The Wrong Bride (23 page)

Hugh made a slashing motion with his hand. “What we discuss here goes no farther than this room, do ye understand? Dermot, have ye told anyone else how many sisters Owen has?”

Dermot hesitated, then shook his head.

“Then for now, Riona's true identity is secret. I will make the decision about the information the clan will have.”

“Fine,” Dermot said, then demanded, “Did ye ken she wasn't your betrothed? Or did the witch go along with her family to deceive ye?”

In two steps, Hugh had Dermot by the front of his coat and the room was in an uproar of raised voices. Lady McCallum gasped and covered her mouth, and Maggie looked like she wanted to jump between the men. Riona felt only despair that she was the cause of ruining Hugh's relationships with his friends after he'd just mended them.

“Don't ever speak about Riona like that again,” Hugh ordered in a cold voice. “Everything that's happened is
my
fault, not hers. She is an innocent here.”

Alasdair stared at her in frustration. “If ye're innocent, Riona, why did ye let us all believe ye were the earl's daughter?”

Hugh let go of Dermot, who didn't back away. “She told me the truth but was too frightened to tell
any of ye. I thought she was lying, that her uncle was trying to back out of the contract and take the land from us. She has the same name as her cousin; she was the only young woman in the house when I stole her out of her room.”

Maggie's mouth dropped open, but everyone else seemed to freeze.

“Hugh,” his mother said in a trembling voice, “ye kidnapped Riona?”

She looked at her son as if her worst fears about him were confirmed, that he'd become like his father. Riona felt absolutely sick at heart, and wanted to fling herself between Hugh and all the disapproval and ugliness. But he wouldn't welcome her interference.

“I did,” he said heavily, raking a hand through his dark hair. The queue came loose and his hair fell forward to brush his shoulders. “I thought I had the right after the earl tried to break the contract when we spoke. But I made a terrible mistake, and Riona has suffered for it—and the clan might suffer, too.”

There was a long, tense silence, where everyone stared at Hugh and Riona. She knew what they were thinking—that she should have made Hugh see the truth. She wanted to curl into a ball and retreat from them all back into her misery. But that would mean giving up, and she couldn't do that, not when Hugh needed her.

“Take her back,” Dermot said. “Owen isn't the same man as his father.”

“None of us know Owen well, do we?” Alasdair said bitterly. “He's a Scotsman who wanted to be English.”

“That's not true,” Maggie said.

Alasdair ignored her. “And we shouldn't give up the lass. We should fight over the wrong the old earl did to ye. A contract is just paper, but the land is our birthright.”

“The land we could lose if he doesn't take Riona back,” Dermot said.

“Do ye think brides are interchangeable?” Hugh demanded with bitterness. “I've dishonored both Riona and her cousin. I need to make this right. I will go to meet Owen.”

“But that could be dangerous,” Riona said. “Let me invite them here. Cat will want to see me.” And she could introduce Cat and Hugh, and then quietly step aside. It would be better for everyone, even though her heart would break into a thousand pieces.

“And bring the devil into our midst?” Alasdair demanded.

“These are my cousins, not the devil,” Riona insisted.

“Enough!” Hugh interrupted. “I will contact Owen and insist on a meeting. We will discuss this calmly and not like warriors demanding a battle
that will only hurt both our clans and perhaps draw the attention of the British at Fort William.”

Though Dermot and Alasdair exchanged skeptical glances, no one argued against Hugh, and Samuel opened the door for them.

“You were with him in England,” Dermot said to Samuel furiously. “Why did ye not stop him?”

“'Tis our place to support our laird, is it not?” Samuel asked.

Dermot swept past him, followed by Alasdair and then Samuel, who closed the door, leaving just the family.

Maggie looked at Hugh and Riona with concern. “How are ye both?”

Though Riona had worn a brave front these last days, to her embarrassment, tears brimmed in her eyes and fell down her cheeks.

“Oh, Riona!”

And then Maggie was hugging her, and Riona was so grateful for the support.

“I'll be fine,” Riona said, straightening and stepping back. Hugh's expression was stark with grief and guilt, and she didn't want that. “We just need to make this work for the clan.”

