Page 96 of Kidnapped by a Rogue
He knocked on the door with laudable restraint so as not to awaken Ella. This was not an argument the bairn should hear. But, no matter how much Margaret wished to avoid it, this was an argument they were going to have.
Rap, rap, rap.He knocked again, a wee bit louder. “I know ye can hear me,” he said against the door.
“She won’t speak to ye tonight.” It was Una’s voice. “Go back to bed and let the poor lass be.”
The poor lass?He pounded a little louder.
Margaret opened the door just far enough to show her face.
“I understand all ye wanted from me was a bit of fun under the blankets,” he said. “But the pretending is over. Ye will marry me!”
“I will not be forced to wed anyone ever again,” she said.
“A child changes everything,” he said, trying to make the damned woman see reason. “Whether either of us likes it or no, we’re going to be wed.”
“I’ve been through this before, and I can get through it again if I must,” she said. “But I cannot do it with you. That would be more than I could bear.”
“You’ve done this before?” he said. “What in the hell does that mean?”
“I’ve been with child three times. Each time, I miscarried,” she said, speaking slowly as if to a slow-witted fool. “So there will benochild andnocause for us to marry.”
With that, she shut the door and slammed the bar across it.
CHAPTER 27
Finn stomped into the stables intent on takingCeòout for a hard gallop. Margaret had slept on Una’s floor again last night and avoided him all day, not even showing her face at meals. She had never shown such stubbornness before. Apparently, she was not going to change her mind about marrying him.
“Finn!” he heard someone call to him from a dark corner of the stables.
He had his dirk ready in his hand but sheathed it when Una, of all people, emerged from the gloom.
“Your father needs to speak with ye today,” she said.
“Ach, ye came out here to tell me that?”
“Mind your tone with me,” she said as if he were still a bairn. Then she glanced behind them and said in a hushed voice, “I came to tell ye my grandson Lachlan has news from Dunrobin.”
Lachlan was wise to be discreet and send a message through his grandmother. Until they knew every single person who either played a part in the poisoning or sent word of it to George Sinclair, they had to assume there could still be a traitor inside Helmsdale.
“News about Alex?” Finn asked.
“Aye,” she whispered. “Lachlan is waiting for ye a half mile down the coastal trail.”
For an old woman, Una could move quickly when she wanted. Before he could ask any more questions, she was gone.
He found Lachlan pacing beside the trail. After looking up and down the path to be sure no one was coming, Lachlan signaled for Finn to follow him behind a clump of aspen where he had tied his horse.
From Lachlan’s grim expression, the news from Dunrobin was not good.
“What’s happened?” Finn asked. “Is Alex all right?”
“I’ve learned that the Sinclairs plan to murder him,” Lachlan said.
“Murder? Why would they do that?” Finn said. “They need Alex alive. ’Tis only through him that they have control of Sutherland.”
“They don’t need Alex if they have his heir.”
“Mìle marbhphàisg oirbh Sinclairs!”A thousand death shrouds on the Sinclairs!“Barbara is with child?”
