The Snow White Bride (12 page)

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A
lexander drummed his fingers upon the table. His letter sat before him, an appeal couched in the most polite terms, the wax seal drying as he watched. He frowned at the missive, disliking that he had had to write it.

At the root of his disquietude was not that requesting an annulment a half a day after wedding a woman made him look like an impulsive fool. It was not that Father Malachy had refused simply to eliminate the entry for the wedding from his books, though defiance was never a good sign. It was not even that the red wax was unadorned with the imprint of the seal of Kinfairlie— because Alexander’s signet ring was lost, due to his own foolish trust and his sisters’ potion—that irked him.

It was the memory of Alan Douglas and that man’s determination to provide so-called justice for Eleanor that made Alexander reluctant to dispatch the missive. No matter how the lady had deceived him, no matter how right it was to put her aside, it was impossible to think her deserving of a day in Alan’s courts.

It would take a witless man, indeed, to believe that Alan did not mean harm to Eleanor. Alan lied to blame Eleanor for his brother’s death and no good could come to Eleanor of that. Was Alexander a fool to care what
happened to her, when she had tricked him on a matter of such import? Alexander pushed to his feet and paced the chamber, pausing to look over the rolling sea.

If ever he had desired the counsel of his father and uncle, he desired it more in this moment.

He started at a slight rap on his door, then looked back at the sea. “Enter, Anthony,” he said, knowing that the castellan would delight in enumerating his many failings. He might well agree with Anthony on this day.

“If I am not Anthony, may I still enter?”

Alexander glanced over his shoulder at the familiar feminine voice, and was still surprised to find Eleanor on the threshold. She had opened the door only an increment, and stood with one hand on the latch, as if poised to flee. Her cautious manner made him regret his public display of anger again, though he still did not trust her.

“I did not think to see you again,” he said, and turned his back once more.

“I expected as much.” There was no inflection in her voice, no way by which he could guess whether she thought that good or poor.

But she had sought him out. That must be of some import.

“If you have come to tell me that I am a knave beyond compare, then have your say and be done with it. I do not dispute that my manners were poor. You can quickly tell me that I am sour to find no humor in my sisters’ jest, then leave me be.”

“They could have killed you with that potion,” she said with heat. “There is nothing amusing about their deed and, truly, I would think you witless if you found humor in it.”

He glanced back with surprise at the passion in her tone, and found her eyes flashing.

“I have told them that you are owed an apology,” she said, her manner fierce. “That Jeannie is a fool, indeed, if she imagines that she can readily assess the potency of a nightshade plant. You had virtually no meat in your belly last night—either a pinch more herb or a mouthful less food would have ensured that you never awakened this day.”

Alexander blinked. It was rare for any soul to defend him. “I did not finish the wine that Isabella brought to me,” he said, for he could think of little else to say.

“And there is the truth of it. That harridan
would
have seen you dead, had you consumed it all. The worst of it is that she does not even know what she very nearly saw done!”

Eleanor was transformed by her fury, as if the ice in her had suddenly melted away. That her appearance should be so vitalized out of indignation on his account was remarkable, indeed.

“And here I thought you came to tell me that my sisters were right, after all.”

Eleanor smiled wryly and entered the room, apparently taking his lack of protest as an invitation. “To their credit, I have oft thought that what was sauce for the gander could be sauce for the goose.”

“I did not try to harm either of my sisters, merely to see them wed and wed happily.”

“But it seems that harm could have been done in both cases, despite your intent otherwise. Perhaps there is not so much difference between the three situations.”

“Perhaps there is.” Alexander held her gaze. “An error served in return does not make other errors come aright.”

“Fair enough, but you cannot blame them for trying to ensure that you wed as well.”

“I can blame them for failing to understand what is at stake. For my sisters’ matches, there is no more and no less at stake than their happiness and security.”

“You cannot blame them for not knowing what you did not tell them,” she noted, and he glanced to her in confusion. “About your barren treasury.”

“No, but that is of less import in the matter of my own marriage than my status as laird. The suzerainty and security of Kinfairlie and those sworn to it must be assured, even if the price is my own happiness.”

Eleanor looked at her slippers.

Alexander took a breath, then said what had to be said. In truth, it was a relief to have some person with whom he could speak bluntly. “You must know that I would not have alienated the Black Douglas clan of my own volition. Had you told me your allegiance last night, I might well have let you depart.”

Eleanor’s lips set as she regarded him, and he felt obliged to qualify his statement. “I would have done so in ignorance of Alan’s intent, to be sure, for I would never willingly endanger a lady. Traditionally, though, we have allied with them and this feat annuls that old agreement. Such a choice should be made deliberately, not by accident, for it could endanger every soul who has sworn fealty to me. The risk of retaliation is not small.”

She dropped her gaze, apparently disappointed in his reply. “You would prefer to ally with them.”

“It was my father’s preference and that of my uncle as well.” Alexander watched her, then decided to continue his blunt speech. “Perhaps you will appreciate their conviction that it was preferable to have a Black Douglas beside you than behind you.”

Eleanor laughed then, as if surprised by his candor, then regarded him with some amusement. “I can indeed understand such a sentiment. They are men who stop at nothing to see their aims achieved.” She arched a brow and sobered. “There is no wickedness beneath them, to be sure.”

He was tempted then, to ask about the kind of marriage she had had with Ewen, to ask what she knew of that man’s death, but she spoke before he could do so. Later he would wonder if her choice was deliberate. “So, you wed your sisters in haste, though by unconventional means, wanting only to ensure their happiness and security. And they resent your choices, though they have found good marriages, indeed. Perhaps it is not Fortune who smiled upon them. Perhaps you have a sense for making a good match.” She met his gaze. “Perhaps you saw the truth of these men, despite the circumstances that cast them in poor light.”