“What about the two of ye?” Lady McCallum asked. “How can we help ye?”

“Only we can take care of this, Mother,” Hugh said grimly. “I'll have to see what Owen has to say.”

“I want to be there,” Riona said.

He eyed her. “That's not a wise idea. He'll be offended on your behalf, on his sister's behalf—and furious with me.”

Frustrated, Riona began, “But Hugh—”

“Nay, I'll handle this as I see fit.”

He left the solar with a confident stride, and Lady McCallum hurried after him.

Maggie and Riona stared at each other for a long minute, until Riona felt uncomfortable, wondering what Maggie must be thinking about her strange relationship with Hugh.

“I'm so sorry ye had to go through this alone,” Maggie said.

Riona gave her a weak smile. “I survived. I even fell in love, much good it will do me.”

“And he loves ye,” Maggie said softly.

The grief twisted her throat, but Riona forced words out. “He told me. I almost wish he hadn't, for it is so much to bear, knowing that we can never be together.”

Maggie gripped Riona's upper arms. “Don't say that! I refuse to believe Hugh can't make it happen.”

“I could never do that to your clan, Maggie,” Riona insisted. “My dowry is far smaller than my cousin's, but worse than that is losing the land both clans have been sharing.”

“I still insist that we not lose hope. Is Owen the same man he once was?”

“I have no reason to believe otherwise,” Riona
said, “but we've had little to do with each other these last years. He's a practical man, not given to Society's entertainments. And if I wasn't with Cat, I was closeted away with Bronwyn.”

“I believe dealing with Owen is the right thing. I can just . . . feel it.”

Riona eyed her suspiciously. Maggie's strangely colored eyes seemed focused far away . . .

H
UGH
had simply wanted to escape all the accusing eyes, but if he needed to write to Owen, he should have stayed in the solar and kicked everyone else out. Instead, he went up to his bedroom, where there was a smaller writing desk. As he was about to shut the door, he saw his mother hurrying down the corridor toward him.

He sighed and awaited her. “Mother, I don't need another lecture on my mistakes.”

“Ye won't hear that from me,” she said softly. “Allow me to come in, please.”

He opened the door wide, and she went past him. After closing it, he turned to see her standing still in the room, staring around her as if she'd never been there before.

“Mother?” he said curiously.

She shook her head, then met his gaze with embarrassment. “I have not been in this room in many years. The memories are not pleasant, and I'm glad ye'll be making new, happier memories here.”

He gritted his teeth and said nothing, just moved past her.

“Hugh, I know things seem bleak right now, but . . . I believe in ye. Ye'll make this work.”

At the desk, he found paper and opened the ink bottle as he sat down. “Thank ye for your encouragement, Mother, but I don't ken how ye can feel positive about that. I've spent my life trying to be different than my father, and apparently, that's impossible.” He heard his own bitterness, but didn't bother to hide it.

“Ye're nothing like him,” Lady McCallum said fiercely.

Hugh looked up from his paper in surprise.

“Never, ever think that of yourself. Ye may have been an impulsive young man, angry that your plans for the future were so rigidly defined for ye—but ye tried to help Agnes, whereas your father only brutalized her. Ye've tried to help your clan—”

“And took advantage of an innocent woman. Not so different than him.”

“Regardless of your mistake, ye treated Riona with such kindness that she's fallen in love with ye!”

He flinched. “She doesn't love me, Mother. I have ruined her for a good marriage. She has no choice but to see if I can salvage this disaster, because my actions
ensured
she had no choice. And she's come to appreciate our clan, and doesn't want to see innocent people harmed by my mistake.”

“Don't be so foolish, my son. She loves
you,
and wants to help
you
help your clan.”

He stared at her, keeping his bleakness buried inside because he couldn't imagine a future without Riona. “Mother, I appreciate the kind words, but I have to write a letter to the new Earl of Aberfoyle right now.”

She nodded, and to his surprise, she briefly touched his arm.

“I have faith in ye, Hugh. Don't lose faith in yourself.”

