Page 103 of Captured by a Laird
“She came with the castle,” he said, which caused his stepmother to laugh.
“Then I assume this is AlisonDouglaswe’re talking about,” she said. “That was a bold move.”
“Aye, it was.”
“You sound as though you regret it,” she said, pinching her brows together. When he didn’t respond, she said, “Naturally, the circumstances make for a difficult start to a marriage, but Will thinks so well of her. You should give the lass a chance.”
“I don’t regret making Alison my wife,” he said in a tight voice.
“What is it, then?” She startled him by leaning forward and touching his hand. “Come, tell me.”
“What I regret,” he said after a long silence, “is forcing her to wed me.”
He didn’t know why he confessed this to Isabella, with whom he’d never had an intimate conversation in his life.
It had been necessary for him to marry Blackadder’s widow and gain control of the daughters, and he would make the same decision if he had it to do over again. Yet, in his heart of hearts, he wished Alison had become his wife under different circumstances. Ridiculous as it was, he wished he could have given her the choice, and that she had wed him because she wanted him.
“You care for her,” Isabella said.
“Aye,” he admitted, shifting his gaze to the roof of the tent.
“Why does that make you unhappy?” she asked. “Does she not care for you?”
He wanted to believe that, for a brief time, Alison had cared. She knew him for what he was now, and any affection she might have felt before had been replaced by revulsion.
“My nature offends her,” he said.
“You’re a fine man, one any woman would be proud to call husband.”
“My wife does not agree.” He got to his feet. There was nothing to be gained by discussing it further.
“Give her time,” Isabella said, looking up at him.
“Time won’t change this,” he said. “I’m the wrong man for her.”
And Alison was the only woman for him.
He made up his mind on the ride back. He would give her what she had wanted all along.
***
Alison felt at loose ends and took a walk around the castle grounds. David was furious with her, and she did not know how they would mend things between them.
She thought back to the day of the picnic and how happy she was then. Nothing had been right between them since, and she had made them worse by her reaction to D’Orsey’s death. But heavens, what woman wouldn’t be upset by that gruesome head?
Once David was no longer standing over her like an enraged bull, she had been able to give more thought to what he’d said about it. She had not fully appreciated before the magnitude of David’s smoldering rage over his father’s death.
Though she could never condone what he’d done to D’Orsey—she shuddered again at the thought—she could admit there was justice to it, given D’Orsey’s role in his father’s beheading. And to her surprise, it apparently had persuaded the new garrison commander at Dunbar to release Will and Robbie’s mother. David had been right about that.
Alison turned the corner of the keep and found Robbie leaning against the wall, watching her daughters play with their wooden toys. Knowing Robbie, he must be bored senseless.
She felt him tense as she leaned against the wall next to him. “You’ve developed a sudden interest in carved animals, I see.”
He folded his arms and continued watching the girls with a serious expression.
“Your friends are on the other side of the keep practicing,” she said.
“When David’s gone, I’m responsible for these lasses’ safety.” He gave her a sour sideways glance. “And yours.”
