Page 6 of Claimed By the Heartless Highlander
“Doesnae matter. I have a home, suitable for a laird and lady to dwell in.” He stepped closer, and the heat and looming bulk of him made her stomach flutter in a strange manner. “And I have an arrangement in mind I think will suit us both.”
She nodded to show she was listening, and he continued. “Ye will travel with me to me home, and we will be wed to seal an alliance and satisfy both our clans. Once we’re wed, ye can do whatever ye like with yer life, and I’ll do the same. Once the weddin’ ceremony is over and everyone is satisfied, I’ll ask naught else of ye.”
“What about an heir?” The question escaped her before she could stop to think, and she found herself blushing again.
“Ye need nae worry about it. I said I’ll ask naught else of ye, and I mean it. And I certainly have nay interest in asking ye for an heir.” He paused. “I’ll nae forbid ye from bein’ with another, though I would appreciate discretion and request that ye inform me if there’s a bairn, so I am nae taken by surprise.”
The words felt like a slap to the face. Ailis swallowed.
He was offering her almost everything she’d ever wanted. He offered her the freedom to read her books, enjoy her little projects, and visit her friends whenever she wanted. He offered her all the benefits of being a married lady, and none of the obligations. Had she been asked even a month ago, she would have said that was exactly the type of husband she wanted.
And yet… it wasn’t. The freedom to live her life was being offered with the explicit understanding that she and her husband would be near strangers. At best, they might be friendly, but not more than that.
She wanted a husband who loved her, and who she could love in return. Even the idea of producing an heir wasn’t so terrifying if it was with a man she loved. It was certainly better than the loneliness of a marriage that was little better than living in a convent.
And there was the truth of it. What he was offering was only better than the marriages other lairds had offered—he offered her more freedom. And he happened to be much better looking than the older lairds who’d tried to claim her, like Laird MacMicking.
She swallowed hard, then looked up at him. “I’m sorry, Laird Muir, but I dinnae think I can agree to yer terms.”
* * *
Duncan stared at the lass. He thought he’d offered her good terms for a marriage—it was certainly more than his father had offered his mother. The freedom to live her life and no obligations. What more could the lass want?
The letters had been fantasies to a lover she thought was a ghost, if not a Highland legend, like a moorland specter, or mayhap a man from Underhill. Surely she hadn’t been serious about the things she’d written.
Granted, I needed a dip in the sea after readin’ some of them, and I cannae say I’d be overly averse to actin’ on a few of those suggestions… But still, she cannae really want that!
Her blush when she’d asked about an heir suggested she was a maiden still. He had thought she would find it a relief to know she wasn’t required to serve as his wife in the most literal sense.
He found his voice after a moment, at least enough to ask a question as his astonishment turned into irritation. “And why nae?”
She flushed but met his eyes with a courage he admired. “Neither of us wants to be wed, and we’re both bein’ forced to do it. But ye… ye dinnae care who ye wed, so long as it satisfies yer clan and secures ye an alliance. As for me…”
Her blush deepened. “I want a husband I love, and who loves me in return. I just havenae found him yet. And that’s a very different thing than the kind of marriage ye want, or what ye’re suggestin’. I appreciate the freedom ye offer, but I dinnae want the sort of distant, loveless relationship that ye’re suggestin’.”
Duncan snorted before he could stop himself. “Love’s a fool’s dream. It’s more likely to hurt ye than fulfill those dreams ye cherish. Ye’re better off with a kindly husband and a comfortable marriage than pinin’ after somethin’ so pointless.”
She flinched at the sharpness of his tone but kept her head held high. “Even so… I ken what I want.”
Duncan scowled. He’d traveled a fair distance to meet the lass who’d written to him, in hopes of finding a suitable bride. And she was suitable, in terms of looks and the alliance and potential resources she could bring to his clan. Especially since she was the eldest daughter, meaning her husband or her son could claim the Lairdship when her father passed.
She was also pretty enough, and she appeared to be intelligent and well-read, as well as articulate if her letters were anything to go by. In almost every way, she was ideal.
And yet now the lass was refusing him because of some petty, little sentiment that could only be attributed to folly and daydreams. He’d seen with Daisy how harmful love could be, and it was exasperating how every intelligent woman he’d ever met seemed to be stuck in the same trap.
He stepped closer and took her chin in his hand firmly but carefully. Exasperated though he might be, he didn’t want to hurt her. “Dinnae think I’ll walk away just because ye say so.”
Her eyes flashed with anger as she stepped away from him. “And why nae? Ye dinnae care about me, nae more than any other man. There are plenty of pretty, pliant, reasonably nice lasses among the clanfolk, and I’ll wager ye ken a fair few. If all ye want is a loveless marriage alliance, go find one of those shallow, shy ladies. They’re better suited for it.”
He wasn’t going to tell her that he knew her better than any other woman he’d ever spoken with, save his mother and Daisy. He wasn’t going to tell her that her letters made him smile more than anyone did, save Lily.
He certainly wasn’t going to tell her that she was the bonniest lass he’d seen in many years and that watching her move, let alone being so close to her, made parts of him that he’d largely ignored for several years stir.
It was difficult enough, standing so close and trying to keep from embarrassing himself and frightening her with an ill-timed sign of his interest.
Instead, he bent close to speak softly to her. “Ye’re right about me interest, but I’ve still come a long way to meet ye, and it’s more than what I’ve done for any other lass. I dinnae intend to return empty-handed. So, if ye want me to rescind this marriage offer…”
He smirked at her. “… then march out there, and tell yer faither and the rest of yer clan the truth—that ye wrote letters to a ghost. That ye never expected me to come for ye, and the whole thing was a lie. And nae just a lie to them, but a lie to me, because ye never intended to honor the courtship ye offered in yer letters.”
