Chapter Eleven
Cullen drew his cousin to one side, and they had a heated exchange.
After a cold glance in her direction, Seamus stomped back into the house.
Lowri longed to kick her horse in the ribs and ride off, but she could not.
Donnan and Rory’s lives depended on her obedience.
Cullen came back and stared up at her, casually stroking her horse’s flanks.
She shuddered at the memory of his hands on her thighs.
‘We are not welcome here,’ said Lowri.
Cullen frowned. ‘It’s a bed for the night, and Seamus will come round. He hates surprises, is all, almost as much as he hates Strachans.’
In a rush, Cullen took hold of her waist and plucked her off the horse.
Whilst she hated his grabbing her, Lowri was grateful for someone holding her steady, for she was so tired, she could barely stand.
She stumbled against him and put her palms to his chest to push him off, but he held on tight.
Cullen’s face was too close. Sunlight danced in his eyes, softening the grey to blue, as he stared down at her.
He opened his mouth to speak, but then an old woman came hurrying up to them, bony as a bird. ‘Look what the cat dragged in,’ she said to Cullen. ‘Master bid me see to this one, if you can bear to part with her.’
Cullen let go of Lowri as if she were on fire and drew the old woman into a bear hug. ‘Esther, you get lovelier with each passing day.’
‘Insolent rascal.’ She laughed and patted his back affectionately.
Cullen turned back to Lowri. ‘Esther will look after you, lass,’ he said curtly, and then marched inside, leaving Lowri under the flinty gaze of the old woman.
‘Well, don’t just stand there shivering like a wet kitten. Come on,’ said Esther, grabbing Lowri’s hand in her own, rough as tree bark and tiny, like a bairn’s.
Graywell was gloomy inside, and Lowri barely took in bare stone walls and a few candles burning in sconces before she was hustled up a creaking staircase and dragged into a simple chamber.
It was dominated by a canopied bed with a surprisingly pretty embroidered coverlet, which boasted scarlet flowers with curling green stems. The bed squeezed out the rest of the furniture, which consisted of a tall-sided chair covered in tatty blue velvet and a table with a pitcher and a bowl.
Judging by the room, Cullen’s cousin seemed well enough off, but not rich by any means.
The old woman eased down on one knee with a grimace and busied herself with lighting the fire.
‘Once this is lit, I’ll fetch water for washing, if you’ve a mind.
It’s cold, though, so you’ll have to make do.
Can’t be running around minding grown lasses like they were bairns.
’ She mumbled under her breath, ‘I have enough of that with Mistress.’
Lowri almost collapsed under the weight of her fatigue, guilt and hopelessness.
Here she was, in another dreary house with strangers.
Would this ordeal ever end? She watched the old woman lighting the fire in silence.
What would she say to her? There was no point in looking for allies.
She would find none here. But it would not do to succumb to self-pity, for Donnan and Rory were surely worse off.
The woman, Esther, barked at her, ‘You seem troubled, lass. It’s etched on your face.’
‘My troubles are my own concern, not yours,’ said Lowri.
Esther cackled. ‘As you like. But if I’d hooked a fine fish like Cullen, I would look a good deal happier.’
When the fire sizzled into life, the old woman struggled to rise. Lowri held out a hand and hauled her up.
‘I thank you, lass,’ she said. ‘Old knees. They groan in wet weather.’ With a twisted smile, the old woman regarded her.
‘Ah, but you are a bonnie little thing, and frightened with it. Don’t fash.
Cullen is a wild one, but he’s neither cruel nor vengeful, not even to Strachans.
And you must be special. He’s seldom brought lasses here, and none looking like you, though he’s had his fair share. ’
‘I’m…I’m his wife.’ The words seemed hollow to Lowri’s ears, unreal.
‘How did that happen?’
‘Against my will,’ snapped Lowri.
Esther’s face fell. ‘Oh,’ she shrugged. ‘Well, ‘tis no business of mine.’
The old woman shuffled off, and Lowri stood on tiptoe to look out of the high window. The land stretched away, with no houses nearby, just a patchwork of fields and hedgerows, as far as the eye could see. The odd shout and clatter came from below, but Graywell seemed a hushed, desolate place.
Lowri sank onto the bed. Her heart raced.
Why did Cullen keep staring at her? It was not predatory, more as if he was puzzling something out.
