Page 60 of An English Rose for the Highlander
The furious beat of Dominik’s heart nearly choked him, and he could not deny the burn in his eyes and throat for the thick emotion he fought to keep restrained.
Ye will get a hold of yerself, Dominik. So, Rose doesnae love ye, that may have been the case from the start. That is the way of things in political or arranged marriages. It does not matter.
Dominik wasn’t sure who his words were for. He was thinking about them in his head. Clearly, no one else would be able to hear them, but why did he feel the need to remind himself that this marriage had not been one of love?
And why did it crush him so to think about it?
His chest felt heavy and painful, each breath a taxing act that drained him of his strength. It had to be the injury. It had to be the fact that he’d been wounded, was still recovering, and had forced himself to stand just a moment ago.
Because itcould not bethe fact that he was heartbroken. It could not be the fact that he’d grown to care for Rose, that he had…fallen in love with herso completelyhe could hardly fathom the depths of his admiration and connection to that Englishwoman.
It couldn’t.
Sighing, Dominik closed his eyes against the dim light of the room, kept both warm and lit by the presence of a low-burning fire in the hearth. It was unclear how long he had been asleep after his injury. It was unclear what time of day it was or what he ought to be doing in it. He did not care. Dominik couldn’t care. He only felt tired, an exhaustion so potent that his eyes shut, and he knew he would not be opening them again for some several hours.
Me Rose. What has happened between us? Was I a fool? A silly Scottish fool, bespelled by the sorcery of a fine English lady in search of a quick fix to her problems.
Dominik was a good judge of character. He always had been. Still, now he felt as if he couldn’t even trust his own eyes. And so, it was likely quite good that he would not be opening them any time soon.
So, he let himself sleep, drifting into the black of unconsciousness where it didn’t hurt so much, for as long as the world would allow him.
29
Rose sat in her chambers that morning, refusing to leave for anything in the world. She had food brought up to her bedroom, water for a bath, and even insisted on communicating with Fiona within her room instead of down in the healer’s chamber or kitchen.
Now, she sat alone in front of the window, gazing out into the deep gray sky, choked with dark clouds and fog that signaled rain not far behind.
She’d been in that chair for God knew how long, her legs feeling tingly at the edges, her toes as well. But Rose could not be moved. What was she to do about her situation? She could not allow Dominik or any of Clan MacKay to feel the wrath for a problem of her own making. Lord Egerton’s rush on the keep was her fault. Yes, he had been the guilty party when he stole her dowry, in a way. Still, she had been the one to antagonize him at the inn.
“Gah, how could I have been so stupid?” She dragged a hand over her face, not caring for how her hair had come loose from the pins in several sections. “I allowed my anger to get the best of me. And Dominik had paid the price for it.”
Then, breaking through the horrid cycle of her thoughts was the sound of hooves on the gravel below. Rose looked down at the courtyard, recognizing a carriage as it approached the burnt main entrance and pulled to a stop. Both her parents exited it as soon as the wheels stopped, and she could hear them calling for her from all the way inside her room.
Rose hurried down the halls and steps to the main door, hoping to greet them before too much of a commotion was made. When she arrived, however, it was clear that both her parents had been making a fuss about seeing her. In fact, the words she heard screamed by Horatia as she reached them were, “I demand to see my daughter! An attack! Rumors of abduction! Whathasbeen going on here?”
“Mother,” Rose cut in, hurrying to the woman to pull her inside and off toward the study in hopes of having a private conversation. “Father. Why have you come all this way?”
Horatia’s brows shot up, hitting her hairline as her mouth dropped. A twisted expression of sorrow, her lips curled down severely, broke free on Horatia’s face, and her father, Baldwin, was right behind the woman, looking terrified and unsteady.
“My darling!” Horatia threw herself at Rose, embracing her hard enough to make her spine crack. “I have been worried sick! We both have.”
Baldwin was at Rose’s other side in a flash, pulling her head to his shoulder and saying, “Our darling girl. What horrible troubles have befallen you? What is all this nonsense about abduction?”
Rose cleared her throat, straightening as the entire front entrance of the keep stared at her. Servants, children, men of the council and their wives, all of them drilled their appraising glares her way. She stiffened, gesturing down the hall toward the study.
“Please, if you’ll follow me, we can sit and talk. I know this all must be so much for you to learn of.”
They followed her, walking behind Rose as she led the way. When she closed them all up together, Horatia let out an exaggerated sigh, plopping down onto the settee in the corner. Her father stood nearby, Baldwin always the type to be as close to his wife as possible, looking to her incessantly for guidance when Rose was not there to deliver it.
“Darling,” Horatia patted the settee as she sat up, expecting Rose to join her, “are you indeed all right? What we have heard has been?—”
“I am well, Mother. I am uninjured and healthy. Neither of you needs to worry.”
“Worry! Of course we worry,” Horatia returned. “What is all this about an attack right after the officials were here to determine if you had been abducted by Dominik? Have you kept something of your arrangement to him from us?”
“I have not, Mother. I assure you. Dominik and I were arranged through Miss Mirren Wood, the matchmaker, and we wed in the church before your very eyes. He did not abduct me. Unfortunately…” Rose paused, knowing that she had to reveal the truth and dreading it all the same. “…Lord Egerton was residing at the same inn we used on our travel to the castle. I spotted him and…made the unwise decision to approach him. He learned of the land in the remaining dowry. He saw Dominik. It was he who spread the rumors of abduction, he who attacked the castle in a fit of jealousy because he desired the land, rich in copper deposits as it is.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Horatia put a hand on her chest, her brows raised once more. “This is all so much. There is copper on the land from your grandfather, and Lord Egertonwantedit? My dear daughter, has something…happened to him?”
