“Already? How?”
“I saw yermamanthrough three of ye, and two more we lost before ye came along. I ken what a breeding woman looks like. Seona was too far along, too quickly. And too friendly with one of the men Mhairi Grant left behind. I confronted her weeks ago.”
“Da! I’m so sorry.” Mary’s throat closed as she fought tears. How had her father borne this secret on his own, all this time, and while faced with his illness? Cameron was right. She’d been treating him like awean, and he never deserved that.
Her father leaned forward, reclaiming her attention. “Besides ye, who else kens this?”
Mary shook her head. “I fear ’tis common knowledge, or commonly rumored. Cameron kens, but he’ll keep it to himself. I asked a few trusted servants and friends. The worst of it is that some are starting to feel between yer illness and Seona’s lack of discretion, ye have lost control of the clan to her.”
He pursed his lips, then flattened his good hand on the desk top. “I’m sorry this day has come. If the clan doubts me, then I must act.”
“What will ye do?” Her father was capable of many things, but the fact that he’d accepted Seona’s betrayal for the sake of the coming bairn made her think the penalty he contemplated would not be too severe.
“I’ll throw the Grants into the dungeon for now.”
“Da, ye canna mean to put Seona there, too.”
“Nay, I’ll confine her to her chamber, with a Rose guard on her door, and have the healer check on her every day. ’Tis no’ unusual for a woman to spend her confinement in that way. Once the bairn comes, I’ll decide what else is required.”
Mary’s heart lifted at the sudden strength in his tone.
He bent his head, then looked up again. “If ye’d do me the kindness of sending my arms master to me, I’ll see this done before the rumors spread any further. Anddinna fash, lass. I am still laird here.”
After a fortnightof working with James Rose and watching his condition slowly improve, Cameron’s respect for the man had grown. He’d acted decisively to confine the Grants, separating his bride from her lover and pulling the teeth of any Grant guard who might be inclined to cause trouble. There was nothing they could do from the dungeon. He’d withstood Seona’s curses and tears until she finally quieted down and settled into her confinement. Mary said she finally had the solitude she treasured, so she should be happy for now.
Rose had regained some of the use of his limbs, and when not consulting with Laird Sutherland’s representative, as he called his time walking with Cameron, he had resumed spending most of the day at the desk in his solar. He wasn’t yet able to ride out to inspect his territory. Cameron presumed he kept watch over the clan via the ledgers he kept on the clan’s expenditures and earnings, and via any correspondence that reached him. Mary and Cameron hadagreed his mind was still as sharp as a blade and his temperament as prickly as a thistle. His illness had done little to affect who he was, only what he could physically do.
With Rose firmly in control, despite his physical afflictions, Cameron deemed the time was right to approach the man again about the betrothal—and marriage—he hoped for. Cameron waited until after a meal, hoping a full belly would make Rose mellow and more amenable to listening.
Rose greeted him civilly enough after he knocked on the solar’s door. “What brings ye, Sutherland?”
Cameron bowed his head, then met the laird’s gaze. “I am glad to see ye so much improved,” he began. His tension eased a bit when Rose nodded.
“I am, and I owe much of my improvement to yer efforts.”
“I have done only what anyone else would have done if called upon to help ye.”
“Nonetheless, I am grateful.”
“I hope ye are well enough, then, to discuss Sutherland’s betrothal offer.” Cameron wouldn’t presume on Rose’s gratitude when it came to this subject. But he was ready to discuss the offer on its own merits.
Rose’s mouth thinned, making Cameron’s pulse spike and his muscles tense again. Still, Rose hadn’t stopped him or yet said nay, so he kept going. “I love yer daughter, Mary, and I wish to wed her. Laird Sutherland has approved the match and looks forward to a lengthy alliance with clan Rose.”
“He does, does he?” Rose leaned back in his chair, his gaze on the far wall.
The desk was too cluttered for Cameron to spot the betrothal agreement he’d given Rose over a fortnight ago. It must be buried under other documents. Cameron hoped Rose had at least read it and not simply let it disappear under a pile of other parchments. Or worse. Cameron glanced at the small fire dancing in the hearth behind Rose. His stomach sank as he noticed the remnants of several burned documents, still blackening and succumbing to the flames. Rose burning the betrothal agreement would be much more damning than Rose simply losing it on his chaotic desk. Cameron couldn’t help wondering which was more likely.
“And what’s in it for Sutherland?” Rose asked. “I am no’ in any way capable of defending Sutherland right now, should yer laird call upon me to do so. After our losses at Harlaw in July, and with Grants in my dungeon, I havena the men to divert from protecting Rose from the usual troublemakers, much less the remnants of Domnhall’s army.”
“Ah, but in the future, ye will be stronger, and in the meantime, Sutherland can offer ye protection from…anyone…whose intentions toward Rose ye dinna approve.” He’d almost mentioned Grant, but bit back the word before it escaped his lips. If James Rose didn’t know what Mhairi Grant was up to, he was a fool. And it wouldn’t help Cameron’s suit to point that out to him. Besides, Cameron didn’t think he was a fool at all. So he made his comment as generic as he could and hoped the Rose laird would not take offense. Grant didn’t pose the only danger Rose might face, but was certainly the one of greatest proximity. And Grant guardsmen remained in thedungeon until Rose decided to send them back to Grant.
Rose regarded Cameron. “I heard the MacBean lad was hanging around hoping to offer for her, too. I held him off once. I’ve a mind to do it again, but I’ve yet to see him.”
Cameron liked the sound of that, even if it didn’t matter, since Mary had tossed Dougal out weeks ago.
“So tell me,” Rose continued, “in this bright future ye hope for, ye see yerself as Mary’s husband and consort to Rose’s future laird.”
Cameron heard it as more of a statement than a question and shook his head. “Honestly, I’d rather no’. Both of us would be pleased to see a son born to Rose—several of them, in fact. Being laird, or consort of a laird, is naught I’ve ever aspired to. I have older brothers to spare me from that. But for Mary, should she be called upon to become laird, I will gladly take on whatever responsibility she chooses to give me.”
