“Do you think that will matter to your father?”
Seona shrugged. Of course it wouldn’t. Her father was like a stone monolith when it came to sentiment. “What about the guard you have been spending so much time with?” Seona asked, her heart rate speeding up with her bold words.
Her aunt narrowed her eyes until they were like sharp blades. “My ankle is near broken and he is but helping me get about. Besides, how dare you question me and my actions?”
“You are a lady, just as I am,” Seona pointed out innocently. “What about your reputation?”
“I am a widow,” her aunt snapped. “Not a virgin. There is a vast difference.”
“I doubt my father would approve, either way.”
“Are you threatening me?” her aunt demanded through clenched teeth.
“Nay,” Seona said mildly, lifting her brows into what she hoped was a pleasant expression. She was tired of obeying her grouchy, snobbish, hypocritical aunt and ready to give her a taste of her own bitter medicine. Seona’s father provided financial support to her aunt. That was why she’d agreed to be Seona’s companion and chaperone during this journey. What would her father do if he knew his sister wasinterestedin a guard, someone he would see as far beneath her? Would he cut off her funds?
“You’d best watch yourself, lassie.” Patience pointed a finger straight at Seona. “I will tell your father everything. You ken how he is when angered.”
Indeed, she did. She well remembered his red-faced tirades, his arms flying about, his big hands hurling objects. And worst of all, those same meaty hands slapping her face so hard the imprint of his fingers left a red mark for two days. Seona had to get her sister away from him. Was Talia well? Had he abused her already? Seona’s heart thudded with sudden concern.
“Are you listening to me?” Patience asked.
“Aye. You would enjoy watching him strike me again, would you not?”
“Of course not! I don’t enjoy it. But it would be nothing less than you deserve in this case. Dallying with a bodyguard.”
“I am not dallying.” At least she hoped that wasn’t what it was called. ’Twas true Keegan had touched her in scandalous ways, but he had not taken her virtue. She was immensely grateful for that now. Although at the time, she hadn’t been. She’d wanted something she couldn’t name. She’d craved for Keegan to claim her in every way and make her a woman.Hiswoman and his wife.
“The way he always watches you with lust in his eyes tells me loud and clear that he wishes to bed you,” Patience said.
Seona’s face burned, but she ignored it. Aye, she hoped Keegan did wish to bed her. ’Twas her fondest desire.
“Your father will find the man he wishes you to marry, and it won’t be Keegan.”
Clearly her aunt loved naught more than rubbing salt into herwound. She was a woman too; how could she not understand Seona’s feelings? If only Patience could visualize how much better Seona’s life would be if she could marry Keegan instead of some old barbarous ogre mayhap she wouldn’t be so harsh. Her aunt was a widow, aye, but Seona knew naught about her marriage, for her husband had died when Seona was a small child. “What was your marriage like?”
Patience sent her a severe frown. “My marriage is none of your concern. That was fifteen years ago. We are talking about you.”
“I was merely curious,” Seona said in a benign tone. “Although your marriage was brief, I wondered if it was a pleasant experience.”
“Nay. ’Twas not. But I know not any woman who has had an enjoyable marriage. ’Tis a part of life. You must grow accustomed to it.”
There was something very wrong with that. People in her society married for money, property, alliances and prestige. Not for love. Never for love. But if love could enter into it, wouldn’t the marriages be more happy and enjoyable? Wouldn’t life be worth living?
Isobel had told her that her parents had loved one another, despite their arranged marriage. And ’twas abundantly clear that Isobel and Dirk loved one another. She often caught them whispering and giving each other affectionate smiles at dinner. A few times at Dunnakeil, she’d accidentally seen them kissing passionately in a stairwell or an out of the way place.
“’Tis obvious Lady Isobel has a happy marriage,” Seona pointed out.
“Hmph.” Patience glowered. “The way that marriage came about was highly unusual and bordering on scandalous. Dirk stole her from the MacLeod.”
Seona shrugged. “Everyone is happy with the outcome. And the MacLeod did not seem to mind so much.”
“Well, it matters not. Don’t expect the same thing yourself. You should be angry that Isobel stole Dirk from you.”
Seona frowned. Was her aunt insane? “She didn’t steal Dirk from me. I was never betrothed to Dirk.”
“You were betrothed to the next MacKay chief, and who is that? Dirk.”
Seona shook her head. “I was betrothed to Aiden. He was chief for a brief time before Dirk arrived.”
