Rowan's Lady (29 page)

“Aye, she treated me poorly but ’tisn’t like she stabbed
me or poisoned me or tried to kill me!” Arline pleaded with him to listen to
reason.

What Mrs. McGregor said and did next nearly cost
her her life. She wriggled free from Thomas’ grasp. Her hand flew out before
anyone had time to respond. Her hand landed with a loud smack across Arline’s
face. It landed with such force that Arline’s head turned. “I said, do no’
defend me! Do no’ pretend that ye care what happens to me. I’d rather rot in
the dungeon than have a whore such as ye act on me behalf!” With her face
contorted and twisted with anger, she spat on Arline’s dress.

Arline’s hand flew to her burning cheek, her eyes
wide with shock and incredulity. The last person who hated her this much had
been Garrick.

A growl formed deep in Rowan’s throat, it echoed
across the stunned crowd of people. Daniel came to help Frederick pull the
violently angry Mrs. McGregor out of the room before Rowan could put his hands
around her neck and strangle her. They took her out of the room kicking and
screaming, cursing the ground Arline trod upon. It was an embarrassing
spectacle, one he was not used to witnessing. What the bloody hell had happened
to his clan?

Then he realized not
what,
but who.

After Mrs. McGregor was pulled from the room, Rowan
turned his attention to Lady Arline. Guilt ridden over the way his cook had
behaved, he was at a momentary loss for words.

Selina stepped forward to offer her help. “Rowan,
Lady Arline,” she said quietly. She stood before them looking forlorn and
ashamed. “I hope ye can forgive me.”

Arline was still holding her cheek, unable to
believe what had just transpired. With an unsteady voice, she gave Selina the
forgiveness that she deserved. “Selina, do no’ worry it. Ye acted out of fear
and that is understandable.”

“Arline, are ye hurt badly?” Rowan finally uttered
as he took her hand away and examined her cheek.

“I think me pride is hurt worse than anythin’.
Though I wish she hadn’t chosen the same cheek as Garrick had.”

His stomach tightened and his heart felt
constricted with the mention of Garrick’s name. It had been more than a week
since he had taken Lily from Blackthorn and brought Arline here.

“Rowan, please, let me take Lady Arline above
stairs, to her room, the one
ye
gave her, no’ the one Beatrice put her
in. I do have a clean dress fer her and I have been workin’ on makin’ her one,
even though Mrs. McGregor told me no’ to.”

“In a moment, Selina. But first, I must address
the clan.” To Arline he said, “Are ye sure ye are well?”

“Aye, I’ve been hit harder and by much bigger
men,” she said, trying to add some levity to the situation but falling short.

While he would love nothing more than to see to it
that Garrick Blackthorn suffered greatly for all he had done to Arline, right
now, he had to focus on his people.

Raising his hand, he spoke above the murmur of the
crowd. “We are no’ done here yet,” he said firmly. He took a step away from
Arline and Selina to address his people.

“Hear me and hear me now,” he called out to them.
“Some of ye may think ye did the right thing by listenin’ to Mrs. McGregor or
others when they spoke harshly of Lady Arline. But those people do no’ ken the
truth. They do no’ ken all that Lady Arline suffered in order to care fer Lily.
As I told ye earlier, I owe Lady Arline a great debt. She deserves much more
than what some of ye have shown her. From this moment forward, ye will treat
her with kindness, dignity, and respect. I will expect nothin’ less from any of
ye. And if ye canna show her this, canna show her how great the people of Clan
Graham are, well, ye may either leave now or go join Mrs. McGregor in the
dungeon.”

Lady Arline had insisted that she see Lily with
her own eyes. Rowan gladly granted her request. Lily had been asleep when
Rowan, Arline and Selina had quietly entered the room.

The tension and worry left Arline the moment she
saw the sleeping babe. Her shoulders relaxed as she smiled warmly at the little
girl.

“We keep a candle lit throughout the night,”
Selina explained in a soft whisper. “I’ve been sleepin’ here with her, but she
always gets up and goes to Rowan.”

Arline stepped softly and knelt beside the bed.
Lily was curled into a little ball, with her thumb tucked in her mouth and a
lock of hair wrapped around her finger. Tenderly, Arline swept away the curls
from Lily’s forehead to get a better look at her face.

