Page 31 of Highlander’s Sweet Poison

“Love is dangerous,” Graeme admitted in a low voice. “I have no intention of falling to the same folly.”

“Then ye dinnae love the Lady Jillian?”

“Nay. I wedded her to rescue her from a fate that she didnae deserve. We are compatible in some ways, but I will give my heart to none.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Ludo said quietly. “The loss of love is hard, but a life without love is impossible to fathom. I miss my wife every moment, and I cannae wait to see her again, but I would be nothing without her.”

“As ye have pointed out, I am like my father, and I intend to be a good leader without love.”

“Yer father had a good woman.”

“Aye, my mother is a good woman, but I am not fool enough to believe that he loved her.”

“True, but that didnae mean that he didnae love another.”

“What do ye mean by that?”

“Ye should ask yer mother. I will see ye tonight, Graeme. These next few weeks will be a defining moment for this clan under yer leadership. I hope ye handle them well.”

He backed out of the room, and Graeme sat heavily back at his desk. He and his mother had been good parents, and they were good to each other, but it was respect and not love between them. That was what he wanted in his own marriage.

Had his father loved another?

Nay, Graeme dismissed the idea. Even if he did, it didn’t make a difference. He made his choice out of duty and not out of love, and that was how he intended to make all his decisions. Love be damned.

A green dress was spread on the bed at Alexina’s insistence even though Jillian wanted to wear the yellow one. “Why?” Alexina had asked. “The yellow will make ye look sallow.”

“That’s the point.”

Rolling her eyes. Alexina said that as her friend, she got to overrule her on fashion advice and laid out the green dress. Jillian was in the process of undressing behind the screen when there was a knock on the door.

Alexina opened it. “Aye,” a young woman said sullenly. “I am here to see to Lady Jillian.”

“Oh, Jillian, Graeme sent a maid to help ye! Like a proper mistress!” Excited, Alexina opened the door before Jillian could warn her to send her away.

The maid stepped inside and mumbled something under her breath. “What did ye say?” Alexina asked innocently. Jillian stepped from behind the screen, holding her dress up to her chest.

“Ye may speak freely here,” Jillian said as she held her breath and waited.

The maid eyed her for only a moment before she jutted her chin out and hoisted her nose in the air. “Fine. I said that Lady Jillian is no mistress of mine, and I am only here under the order of my laird.”

“And how can ye respect yer laird if ye wilnae respect the choice he made in a wife?” Alexina kept her voice pleasant.

The maid stopped and furrowed her brow. “How am I supposed to respect a witch?”

“Have ye seen her do magic?”

“No, but everyone says—”

“So ye are unintelligent and forced to take everyone else’s opinion for yer own?”

Jillian coughed as she stared at Alexina. The small woman was so unassuming, but she was a stone wall when she wanted to be, and the poor maid kept running into it time and time again.

“Are ye calling me stupid?” the maid demanded.

“Nay, I will still need more proof before I decide that. I, unlike some people, dinnae spread rumors or adopt beliefs unless I know for myself whether they are true or not. What is yer name?”

“Daisy.”