Page 7 of Marry the Highland Villain (Breaking the Highland Rules #1)
CHAPTER 7
The sunlight filtering through the study window made Conall’s head ache. He’d consumed far more mead than he should have after Oliver’s departure from his study the night before. It was either that or striking someone. Or something.
The mead had also been necessary to ease the ache of thwarted arousal. The memory of Brigid’s soft, pliant body against his own was enough to make his blood heat anew. He shoved the thought aside, not daring to entertain it further.
The knock on his door was unwelcome, but he answered it anyway with a resigned sigh. “Aye. Come in.”
The door opened to reveal Brigid herself. Her demeanor was calm, with no sign of the passion from the night before. But it did nothing to calm his body or his racing thoughts.
“I beg yer pardon, My Laird,” she began, looking at him in a way that suggested she was not remotely sorry for the interruption. “Yer steward said I should come to ye for the quill and paper.”
“Aye.” Conall pulled some fresh paper, an inkpot, and a quill out of a drawer in his desk. “Ye can write yer letter, and I’ll have my messenger deliver it this afternoon.”
Brigid nodded and took the supplies.
“Can I use the table by the fire to write my letter? It will be easier, I think.”
Conall hesitated. It would be best for both of them if she wrote her letter elsewhere—somewhere he wouldn’t be forced to sit near her, and perhaps be tempted by her again, as he had the night before. And yet, as the memory jumped into his mind once again, he found he was disinclined to send her away.
“Aye.” He gestured to a chair. “Go ahead.”
“Thank ye.”
Brigid lowered herself into the chair and bent her head over the paper. Conall watched her out of the corner of his eye while he attempted to read some paperwork.
She’d borrowed another dress from Emily, if the tightness of the fabric across her burst and hips was any indication, and braided her hair back. Her face had a freshly washed, rosy tinge that accentuated the glow of her sun-kissed skin and emerald-green eyes, and her demeanor was solemn as she wrote.
She’d been entrancing, with her eyes flashing with fire. However, solemnity suited her just as well. She was graceful, elegant in a way he rarely saw. Her full figure caught his attention and held it in a manner he’d rarely experienced with a woman before.
After several minutes, she finished writing. She held the letter close to the fire to dry the ink, then folded the paper neatly in half and looked up. “Might I use a bit of yer sealing wax?”
Conall handed over the stick of wax, and Brigid took it, heated it, and pressed a neat blob onto the edge of the paper to seal it. Then, she turned it over and wrote in a neat hand, Lily, Valerie, one of maids and men dancing in a well-lit hall, in clothing that practically glittered despite the need to remove some dust; and one of a deceptively simple Tree of Life, surrounded by intricate knot-work and a border of MacKane colors.
Finally, in one last room, they found yards of fabric and the discarded clothing of former ladies of the clan. Not all of it was usable, or even in fashion, but they managed to unearth a number of dresses that could be altered to make a suitable wardrobe for Brigid. Some of them were a little long or a little tight, but they were all lovely, and Brigid sighed with pleasure as she ran her hands over the sumptuous fabrics, delighting in the luxurious feel of them.
It was altogether far more fabric, and a larger wardrobe, than anything Brigid had ever had before. She couldn’t help lingering over some of the soft, smooth silks and linens, and even a few squares of satin.
“They’re lovely, are they nae?” Emily smiled. She reached out to touch a length of cream-colored fabric that was soft and smooth against Brigid’s fingers. “This would make an elegant wedding dress, especially if we add some embroidery and some panels of these blues and greens. And it would go well with the MacKane tartan.”
“It would.” Brigid nodded. “I’ve never seen aught like it.”
“Then we’ll make ye a wonderful wedding dress out of it. And if ye want to include your clan’s colors…”
“I dinnae have a clan,” Brigid admitted, flushing. “My grandfather is the Laird of his clan, but he’s never acknowledged me or my sisters, so we dinnae consider ourselves part of his family or his clan. My father was an outlaw, and my mother joined him in that status. My sisters and I were loved, but we were never claimed by any clan.”
“Well, ye’ll be claimed by a clan now!” Emily exclaimed. “Conall would never leave his kin, by blood or marriage, to stand alone.”
Emily meant well, and Brigid knew it, but her words only brought forth the grief and anger Brigid had been trying to ignore since she left Conall’s study. Before she knew it, her vision blurred, and her tears fell on the fabric in her hands.
“I…”
“Och, what’s wrong?” Emily wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and Brigid leaned into the comforting embrace.
It wasn’t like leaning into Lily’s arms, but it was better than being alone, and she was grateful to the woman for her kindness.
“Conall willnae let me return home to speak to my sisters.” She swallowed hard, her throat aching. “I can accept that, as much as I dinnae like it, but… he willnae even delay the wedding long enough to be sure that they can attend. I sent them a letter, but… I cannae… They’re likely nae to be here on time… And will they be safe on the road? Will they even believe me? We’ve had to protect ourselves our whole lives, and I cannae be sure they will believe my letter. Even if they do, they may nae arrive before the wedding.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Emily replied, giving her shoulders a sympathetic squeeze. “And ye cannae persuade him to delay?”
“He says he cannae delay. I have asked.” Brigid swallowed hard. “But nay matter what I say, he seems determined to ignore me. And I just…”
She paused to gather her thoughts.
“I was dragged out of my home at swordpoint and was told I had to go to my grandfather or see my sisters slaughtered. Then, it wasnae even my grandfather I was brought to, but Laird MacKane—a man I’d never even heard of, but who I’m now betrothed to. I’m grateful he proposed marriage instead of what he said my grandfather likely intended. But I feel like… I…”
“Yer whole life has been turned upside down in the past few days, like a mariner amid a sea storm,” Emily said matter-of-factly. “Yer life has been overturned, and badly. And now ye’re scramblin’ for the things ye love. ’Tis only reasonable, and to be expected.” Her arms tightened around Brigid’s shoulders. “Conall is gruff, but I think he will understand what ye want, in time. All that’s required is a little bit of patience.”
She offered Brigid a square of cloth to wipe her eyes.
“I’ll tell ye something I wouldnae say in front of Conall, for fear he’d feel obliged to bluster about in a temper,” she went on, drawing a reluctant smile from Brigid.
“What is it?”
“He might have decided to marry ye, but he’s likely as unsettled by the idea as ye are. He didnae plan to get married before he met ye, and he’s probably strugglin’ with his own concerns. He’s just too much a man to admit it, even to himself.”
The idea that someone as stern and self-assured as Conall might have doubts made Brigid want to burst into laughter.
“I… I cannae see a man like Conall bein’ unsure about anything. He seems so stern and determined.”
Nae to mention pig-headed and stubborn.
“I ken. He is all of those things—or he can be. But give yerself time to get to ken him for the man underneath the hot temper. Ye’ll discover that he’s as human as the rest of us, I promise”
Brigid considered that. She wasn’t sure she believed what Emily was saying, but the idea that Conall might be less rigid than he seemed to be gave her at least a smidgeon of hope.
Perhaps if she gave him a few days, some time for them to get to know each other, she might be able to persuade him to change his mind. However, as she bent over the fabric and began discussing her wedding dress with Emily, another thought came to her mind.
If I get to ken Conall well enough to convince him to change his mind, I might also come to find I care for him… but I can never trust a man like him. I’ve vowed that nay such man will ever have power over me.
She wasn’t sure she could risk it. Not even for a man as handsome and mesmerizing as Conall Barr.