CHAPTER SIX
Blair hesitated toturn and look at the burly highlander who was to be her husband. Reade didn’t blame her for her hesitancy. The very sounds he’d made discouraged any conversation with him, and she was forced to be in his presence when the last thing he wanted was to be trapped in the bonds of marriage.
The lass might feel as if her life wasn’t her own, but as a woman, her options were limited to begin with. For Reade, his father’s request was nothing short of a betrayal. As the eldest son of the Laird, he should have had his pick of powerful women with which to make a union, not have a presumed spy foisted upon him.
A lying spy.
He couldn’t erase that thought from his head. It kept popping up like a painful boil. His father oft called him thick-headed, and mayhap his father was onto something. Mayhap his skull was far too thick to let the thought fly from his mind.
Yet, Blairhadinformation. Both Reade and his father knew it, yet she sat in that chair in his father’s study and lied.
And Reade still had to marry her. The prospect, the sheer unfairness of it all, made his stomach churn.
He had hoped she might say something to her father, give him the information he wanted, even hint at something with potential. Had Mungo Gordon found the supposed letter about the King? That was what most of the MacDonalds believed, and if he had found such a letter, it was no wonder the Campbells killed him. Blair lived with the man. She had to knowsomething.
She had notocher, no dowry, nothing except what information contained in her mind.
But she’d kept her mouth shut. She’d barely protested when his father told her she was to marry, and now Reade was stuck in this vile arrangement.
He had tried to be kind to her, hoping that his gentleness might encourage her to speak and get them both out of this situation.Thathad failed him miserably, and at her first lie, he had to step away. Her mere presence now sickened him.
And she was to be his bride.
What grave sin had he committed for such a fate to befall him?
Now he regretted his earlier kindness to her. She hadn’t deserved it, and this time, Reade didn’t touch her as he led her back to her chambers one floor up, preferring to keep his back to her, his eyes on the steps, and his growling low in his chest. To her credit, she followed silently a good distance away.
But nottoofar away. He only had to be taught a lesson once. She would not try to run off again on his watch.
When they reached her door, he turned on her, unable to keep his ire inside any longer. He loomed over her, his chest pressing against her until she pushed against the wall. Her eyes widened in fear, and he was glad for it. She should fear him.
“Why did ye no’ tell my father what he wanted to know? Admit it. Are ye a spy for the Campbells?”
She shook her head, her loose russet brown hair falling into her face. If she hadn’t been a traitor to the MacDonalds, he would have found her quite attractive. But the knowledge of who she was overshadowed all else.
How could he marry this woman with her connections to the very clan that had slain his closest friend and kin? That knowledge was a dirk in his chest. And Reade still hadn’t fully forgiven his father for putting him in this situation and helping drive the dirk home.
He’d never forgive her, he vowed to himself, if the rumors of Blair were correct.
