Her tone was blunt, and Clyde was startled. Was she asking him to marry her?
“Do not worry.” Seeing the expression on his face, she laughed and held up her hand to show him that he had nothing to fear. “I am not proposing marriage to you, but I think we can help each other.”
He frowned, puzzled. “Go on,” he urged.
“You say that your fiancée has fallen in love with another man and left you,” Cora said thoughtfully. “Why do we not tempt her back with jealousy? Make her think that you have immediately found another woman to pour your love on, and show her that she is not indispensable. You can also help me to find a husband so that we can take my estate back again. No doubt the bandits have overrun it by now.”
Clyde thought for a long moment. He was not sure that Cora’s plan would work, for Loraine had sought out a very rich man, but she also had a very jealous nature. Clyde was nowhere near as wealthy as Baron Sutherland, but Loraine would never want for anything if she married him. As well as that, finding a husband for a beautiful woman like Cora from all his eligible friends should not be too much of a problem. Perhaps they could kill two birds with one stone.
“It is quite a daring plan,” he said thoughtfully. “But it may work. Let me sleep on it, and I will give you my answer in the morning.”
5
When Cora woke up the next day, she groaned at the thought of her last words to Clyde the previous night. “What was I thinking?” she said aloud. “I must have had too much wine! What will he think of me now?” The thought of Clyde’s good opinion of her mattered more than it should, since she had only met him a few days before, she realized. No, she must go to him and tell him she had been a little drunk and not quite in her right mind. He had been kind enough to humor her, but he was probably laughing his head off now. She would never be able to look him in the eye again.
Cora was not particularly fond of the new maid that Minetta had assigned to her, so she washed and dressed. She missed Hester with all her heart, and had not stopped worrying about her since the day she had left her home at Inchrigg Castle. She hoped against hope that her maid was still alive and safe with her children, but things had not looked too hopeful when she left. She went down to breakfast and found Minetta there, her plate already empty.
“Where were you last evening?” Cora demanded. “I wanted to speak to you.”
Minetta smiled, her green eyes twinkling. “I saw Clyde going upstairs, and I knew you were already there,” she explained. “When I heard you coming down again, I thought it might be good to leave you together for a while. You are both alone in the world now, and you may have been able to help each other.”
“You wicked, wicked woman!” Cora laughed. “I never knew you were so devious.”
“So what happened?” Minetta asked curiously.
“We talked,” Cora replied, shrugging.
“About what?” Minetta leaned over towards her friend, her gaze fiercely intent.
“This and that,” Cora answered evasively. She had no intention of telling Clyde’s sister about the idiotic plan she had devised the previous evening.
“I see. You are not going to tell me, are you?” Minetta smiled. “I smell something devious afoot, Cora. I will torture this out of you if I have to, my friend!”
Thankfully, Minetta said no more, and they chatted lightly until they had both finished their meals, then Minetta stood up and announced her intention to go to the chapel and pray for a while, being a very devout woman.
“Would you like to come with me?” she asked her friend.
Cora was not so devout. “No, thank you, my friend,” she replied, smiling. “I want to write some letters to our allies and hope I can find some way to send them.”
Minetta hugged her. “Good luck, my friend.” She kissed Cora’s forehead, then left her.
Cora went to her bedroom and sat down at her writing desk, intending to write to each of the three men she had seen shortly after her father’s death, but she looked at the blank piece of parchment for a long time before putting her quill into the ink. She wrote,Dear Laird Henderson,then gave up. She was never going to be able to write today.
Fresh air. That was what she needed. She made her way to the stables and was about to saddle Geordie when Clyde appeared beside her, smiling. “Surely you were not going without me?” he asked, his eyebrows raised in a question.
“I-I…” Cora stuttered, dropping her gaze to the straw-covered floor. “I was going to get some fresh air.”
“You remember, of course, that there are all kinds of bandits out there?” he reminded her. “You are lucky I was here to stop you from going out.”
“But you will not stop me!” Cora flared indignantly, suddenly raising her eyes to meet his.
“Remember this, Cora,” he warned. “This is my castle, and while you are in it, you are my responsibility. I have warned Minetta not to go out at all, but since we have not seen these monsters for days, I will ease the restrictions a little. You will stay close to the castle, and I will accompany you. Otherwise, you must stay indoors.”
Cora looked up at his grim, determined expression, realizing that this was a fight she was not going to win.
“You found me good enough company last night,” he pointed out.
Cora laughed. “I did,” she admitted. “Very well, then.”
