Page 54 of A Highland Duke to Claim Her Heart

“Well, it could very much be the case that some sailors heard of it and others did not,” Ewan said fairly.

“It could be,” Alaric said, rubbing his brow. “But something seems off. No one really wanted to speak with me, and I often got the impression that they were laughing at me behind my back, like they had taken me for a fool.”

Ewan said nothing for a long moment. Alaric’s accusation was serious, and without more evidence, he did not know what to think. His friend had a strong intuition, but he would need more than a feeling before he could believe that his brother would lie about something so sinister.

“Let us say, for a moment, that you are right,” Ewan murmured. “My question would be, why would Christopher lie? What does he gain from it? If he did not want to marry Cassandra, he could have just told me.”

“Maybe he was afraid you would not allow him to call off the engagement. Since it would have harmed Her Grace’s reputation.”

“I would not have been pleased,” Ewan admitted. “But I do not think I would have forced him to marry if he truly did not wish to.”

But even as he said it, he was not sure. If Christopher had tried to call the wedding off a few days before, he could imagine himself telling his brother to get over his cold feet and get on with it.

“But he is back now,” Alaric said. “And I would wager that he has asked for money.”

Ewan looked up sharply. “How do you know that?”

Alaric shook his head. “Because I heard talk in Inverness of his many debts.” His eyes seemed to grow darker in the flickering light of the fire in the grate. “I do not think your brother has returned out of love for you, Ewan. I think he has returned in desperation, realizing he needed Her Grace’s dowry more than he thought.”

Chapter 20

After three days of Ewan’s unprecedented silence in the house, his minimal responses to her questions, his disappearances after dinner, Cassandra had had quite enough.

She was not about to let her husband get away with this. If he had something to say to her about Christopher’s return, then he had better say it. But the icy chill that had settled between them even since his brother arrived was no longer acceptable.

Which was how she found herself out in the fields in the early afternoon, trudging through the heather and mud toward where Ewan was standing with several farmers, examining a drainage pipe.

At the sound of her approach, the men turned. Ewan’s eyebrows immediately shot up, and then a dark cloud passed across his face, and he all but scowled at her.

“Your Grace,” he said, nodding curtly, while around him, the farmers bent into low bows. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to help,” Cassandra said, putting both hands on her hips and staring back at him defiantly. “Alaric told me that you were working on the drainage pipes, and I wanted to see your work.”

Ewan’s face remained cold. “Help? You?”

“Why not?”

“Because women do not do this work. And certainly not ladies. Especially not duchesses. That is how it always has been. For centuries.”

Cassandra glared back at him. “That might be how things used to be, but I am the duchess now, and I shall do as I please. Even if it breaks with centuries of tradition.”

Behind Ewan, she saw several of the farmers smirk at each other. They seemed more amused by her presence than offended by it, and she was heartened by this.

“Do either of you gentlemen have any objections to me helping my husband?” she asked them.

“Not at all, Yer Grace,” one said, while the other smiled. “We would be honored.”

Ewan gave them both looks that seemed to say,We will have words about this later,but when he turned back to Cassandra, he seemed to wilt under her gaze.

“Fine,” he snapped. “You can hand me the tools I will need. But nothing more. I shall not have you lifting anything heavy or putting yourself in any danger.”

“That is fine by me,” she said, trying to disguise the smile of triumph that flickered across her lips.

Ewan turned back to the drainage pipe, then crouched down and began to examine it more closely. The farmers moved away, to the other end of the pipe, while Ewan continued to examine the stone. At last, he held out his hand toward the leather bag that was sitting several feet from him.

“Hand me the trowel,” he told her brusquely.

“Trowel?”