Chapter 9

Cameron's heart plummeted as he stared at his father. "But I am already promised to someone else," he said desperately. "She is a good woman and will make a fine wife for the Laird of the castle."

"She is a commoner?" the Laird asked, his eyebrows raised in a question.

"Yes, but so am I, an' she has the manners o' a lady," Cameron answered stoutly. "An' she is beautiful."

"Can she even read and write?" The Laird poured himself another glass of wine as he spoke. There was a glint in his eye that told Cameron he was beaten.

"No, but she is a very clever woman," he answered stoutly. "She can learn fast, an' I am sure there are plenty o' teachers about who will work for the Laird."

"My daughter can read, write and speak French and German," James Henderson said triumphantly. "She is also very pretty, and I have no reason to believe she is not fertile. I am sure she can bear you many children."

"Ye sound as though ye are talkin' about breedin' horses," Cameron answered scathingly. "I am sure your daughter has many virtues, but I am in love wi' somebody else, somebody I have known for years, an' I have already asked her to marry me."

"Love?" Henderson's voice was almost a squeak of disbelief, then he laughed scornfully. "What has love got to do with marriage? You are two healthy young people. You marry, make love and have babies. It is all very simple. After that, you can sleep at each end of the castle if you want. Love has nothing to do with it. And if you have asked another woman to marry you - well, change your mind. Tell her you have given it some thought and you cannot go through with it."

Cameron felt a fire of anger inside as he stared at Henderson, who obviously had never cared about anyone but himself his whole life.

He had promised Ava a whole estate, a whole new life, but the cost of the estate was marriage to a woman he had never met, and whether he liked her or loathed her, she was not Ava. He looked at James Henderson in disbelief and hatred. Change his mind? Take back his offer of marriage? He said it as casually as if he was asking Cameron to take off his shoes. The thought that he would be breaking someone's heart had never likely crossed his mind.

Cameron decided that if he ever took up the Lairdship, Henderson would be the first person to go. Of course, sacking his father-in-law might be difficult, but it was not impossible. As he looked at James Henderson's profile, he thought he might actually look forward to it! Henderson's selfishness disgusted him, as did many other things about him, and he noticed how the maidservants gave him a wide berth as he passed them. That was a warning sign.

If he took up the Laird's offer he could support Ava in a different way, by giving her money to support her and her sisters. He could gift her his little piece of land and buy another for her. Yes, he could do a lot for her. He could do everything except lie in bed with his arms wrapped around her at night after making passionate love to her. He would never be able to give her his children, and he would have to stand by and watch while she married someone else and had his babies instead.

The thought was too awful to contemplate, but so was a life of scratching a meager living from the soil, working from dawn to dusk and wondering where the next meal was coming from. No, to help the woman he loved, to give her a good life, he had to give her up.

While Ava had been making her way home from the village, the sunlight had been gradually fading, and now they were sitting in a room that was lit by only one candle as Janet stood before Ava, looking down at her uncertainly.

Janet put her hands on Ava's shoulders and looked tenderly into her sister's eyes. "I am sorry to have to tell you this, Ava, but Cameron is no' goin' to marry ye," she said softly. "He is promised to the daughter o' the steward at the castle. We heard this afternoon. We didnae expect him tae ask ye to marry him since he had just asked somebody else."

For a few moments, Ava was completely confused. "You mean he knew this when he came to propose to me?" she asked in disbelief. "Surely he would no' do such a thing?"

"It seems so," Janet answered. She was heartbroken inside for the sister she loved, since she knew that Ava had adored Cameron for years, and had always seen herself marrying him at some point. Now her hopes had been dashed, and in the cruelest way possible.

"Why would he do this?" Ava asked. She was not so much angry as puzzled, since Cameron had seemed so sincere. "No, there must be some kind o'a mix-up," she said, shaking her head. She could not believe that the man she loved could possibly commit such an act of betrayal. Why? What was his motive?

Rona and Janet looked on sympathetically. They could not believe what had just happened either, but as they watched Ava collapse into a chair, completely devastated, they exchanged a furious glance.

"How did you find out?" Ava asked. Every question had an answer that was more painful than the last, but she had to ask them anyway.

"Ye know how the guards come to the village sometimes. Some of them spoke of the news, " Janet huffed. "It didnae take long before it was all over the place. We heard it from Bessie the innkeeper, because she could no' wait to come an' tell us."

"I wish I could punch his face in!" Rona said, her skin crimson with rage. "He has nae right to do that!"

Ava looked over at the body of her father and the sorrow and rage she had been holding in burst out in a storm of tears. Before long all the sisters were weeping and holding each other. It had been a day from hell, and all of them were exhausted both in body and in spirit.

Ava and her sisters had to get back to the ordinary business of living, and that meant tending to their evening work around the house and farm. The body of Colin Struthers had been collected by one of the neighbors, who had donated the use of his cart, to the church.

