Page 25 of Married for a Highland Debt
Bettina threw back her head and laughed heartily at this. “Well,” she said at last, “perhaps you were not enough of a woman for him. Time will tell, but I can assure you that we are trying our utmost—every night and morning—to beget a child, although it is too soon to tell if our efforts have borne fruit. However, I believe the problem between you and my husband was not infertility, but infidelity—on your part.”
Margaret had been expecting a different answer, reasoning that Ninian would not have told Bettina about her affairs, lest she think that he was not enough of a man to keep his wife from straying.
Margaret shrugged. “Ninian was not a good lover.” She almost shook with rage when Bettina burst out laughing again. “Sometimes he—well, he could not perform properly.” She had the grace to blush.
“Well, mistress, again I say to you that he satisfies me very well.” She leaned forward to look slyly into Margaret’s eyes. “Very well indeed, and he has never had the problem of failing to perform, as you so delicately put it. And I repeat, you are obviously not enough of a woman.”
“You are inexperienced.” Margaret’s voice was scathing.
“And how would you know that, mistress?” Bettina asked.
Margaret raised her eyebrows and looked down her nose at her adversary. “Are you not?”
“That is none of your business,” Bettina answered calmly. “Goodbye, mistress.” She opened the door, and Margaret left, seething with rage. Bettina watched her go apprehensively, with a dreadful sense of foreboding. Somehow she knew that Margaret was not finished with her yet.
“I need to speak with you,” Bettina begged as she sat beside her husband in the parlor that evening. His aunt had gone to stay with her friend for a few days, and they were alone in the castle. Ninian was staring moodily into the fire but looked up and gave her a ghost of a smile as she sat down beside her. He had just finished a glass of ale, but as Bettina went to pour him another, he stopped her.
“I need something stronger,” he said glumly, pointing to the decanter of whiskey on the table nearby.
Bettina poured one for him, being careful not to fill the glass up too much. As she gave it to him, he caught her hand in his and kissed it. “I am truly sorry, Bettie,” he said sadly. “I let my anger get the better of me, and I should never have treated you that way.” He reached up, and to her astonishment, he pulled her onto his lap and circled her waist with his left arm.
Bettina felt the unyielding muscle in it, and suddenly felt a sense of belonging, of rightness and safety. Beside Ninian was exactly where she needed and wanted to be.
“I am happy that you are here, Bettie,” he murmured, then his gaze traveled down to her lips. “May I have permission to kiss my lovely wife?”
“Can I stop you?” she asked, looking into his remarkable eyes. Close up, they were not only light blue but flecked with shades of darker blue, gray, and green. She could drown in them, she thought, but there was no time. A moment later, she felt his lips descend on hers, and his tongue swept into her mouth and stroked hers gently for a moment before he ran his hand over her, skimming her breast and coming to rest on the curve of her backside.
Ninian swept his tongue over his wife’s lips, then broke away from her to look into her eyes. “I think if we do this much longer, I will not be able to think straight, Bettie,” he groaned. “I want you so much, but we need to talk first.”
“Of course,” she whispered, running the pad of her thumb over his full lower lip.
He took her hand away, kissed the palm, and smiled at her. “You are a wicked woman, milady,” he murmured.
“I hope so, M’Laird,” she whispered, before pulling his head down to hers to kiss her again.”
“Enough!” He came up for air, breathless and laughing. “Or you can sit in that chair in the corner.” He pointed to a straight-backed wooden chair that was far away from the cozy nook they were sitting in.
For a few moments, they sat in comfortable silence, then Bettina said softly: “You know that I will support you in anything you do now that I am your wife.”
“I know,” he replied lazily. “And the same is true for me.”
“That man who threatened us was a liar.” Bettina was annoyed, but the moment was so perfect that she did not want to spoil it, so she kept her tone calm as she said: “We owe Campbell McDade nothing, Ninian, but somehow I must prove it.”
“I do the accounts for the castle along with my estate manager, a man who is extremely knowledgeable about these things.” Ninian’s voice was unruffled. “You have nothing to worry about, Bettie. Your house and your family are under my protection, and if McDade tries to frighten you, I have a garrison of eighty men to protect you.”
She sighed. “There is one more thing I must tell you,” she said hesitantly. “I met Margaret, and she told me that you were impotent sometimes and infertile.” She felt his body tense against her but pressed on. “I told her that you were very definitely not impotent since we had been together many times without any problem at all, but she was spiteful and, I think, vindictive. She wants revenge, Ninian. I know that what you did was for her own good, but she does not see it that way. But even if you had been impotent, which I know you are not, I would have stood by you.”
“What do you mean ‘if’?” he asked furiously. “You know I am not! You should not have spoken to her at all!” Ninian jumped to his feet, making Bettina scramble off his lap. “I want to have nothing to do with her, and I want you to have nothing to do with her either!”
“I will be happy not to,” Bettina replied, baffled. “But Ninian, why are you so angry? I defended you! I told her that we were close and intimate and had been since we were married.”
“Damn!” Ninian shouted, his face thunderous as he slammed his fist on one of the side tables. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “Say nothing to that woman! She is poisonous! She will tell any lie she has to to get what she wants. You should not have listened to a word she said!” He glared at her thunderously for another moment before storming out.
Bettina stared after him, open-mouthed in shock before bursting into tears.
13
After a sleepless night during which Bettina had spent most of the time gazing at the moon, she decided to make one last effort to save her marriage. She donned her prettiest day dress, one he had complimented her on before, took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders before marching off to Ninian’s study.