Arline’s heart was an odd blend of joy, relief,
and regret. She was happy and relieved to see the sweet child, to know that she
was well and that Selina had been taking good care of her. The regret came from
not having a child of her own.

As she knelt beside Lily, she wondered how it was
possible to love someone as much as she loved and adored this sweet babe. She
knew it was silly and probably quite dangerous to love the little girl this
much.

Her thoughts turned to her sisters, Morralyn and
Geraldine. It had been months since she’d received a letter from them. After
the death of her father-in-law, Garrick had forbidden her to have any contact
with anyone. She imagined that if her sisters had sent letters, Garrick had
destroyed them. She prayed they were well and on the morrow, she would write to
them, letting them know where she was. Mayhap Rowan would allow them to come
here. Mayhap it was too soon to ask such a favor as that. But Arline knew that
her heart and worries would not settle fully until she knew how her sisters
fared.

Rowan rested a hand on her shoulder, quietly
breaking her reverie. She glanced at him over her shoulder but said nothing.
She stood and followed him and Selina out of the room.

“Lily will be verra happy to see you,” Selina said
with a smile. “She has done nothin’ but ask after ye, wantin’ to see ye.”

Knowing Lily missed her lifted her spirits
somewhat. She looked up at Rowan and smiled. “Thank ye fer lettin’ me see her.”

She noticed he had a peculiar look on his face, as
if he were lost in his own thoughts. “Are ye well?” she asked him.

“Aye,” he answered quietly. He cleared his throat
before speaking again. “Me room is right next to Lily’s,” he explained. “Me
mum’s auld room is just across the hall.”

Arline hadn’t known where Lily’s room was in
correlation to the one she had first been given when she arrived. It was good
to know that she was so close. But knowing Rowan’s room was just a few steps
away left her with an odd, tingling sensation she felt clear to her toes.

“I leave ye in Selina’s care,” he told her, his
deep brown eyes twinkling in the light of the torches. “But should ye need
anythin’, I am but steps away.”

Arline swallowed hard and tried to chase away the
sinful and lust-filled mental images that popped into her mind. She gave him a
small curtsy and a nod, for she didn’t dare speak. They stood for a time,
gazing into one another’s eyes.

Finally, he bowed to her, and left without saying
anything. She didn’t breathe again until she saw his magnificent form disappear
around the corner.

Had he remained in her presence any longer, Rowan
would have made a fool of himself by taking the woman in his arms and kissing
her soundly.

Something had happened to him as he watched this
woman he barely knew, kneeling before his sleeping daughter. The love she felt
for his child was undeniable and unmistakable. Arline had made no attempt to
hide her adoration. Her eyes had brightened, her smile so very tender, and her
caress as gentle and tender and delicate as a spring breeze.

He was genuinely touched by Arline’s quiet display
of affection toward his daughter. Her feelings were real, honest, and genuine.
When Arline had gently swept away Lily’s errant curls, he could have sworn she
was touching him instead. He felt it to the very depths of his soul and the
act, so sweet and tender, had stolen his breath.

For days he had battled with his conscience,
worried that he was being untrue to Kate. Having feelings for another woman
left him feeling like a cad, an adulterer.

And then, in the hallway, when Arline’s bright
green eyes gazed into his, he felt his heart being tugged in her direction.
During that long moment of silence, as he stared at this beautiful woman who
was so kind, smart, and strong, he could hear Kate’s voice, like a whisper in
his ear.
Do no’ keep yer heart to a dead woman.
He almost jumped from
his skin.

So he left the beautiful woman there in the
hallway, for he knew he would not be able to keep from kissing her and spilling
his heart to her.

He needed time to think, to ponder, to come to
grips with these growing feelings toward her. How could he explain them to her
if he didn’t quite understand them himself?

There were other important things that he had to
address before he could even begin to consider a relationship with Arline.
First, he had to deal with the thorn in his side that was named Beatrice.

Rowan met Daniel and Frederick in the hallway
around the corner. “There ye be!” Daniel said, sounding quite relieved to have
found him.

“Where the bloody hell is Beatrice?” Rowan asked
through clenched teeth.

