"So I understand,"she said reservedly.
"I was surprised you'dlet him out from under your protective wing. Could it be your fondness for thescalawag is waning?"
She didn't answer.
"But there still seems tobe some feeling there. His landlady says your quarterly payments keep him outof the gutter." He nodded. "Yes, I believe I can use Patrick."He reached out and tucked her shawl more closely around her shoulders in agesture that was oddly possessive. "Go back to the cottage. It's growingcooler and you'll catch a chill."
The gesture caught her offguard and she stared at him in bewilderment. "You wouldn't care if I frozeto death."
"That's not true. I'dcare very much. I don't want anything or anyone to touch you." He paused."But me. I want you to realize that I'm the only wind that can blow youeither good or ill." The words were spoken softly, casually, but she wasaware of an underlying intensity. His fingers reached out and caressinglytouched the side of her throat. She experienced a shock of heat that caused herto jerk away from him.
He smiled as he noticed theinvoluntary response. "I'll be back tomorrow morning to see you. By thattime I will have had my talk with Maggie and Ian and be ready to state myproposition."
"You're going to try topersuade Ian to go to Spain?"
"No, I'm taking him hometo Cinnidar with me."
Her eyes widened. "He'llnever go."
"You're wrong. Ian willcome with me." He met her gaze. "And so will you, Jane."
She forgot to breathe."No," she whispered.
"Don't go to the milltomorrow morning, or I'll come after you."
"Are you threateningme?"
"Not at the moment. Butyes, I am a threat to you. However, sometimes we choose to embrace a threat ifwe find it to our advantage. And you'll definitely find my proposition to youradvantage, Jane." He turned and started down the hill. "By the way,don't wear that shawl tomorrow. It displeases me."
This man who had once askedher to wed him didn't think her worthy to wear the clan tartan. Strange thatsuch a small thing should sting her when she had borne much worse from him."You may not feel I belong here, but Margaret gave me this shawl and Ihave every intention of wearing it."
"You believe I'm outragedyou're desecrating the honor of the clan by wearing it?" He shook hishead. "If I thought you could do that by wearing the blasted thing, I'ddress you in the MacClaren plaid from head to toe. I have no fondness forGlenclaren or its trappings. My father made sure I knew I didn't belonghere."
"Then you should not mindme wearing the tartan."
"But then, I'm not alwaysreasonable. The tartan's like a brand of ownership, and I don't like thethought of Glenclaren owning you. Don't wear the shawl again."
The panic she had tried tohide from him raced through her as she watched him walk away. He had only hadto appear and she had been immediately plunged into the same emotional turmoilas the moment she had left Kasanpore. Only moments before he had come she hadbeen bewailing the sameness of Glenclaren, but now she desperately wanted thatmonotony to return.
He could not make her go toCinnidar, she thought desperately. He could not make her do anything. The timewas past when he could play on her emotions and twist her to do his will. Shewas safe from him now.
She drew a deep, steadyingbreath, trying to calm herself. Yes, she had still felt the fascination drawingher to him, but that had been only of the flesh. It might be a power he wouldalways have over her, but it was a power she could fight. It wasn't love. She wasover that madness now. She had purged herself of that insanity during theseyears away from him.
It wasn't love.
Chapter11
He'll never go," Margarettold Ruel flatly. "If Ian refused to go to Spain, do you think he'lltravel halfway across the world to Cinnidar?"
"We have to persuade himto go. Spain is too close to be a solution for him. He would start thinkingabout Glenclaren and you'd find yourself on the next ship to Scotland."
"You may be right."Margaret frowned. "But I've heard the East is hot and unhealthy."
"Do I look as if it'shurt me?"
Ruel looked tough as a treetrunk, brown as the acorns that fell from it, and comely as ever, she thought."But then, the devil takes care of his own."
He burst out laughing. "Ibelieve I've missed you, Maggie. You always did know me better than Ian."
