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Eleanor was waiting for her in the Great Hall.
“Cook has something for Thaw and I thought I’d take him outside while you talk with James and the guest,” Eleanor said.
Thaw barked when he heard Cook mentioned and he eagerly went with Eleanor after permission from Snow. She paused at the solar door, her stomach suddenly growing unsettled.
James is well aware that you are to marry a man of your own choosing.
Why then this unease?
Snow knocked, hurried to be done with it.
“Snow, how wonderful to see you again.”
Snow was glad Eleanor had informed her that Lord Polwarth was in the solar with James, since she didn’t recognize his voice and certainly would have startled when he greeted her so robustly and took her hand to lead her to a chair.
“You remember Lord Polwarth, Snow?” James asked.
“I do,” she said after sitting. “He was a good friend of our father’s.”
“And I miss him to this day,” Lord Polwarth said.
“What brings you here, Lord Polwarth?” Snow asked, unable to contain her trepidation.
James responded. “Lord Polwarth has an offer for you, Snow, which he insisted I present to you.”
“It is not of James’s doing. It is my thought and my thought alone,” Lord Polwarth said, taking full responsibility.
“And you are under no obligation to accept it,” James added quickly.
Snow’s stomach churned more and more with every word spoken, sending an awful unease to run through her, even though James said she was under no obligation to agree to the offer. It also sounded obvious that James hadn’t wanted to present the offer to her, that he already knew her answer. So why bother her with it?
She silently admonished herself. She was under no obligation to accept whatever proposal Lord Polwarth offered, but James, on the other hand, could not deny granting such a powerful man his request.
“I will hear your offer,” Snow said, her worry beginning to ease. James was leaving this up to her. Unlike before with Sorrell when he’d been forced to arrange a marriage for her that would benefit the Clan Macardle. Luckily, Lord Ruddock had saved Sorrell from that. And who had been the person to force James into arranging the marriage?
Tarass.
Her heart fluttered in her chest at the thought of him and she rested her hand against it.
“Are you unwell?” James asked, worried.
“No, I am good. It’s the suspense that patters my heart,” Snow said with a smile, though it was the thought of Tarass and how he had been a menacing savior to the Clan Macardle before Lord Ruddock had stepped in. How could she even think she loved a man who had irritated her far too many times and had demanded from her clan far too much.
But then life demanded far too much of far too many. Why should she or her clan be any different?
“I am an old man, something I cannot deny,” Lord Polwarth began. “But I still have much vigor left in me. I have loved two women and buried both with heavy sadness. Unfortunately, neither gave me any children. I have wealth and respect.”
Snow didn’t reject his hand when he took hold of hers.
“I ask that you consider becoming my wife. I will treat you well and see that you want for nothing, and—”
Snow didn’t let him finish. “Why me, Lord Polwarth? I am blind and would be a burden to you. There must be many a young woman who would make a more suitable wife.”
“Perhaps, but on my last visit here your father spoke to me about how worried he was that you would never wed, never find a husband who would treat you well, never know the joy of having bairns of your own, and that it was his fault. He told me his last wish would be for you to find a husband who would be good to you and keep you safe.”
His words brought tears to her eyes. She never blamed her da for the accident that blinded her. It had been the illness that did it, not her da.
“Your father and I were longtime friends. We fought side by side in battle from when we were young. I would like to grant your father his last wish and at the same time, gain a beautiful and kind wife who hopefully will give me a child to carry on my clan name and inherit my land and wealth. I ask that you give it thought. You have much to gain with this union, most of all a home of your own and a man who would be the kind of husband your da wanted for you.”
James responded as she thought on the offer.
“It is very generous of you, Lord Polwarth, but my sister is quite content with her life here.”
She had been content when her sisters were with her and promises made that they would never part. They would always remain close and that hadn’t changed even though Sorrell now lived a distance away. Snow, herself, had encouraged Sorrell to go and be happy with Ruddock. And while she might not have been able to see how much Willow loved Slatter, she had heard in her voice when she spoke about him. Now it was James and Eleanor’s time and while this was still her home, it no longer felt like it was.
