Page 54 of The Burden of a Scottish Chieftain
Lennox nearly choked, but he thought he held himself together quite well. He’d like nothing better to make her his, but the lass was in a vulnerable state and had no idea what she was talking about.
At least, he guessed she was completely innocent.
“Your mother never discussed this with you?”
“Nay, she died over ten years ago. We were too young. Tamsin and I would try to discuss it based on the few things we heard from some of the neighborhood lasses, but we never understood it. They talked about the maidenhead. What exactly is a lass’s maidenhead?”
Hellfire, but he was in for a long night.
Chapter Thirty-One
Meg
“I’ll do what I can, but with words, Meg. Mostly because you don’t understand the implications of your request. One step at a time.” He cleared his throat, stared out at the rain, then turned back to her. “Your maidenhead is a small piece of skin that many consider a lass’s greatest value. When a man and a woman engage in relations the first time, he will break through that skin, which causes her to lose her virginity. It is a belief by the church and by most men that a bride should come to her new husband with her maidenhead intact. If that skin is not intact, then they can request to annul the marriage, and the church will honor it. It’s a barbaric practice, in my opinion. A woman’s value shouldn’t be placed on a piece of skin that cannot be seen.”
“Can I see mine?”
He coughed again and said, “Nay. It is invisible, well hidden in your lady parts.”
“Then how does anyone know if it’s there?” More confused than ever, she had to persist, even though she could see the conversation was making Lennox uncomfortable.
“Because when it breaks, you will bleed. And that’s all I’ll say at this time. Tamsin will explain it to you, and if she doesn’t, I’m sure my mother or sister would be happy to help.”
“I accept that if I may ask one more question. So, you don’t wish to take my maidenhead from me?”
Turning his body so his back was to the outside, Lennox tipped his head back so the water dripping in the opening drenched his face, then righted himself and swiped the excess water away, flinging it toward the rear of the cave. “I did not say that, Meg. Naught would please me more, but I will not take your value as a bride from you without a promise to marry me.”
That confused her even more. “Even if I don’t want it? If I understand you correctly, then the baron would not be interested in taking me as a bride if I did not have this piece of skin. So I wish to get rid of it.”
“Even if you don’t want it. It would not be the honorable thing to do, especially because I don’t believe you truly understand what you’re asking me to do. I’d insist on handfasting.”
“Handfasting? I’ve never heard of that word. Would you explain, please?”
“Handfasting is something a couple does when it is impossible to find a kirk or a priest, especially in the Highlands, and we are in the Highlands here on Morvern. It’s a matter of commitment, of committing to a year and a day with each other before parting. That the couple promises to stay together for at least that much time before breaking apart.”
“But why? Why can we not have relations because we wish to?”
“For many reasons, but mostly because of bairns. In our case, suppose I took your maidenhead and planted my seed inside you, and you became with child. If you carry the child for nine moons and have a lad, that boy could not be my heir because he would be considered a bastard. He could not inherit MacVey land without a battle with someone.”
Meg frowned. “There are too many rules for me to comprehend. It would not matter to a bairn.”
“But if that lad became my heir and it was discovered he was a bastard, and I married someone other than you, had a son with that woman, the second son would be heir to the chieftain, not the firstborn. It would matter to the first son. I vowed to have no bairns outside of marriage, and I will stick to it.”
“I don’t understand it all.”
He took her hand in his and said, “It is complicated. Now if you and I handfasted, which is a small ceremonial promise we make to each other, then if you had our bairn before the year was up, he would be my legal heir. And if we find we don’t suit, then we can go our separate ways at the end of the year and a day. I’d keep the lad as my heir, and you would do as you wished.”
“Hell nay, but that would never happen. My bairn would stay with me.” Lord above but she was more confused than ever.
“We’ll discuss that if it ever happens.” He gave her that lopsided grin again, one that made him look quite boyish, something he didn’t share often if she were to guess. Then he added quite seriously, “But I’m pleased that you answered that way. It shows the devotion a mother should have toward their child.”
“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable, Lennox. And I am grateful for your honesty. Is there something you could do to show me without taking my maidenhead?”
Lennox ran a hand down his long hair in the back, wringing the water from the bottom of the locks that sat on his neck. The lass was certainly challenging him, but he thought of one thing. “I gave you a light kiss before. I would wager that you’ve never been truly kissed. Shall I teach you?”
“Probably not because it would not make me happy. I have been kissed before by the baron and it was disgusting. I don’t want a slimy tongue in my mouth ever again. Stay away.”
He chuckled, watching her. When she saw the teasing look on his face, she grew agitated.
