Page 67 of Fire in his Highland Heart

“I never burnt this, ye ken. I kept it locked away in my desk. That first year ye left, I read it every day, wondering what I’d done wrong. But then I remembered...I let ye do whatever ye wanted, spend whatever ye wanted, treat me an’ the staff an’ all close tae me however you wanted. I realized I let ye get away with too much unkindness. I kept the letter ye wrote as a reminder of that unkindness, though after a year, I didnae open it again. Now...I’m sure we can find a man of the law an’ ask him if he thinks the handwriting matches one o’ yer letters now, aye?”

“No,” Cataline insisted fiercely. “I’ll burn them all before you have the chance.”

“Ye won’t get that chance, Cataline. As well as I see, yer not my wife anymore. I’ll take this up with the highest court in the land,” Malcolm said. This was the most authoritative Arguen had ever seen him, and her heart swelled with pride for her friend, although it still beat hard against her ribcage. There was still the chance Cataline would pull something dramatic.

“I am curious, however,” Blake said. “How did ye manage tae do it? Surely someone would’ve noticed.”

“I am not stupid, if that’s what you imply,” Cataline hissed.

“Nae, I said no such thing,” Blake said in defense. “How did ye manage tae marry again? Surely someone would’ve recognized yer name or title.”

Cataline rolled her eyes. “Again, I am not stupid. I used a false surname. My mother’s maiden name—not many people know it.”

Blake nodded. “So ye just up an’ left, changed yer name. Ye never gave thought tae a divorce or annulment, never talked tae me about it. What could I have done tae make ye stay?” he asked. It was not rueful or nostalgic, it was genuinely curious. Arguen saw that he fixed her with a fierce glare as he spoke.

“Simple,” Cataline said with a shrug. “You were not Malcolm. You see, I have only ever loved him.”

“Aye, ye’ve said that. But if ye truly loved him, why would ye deceive him like this?” Blake continued.

“Was there another way?” Cataline asked spitefully.

“Aye, the honest way,” Malcolm chimed in.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Cataline said with a snobbish sniff. “Love makes you do all sorts of odd things.”

“I ken,” Blake said softly, his eyes briefly shifting to Arguen. The action was not lost on her, and she felt her heart beat a little faster at such a public admission.

“Well, I’ve heard all I needed tae hear. If this is how ye think love is, I want no part of it,” Malcolm said solemnly.

Cataline’s face went white as a sheet, as if she had not expected him to really do this to her. “Malcolm, no. You must consider what you are doing! Your father--”

He cut her off. “My father,” he said strongly, “would not like that you falsified your identity, ran away from yer first husband, an’ married someone else. That kind of deception would’ve disgusted him, as it does me. Ye dinnae love me, Cataline. Ye love what I can give ye, what power an’ riches I have. Ye’ve never loved me,” Malcolm declared, the most passionate anyone in the room had ever seen him.

“So this is your opinion of me? You think me a conniving, evil whore, do you?” Cataline asked, her eyes brimming with tears. Arguen might have thought they were fake, except the lady did look rather upset.

“I think I’ve made my opinion clear. Douglas?” Malcolm asked.

“Aye, sir?” Douglas answered, scrambling to his feet.

“Get another guard and take her tae the dungeon. There is no place for snakes in this garden,” Malcolm said.

Snakes in the garden...Arguen mused. Connie had been right. She knew it, of course; but to have it so blatantly pointed out like this was uncanny. Normally, such a coincidental happening would have sent a chill up her spine, but now it only made her stomach churn. She still felt quite ill and had to hold it in. She could not add to the scene before them—it would all be too much.

Douglas left and returned with a second guard within a matter of minutes.

“Ye and Douglas are tae take this woman down to the dungeons. She is not who she says she is, and she is no longer my wife in my eyes,” Malcolm announced assertively. The guard looked hesitantly around the room, fixing his eyes on the brooding Blake, confident Malcolm, and the crazed Englishwoman.

“Sir...Laird...ye...ye’re sure?” asked the other guard.

“Trust me; it needs doin’,” Douglas said dryly.

“Aye. An’ Douglas, send for Mr. Murray again. I think we could use his legal counsel.”

Douglas nodded. He and the other guard approached Cataline, who started screaming incessantly that she should not be taken and that it was wrong of her to be treated like this. On her way out of the room, she locked eyes with Arguen. “This is all your fault, witch! It should be you in that cell, rotting away, not me! Everything was well until you ruined me.”

Blake heaved a sigh. “Cataline, we both ken ‘twas God’s will. It happened before Mirellain, remember? An’ I’ll thank ye not tae speak tae Arguen like that. She has more kindness in her thumb than ye do in yer whole body.”

Cataline seemed not to know what to say to that, and so continued her wailing and shrieking as Douglas and the other guard dragged her away. Her screams echoed down the hall, and everyone looked visibly more relieved when they could no longer hear her.