“I see. I suppose I am to have no choice in the matter.”
“Not if you wish to show support to your husband and your laird, no,” he said. “And not if you wish to properly serve the people in your care.”
Isla made no attempt to hide her disappointment.So, she thought sourly,I am to go from a marriage I did not ask for to a life I do not want, all so a male from another clan can eventually rule our own. This arrangement seems to grow worse for me by the moment.
And for what? So that I might avoid defying the wishes of my father? It is not as though he would force me to wed Brodie MacKenzie at the point of a sword, would he?
Isla had wanted this ride with Brodie to go well. She had wanted him to win her over so that she might gracefully acquiesce to the marriage. Now, though, she was once again pondering what the consequences might be if she simply stood her ground and flatly refused to go along with the union.
As they rode back to the castle in silence, Isla’s thoughts turned once more to Andrew Hunter and the chaste affections he had shown her. They had often spoken of their goals in life. Andrew had plans to become a prosperous merchant seaman and promised to show her all the world’s glories and enchantments.
She had longed for the day when he might make good on that promise.
Now, she found herself confronted with the unhappy prospect of being forever shackled to a man she felt to be joyless and devoid of adventure, to tend to duties that she had never wished for and responsibilities she would gladly shirk.
