. He would take out his frustration on a few tree trunks!
11
Cora deliberately kept out of Clyde’s way for the rest of that day, but she was determined that she would sit in the dining room for her evening meal. Why should his presence stop her? When she arrived at the door, she was glad to see that Minetta was there on her own, reading a letter that she had received from Laird Malcolm the Younger, and her eyes were shining as she looked up.
“He wants me to accompany him to the ceilidh at Laird Carmichael’s castle,” she gushed, putting a hand to her chest as if she was about to pass out. “I am so happy, Cora!”
“Then I am happy for you,” Cora said, laughing. She was genuinely pleased that her friend had found happiness, for not only was Laird Malcolm handsome and wealthy, but he was kind and charitable too; it was well known that his tenants loved him. “I think you are courting a good man, Minetta.”
Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps announced the arrival of Clyde, who sat down at his usual place at the head of the table. He leaned over to kiss Cora on the cheek, and she was about to snap at him before she realized that they were still maintaining the fiction of being betrothed.
However, Minetta was more perceptive than they had realized. “Did you two have a lovers’ quarrel?” she asked, looking from one to the other with narrowed eyes.
Clyde sighed. “We will mend it, Minetta. It was merely a difference of opinion. Now, eat your food and mind your business, please.” His voice was stern, and a heavy, awkward silence descended on them after he had spoken. Minetta got up to leave, but as she walked away, Clyde got up and followed her, and Cora saw them talking for a few moments, then they hugged. Minetta was smiling as she left. Once again, Cora was envious, wishing she had a brother or sister to love her.
When he sat down again, Clyde poured them both a glass of wine, then said softly: “I want to say sorry, Cora. What I said was very hurtful. Will you forgive me?”
She looked up into the apple-green depths of his eyes, and saw that his apology was genuine. “I will, Clyde, and thank you,” she murmured, “but I was also to blame. I said some dreadful things too, and I am sorry.”
They smiled at each other, and just for a moment, it seemed that there were only two of them in the room, the castle, and the world.
Clyde made a conscious effort to bring himself back to the present. “I hate lying to Minetta too,” he admitted, “but I can only think of one more thing to do.”
“What?” Cora asked, taking a sip of her wine.
Clyde took a deep breath. “Marry me.”
Cora coughed as the wine choked her, then she spluttered and spat almost half a glass of wine on the pristine tablecloth.
Clyde thumped her on the back and offered her a linen handkerchief to wipe her streaming eyes. “I am sorry, Cora.” He frowned, and looked into her face. “I did not mean to startle you.”
The dark blue eyes looked up at him, and once again, he felt a spasm of desire shoot straight to his loins. She was so lovely, so desirable, and it had been weeks since he had lain with Loraine. His body was yearning for the soft touch of a woman’s body and the sweet release he would find inside it.
“Why are you asking me this question, Clyde?” Cora was puzzled.
“Because nothing has changed between us,” he answered. “You still want Loraine, and I still need protection, but you were happy to go along with a charade for a few weeks. Why have you changed your mind? Do you really want to marry me?”
Clyde looked down at their hands lying beside each other on the table. His were huge, with prominent knuckles and fingernails ingrained with dirt from working in the soil with the crofters. Hers were small, spotlessly clean and delicate, the nails neatly manicured. They might have belonged to two completely different types of beings. How could she defend herself with hands like these, and how could he ever have expected her to? He was a heartless monster.
“Look at these hands, Cora,” he murmured. “Mine are twice the size of yours. You could not wrestle or punch a man, especially not one the size of me. I should never have said that you were strong enough to stand up for yourself, so you need a protector. I am offering myself as that man.”
