Clyde frowned in puzzlement, then stood up and left, leaving Cora and Minetta to finish their meal in silence. There was only one woman they could think of who would be calling on Clyde.
Clyde strode out to the entrance hall, then stopped dead in his tracks as he beheld Loraine. She was standing with her back to him, but she whirled around at the sound of his footsteps. “My God!” he gasped. “Loraine, what are you doing here?” She came rushing towards him and threw herself into his arms, almost overbalancing both of them. He gripped her shoulders to steady them. She burst into tears and wound her arms around his neck, and sobbed.
Clyde was so astonished that for a moment, he did not realize that the woman he loved was standing in his embrace, her body pressed so hard against him that there was no space between them. He ushered her into the small parlor, then helped her onto a sofa and draped a warm blanket over her, for she was shivering with cold. He poured her a small glass of whiskey, though she did not drink it at once, but cradled it until her weeping subsided, whereupon she tossed it back in one swallow.
“Loraine, what is wrong?” he asked anxiously. He had deliberately left a few feet between them on the sofa, but she moved sideways and put her head in his lap. She was still trembling, but at least her crying had stopped. Unsure of what to do next, Clyde put his hand on her hair and began to stroke it. “Has the baron been mistreating you?”
She shook her head and sat up. Her dark eyes looked into his with such helplessness that for a few seconds, he almost succumbed to her mute appeal to kiss her. However, he reminded himself that Loraine was not the woman to whom he was betrothed anymore. That was Cora, and he was already feeling disloyal, even though Loraine was still the woman he loved.
“No,” she said, at last, wiping away the tears with her fingertips. “I am sorry, darling,” she murmured, smiling tearfully. “What must I look like?”
“As beautiful as you always do,” he replied gallantly, although she actually did look a mess, with her hair tangled by the wind, her skin blotchy, and her eyes bloodshot and red with weeping.
“Thank you for being so kind, but you need not be,” she sighed. “I do not deserve such tender treatment. I have been such a fool, Clyde. I should never have left you. I love you more than I can say, but when I thought you were dead, it almost drove me mad. There were a few days when I did nothing but weep, and that was when the baron came to me. He was so sweet. He still can be most of the time, but sometimes…” She trailed off and shook her head.
“He comforted me and told me that everything would be all right if we were married because he would make me so happy that I would forget about you. I said that I would never forget about you, and he was very understanding. He said that he had never forgotten his first love either, but she was in the past. He told me how much he had loved his wives, but they were dead and we were alive, and we could start a family together. He painted such a bright, rosy picture of the future, Clyde, that I really wanted to marry him, and my parents were delighted.”
Clyde bristled. Joseph McKenzie was so stupid that he would have even welcomed a Sassenach with a kilt on into his family, and his wife was so susceptible to flattery that if someone called her beautiful, they were her friend for life. He despised them both, but they came with Loraine, so he had been obliged to tolerate them.
She paused, thinking for a moment, and Clyde had the impression that she was making up her mind about something.
“Go on,” he urged.
Loraine took one of his hands in both of hers and began to stroke it gently. It was something he loved her to do, especially after a hard day helping the crofters, and she knew it. Strangely, it had no effect on him at all now.
She signed. “Things were going well, and I was looking forward to the wedding. Then, I heard that you were not dead. I didn’t know what to do, Clyde. I had given my word to Andrew, and he was so kind. He said I could go back to you if I wanted to, but he looked so sad as he said it, and I had given him my word.” She paused again, looking down at their hands. Her eyes widened in surprise as he drew his away.
“Go on,” he said again. “You owe me an explanation, Loraine, and I want to hear it.”
She nodded. “It nearly broke my heart to send you away that day when you came to see me.” Her eyes filled with tears again, but she dashed them away impatiently. “And when I heard that you were betrothed to Cora, I-I hated her with every fiber of my being for taking away the man that I still love with all my heart.”
She stopped speaking then, obviously hoping that he would fill the silence, but he said nothing. Clyde was in a turmoil of conflicting emotions, the chief of which was anger. He was furious with Loraine for appearing from nowhere, thrusting her way back into his life again and expecting everything to be the same. Yet he was filled with doubt, too. He had thought that he would be overcome with joy to have her back, but strangely, he felt nothing except perhaps a vague sense of pity for her.
“What finally drove you away from him?” Clyde asked curiously.
“Your wedding,” Loraine answered. “I could not let you marry Cora without begging you to take me back. I love you, Clyde. I always have, and I always will. When I told Andrew, he was beyond furious. We had the fiercest argument we have ever had, and for a moment, I thought he was going to hit me, but he didn’t. To his credit, he is not that kind of man. I packed as many of my clothes as I could get into my saddlebags and left, then came straight here.” She took a deep breath. “Do you still love me?”
Clyde found himself speechless. He had loved Loraine desperately, but now that she was quite literally within his grasp, he was finding it difficult to summon up that same passion. He stood up to move to the window, but before he could move further, Loraine got to her feet and began to use her winsome body to achieve the desired effect.
She knew that Clyde had never been able to resist her, so she put her arms around him and began to grind her hips against him, watching his green eyes as she did so. He was a man, and men were weakness itself compared to the subtle but powerful charms of a woman. Once she had aroused him sufficiently, she was sure, he would be like a little puppy that she could train to her will. She was astounded when Clyde pushed her away. His touch was gentle yet firm, but it was a rejection nevertheless.
“I cannot answer that now,” he replied. “I am betrothed to Cora, and I cannot and will not break my word to her. You must give me time to think.”
Loraine sighed. “I see,” she said sadly. “I will have to accept that for now, I suppose. Tomorrow I can go back to my parents, but tonight, I have nowhere to go. Will you shelter me for a few hours?”
“I would be a very poor excuse for a man if I turned you away,” he replied grudgingly. “I will have a room made up for you. Goodnight, Loraine.”
14
“What is that bitch doing here?” Minetta hissed from the alcove in which she and Cora were standing. “I hope she is not trying to win him back!”
“I fear that is exactly what she is doing,” Cora said grimly, as they moved out of the parlor into the entrance hall again. “She will be using every weapon in her arsenal, too. Her beauty, her body, her helpless situation...” She shook her head, feeling hopeless. She was utterly and completely in love with Clyde now, and if he abandoned her, her heart would be shattered. As well as that, there were practical matters to consider. Where would she go? She could not go to her bandit-infested castle, and she would not beg shelter from any other laird. Cora had her pride, but she had seen what happened to many other women in her position, who, through no fault of their own, ended up eking out a living with their bodies. She shuddered. She would never stoop as low as that. Never. She would kill herself first.
Minetta, seeing her friend’s despair, was furious, even more so when she saw a maidservant escorting Loraine upstairs to one of the bedrooms.
“It had better not be Clyde’s chamber!” Minetta growled. “I willkillhim if he takes her back!”
“He will make up his own mind,” Cora said sadly as she watched Clyde striding outside.
