In the end, he had consoled himself with the knowledge that a woman so faithless and cruel who could use her body to lure both him and Kieran would never be true to the knight. Gilbert would come to learn her as they had.
God have mercy on him then.
Ewan sighed.
Life was ever confusing to him. Nora wasn’t faithless. He knew that. She’d never used her body to get her way.
But she had given herself to him.
How he wished he had one of his brothers here to talk to.
Nay, he wished he had Kieran here to talk to.
His gut twisted as he remembered the last time they had been together.
“She doesn’t love you!”
“She loves me, Kieran. Accept it.”
They had fought like lions, trying to shred one another. Braden had come between them and pried them apart.
“You are brothers!” Braden had snapped. “Would you let a woman come between you?”
Ewan had wiped the blood from his face and glared angrily at Kieran. “You’ve never loved any woman more than a few weeks. You can have any woman you want. But Isobail loves me. Can’t you leave us in peace?”
“How could you ask that after what you’ve done? She was to be my bride and you went behind my back to have her. You’re not a man, Ewan, you’re a sniveling coward.”
They had fought more until Lochlan had removed Kieran from the room.
That night, Isobail had come to him and told him that she was leaving.
“If you love me, Ewan, come with me and we can be together forever. We can never stay here in Scotland with your family. They will never forgive us for what we’ve done. The only chance for happiness we have is in England. Come with me.”
Like a fool, he had gone.
It was a mistake he would pay for the rest of eternity.
Nora sat in the pub with a heavy heart. What would it take to lift Ewan’s spirit?
She looked over to Catarina who had returned from outside with a change of clothes for the night.
“Cat?”
Catarina paused and looked at her.
“Do you know much about men?”
Catarina smiled. “Aye, my lady. I know a great deal about them.”
“How do you entice them?”
“All men or just Ewan?”
Nora blushed. “Just Ewan.”
Catarina smiled, then crooked her finger for her to follow after her. “Let me share with you the secret my mother gave me. ‘Tis guaranteed to win over any man, be he beggar or king. Trust me, Nora. You do as I say and you’ll be able to command any man who suits your fancy. Lord Ewan will be powerless against you.”
Nine
