And then there were the nights.
She put her hand to her chest, fighting the feeling of suffocation. Once again, she saw him huffing and puffing over her, red-faced and sweating. God’s mercy! How she feared he would fall dead on top of her and trap her beneath his enormous weight. After years without conceiving, she finally convinced him the risk to his health was too great.
She resented every day, every hour, of her marriage. Still, she had done her duty by her husband.
“It must be a forgery,” she murmured, looking down at the parchment again. She recognized the script as the priest’s, but that meant nothing. With shaking hands, she uncurled the final roll of the document.
She ran numb fingertips over the familiar seal.
She watched as the parchment slipped from her hand and fluttered to the floor. The ground shifted beneath her feet. As she reached out to catch herself, the room went black.
Isobel awoke to the nightmarish sight of Graham and that weasel of a priest hovering over her. Before she could gather her wits, Graham lifted her to the bench, his hands touching her in more places than necessary for the task.
As she looked down, a deep red drop hit the bodice of her gown. Bewildered, she touched her finger to it.
“You struck your head on the bench when you fell,” Father Dunne said, handing her a cloth. “I did warn you to sit.”
“Leave us, Father Dunne,” Graham said, as if he were already lord of the castle.
The priest’s eyes darted back and forth between them as he backed out of the room. Isobel suspected he went no farther than the other side of the door.
She glared up at Graham as she dabbed at the cut on her forehead. “How did you get Hume to do it?”
Graham dropped next to her on the bench, sitting so close that his thigh touched hers. Too light-headed to stand, she slid to the edge of the bench.
“Hume came to believe I was his son,” Graham said, smiling at her. “You know how much he wanted one.”
“So you lied to him!”
“Well, it certainlycouldbe true,” he said with a shrug. “Fortunately, the conveyance is not dependent upon it.”
Graham’s mother had been a wealthy widow, notorious in this part of the Borders. When she became pregnant, more than one man stepped forward, claiming to be the father and offering to marry her. She disappointed them all by keeping her property—and the secret of her son’s parentage—to herself.
“I gave my husband no cause to punish me,” Isobel murmured to herself. She could not believe Hume would leave her destitute.
“In sooth, the old man was most concerned for your welfare.” Graham stretched his legs out and crossed his arms behind his head. “It gave him great comfort to know I would wed you after his death.”
“You would do what?” She must have misheard him.
“Finally, you shall have a man who can please you.” His hot breath was in her ear, but she was too stunned to move. “I’ve wanted you since you were a girl, still playing at sword fighting with the boys.”
Coming back to her senses, she slapped at the hand creeping up her thigh. “What would make you believe I would agree to marry you?”
“You would prefer,” he said in an amused tone, “to return to your father’s house?”
The blood drained from her head. ’Twas true. If she could not remain at Hume Castle, she had no place else to go. She sank against the stone wall behind her and closed her eyes.
“Do not fret—your father would not keep you long,” Graham said, patting her knee. “Though you are no longer an untouched girl, he’ll have no trouble finding another old man to pay to have such a beauty in his bed.”
She swung her arm to slap him, but he caught her wrist.
“ ’Tis always exciting to be with you, Isobel.” With his eyes hot on hers, he pried her fist open and ran his tongue over her palm, sending a quiver of revulsion through her.
All these years, she had sorely misjudged him. She had considered him a mere annoyance, fool that she was. Only now did she see he was not merely shallow and selfish, but ruthless and cunning. The handsome face and easy manner hid a man without honor.
A man who would take what he wanted.
“I shall return in a few days to take my place here,” he said.