Did he want to press her down under him again, or was he weighing up what to do with her?
Whatever it was, it was not good, judging by the seriousness of his expression.
Lowri looked down and realised she had been twisting her fingers in and out.
It would not do to be a frightened fool with these people.
She needed to sleep and gather her strength, so she took a deep breath to calm herself, tore off her boots and lay back.
Her eyelids fluttered shut, and she gave in to oblivion.
***
The fire crackled between the cousins, and the whisky warmed Cullen’s belly, but it did not dispel the anger that had swelled at telling Seamus what his father had forced him to do.
‘Now that you’ve heard the whole sorry tale, I should go and see to Lowri,’ he said.
‘Leave her be. From what you said, I doubt the lass is craving your company, and it’s been a while since we talked.’ Seamus smiled. ‘It’s good to see you, Cullen, and even more so now that it seems we are in the same boat with our unwanted brides.’
‘So, she is still unwanted?’
‘What’s done is done,’ said Seamus. ‘I lay with Maeve once to consummate the union. I wanted to make sure it would stand. It was an awkward experience for us both.’
Guilt squirmed in Cullen’s gut, and Seamus noticed, for he was ever the canny one.
‘And your union, Cullen. Does it stand before the law?’
‘Aye, it does.’
‘And she wasn’t too happy about it, eh?’ smirked Seamus.
Cullen was keen to change the subject. ‘Do the Glendennings come and visit?’
‘Aye, Jasper comes, but not Maeve’s mother or sister.
I only met them once, at the wedding. Cold-faced bitches whom I’ve no wish to meet again.
They have disowned Maeve for her disgrace.
Glendenning’s wife, Rowenna, I did like.
She had a soft-heartedness about her, and is quite the bonnie lass.
How she survives him, I do not know, for he is a miserable cur.
Glendenning only comes rarely, long enough to assure himself that I do not mistreat his sister. ’
‘And Maeve. Has she settled more?’
He shrugged. ‘She has no choice in the matter, so I suppose she has. And I have allied myself to a powerful family with very little inconvenience save the bastard in her belly.’ He pointed at Cullen with his glass.
‘But you, well, as you tell it, you fools have kidnapped Strachan’s sister. That is not to your advantage at all.’
‘No, it is not. And my father’s schemes have a way of blowing up in his face. This one surely will.’ Cullen took a glug of whisky, burning his throat. ‘You are better off than I, so why such bitterness? At least with Maeve, you have a bonnie lass to share your bed.’
‘We do not share a bed. I cannot bring myself to touch her while she is swollen with another man’s bairn.’ Seamus’ expression was flinty.
‘And when the bairn comes?’
‘I will treat it as my own. I have pledged to do this. And as to Maeve, well, she needs to have my bairns too, and so I will expect her to do her duty by me, and for that, I must bed her.’ He leant in.
‘I got wealth and land out of an unwanted bride, but what did you get, cousin? If looks could kill, that Strachan lass would have you dead ten times over. Why the devil did you agree to it?’
‘I could not see the lass sent to the colonies or hanged for reiving.’
‘Well, you’ll rue the day with that one. She’ll never come to heel.’
Cullen laughed. ‘Maybe she’ll succumb to my charms.’
Seamus leaned in and patted him on the back.
‘And what might they be? Cullen, women always like you, but it’s not through any effort on your part.
This Lowri is no captain’s daughter or tavern wench.
This is a Strachan, and from what you say, she was brought up wild.
And our clans have a long history of hating each other. ’
‘Save for that misguided alliance to overthrow Caolan Bannerman a while back.’
‘Aye, we lost some good men, and that fight weakened us. If that taught us anything, it’s that we are more suited to being enemies with the Strachans than friends.
And you have been far more than friends with Lowri Strachan.
You know, you could always have lied about consummating your union.
’ Seamus smirked. ‘I’d wager, you are not as reluctant a ravisher as you like to think. ’
‘It would have made no difference whether I wanted the lass or not. I acted out of loyalty to my clan to avoid a war with Peyton Strachan.’
‘Aye. Keep telling yourself that, and you might come to believe it.’ Seamus shook his head.
‘These are hard times. What little honour we might lay claim to, we left behind us long ago, cousin. And she has beauty, your bride. Makes the poison easier to swallow, does it not?’ He raised his glass and then downed the whisky in one gulp.
‘Though I am sure that did not sway you.’