Page 59 of The Highlander’s Unexpected Wife

Henry paled. “Wedding breakfast?” His gaze whipped back onto Alison. “Say it isn’t true, Cousin.”

“My marriage should not come as a surprise. You knew we were betrothed,” she said.

“On the contrary, you maintained you were engaged to Robert. “

“Lady Alison has made another choice,” Cameron said, as if he discussed what sort of wine he might serve with supper.

“I doubt the marriage is legal,” he snapped.

“Oh, ‘tis legal,” the parson said. “I performed the ceremony myself.”

“Who the devil are you?” Henry demanded.

“Reverend George Fister,” he said.

Henry’s mouth thinned, then he addressed Alison, “We can annul the marriage. Think of Robert. He will be devastated.”

“He is not the first man to have been chosen second,” Cameron said.

“I have had enough of you, Weston. You kidnapped my cousin and forced her to marry you. It is no difficult matter to annul a marriage, particularly one that has not been consummated.”

Cameron finally lifted his gaze to Henry’s. “Whatever gave you the idea the marriage hasn’t been consummated?”

Henry’s eyes widened—then narrowed. “As this is the wedding breakfast, there has been no time.”

Cameron chuckled. He actually chuckled! Alison couldn’t believe it.

“Come now, Hamilton. You are a man of the world. Few betrothed couples in our modern times wait for the wedding day to consummate the marriage.”

Slight movement to Alison’s left yanked her attention onto Erin. Was she repressing laughter? Yes, that was a definite twitch at the corner of her mouth. Lady Caroline ducked her head. She, too, was laughing. The big man’s face reddened. When had women become so much more brazen than men?

“I ought to kill you,” Henry said in a low voice that sent a chill down Alison’s back.

Cameron’s stare turned chilly. “I am at your service, sir.”

“No duel,” Alison blurted.

Cameron regarded her. “You need not worry, my dear. I am a very good shot. James will act as my second. He knows weapons quite well. There will be no shenanigans.”

“There will be no duel.” She pushed her chair back and stood.

Cameron rose, as well, followed by Mister McIntyre and Mister Johnson.

Alison ignored their imposing presences and said to Henry, “I have married of my own choice. My husband and I will be moving into Eversley Place. I feel certain you will not want to live with us.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “You are evicting me from my own home?”

“My home, Henry,” she corrected. “Your home is the home you shared with Olivia.”

“You know I was devastated by her death. I cannot go back there.”

“That is a shame,” she said.

His expression went blank. She learned forward, as if she could reach him across the table and lay a gentle hand on his arm, for he looked as if he might swoon. Then his expression darkened and his mouth twisted into an almost frightening frown.

“You forget that I am your guardian.”

This time, she blinked in surprise. Cameron shifted, breaking her stupor, and she realized he intended to speak.

She laid a staying hand on his arm and said, “In fact, it is you who forget yourself. At three and twenty, I am free to marry whomever I choose. That deed is done. Therefore, you have no control over my finances.”

A strange light entered his eyes.

“Hamilton—” Cameron began.

“Robert would have been very disappointed in you,” he said in a low voice.

A cold finger touched the base of her spine.

Satisfaction lit his eyes.

“What do you mean ‘would have been’?” she whispered.

He gave a cold smile. “You should be thankful he didn’t live to see your betrayal.”