Later, when they were all about to sit down for their evening meal, Cameron came back. Janet saw him first, as she stepped outside to fetch some water from the burn, and she stood glaring at him with her arms folded over her chest in an aggressive, defensive stance. Janet had always been the strongest of them in every way, and looked as if absolutely nothing could intimidate her, including Cameron.

When Cameron was about to dismount she confronted him, striding up beside Jimmy and staring up into his face. "You are no' welcome here, ye swine! " she growled at him. "Go back where ye came from."

Cameron looked at Janet's anger-filled face. "No' before I see Ava," he replied grimly as he dismounted from Jimmy and stood facing her. "I understand your anger, Janet, but this whole thing is no' my fault."

Janet gave a cynical laugh. "Aye, an' I am the Queen o' Sheba!" she yelled into his face. "Get out o' here, ye piece o' rubbish!" She was so angry that she followed her tirade with an expletive that young ladies never normally used.

Cameron stood his ground for a moment, then took a step closer to her. She opened her mouth to say something else, then closed it again as she heard Ava's voice.

"I will deal wi' him, Janet." Ava's voice was surprisingly calm as she stepped up to her sister's side. "Go an' finish cookin'."

"Are ye sure?" Janet asked doubtfully.

"I am." Ava had been staring into Cameron's eyes all the time they were speaking, and now she stepped forward to confront him, leaving Janet to depart with a single venomous glance. She had spent all afternoon preparing a furious tirade against him, but now that she was actually looking into his clear blue eyes she found it much more difficult than she had expected.

"Ava." His deep voice was hoarse, as if he was just about to burst into tears. "I am sorry."

Ava waited for him to say something else, but he was silent. A ferocious fire was building up inside her, and she trembled with fury before she spoke. Her voice was throbbing with rage.

"That is all ye have to say?" she asked. "You know that I have loved ye for as long as I can remember? Ye know that I dreamt of you every night and my whole day was spent wantin' you to kiss me? Some days ye came so close then pulled away again and I felt absolutely terrible. When ye asked me to marry ye - I thought I had gone tae heaven. All my dreams had come true, but ye are promised to p another lass! Why, Cam? Why did ye do this to me?"

Cameron watched tears leaking from her eyes as he spoke. He longed to wrap his arms around her and tell her that it was not his fault, that things would be fine, but he could not.

"Because I was forced to," he replied huskily. "Because my father told me that I cannot have the castle if I don't marry the daughter o' the steward. I don't want to, Ava, believe me, but I want to help you an' your sisters. When I inherit the estate I can give you some o' the food from the farms, help to mend the cottage an' make sure you have enough to eat. I want to marry ye, Ava. You are the love o' my life, an' I wish I could think o' some way I can be Laird and we can stay together. But -" He trailed off, shaking his head helplessly.

He gazed down into the amber-golden eyes and saw hope there, then, regardless of her two sisters, who were watching from inside, he pulled her against him. Her skin was soft, supple, and smelled of earth, and he buried his face into the thick wavy mass of her hair, reveling in its fragrance.

Despite herself, even though she knew she should push him away, Ava hung onto his warm body, taking comfort from the strength of his arms. Her anger was fading as she felt the thud of his heart against her ear and she closed her eyes and inhaled the warm manly scent of him.

"What are ye doin' Ava?" Suddenly she heard Janet's voice shouting from the door of the cottage, and she jumped out of Cameron's embrace.

‘What have I been thinking?' Ava's anger surged back with a vengeance and she drew back her arm to slap Cameron across the face, but he saw her intention in her eyes and caught her wrist before the blow fell.

The fury went out of Ava's eyes as she looked at him. Despite what he had done, her heart still belonged to him. He was still the man she wanted to spend her life with, and despite what he had done, despite how he had humiliated her, he always would be.

Cameron tilted her face to his again. "I meant what I said, Ava," he said gently. "I will find a way for us to be together."

Ava nodded, and he kissed her lips once, softly, before she moved out of her arms and walked towards the cottage. At the door, she turned to look back at him, her expression one of confusion.

"Goodbye, Cam," she said softly. "I will think about what ye said." Then she went indoors, leaving him feeling cold and bereft.

Her sisters were standing in the doorway glaring at him. "Goodbye Janet, Rona." He said it out of politeness, since he knew the kind of response he would receive.

"Goodbye, an' don't hurry back!" Rona said furiously before slamming the door with all her considerable strength. "Ye are no' welcome here, an' ye can take your washin' an' mendin' somewhere else!"

Inside, Janet poured them all some ale, and the sisters sat together for a while silently, holding hands and saying nothing, before Rona spoke. "We had better eat an' get ready for bed," she said sadly. "It will no' help any o' us to go hungry because o' that eejit."

"Ye're right, Rona," Janet agreed, glancing at the cold food on the table. She bristled with fresh irritation. "That big numpty has spoiled our supper!"