Page 27

“ T hat is very good, little ones,” Talia praised, just as Mabel walked into the room. “Ye are taking well to yer lessons.”

Mabel was glad to see how well the boys had taken to Talia and how well they were progressing in their lessons.

The governess had proven most passionate about caring for the boys as well as their education, so Mabel had had more time to focus on her other duties as lady of the clan.

While she wished she could spend more time with them, she had begun to feel at ease with Talia, especially since the boys seemed to be doing better under her care.

“Are they behaving well, Talia?” she asked, turning to smile at the excited boys.

They looked ready to bolt from their seats, but they managed to keep still, which caused her to grin wider. Talia had no doubt taught them how to behave, and Mabel was proud to see them so well-mannered.

She could not wait for her husband to return. He would be pleased to hear of this new development.

“Aye, Me Lady,” Talia answered. “They are perfect. Ye will be pleased with how well they ken their numbers.”

“I am glad to hear it.” Mabel beamed. “I was hoping I could interrupt their lessons today. I want them to go on a little excursion with me outside the castle.”

“Really, Aunt Mabel?” Ollie asked excitedly.

She nodded, turning to their governess.

“Ye will come with, of course, to help me watch them,” she added. “It will be good for all of us to be outside. The weather is most pleasant.”

“As ye wish, Me Lady.” Talia nodded, curtsying. “But may I put away the learning materials and prepare first?”

Mabel nodded and held her hands out to the boys. “Ye will meet us in the courtyard once ye are ready, then.”

Talia nodded and turned to tidy the room.

“Come, lads, let us give Miss Talia time to prepare for the picnic,” Mabel instructed, earning cheers.

The boys rushed to her, visibly relieved to be free of their lessons.

She could understand their excitement. It had been a week since the cèilidh, and they had been having lessons consistently, as both Mabel and Campbell had been occupied with restoring everything to order after hosting such a large event.

She had worried they would feel abandoned, but she had glimpsed them several times in the halls with Talia, and they seemed well enough. She was grateful her husband had hired the governess when he had, or else juggling her duties and caring for the boys would have proven difficult.

Now that they had restored the castle to order, she had decided to treat the boys to a picnic by the lake. While she wished her husband were with them, he had been away on a hunt since the early hours of the morning. But he had promised he would return before dinner, and she hoped he would.

Ideally, she would have let him guide them to the lake, but she had learned the route already, and the boys knew better than to go in the water when they couldn’t yet swim properly.

Perhaps she would suggest to her husband to teach them when he found the time.

She liked knowing that they would be able to care for themselves in the future.

Thinking about him stirred her longing, and she missed him, even though he had only been gone for a day. They had spent more time together in the days after the cèilidh, and her nights had been filled with stoked passions that brought them closer to each other. Yet she still ached for more.

She discovered quickly that her husband’s desire for her was near insatiable, and the fact amused her greatly. He had kept his word that evening and kissed her quite thoroughly after he had helped her undress, and he had made it a tradition to help her undress in the evenings that followed.

Thinking about him now sent warmth through her and had her praying for his safe return from the hunt.

When they moved through the hallways past the Great Hall, she spotted an unfamiliar face staring up at the high seat and turned to inquire about his identity.

She studied him, wondering if she had seen him before.

But when he turned to her, she did not recognize his shock of white hair or the brown eyes set in a rather handsome face.

He briefly eyed her and the boys, a disdainful look on his face, before focusing his full attention on her. The condescension in his gaze made her skin crawl.

He studied her, and she pulled the boys closer to her, a sense of dread coiling in her gut.

“I dinnae believe ye to be a member of the clan,” she stated, watching him carefully. “I ask ye to introduce yerself, Sir.”

“Is this how ye welcome yer guests, Lady Muir?” he asked in a disappointed tone. “‘Tis shameful. I will speak to Campbell about this.”

How did he know who she was?

Mabel frowned deeply and studied him, trying to ascertain if she had met him before. He looked well along in years, but his posture spoke of strength that warned her to be cautious.

How she wished she could call out to one of the guards to escort him out of the castle, but she could not tell if he was her husband’s guest. She did not want to risk his ire by insulting someone dear to him.

“Ye will forgive me if I unintentionally insult ye,” she began. “Ye entered me home unannounced, and ye’re a stranger to me.”

“Still, ye should have been raised to ken the proper way to treat guests,” the man scolded, sticking his nose in the air. “I had hoped me grandson wouldnae be a fool to marry someone of low birth like his braither, but it seems I was wrong again.”

Heat seared Mabel’s cheeks at the insult, but her anger flared as well.

How dare he?

He had not only insulted her, but also Layla.

But he referred to her husband as his grandson.

Her husband had never mentioned his grandfather to her before, and unfortunately, he had such a dour personality that it left much to be desired.

She suddenly wished for her husband’s presence. He would know how to handle the man.