“I would not claim such a gift,” Alexander said with a shake of his head.

“I guessed as much,” she said with soft vigor. “Which was why I claimed it for you.”

Alexander looked up to find her eyes gleaming. His heart leapt at the sight of her. “What is this?”

Eleanor smiled in a most captivating way. “I told them that they had no cause for complaint, for much worse marriages could be arranged for them than those you arranged with Rhys and Erik.”

“Except that I did not arrange those matches,” Alexander felt obliged to note. “Both men deceived me and I
hunted them both once their truth was revealed. I would have killed them without a qualm, had my sisters been injured.”

“So you are protective of those beneath your hand, but still they do not understand the reason you were so anxious to see them wed in haste. Not a one of them knows that Kinfairlie’s coffers are empty, do they?”

“How
could I tell them such a thing?”

“How could you keep every burden for yourself?” she demanded with some impatience. “You had to guess that without knowing your reason, they would fear your intent. You had to know that they would disparage you!”

Alexander sighed again. “And if I told them, one might choose a suitor with undue haste, perhaps condemning herself to unhappiness. There are no good choices in this.” His gaze strayed out the window, to the fields that had yielded so little this year, and considered the elements, so seemingly benign this day, that had seen the seed rotted in those fields.

“So they fear you, instead of fearing for Kinfairlie’s prosperity,” Eleanor said, her hand landing upon his arm. “That fear led them to deceive you, which put your own life in peril.”

Alexander shrugged. “I do not doubt that you speak aright. Indeed, I will not argue with any soul who protests that I have done poorly at this responsibility of lairdship.” He thought she might criticize him, so spoke in haste before she could do so. “What of you? Do you despise your father for choosing your spouses for you?”

It was Eleanor’s turn to study her shoes. She frowned slightly and he yearned to ease the furrow from between her brows with a fingertip.

“I did,” she admitted, then looked up. Her gaze was clear. “There were years when I hated him with all my heart and soul, when I could not believe that a man who loved me as I had believed he did could have consigned me to such wretched marriages.”

“You sound as if you have changed your thinking.”

She studied him now. “In talking with you, I wonder whether I knew all of what confronted him. I wonder what choices he had, if he had fewer such choices than I believed he did. I wonder what was in our coffers and who mustered on our borders.” She smiled and shook her head. “He was my father, the sole parent I knew, and I confess that I believed he had hung both the sun and the moon.” She heaved a sigh and her voice softened. “I wonder if he had responsibilities to weigh against his own desires, if he only had me with which to wager.”

“You never asked him?”

“He was not a man who spoke of such intimate matters,” she said quietly. “As were all who held his confidence.” Eleanor looked out the window in her turn. “And my guardian would tell me nothing of my father’s thoughts, even if he knew them. He would regard that deed as a betrayal, to be sure.”

Alexander frowned at this unlikely morsel. “You have a guardian? But why?”

Eleanor spoke quickly. “I speak of him thus, though his duties are surely fulfilled. I have been wedded twice, after all.”

“But
…
”

“Look.” She lifted her hand, apparently hiding something in her fist. “I came to give you something.”

Curious, Alexander put out his hand. Eleanor held his
gaze as she pushed something cold and hard into his palm, then folded his fingers over the item. Her eyes danced, so pleased was she with her gift, and he felt his mouth fall open in astonishment.

It was his signet ring! Alexander knew as much without opening his fingers. He stared at her, no less amazed when she smiled. Her eyes shone at the surprise she had given him.

“But how did you find it?” Alexander opened his hand and gazed at the ring resting in his palm.
“You
had it all this time ?”

She laughed. “No. I merely guessed where it was, and persuaded its keeper to surrender it to me.” Her fair brow arched. “She was mightily frightened by your anger at the board, so you unwittingly made my task easier.”

Alexander pushed the ring back onto his finger with relief, then shook his head. “But I do not understand. She? Surely you coaxed it from Matthew’s grasp?”

Eleanor shook her head. “He did not return it to you last evening. I remember as much, though you cannot. But he could not surrender it to you today, because he did not hold it any longer.”

“Ceara!” Alexander guessed, and Eleanor’s smile flashed again.

She shook a finger at him. “No matter what your sisters say, you would seem to have a talent for matchmaking. Matthew and Ceara pledged their troth last night, though would have kept the matter secret until Ceara’s parents granted their permission.”

“And so he gave her the ring, my ring, to seal their agreement?”

Eleanor laughed, a captivating sound. “You are shocked!”

“It is hardly a trinket to be so used.” Alexander found himself smiling in turn.

“They do not know its value, save that it is a handsome piece.” She lifted his hand and turned the ring so that his insignia caught the light. Her touch was light and her eyes sparkled in the most alluring way. “And they respect the man whose hand it usually graces.” Her smile turned mischievous as she leaned closer, and Alexander was charmed. “She had it hidden beneath her chemise, snared upon a piece of string. I doubt your ring has ever been more tightly cosseted than it was between Ceara’s breasts.”

Alexander laughed. It was uncommon to feel that any soul in this household was allied with him, that his burdens were shared, and he liked this sense well. “Surely they do not think their pledge undone now?”

Eleanor shook her head. “Isabella offered them a silver ring to replace this one. In truth, I think they liked it better, for it fits Ceara’s finger.”

Alexander frowned in suspicion. “Isabella surrenders no trinket so readily as that.” He arched a brow at Eleanor. “I would wager that she had some encouragement in this, perhaps from you.”