His brows drew in tight as he approached her and led her to the seats near the tall shelf filled with manuscripts that had so fascinated her the first time she’d visited.
“Marion, please. You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I am not unwell, my lord. Thomas has been to see me.”
“Thomas? What did he say to you?”
Marion did not want this to turn into a confrontation. She wanted to sort through her overactive mind and reconcile the flood of thoughts his words evoked.
“He spoke of your first betrothal,” she said quietly.
Alexander stood and raked his hands through his hair then swiped his hand over his face.
“And I’m certain he was not kind in his telling of the story. I do hope your opinion of me has not changed,” he said, staring hard at her.
She opened her mouth, but the words would not come, so she shook her head, hoping he would understand. Her opinion of him in fact had not changed at all, nor her feelings, but his reaction told her there was definitely more to the story.
“Would you like to tell me about her?” she said, fighting hard to keep her voice from shaking. Did he love her then? Did he love her still?
“I told Thomas that I would tell you about her in my own time and in my own way. My brother has a penchant to stir trouble when he is not occupied with a task and that is my folly.”
He paced as he spoke of a woman he’d not met, who he felt had emotional difficulties that would not improve upon living in and being responsible for a castle and its successful running. The betrothal had been set up by his father years earlier when Alexander was but a wee lad.
His voice softened when he sat by her and took her hands in his. “Marion, the poor lass was like a frightened lamb. She wailed the entire time she was here, in this library, upon our first meeting. She was terrified and I had to reason with her father to not leave her here. He agreed and the betrothal was dissolved quietly. I thought I was doing her a favor.”
This was a much different account of what Thomas said, but she was still convinced there was more to this story.
“And where is she now?”
Alexander leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs with his head in his hands. Marion’s heart squeezed at the sight of him. Curse Thomas for putting them through this right now.
“She is dead,” he said.
Marion held her breath.
Alexander sat back and held her gaze. “Her father quickly married her to someone else who was not as patient as I attempted to be, nor as kind. The lass took her own life on her wedding night.”
“But why does Thomas hold you on account for her?”
None of what he said made sense.
“The thing to remember about Thomas is that he does not like being second oldest, but he also does not like that I work very hard to keep Inverary and our clan healthy and happy. He has latched on to that past tragedy as something I could have prevented and deems it my mistake versus an unfortunate circumstance.”
“Alexander, I am so sorry. He was so convincing that you were somehow responsible and that I was somehow in danger.”
He tilted her chin up and leaned toward her. “I promise you with every fiber of my being, you are safe with me and always will be.”
His eyes sparkled blue from the light coming from the window, emphasizing the intensity of his declaration. She knew that from that moment on, she would never doubt him again.
*
He was goingto string Thomas up by his ears and let the ravens have at him when he found him. This was the final straw with him. All the years of stirring trouble here and there, it was finally going to come to a head. He could see in Marion’s eyes, that Thomas had gotten her to doubt him, just a little bit with his version of what had happened. But what he hadn’t counted on was that theirs was a connection on a level Thomas did not know existed. Like their souls had spoken to one another.
Alexander found Thomas in the stable, eyeing the stable hand assisting a mare with her new foal.
“A word,” he said to Thomas who jumped slightly at the sound of his voice.
“I’m sorry, my lord. I’m a bit busy at the moment.”