“I suppose these are me great-grandsons,” he continued, lowering his gaze to Connor and Ollie, who were now hiding behind her skirts.

“Hiding behind a woman’s skirts? So cowardly.

Has Campbell taught ye nothing? Shameful.

Ye are to greet yer elder with respect. I suppose I expect too much, seeing as ye’re of low birth like yer maither and ye’re being raised by another unworthy woman. ”

“Dinnae insult Aunt Mabel!” Ollie yelled, coming to stand in front of her. “If ye do, I will use me sword to?—”

None of them could have anticipated what happened next. The man slapped Ollie across the face.

Mabel could not swallow her scream when the boy’s head snapped to the side.

“Ye will learn respect, even if I have to teach it to ye,” the man scolded. “I am the Laird of Clan McCormick and yer great-grandfaither, and ye will show me the respect I am due.”

Mabel froze, as she had never witnessed such abuse. But when she saw tears rolling down the little boy’s cheek, she pulled him into her side. He was still glaring at the older man.

His protectiveness touched her and angered her.

This man, no matter who he claimed to be, had no right to barge into her home and abuse her boys. Her husband was not home, or he would have taught his grandfather a lesson. But as the lady of the clan, she would have to be strong and protect the boys until her husband returned.

Important or not, she would not tolerate anyone abusing them, and she could not believe that someone so despicable would be of importance to her husband, who was fair in his dealings.

He might be firm, but he was not beastly.

Laird McCormick should have been given the moniker instead of her husband.

“I have spoken to Campbell about yer education, but I see I will have to involve meself, as ye are nothing but disrespectful, untrained boys,” he sneered.

“A firm hand is what children need, and I have said so several times. I must do this for the sake of our bloodline, and even though yer faither tainted it with his folly, I will ensure that ye dinnae follow in his footsteps. I have told Campbell that I will?—”

“Ye will do naught to these boys,” Mabel spat.

She made to step closer to him, but Connor held tightly onto her skirts, the tears streaming down his face soaking the fabric.

She hated seeing the boys so frightened; she had only wanted to make them happy.

“They are under me care now, and nay matter how incompetent ye think me, I will take care of them,” she asserted. “Ye have nay right in the matter, and yer opinions dinnae matter either way.”

“Ye are indeed incompetent,” Laird McCormick sneered.

“Ye should hire a governess who will raise them as befit their station. While I dinnae approve of ye, yer job is to run me grandson’s clan well, as his maither ran the clan before ye, and to give him heirs.

The governess will do a much better job of raising children of noble birth.

They shouldnae be trained to only learn their numbers, but read and write as well.

They must learn good conduct and manners and protocol. They must learn nae to?—”

“That is enough!” Mabel yelled.

She had never lost her temper before, but the man had driven her to a point where her blood was boiling . She craved violence, but she tamped down the feeling, choosing to use only her words instead.

If he was this way, it was no wonder her husband had so much darkness swirling about him. She could not imagine growing up in this man’s dark shadow and bearing the constant weight of his condescension.

Being in his presence pricked at every insecure part of herself, but while she would ordinarily have retreated into her shell and hidden away, she could not let his darkness rub off on the little boys under her care.

“Ye will leave our home now and never return,” she bit out.

Laird McCormick took a menacing step forward, looking as though he would strike her. But there was no fear in her, only anger. Even if she was not strong enough physically to throw him out of the castle, she would ensure that she at least tried.

“How dare ye? Ye whore of little consequence,” he spat.

Still, she lifted her eyes to his, pinning him with the full force of her hatred for his judgmental ways and his treatment of Ollie.

“Just because ye married me grandson, doesnae mean ye can talk back to me.”

His nostrils flared, and he seemed to be barely holding himself back. But she wanted him over the edge and gone from her home, and if she had to stoke his anger further, then so be it.

“I dare because I am Lady of Clan Muir and in nay way subject to yer tyranny,” she hissed, looking him in the eyes.

“Ye will leave at once and only return if and when me husband summons ye—and I believe if he does so, ‘twill be to kill ye for laying a hand on Ollie. If ye are ready to apologize, I might be able to stay his hand, but if ye willnae, I suggest ye never cross into Muir lands again. Ye are most fortunate he isnae here to put ye in yer place.”

Mabel hated how she had to hide behind her husband’s power to drive her threat, and wished she had enough strength to throw the man on his arse and punish him for the despicable way he had treated the boys. But for now, her threat would suffice.

“Ye ill-mannered, little whore. Ye need to be taught a lesson in…”

His hand had been poised to strike her, but she caught it mid-air, holding his gaze.

He would dare strike her?

“What do ye think ye are doing to me wife?!” she heard a roar that could have only come from her husband.

Relief flooded her at once, but her eyes never left the man in front of her.

She wanted to see if he would continue to act so pompously before her husband.

“Campbell,” Laird McCormick uttered, turning away from her and wiping his hand on a kerchief, as though her touch had soiled him. “Ye and I must talk.”