Daniel and Frederick cast worried looks at each
other before Daniel answered the question. “That be why we were lookin’ fer ye.
Yer no’ goin’ to like this, Rowan. Mayhap ye want me and Frederick to deal with
her.”

His lips pursed and his brow drew into a knot.
“Nay. Tell me.” He was growing quite weary of the turmoil Beatrice had brought
to his home.

“She has taken up residence in Kate’s auld room.”

Fury erupted behind Rowan’s dark eyes. No one,
no
one
was allowed in Kate’s rooms. They were off limits even to Lily. Who the
hell did this woman think she was?

He had afforded her a very nice room at the other
side of keep, just two corridors down. Why she felt it appropriate to take the
rooms meant for his wife, he did not know, nor did he truly care at the moment.

He spun on his heels and headed around the corner.
Kate’s rooms were next to his. They were connected but each had their own
entrances off the main hallway.

How Beatrice had been able to take over Kate’s
rooms without his knowledge or notice made him furious. Quite frankly, he had
had enough.

When he threw the door to Kate’s room open, it
banged loudly on the wall and bounced back. He caught it with his hand, flipped
it open again and stepped inside.

Beatrice was sitting beside the fire place with
some small piece of needlework in her hands. Her eyes grew wide with fear as
Rowan entered the room. Joan had been sitting next to Beatrice but when Rowan
started forward, Joan leapt to her feet to stand beside her.

“What, do you think, ye are doin’
here.
”
Rowan’s voice was laced with fury and ’twas all he could do not to lift her up
and toss her out of the window.

He looked about the room. Beatrice’s had her
things spread on Kate’s dressing table. She had
her
clothes hanging on
the pegs. Rowan felt just as violated as the moment he learned Lily had been
taken.

Beatrice feigned ignorance. “Why, whatever do ye
mean?”

He couldn’t contain his anger any longer. He was
at her in three steps, grabbed her by her arms and lifted her to her feet.
Between gritted teeth, he spoke. “Who said ye could be in here? Who said fer ye
to take over me wife’s rooms? By what authority do ye take such liberty?”

“Liberty? I did no’ think ye would care! We had
grown so close these past days!”

“Close?” he was baffled. “Nay, we are no’ close,
Beatrice. We shall
never be close.
We shall
never
even be
friends!” He tossed her back into her chair. “Pack her things,
now!
” he
barked out his command, tossing it over his shoulder to Frederick and Daniel.

Beatrice jumped to her feet. “Pack my things? Fer
what purpose?”

“Ye will be out of this room this night, this
hour.”

“Why? I do no’ understand? Why are ye so angry? I
thought we had become friends, more than friends!” There was a panic to her
voice that matched the look he saw in her eyes.

“Nay, ye are wrong. Ye have overstepped yer
boundaries and overstayed yer welcome here. I want ye out of this room now.”

“And go where?” she asked as she tried to regain
some of her composure. “Do ye wish me to go to yer room?”

The thought repulsed him. “Nay. Ye shall never
step one foot into me room. I want ye out of this keep before dawn breaks on
the morrow. Ye are never allowed back on Graham lands.”

He turned to leave her for fear he would lose
complete control and strangle the life out of her.

“And where, pray tell, would ye have me stay
before dawn breaks?” Her voice dripped with contempt.

He stopped and turned once again to face her. “Why
don’t ye go stay in the room at the end of the hall on the third floor? Ye
apparently thought it sufficient enough to put Lady Arline there fer the past
four days.”

He saw it in her eyes then, the realization that
he knew everything and that not only was her time up, so was the game she had
played with him. It was only a flash, gone as quickly as it had come, but he
had seen it.

She pretended ignorance again. “What has she told
ye?”

“She has told me everything, Beatrice. I ken that
ye hid her away in a storage room. I ken every vile, disgusting and cruel thing
ye did to her and told her.”

“Rowan, I’m sure I do no’ know what ye speak of!
The woman is tetched! I’ve been trying to tell ye that fer days!”

He clenched his hands into fists to keep his
temptation to cause her great bodily harm at bay. He’d not allow her to bait
his temper any longer. He left Frederick and Daniel to pack and escort Beatrice
and Joan to their temporary quarters. He heard the sound of a earthenware jug
hitting the wall and Beatrice cursing like a drunken bar wench.