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Dark, doe-like eyes. Beautiful, deceitful eyes.
‘We were friends before.’
‘We are far from that now Ilene.’
‘Don’t say that, it breaks my heart to hear it. I will make amends for this, I promise you.’
‘And how will you do that?’
‘I will be a good and dutiful wife. I will try to make you happy.’
Youmake me happy? How can you, for you are but a shadow of the woman I wanted?’
‘I will do anything you want me to do if it would only ease your anger.’
‘Don’t bother, it’ll never be enough for me to forgive you. Your parents, did they plot this with you?’
‘No, they know nothing and they must never know. Promise me you won’t tell my father?’
‘I haven’t decided yet.’
He saw the horror on her face and rejoiced at it. Murray had no intention of spilling her secret, for his loyalty to Duncan ran too deep, but in that moment, with all his hopes dashed and his feelings for her tainted by the thought of her with another man, he wanted her to suffer. Looking at Ilene’s face a second longer was unbearable, so he turned his back on her.
There were so many reasons to hate this exquisite girl, trembling before him in tears. She would not stop talking, still, she tried to reason with him, begging for forgiveness but had he ever had the capacity for that? She neither loved nor wanted him, feigning passion for him to get her own way. Worse than anything was that she had deceived him into thinking he had a future with her and hope for a better life. She had just torn that hope to shreds.
Murray weighed his disappointment and humiliated pride against his love for Duncan and Ailsa, his loyalty to Clan Campbell and the debt he owed them. If he renounced Ilene now for the lying whore she was, then he was renouncing them, putting them in danger. Through monumental rage, he found his way back to reason. He needed time to calm his anger and hide it, time to plot his revenge on Aidan Grant and, more than this, time to plan a fitting punishment for Ilene for having brought him so low.
He came over to her and, pushing her aside, he tore back the blankets and rubbed his bleeding hand on the sheets.
‘To hide your shame, Ilene,’ he said, in an icy voice. ‘If it weren’t for the love I bear Duncan and Ailsa, I would put my hands around your neck and squeeze your life away. Have you any idea of the effort it takes not to do that.’
‘I will make amends.’
‘No Ilene, nothing you can do now makes any difference. When we leave tomorrow you will pretend to be happy, that you spent a glorious night with your new husband. When we are gone from here I will have time to think and to plan. Beyond that, all I want now is for you to be out of my sight.’ He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.
Ilene got out of bed and mopped up the droplets of blood on the floor with her shift, then she got back into bed, curled up in a ball and let her tears overcome her.
Chapter Fourteen
Murray headed outside. He needed to move, to act, anything to control his anger. Before he knew it, he was at the top of the castle, on the battlements, under a cold sky and he was not alone.
Morag stood at the farthest corner, in a secluded spot, looking out into the night, arms hugged tight around herself. He tried to back up but she must have heard his footsteps and whirled around. The light from the torches, burning along the walls, lit the wet tracks of tears on her cheeks and it also revealed his bloody hand. She looked at it in horror.
‘What did you do? Did you hurt her?’ she said icily, and, at that moment, Murray knew.
‘What reason would I have for hurting myinnocentyoung bride,’ he snarled.
Morag swallowed hard. ‘So you know?’
‘Aye, she’s a poor liar.’
‘You know all of it?’
‘Aye.’
They regarded each other coldly then Morag spoke, without a hint of remorse.
‘I counselled Ilene to find a husband when I learned of her troubles. You were leaving, so it was easier to conceal her secret that way, and she likes you. I am not proud of what I’ve done, far from it, but I would do it all over again. I will always put the interests of my sister and this clan before yours, so I won’t say I regret it.’
