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“Canna ye send for another priest?”

“Aye. But this will be faster. We already have someone.”

“I can read and write, too.”

“But ye will be negotiating alongside yer brother, I believe?”

She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. “Just ken this, Lord Angus.” Her lips flattened. “My brother didna tell ye, but besides my unfaithful husband, I also had the whore he’d slept with beheaded.”

Angus cursed under his breath. “I gave ye my word, Lady Euphemia. And I will hold to it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I ken. I’m just mentioning it.” Then she leaned forward and looked at Laomann, who was sitting in his lord’s chair. “Lord Laomann! How could ye allow a woman to be writing down our contract?”

His face fell, and he frowned. “A woman?”

God’s arse! He hadn’t yet talked with Laomann about this, precisely because he was sure his brother would hate the idea. “Lady Rogene can read and write,” Angus said. “Father Nicholas being sick, we have no one else who can fulfill the role.”

“I can write,” Laomann said.

“But ye canna both write and negotiate,” Angus argued. “And until we find a priest who can spare the time…”

Laomann shook his head. “Nae. A woman… ’Tis wrong. ’Tis nae a woman’s job to do that. Surely a woman dinna have the brains to write down a marriage contract.”

Lady Euphemia’s lips tightened even further. Her stare was so cold, it could freeze a man to death. “A woman dinna have the brains to write?” she said.

Laomann’s nostrils flared. Then—as he often did when a higher authority contradicted him—he swallowed his anger, just as he had with their father. Every time.

“I didna mean ye, Lady Euphemia,” he said.

She raised her eyebrows in an annoyed expression. “Oh, ye didna.” She scoffed. “Ye men think women are so beneath ye, dinna ye? That women should stay home, and do embroidery, and weave, and bear ye children, and wipe everyone’s arses.” She looked at her brother, who was scowling at her. This looked like a conversation they may have had many times. “And yet, some of ye are too good at licking arses when ye need to be strong and fight for what is right for ye. Had I had a cock, trust me, the situation in Scotland would have been very different.”

“Ye still wouldna be the earl,” William mumbled. “I’m older.”

She rolled her eyes and put the cup with wine to her mouth. “Ye wouldna be here.” Angus thought she said into her cup.

Laomann cleared his throat and glanced at William. But judging by his sad demeanor as he chewed on a piece of meat, the man was not going to put his sister in her place. She’d just undermined his authority, showed the disagreement in their clan, and scolded a man who was responsible for her.

Angus looked at Rogene, who stared at Euphemia with surprise and respect. He had no doubt Rogene had enjoyed that, remembering how she’d protected a woman yesterday in the market, risking her own life.

Laomann, seeing that William wasn’t going to do anything, sighed and gestured with his fingers. “Lady Rogene, please, do come closer.”

She sat stunned for a mere moment, then rose to her feet and walked to the table of honor. As if not sure how to behave, she bent her knees for a moment and gave a curt bow. What did she mean by that, Angus wondered? A common sign of respect was a bowed head. The lower the bow, the lower the position of the person. Why did she need to do that knee-bending movement?

Her dress hugged her slender figure, her arms delicate under the broad sleeves that almost reached the ground. She blushed, and was so pretty in that moment. Her eyes shone as she looked at him briefly.

Like an adolescent, he had a sudden image of her blushing as he’d traced his finger down her elegant neck.

“My brother told me ye will be our scribe for the contract?” Laomann said.

“Yes,” she said. “That’s what he asked me. I’m happy to help.”

Everyone at the table stared at her briefly, probably at the oddness of her speech. Though everyone understood her words, no one talked like that. “Happy to help…” That was an odd expression.

“I thank ye.” Laomann nodded. “I believe we start tomorrow, if the Earl of Ross and Lady Euphemia dinna object.”

They both shook their heads no.

“And, Lady Rogene,” Euphemia said, and Angus saw that cold glare again. “I will carefully check if yer writing is satisfactory. Though I think ’tis nae surprising that a woman can read and write, as I am able to do so myself, nae everyone’s quality of writing is the same.”