F
or two days after Hugh sent the letter to Owen, Riona lived on tenterhooks. She remained mostly with Maggie and Lady McCallum, both of whom spoke cheerfully about everything from thread to rain. Riona had a hard time achieving any sort of cheerfulness. Hugh was avoiding her in private, and she could not blame him. Every time he saw her, he must be reminded that the well-being of his clan was now in jeopardy. So far, Hugh'd been right, that the average person didn't seem to know or care that the earl had returned with a sister who wasn't Riona.

At night, Hugh slept in his own bed, and more than once she found herself creeping through the dressing room on sleepless nights to put her ear against the door, wanting just to hear him breathe. The words “I love you, Riona,” had begun to seem like a dream that she'd awakened from into a nightmare.

On the third morning, she was startled out of sleep by Maggie shaking her.

“Riona, wake up!”

With a gasp, Riona bolted upright. “What's wrong?”

“Hugh left to meet Owen without us! Get up, get dressed, I have a gown laid out for ye.”

“But—but—”

It was hard to talk when Maggie was yanking stays over her head and nightshift.

As Maggie tugged on the laces, Riona asked, “Did you overhear Hugh's plans?”

“Nay. But I was informed by someone sympathetic to us. No need to concern yourself with whom.” Maggie pulled a petticoat over Riona's head and tied it at her waist, then did the same with her skirt.

“Maggie, but who—”

“Never ye mind.”

Frustrated, Riona helped Maggie slide the masculine waistcoat of her new riding habit up her arms and laced it in front. There was no doubt Maggie was frantic to follow Hugh. And Riona was fine with that. She grunted as Maggie shoved a stomacher down behind the laces.

“Sorry,” Maggie said. “Here are your coat and boots.” She tapped her toe while Riona donned them. “Let's go!”

They had no problem taking horses from the
stables. Brendan loved being able to help his new sister. It wasn't until they were outside the curtain wall that Riona felt able to speak freely.

“Maggie, were you told where Hugh is going? I can't see him, and even if we could, he'd see us.”

Maggie stared out over McCallum land. Mist hovered above the surface of Loch Voil down below them, and curled up the path. The sun wasn't yet visible, but the sky was golden in the east as if the mountains wore halos.

“The whisky land,” Maggie said with conviction. “That's where I was told Owen wanted to meet him.”

“But . . . what if we catch up to Hugh?”

“We won't. There's more than one path, and I'll take a different one.”

Riona opened her mouth, then shut it again. She'd already gone along with Maggie's plan; there was no point in quibbling. Maggie's gaze was fixed on the rising path before them with determination.

Several hours later, Riona began to recognize the land, and knew they were near. The path narrowed through a copse of trees, then opened up to the vast bog that crossed the glen. And not fifty yards ahead of them, Hugh and Owen faced each other, and the tension in the lines of their bodies was a visible thing.

Maggie caught Riona's reins and whispered, “Let's stay within the trees and listen.”

They both dismounted but weren't noticed, because the two men were focused on each other. Owen was a tall, lean man, who wore his sandy-colored hair pulled back in a queue rather than hidden beneath a wig. He was not dressed as a Highlander, but wore elegant breeches and coat, with a waistcoat, fine shirt, and cravat beneath, very much an earl.

Riona glanced at Maggie, who seemed to absorb Owen with her focused gaze.

“Your father told me I could not have Catriona to wife,” Hugh was saying heatedly. “I could not permit him to break the contract that was promised to my clan.”

“So you kidnapped my cousin?” Owen said levelly, but with indignation in his voice.

“Your father put her in Cat's room—and I was fool enough to fall into his trap. Did he even tell ye about Riona being missing?”

Owen's lips thinned, but he didn't answer.

“He wanted me to take her, to save your sister. If ye think I do not regret my actions,” Hugh added, “then ye'd be thinking wrong. I regret putting Riona, an innocent woman, in the middle of this feud the contract was supposed to heal. Do ye want this feud to continue, Owen?”

