Page 48 of Heather and the Highlander
Heather went silent, then said, in quite a different tone, “I told Brenna.”
“Brenna? Whatever for?”
“I don’t know. We were talking one day, and she seemed so upset about me being there, and I wanted to reassure her that I never meant to hurt her or take her place…and she said she’d never tell…”
“Brenna would keep her word,” Niall said. “Trust me, I know her.”
Heather pulled back, surveying him with narrowed eyes. “So Brenna can do no wrong?”
“I dinnae say that,” he protested.
“Was this her revenge for me stealing you out from under her nose? I bet she is still in love with you!”
“Brenna was never in love with me, nor I with her,” Niall insisted. “And I don’t believe she would have confided in Hayes, of all people. She’d as likely spit in his eye.”
“But how else could he have found out?” Heather frowned. “It’s not as if I was posting an announcement in every newspaper…” She trailed off.
“What is it?”
“Paper,” she murmured. “The day Uncle Cyril barged into Carregness, I was in the great hall, writing a letter to Mrs. Bloomfield, asking her advice. I did explain the situation to her, so she’d know how to counsel me…and when he left, I couldn’t find the letter! At the time, I thought it had blown away or got tossed in the fire. But what if my uncle, or perhaps Brom, had snatched it up?”
“How would either have known what you were writing?” he asked.
“They wouldn’t have, but it’s the kind of thing either one would do, just out of spite. And when they read it afterwards, they realized it contained just what they needed to know!”
“They can’t prove anything with such a letter. You said you never finished writing it, and therefore you never signed it.”
“But my handwriting is known to Uncle Cyril. Ugh! What will we do now?”
Niall soothed her, saying, “Nothing has changed. You’ll stay here till your birthday, and then we annul. There’s nothing he can do about it.”
Heather looked worried, gnawing her lower lip. “You don’t know him. He’s devious.”
“He can be the devil himself for all I care. You’re safe at Carregness. Speaking of which, let me get you back up on Sterling. We’re riding home, now.”
Moments later, they were back on the trail home. Heather was troubled and quiet, which made Niall uneasy. He didn’t like to see her worry.
But when Heather spoke, it was not on the exact subject he expected. She asked, “What did he mean when he saidbeard? That didn’t make sense to me.”
Oh, Lord. How sheltered had her upbringing been? Was he about to shock her? Well, no help for it, because he wasn’t going to lie and pretend it meant something else. “He was implying that I preferred men to women, and was only marrying a woman to maintain appearances.”
“Oh.” Heather considered the idea. “Do people do that? Get married for that reason, I mean. I know about the other part.”
“Certainly people marry for strategic reasons, and have done for centuries. Society doesn’t allow for any expression of love outside a very narrow channel. And marriages in particular are designed to hold the structure of society in place. If two titled men became a couple, it would be difficult to beget an heir,” he said dryly.
“They could adopt,” Heather replied promptly. “It might even improve things, for heirs could be selected for their good sense and kindness, rather than simply being born first. We could get rid of a lot of simpletons in the House of Lords that way.”
Niall bit his lip, but a laugh broke through anyway. “I’d like to live in your world, Heather. It sounds much more logical than this one.”
“Perhaps when I start traveling, I’ll find that world,” Heather said. “Or start it.”
“When you start traveling.” Niall’s smile wavered. “Of course. I expect you’ll discover whole new civilizations.”
He didn’t speak for the rest of the journey back.
* * * *
When they returned to Carregness, Maeve was sitting in the great hall, obviously anticipating them.
