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‘Sons?’
Duncan could almost see the thoughts running through her head. He could see the dread on her face at the thought of lying with him. ‘Aye sons, and daughters too I hope. Make no mistake, this is not a marriage in name only, I want children and many of them.’
She did not answer but just stared at him with anger in her eyes. He noticed that her eyelashes were the colour of dark copper; a fresh detail and another beautiful means by which she enslaved him. He lost his bearings and stumbled on with his argument, feeling an utter fool.
‘Ailsa, you can bring your clansmen to heel. It is they who will suffer if the Sinclair’s get dominion over these lands. They were loyal to your father and they are loyal to you in his stead. There is safety in an heir who will join Campbell blood with MacLeod blood. Marry me and in return, I offer my loyalty to you and Clan MacLeod, my fidelity, my love and my protection from all danger, unto death if needs be.
‘Love, you dare to speak of love,’ she snapped. ‘You want me for my lands and my wealth and for the power they will bring you,’ she said contemptuously.
‘Of course I do, I would be a fool not to, but I also want peace and safety for the people here. And more than this,’ he said quietly, ‘I want to go through life with a strong woman at my side, one who wants to build a future here with me.’
‘I am not part of that future and I don’t want you. I will never want you.’
Though her words were like a dagger through his heart, he reached for her hand and took it gently in his. It was icy cold, the fingers long and fine-boned, delicate in his large calloused hands.
‘No matter, for I want you enough for both of us. You know this for you have cast your spell on me witch.’
‘I am no witch and I have no power over you,’ she said bitterly, trying to pull from his grasp. ‘If you make me do this then that is on your conscience. It’s your choice and yours alone. You only want me so that you may have my lands and my clan to fight for you, there is nothing more to it than that. You see I am not the empty-headed ninny you think I am.’
‘You are far from empty-headed but you are wrong about me.’ His honest admission of his motives had failed and she was going to be stubborn. She pulled her hand free and he relinquished this fragile hold on her.
Ailsa continued spitting her fury at him. ‘You may have stolen my lands and my freedom but you will not take my free will. Drag some other foolish woman into your loathsome bed for I would rather die than marry you.’
‘Would you rather your brother languish in a dungeon than marry me?’ Duncan played his last card, giving up any hope that his powers of persuasion could win her over or that she would not forever despise him.
‘My brother?’
‘He is my uncle’s prisoner but need be no longer. Upon our marriage, he will be freed though I am certain that he will be a thorn in my side for a long time to come. The Sinclairs will hold him up as the rightful laird of the Macleods no matter that he is unworthy or that most of your clan despise him now. But I will free that wretch if it is the price I must pay to make this marriage happen.’
‘And where should he go now you have all that is his’?
‘I care not where he goes as long as it is far from me. He can run back to the Sinclairs with his tail between his legs for all I care and cower at their feet like the obedient dog he is. Robert brought this disaster on you and on all his people. Even through your hatred of me, you must be able to see that.’
Shamed by the truth of this Ailsa looked away and out to the vast grey mountains in the distance. Her brother had lacked the strength for leadership. He had gambled with his inheritance and lost and now she was at the mercy of this man. It galled her to think that she had actually hoped Duncan would survive the battle and to think that she had given one ounce of concern for a man who was now callously using her for his own advancement. And she was alone in facing her fate as her friend Hamish had left the castle at first light. There was no one left to help her.
‘Ailsa we must all make hard choices and sacrifices for the good of others,’ Duncan continued, ‘perhaps marrying me is your sacrifice. And as a husband, I might surprise you. Do you not think that had we met in different circumstances, at clan gatherings, feast days and such like and had a chance to discover each other then we may have grown our initial attraction into something more?’
‘Ourattraction? Are you not listening? I don’t want you and I never have.’
‘Aye, so you say but be honest with yourself. Had I been put before you as a suitor would I have been so very unworthy? I am young and strong and I am told I am creditably handsome,’ he said smiling gently. ‘I have some good qualities as a suitor that might have impressed your family and won their approval and a marriage could have been negotiated. Had your father not died so soon, had your brother been a stronger man, things could be very different between us.’
‘Yes, so long as I came with land and title and political advantage, of course, you would want to marry me.’
‘You could stand before me in rags and I would want you and there is not a single man in the whole of Scotland who would not want you.’
Ailsa looked at him, his dark eyes were pleading with her to see the truth in his words. Any woman looking into that wild, rugged face would want him in return. Something twisted inside her chest when she looked at him and she realised that some of what he said was true. They could have built something together had things been different. But she knew that no matter how attractive he was she could never really have him. For some reason, his dark heart called to hers but to acknowledge that, to give in to her desires, would make her a traitor to everything she had ever known.
‘Build your castle of lies if you like Duncan but the truth of it is if there was ever a time when I may have chosen you it is long gone. Now I have no choice, no choice at all.’
‘Aye, I see that and I am sorry for it but the alternative is something far worse than me I can assure you. With your father and brother gone, who will arrange a suitable match for you?’
‘I want no match of any kind, suitable or otherwise. And one day Robert will return, I am sure of it, and then I will be free of you.’
‘That is unlikely and even if he does I’ve seen enough of him to take the measure of the man. He cannot be relied upon to act in your best interests.’
‘And you would?’
‘Believe it or not, I am trying to and you did save my life so I owe you a debt. I would repay it by protecting you from your enemies and giving you my name.’