Owen stiffened. “I cannot overlook the injury done to my cousin, regardless of the circumstances, nor can I forget the dishonor to my sister, who was
supposed to be your bride. The contract states that should the conditions not be met, you forfeit this land and Cat's dowry. And surely Riona is ready to return home.”

“Riona's home is with me,” Hugh said coldly.

Though used in an ugly argument between two men important to her, those words thrilled Riona. Hugh wanted her, was doing this for her, too, and not just the clan.

“You violated her, McCallum. There's nothing else to discuss.”

“Then let us do what our ancestors would have done, and place the fate of our clans on our own shoulders. I challenge ye to combat by sword, and the winner will rewrite the contract in his own terms and all will abide by it.”

Riona felt a chill, then opened her mouth to protest.

“Nay!” Maggie screamed before she could.

Both men whirled, hands on their swords and pistols.

Maggie ran down the slope of the hill, Riona on her heels.

“Riona!” screamed another woman's voice, and out of the trees closer to Owen, raced Cat.

Riona gave an excited cry and ran to fling her arms around her cousin, as beloved to her as her sister.

Cat was sobbing, her brown hair falling out of its
chignon. “I—I didn't know what had happened to you!” Cat said, hiccupping on the words. “F-Father tried to tell me you'd decided to set up your own household, but I didn't believe it, especially when he wouldn't tell me where. Oh, Riona, I was so frightened!”

They hugged again, hard, then turned to face the men.

Owen was staring at Maggie, eyes narrowed but unreadable. With her hands on her hips, Maggie met his gaze defiantly.

But Owen didn't speak to her, instead said to his sister, “You
followed
me, Cat? At least those two”—he gestured at Riona and Maggie—“had each other on such a journey.”

“I have a groom,” Cat sniffed. “He's with the horses.”

Then her expression sobered, and she darted a glance past Riona's shoulder at Hugh, who stood in his black and red belted plaid, massive arms crossed over his chest, and glowered at the women.

“Owen told me I'd been betrothed since childhood,” Cat said, “and Father never told me. Riona, this is he, the villain who
kidnapped
you?”

“Ye're speaking about my brother!” Maggie said with indignation.

She eyed Owen uncertainly, while he boldly looked her up and down.

“Yes, he kidnapped me,” Riona said. “Th-this is
the man you are to marry, Cat, Hugh McCallum.” To her horror, her voice was shaking and tears stung her eyes.

Cat put a hand on her arm. “I'm sorry it's been so terrible for you. Surely, it's better that the contract is broken after his terrible behavior.”

And still Hugh said nothing to defend himself.

“It was only frightening at the beginning,” Riona insisted, “and Hugh never harmed me. He just wouldn't let me go, because he honestly believed I was the woman he was to marry. He treated me with honor.”

Hugh's frown grew more ferocious, and she knew what he was remembering. She just hoped he kept quiet about the ropes.

“But ye're not that woman, Riona,” Owen said coldly. “And I refuse to allow my sister to marry such a man.”

Cat stared at Hugh, little bothering to hide her fear at the merest thought.

“Cat, this contract is so important,” Riona insisted. “We have to find a way—and not armed combat!—to come to some kind of agreement.”

“I cannot in all honor marry you, Lady Catriona,” Hugh said. “I love your cousin, and I've already taken her to wife in the time-honored way of our people.”

Riona groaned. “Hugh!”

Owen drew his sword with a metallic swish. The
sun, peeking through clouds, glinted along it with menace. “Then any discussion is over. I accept your challenge, McCallum, and this just won't be to first blood, but to the death.”

“Owen!” Cat cried. “I thought you wanted to be a man of science! I won't allow this. No one is going to die! If Laird McCallum loves Riona—” And then she gazed at Riona with trepidation. “But do you love
him
?”

Hugh's gaze burned into Riona's, but he did not beg her for her favor.

Riona covered her mouth with both hands as her tears spilled at last. “I feel so ashamed.”

Cat's expression mellowed into tenderness. “Don't cry, Riona. Don't be ashamed. None of this was your fault. And I'm not betrayed—I don't even know him!”

