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“Are ye sure the man doesnae merely wish tae have an English wife tae suit his desires for claiming more power within the English?”
Liam thought about this for a moment. “It could be possible.” He liked the idea that John had ulterior motives. That could at least swing Elizabeth to him in his favor. But could it be proved? Could he somehow find a way to convince Elizabeth of this? He shook his head. He wasn’t sure he wanted to gain his truest love through nefarious means. To bed a woman, certainly, but not to take a wife.
“I dinnae know, lad. Now, we are almost at the shore. Tell me, ye willnae tell anyone of me predicament?”
Fergus waved a hand in the air. “Nae, I will nae tell anyone. Ye know that well. But I hope ye do yer best tae either get the lass for yorn, or tae let her go. Waiting around for her and pining after her after she goes or takes another man doesnae seem like a logical solution tae me. Ye have got tae be able tae move on with yer life.”
Liam took in his friend’s words, but he wanted to lash out at them. He had no interest in finding anyone else. With each passing moment, his affection for Elizabeth was growing, and with it, his realization that he was in love with her and wanted her to be his. Where else could he find a woman like her? Their time in bed together only accentuated his feelings for her. She was everything he didn’t know that he’d always wanted. But she might have used him for bedding only, even though she had gotten angry at Fergus’s words.
They arrived onshore and hauled their game out onto the graveled beach. Charlotte wandered up to greet them. “I wondered when you were going to come back. Angus has been asking after ye.”
“Aye, where is the lad?”
“Gone riding over Mull to discuss the movement of the sheep and shepherds to Campbell land. How was the hunt?”
Fergus nodded. “Good. Fruitful.” It appeared that he and Liam were in league together to quell any suspicion on Charlotte’s end about their hungover condition.
She smiled. “Well, I wondered if you both had come into contact with Elizabeth at all? I had expected her back, although she did not tell me when she would return.” Liam felt uncomfortable under Charlotte’s gaze. His friend would suss it out sooner rather than later, but he wasn’t sure how she’d feel about him bedding her friend.
He decided to keep it concealed. “Nae, I havenae seen her.”
Charlotte frowned. “Well, Mrs. MacLean says that she is at the Fort visiting Father, but I wonder why she did not tell me so? And, John was meant to come today, but he has not yet arrived.” Charlotte kept watching him, and Liam tried to school his expression.
His heart sunk, and a feeling of dread spread through him. Could John be at the Fort with Elizabeth, attempting to woo her with his charm and wealth and status? What if he succeeded, now that she had run away from him early in the morning, angry after their last encounter? He steeled himself. He would have to do his best to find out.
