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Fraser smirked. Maiden indeed.
“I enjoy games. ” He pinned Elspeth with a look. She squirmed, and he relished the power he had over her. Smart and willful maybe, and not as timid as he’d first thought, but she’d acquiesce to his whims within the year. He’d relish making her yield to him. It was invigorating, like what he imagined a man felt when breaking a wild animal—bringing that spirit to heel, proving that you were its master.
It was exhilarating, better than any hunt. He’d forgotten wh
at it was to feel young, yet here he was, feeling a man of twenty again. Was that how marriage would be? He found himself looking forward to it.
She had a keen mind and sharp, all-seeing eyes, unlike all the other simpering misses he’d ever met. She’d eventually realize he and she were mental matches. She’d grow to appreciate his wisdom.
“I hadn’t realized just how staid my life had become,” he told her, finding himself gratifyingly moved by his own honesty. He puffed up, believing himself a very great good man. It was indeed time to take a wife—all the brilliant men in powerful circles had them. “Until I met you, my dear. You’ve added a bit of sauce to the stock. ”
“Them’s welcome words,” her father said. “Because we’re of a mind to step up the wedding a bit. ”
“To hasten our nuptials?” He shot her a pointed look— he wanted to hear her say the words. Wanted to hear her beg him. “Could that be true, Elspeth? Do you wish to marry me so very badly?”
It gave him great satisfaction to watch the fire kindle in those pale blue-and-yellow eyes.
She gave him a tight nod, and it was all he could do not to laugh outright.
He was a veritable god of planning, he thought, concealing his surge of triumph. First, there’d been his scheme to trade workers for cotton, avoiding the Crown and her taxes. Then came his masterful handling of the Farquharsons. And now he’d be the savior who’d come in and rebuild her idiot father’s farm, setting in place a sham enterprise with which to explain away his profits.
And he’d win himself a young wife in the bargain.
What a welcome diversion this was proving. He decided to prolong it a bit more. “What, pray, has brought about such a welcome change of heart?”
Though he’d posed the question to Elspeth, it was her father who answered. “There’s been an accident, see. And … we were hoping …”
He let her father flail for a moment, then broke in. “Oh my. An accident? I hope nothing untoward has come to pass. ”
“I think you know very well what’s come to pass,” Elspeth said in a tight voice.
“Mind yourself,” her father scolded from the corner of his mouth. The old man shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. “There’s been an accident at the farm. A fire. ”
Fraser steepled his fingers, watching Elspeth’s reaction. How wrong his first impressions of her had been. Initially, he’d thought her a quiet, plain wisp of a thing, but now such a whirl of emotions animated her face. He decided it was that which turned her pretty.
Would she fight him this much in the marriage bed? Would he feel as much triumph when she finally submitted? She’d be a treat indeed.
“Then you’ll need a place to stay,” he said, gratified by his own magnanimous tone. He’d spent many years clawing his way from the gutters—to play the role of wealthy benefactor was pleasing. “Some coin to get you by. ”
Her father’s eyes brightened. “That’s it precisely. ”
“And we can certainly step up our wedding plans. ” He gave his intended a warm look, amused to watch her bridle in response. “It takes two weeks to proclaim the banns, but I’ve a minister in my pocket at my estate in Arbroath who’ll wed us as soon as I say. ”
Though he doubted she was a virgin, he deemed it just as well. As long as bastard seed hadn’t taken root, he’d be happy to have young Elspeth come to him a woman primed. She was a frail thing, looking as though she might break, and he’d rather not have maiden tears flowing on his wedding night.
And besides, he’d enjoy accustoming her to his ways. He’d make her rue the day she’d allowed some other man to touch her.
Fraser grew thoughtful. That would be his next adventure—finding the identity of the man who’d deflowered her. “I’ll take you to Arbroath. In fact, we’ll leave today. ”
A trap, to tempt her wayward suitor from the woodworks.
Chapter 33
Never before had Aidan known such lightness in his heart. He’d dropped Elspeth at Dunnottar as she’d asked, then turned the Journeyman back around to dock at his hired slip in Aberdeen, tasting the salt air in his broad grin all the while.
He was a man transformed, and he had Elspeth to thank for it. Her guileless ways were refreshing, renewing. And when she laughed, she shined warmth and light on the dark corners of his soul, chasing away his rage and leaving joy in its place. Her delight in the little things—in a story well told, in a fresh-picked apple—had reminded him how it was to feel happiness once more.
She still didn’t understand just how much she’d changed him. She’d been succor to his tortured body and soul, yet she still didn’t seem to see how much he needed her. It was no matter, he thought as he strode from Dunnottar to her farm. He’d be only too pleased to spend the rest of his life proving his devotion.