For a moment, there was no further sound but the wind. Riona and Hugh simply looked at each other, and in his gaze, at last she saw love and anguish and guilt, and a terrible farewell that seemed to crush her chest. He would honestly fight to the death to make this right?

“I won't stand for this!” Maggie cried. “There has to be another way.”

For a long, tense moment, the silence was unbroken. Hugh glared at Owen, and although Owen gave him back equal menace, at last his gaze turned to Maggie and stayed there. He wasn't hid
ing his emotions now, Riona saw. There was speculation in his knitted brow, and then his forehead cleared with a momentary wide-eyed look of realization and then deep satisfaction. It all flashed by quickly, and Riona wasn't certain what she'd seen.

But then Owen spoke. “I have another proposal, McCallum. I will marry your sister and seal the peace between our clans once and for all.”

Riona gasped. Maggie went still, but she made no protest.

Hugh glanced between them frowning. “My sister? What connection is there between ye?”

“You were in England half the year, she was in Edinburgh,” Owen said. “We have spent time together once or twice, have we not, Maggie?”

Her chin came up even as a revealing blush washed across her cheeks. But still she did not protest the idea of marriage between them.

Hugh gave his sister a baffled stare. “Maggie, ignore his ridiculous idea. Ye don't need to marry him. This is my disaster, and I will fix it.”

“A marriage between our clans is all that's necessary to make things right,” Owen said. “I will be satisfied with Maggie as my bride.”

Now it was Cat's turn to give her own brother a frown. “What is going on? You two knew each other
that
well?”

Maggie didn't answer.

A knowing smile curved Owen's lips, even as Hugh's eyebrows lowered in an ominous frown.

“Maggie, say yes,” Owen said, his voice rough at the edges. “You alone know what happened between us. Together, we can make a new contract, and our people can share this land again. Your brother and my cousin can be together; my sister need never fear marrying a man she's never met. Of course, her dowry will be held for her future husband,” he said to Hugh in warning.

“I have my own dowry, though it isn't as large as Cat's,” Riona added, and risked a glance at Hugh. For the first time, she felt a touch of hope.

She could see he was torn between protecting his sister, and the chance that their love—and the contract—might be saved. But Riona could never be happy if she felt that Maggie was reluctant.

Maggie was studying Owen as if he were a strange plant whose use she was trying to ascertain. Owen let her look her fill, confidence in his straight shoulders and the curve of one eyebrow as he awaited her decision.

“I will marry you, Owen,” Maggie finally said, her voice cool, almost detached.

Owen sheathed his sword with finality and even triumph. Riona wondered if he'd come here already prepared with this plan. Her cousin was a smart man. But he was also an earl, who could have married into another titled family.

“There will be no marriage if I forbid it,” Hugh said angrily. He strode to his sister, taking her shoulders. “Maggie—”

Maggie put her fingers against his mouth, and Riona could have sworn they trembled.

“Hugh, I want to do this,” she said with quiet resolve. “Owen's right—this will solve all the problems between our clans. I may not know him well, but I do know him. And for me to be able to bring about a peace that's been absent for generations? I will feel such pride, Hugh.” She lowered her voice and spoke with even more solemnity. “And this
feels
right to me.”

She emphasized the word “feels” in a way that seemed to relax Hugh.

He cupped her face in one hand. “Ye're sure.”

At last, she allowed a small smile. “I'm sure. Let me do this, Hugh. I think Owen is right—it's meant to be.”

Owen's smile faded a bit as he stared at Maggie, but he said nothing.

Riona's hope tried to soar, but she held it furled, fearful. “Maggie, are you certain?”

Maggie turned, and her strange eyes glittered. “I'm certain. I've been waiting for my destiny to reveal itself—and now it has.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Enough of this nonsense, Maggie. I won't hear any more of it.”

“Oh, we will be discussing things,” Maggie said.
Then she turned to her brother. “Hugh, may I have your permission to accept Owen's romantic proposal?”

Cat didn't bother to hide her laughter.

“Was I not romantic enough for you?” Owen asked, his triumphant smile returning. He took a step toward her as if he meant to prove his intentions.

Riona saw Hugh stiffen, knew he held himself back.