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Leyla leaned in close, and Brea could tell the woman was hopeful for a change in John’s fortunes. Dearna spoke painstakingly slowly, and Brea was about to scream with impatience. “Now, I saw the kiss only this morning in the woods, but last night, Elizabeth stayed last night at the inn nearby.”
She waited, and Brea’s mind began to whirr again. “I saw Liam there last night and told him of Elizabeth’s indifference.”
Dearna nodded. “Aye. The innkeeper told me a little bit about what he saw this morning. I was there tae get money from a customer, and he seemed over the moon. I asked him what it was, and he was a bit hesitant tae tell me, but ye know me well. I can get any man tae talk.” Dearna grinned proudly.
“Och, lass, ye are trying me patience. What happened?”
Dearna huffed with frustration. “Well, he told me that Elizabeth stayed there last night, as did Liam. And she pulled him up the stairwell in the early evening. Nae one stayed in Liam’s room.”
Brea’s rage suddenly filled her anew, and she stood, yelling, “Och, just when I had a hope, this little whore has deigned tae masquerade as a fine, moral, English lady, but instead she is whoring about town, taking our men from us without thought or consequence!”
Dearna chewed on her lip in thought. “I know. We never expected her tae actually go tae bed with him. Can ye believe it? I am as shocked as ye. Who is this lass?”
Brea moved to the window. Her face was flushed, and her arms crossed. “Aye. Who, indeed?”
Leyla furrowed her brows. “Well, why should we care what she does? If she is English, she will soon be gone, and our men will come back. Will they nae?” Her voice held a note of vain hope.
Brea shook her head and turned back. “Nae, Leyla. Unfortunately, I think we have stumbled upon a problem we women cannae afford tae experience in our lines of work. This woman has somehow teased these men with her body and made them fall in love with her. Once she leaves, I fear that one or both of them may wish tae go after her tae bring her back and make her their wife.”
Leyla gasped, and Dearna nodded. What was she going to do now? All her hard work to be rude to Liam to get him to see the error of his ways was now ruined. If Liam left her for good or was lost to her forever, what would her life look like then?
At that moment, as she turned to stare out of the window again, she realized that she was hopelessly in love with Liam MacLean. She would do anything to get him. Therefore, she knew that she would just have to tell Liam what Dearna saw, and that would be the end of it. He would come back to her after he knew that his dearest love had rejected him. That was her last piece of ammunition to get what she so desperately wanted. She was not going to go down without a fight.
* * *
Liam was grateful that he and Fergus were able to row alone on the boat back to Duart. Elizabeth had not been found as they made their way to the shore. The trip across the Sound was interminable, though, as his head kept banging like a military drum. “Yer a bloody arsehole, ye know that, Fergus?”
Fergus grunted in his rhythm of rowing, and for a few moments, only the splash of the water could be heard. “Do I nae hear that all the time from ye? What have I done now?” Liam wasn’t sure if he should reveal the truth of what happened with Elizabeth, but he knew that he could trust Fergus with his secret, even if the man would give him hell for it.
“Ye bloody came upstairs last night, drunk as a dog, and banged on Elizabeth’s door yelling for me tae come down and join ye. Ye blathered on about me finding a girl and putting Elizabeth out of me head.”
Fergus frowned. “Aye, so I did. I didnae remember that until ye told me just now. So, what of it? ‘Twas good tae get yerself another woman. I was surprised, but I had told ye tae fill yer mind with something else for a time. A good romp always does wonders for me mental health.” He snickered.
“Are ye so daft, lad? Ye got the innkeeper tae tell ye where Elizabeth’s room was. Sure, ye didnae know what room it was at the time, but still…”
Fergus frowned again, and it seemed like Liam was asking a brick wall to stop and think about a situation. Slowly, Fergus’s eyes widened, and he burst into a smile. “What? Ye and Elizabeth? Ye bedded the lass?” The man’s mouth hung open in surprise.
Liam felt slightly vindicated that what had occurred was completely against what Fergus would have ever thought possible. “Aye,” he nodded, and Fergus slapped his knee with glee.
“Och, so yer a lucky bastard. I didnae think she was that sort tae let any man touch her, nae until there was a wedding fixed atween the two of ye.”
Liam narrowed his eyes. “I dinnae know what ye mean by sort. She is just as she always was. I confess I was surprised, but I promise ye, it was nae like what ye think. ‘Twas more than just bedding.”
Fergus was about to reply, but Liam cut him off. “But ye ruined it with yer idiocy and drunken words. Once ye spoke, she thought I was just there tae bed any woman, and any woman would have done. She didnae like the idea that ‘twas expected.”
Fergus nodded. “Och, I see. I am sorry, lad. I had nae idea that it would be more than just bedding. And like I said, I never in the world would have expected the lass tae let any man bed her.”
Liam was silent. The revelation of what happened last evening and what it meant to him still rippled through him like waves. Was she completely lost to him, or was there still a chance to explain? He wanted, no needed to tell her everything. Just how he felt and what he wanted for the future. He wanted only her. Forever, if she would let him.
“Aye, I think I have been made a fool, though, Fergus. Living and flirting with women was easier than this heartache, this yearning.”
Fergus’s voice was low and serious. “Does she want ye, lad? As a husband?”
Liam shrugged, “I dinnae know. Perhaps nae. I have been a fool long enough. I dinnae know if she will even take me after all that has happened. Perhaps she will marry John.”
“John Campbell? He is a bit of a choice after all the MacLeans went through with him.”
“Aye, but now they are friends and alliances of a sort.”
