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“Well, he said some things, put me in mind of an alliance of sorts. Our brains run along the same track. Both business-minded men, you know. ”
“What sort of alliance?” Aidan demanded in a hard voice. But he didn’t need to hear her father spell it out to know: the man wanted to marry Elspeth. The need to protect her, to possess her, seethed in his belly.
Farquharson ignored him, his face splitting into a grin that mocked Aidan. “I’m assuming he wants to see you to ask for your hand, fool girl. He spoke of the potential of this very farm. ” He nudged her. “I told you sheep was a grand idea. Lord Fraser thinks our wool production—regular and high quality—would be just the thing for his business. ”
Aidan managed to calm himself enough to speak. “Fraser’s business is thriving, and on a much grander scale. I don’t believe he’d have an honest interest in a farm this size. ”
“A farm this size,” her father mimicked, glaring at him. “And what have you got, boy? Nothing, that’s what. ” He crossed his arms, puffing with pride. “If you must know, Fraser said he’s been long without a woman. He heard my Elspeth was fine. ”
Long without a woman. Fury roiled hot in his belly. She was more than a mere commodity—she was precious.
“But I don’t love him. ” She cast a quick and plaintive glance at Aidan. There was a message in her eyes that he dared not hope was true—that her affections might already be claimed, and by him.
“Love? Girl, you don’t have two farthings to rub together. Why do you want love when you can be a lady?”
Aidan bolted to his feet. “Elspeth is a lady. She doesn’t need a rich old husband to prove that to the world. ”
Her father scoffed. “Well, now she’ll be set up like one. And for the rest of her days. ”
“Set you up is more like it,” Aidan said, his voice dangerously low.
Sneering, her father looked him up and down like a piece of rubbish. “What business is it of yours?”
Aidan scowled silently back, thinking the man was right. It wasn’t his business. Would that it were. Would that Elspeth were his responsibility—he’d care for her better than the wealthiest of merchants could.
“Aye, that’s right,” her father mumbled triumphantly.
Aidan stepped forward, and Elspeth stopped him with an outstretched arm. “But we’re getting by, Da. The farm is starting to turn around. I don’t need to marry when I’m happy and needed here. ”
“You need to make house, respectable-like. Have a place of your own, a few bairns. ” He walked to the door, gesturing for her to follow, as though she should start that very moment. “A man like Fraser will do much for our respectability. ”
Elspeth held her ground and didn’t follow. “I’m perfectly respectable. ”
“Aye,” her father said with a shrug, “that’s as may be, but our coffers aren’t so. ”
Aidan watched as her confusion turned to anger, and a matching fury blazed in his chest. If only he had hard proof, rather than a hunch and a crumpled receipt from his hired man. “Anyone but him,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. “Think twice about this. This Fraser is a stranger. And … I think he’s tied up in a dangerous game. ”
Elspeth gasped. “Who is he? I must know. I’ve been desperate to know. ”
Her eager response gave Aidan pause. The question wasn’t what did he know, rather what did she?
Ignoring his daughter, the old man glared at Aidan, demanding, “How do you know aught about him?”
How to explain that it was just a hunch? “I simply … know. ”
Her father laughed. “You simply … know? His dangerous games? Here’s a dangerous game,” he said, growing serious. “You sitting unchaperoned with my daughter. I see how you look at her. You just don’t want another man to have her. ”
“That might be true. But trust me when I tell you, Fraser isn’t what he seems. ” Even a vague link between this merchant and the man with the black pearl was too much. “I have reason to believe he’s tied to the pirate who kidnapped me as a child. ”
Elspeth drew in a sharp breath.
“Pish!” Her father scoffed. “What nonsense. You were just a child. An … an …”
Aidan felt Elspeth sidle close behind to give his arm a quick, convulsive squeeze. “An urchin?” he finished, his voice dangerously calm.
Her father only sneered. “Aye. Your accusation is tripe. All of it, tripe. ”
Elspeth stepped forward. “We have proof. ”
