Page 29 of Savage Kilted Highlander

“Don’t talk like that about my accent!” She had no idea why that was suddenly important to her.

“Aye, it is very strange. Tae me Scottish ears, anyway,” he replied with a grin.

“Well, you sound like, like… your mouth is stuffed with porridge!” It was a weak offence, she knew, but it was the best she could come up with in the spur of the moment.

Bane burst out laughing. “Well, being a Scot, I’ve eaten plenty of porridge in me life, so maybe that explains it.”

She burst out laughing as well, but inside, she felt a little sad to think that in a few days’ time, she and Bane would part forever. But she would be with Agnes, she told herself. The hollow inside her heart would be filled by her twin sister. She should have been overjoyed that that ordeal was finally coming to an end. But the sadness did not go away.

“So, I figured we could stay here at the inn until the day after tomorrow and then leave y fer the castle,” Bane suddenly said.

“What a relief. I thought you were going to make me go out in the cold again.”

“What would be the point of that? I think we’re safe here. What would ye like tae ae with the rest of our time here?”

She thought about it, and the answer came swiftly. “Well, the first thing I would like to do is to have a hot bath.”

Bane smiled. “I’m nae sure about that. There’s a horse trough out in the yard. Ye could have a bath in there if ye chip away the ice first.”

“Oh, let’s go down there now, so I can push you in it,” she retorted, giggling. “Seriously, I should like to have a bath and put on my new dress. Then you could take me out to see the sights of the town.”

“That’s nae a bad idea. I think I could dae with a nice hot bath mesel’. D’ye fancy sharin’ it with me?”

She was scandalized by the suggestion.

“No, I would not! Get your own bath.” It was only when he broke into laugher again that she realized he was teasing her. “You think you are funny, but you are not. I know you like to make fun of me because you think I am a silly prude, but it is the way I have been brought up. Where I come from, a young lady cannot even be in the same room with a man alone, unless he is ancient or a family member. You have no idea how hard it is to shake that off after living with it for so long. It is normal to me to think of my reputation at all times. If a lady takes a wrong step, she will be utterly ruined and loose her value.”

“Ugh, it sounds tae me like English women of yer class are treated like horses or some expensive chattel. How can bein’ in the same room as a man ruin ye? ’Tis a stupid idea,” he said scornfully. “Of course, ’tis much the same here with the nobler classes. Women are used as pawns in makin’ marriages that bring more wealth tae the wealthy. But in me opinion, too much value is put on a lassie’s virginity and nae enough on the lassie hersel’.”

Constance blushed madly and felt very uncomfortable when he said “virginity” like that, even though she agreed with what he was saying. He went on, oblivious to her embarrassment. “I mean, take ye and Agnes. As the daughters of a laird, yer husband will expect ye tae be a maid when he marries ye. But the lower classes dinnae care about such things so much. A woman has her own value that has naethin’ tae dae with that.”

It was such a startlingly novel idea, especially coming from a hard, gruff man like Bane, Constance could only stare at him in amazement as she took it in. She had been brought up to believe her only worth lay in how men and the society she dwelt within, perceived her. Was she pretty, dainty? Was she obedient and well-behaved? Was she chaste? Would she make a good match? Such things were its measure of her value.

But Bane, the man she had previously thought of as a Scottish savage, evidently did not see her that way at all. She might be his prisoner now, a gaming piece in his plan to get his brother back, but that had nothing to do with her being a woman. That was mere circumstance. In his eyes, she was a human being like him who happened to be a woman, with her own thoughts and ideas and the ability to make her own decisions.

Here, I can be the person I really am. I can even choose who I fall in love with and want to be with.

Strangely, as she looked over at Bane, that suddenly seemed of great importance.