Chapter Thirty-Six #2
“No.” Her voice was quiet, but firm.
“No?” Alec heard anger in Somerson’s tone.
“I will sign a paper, give everything I own to you—you may have my dowry.”
Somerson stared down at her, his eyes narrowing in disbelief. “What? You would be penniless!” .
“I am aware of the consequences. I understand my dowry is quite large. Let me go, Neville, and you may keep the money. It is a better arrangement, is it not? You wished to marry me off to whoever would take me. You would still have had to pay my husband my dowry. This way, you can keep it, and still be rid of me.”
Somerson considered the matter in silence.
Alec stared at her. Lady Caroline Forrester, half sister to one of England’s most powerful peers, was throwing everything away just to be free.
Wasn’t that what he’d done when he left home, swearing to go to Ceylon, to make his own way in the world and never return?
It hadn’t worked out for him. He’d been beaten and robbed the very day he reached London.
If not for Westlake picking him out of the gutter, he’d likely be dead by now.
Caroline had no such protector, no such hope, yet she stood with her shoulders square, her chin high, her eyes clear, sure of what she was doing.
“Very well. If that’s what you want. I shall write something out tonight.”
She shook her head. “I want Father’s man of affairs in York to do it. He dealt with my mother’s will as well. I want it done legally, so neither you nor I can ever come back and say we were cheated.”
“I am the Earl of Somerson! He’ll write what I tell him to.”
“Perhaps so, but he knows me, knew my mother. I insist upon that condition.”
“You are in no position to insist upon anything!” Somerson reminded her.
“If you keep me, it will cost you money, whether I marry or live out my life in isolation at Starbury. You have everything to gain, and only one unwanted half sister to lose.”
Alec watched her move toward the door. “Where are you going? I didn’t give you leave to go,” Somerson spluttered.
Caroline turned to face her half brother. “I have said what I wished to say. What more is there to stay for? Please excuse me. I am still employed here, and I must check on the girls.”
“Why you—” Somerson began, but stopped when he realized she’d slipped out of the room, and he was talking to empty air.
Alec slumped down onto the bench to consider what he’d heard.
She was brave, and smart—she’d known exactly how to defeat Somerson, even if it had cost her everything.
She understood what she was doing, it was clear in her eyes.
Her freedom, her honor, her independence, her very life was worth more to her than money.
He leaned his head back and laughed silently.
She’d been beautiful, bold, a tigress facing down a dragon.
He was more tempted than ever to go and find her, to pull her into his arms and— He groaned and got to his feet, and took the path that led down to the loch. He needed a long, cold swim.
“Did you see that?” Angus asked Georgiana as Caroline left the room. “First she saved Alec’s life, and then she put the uggsome bastard Somerson in his place! She’s magnificent.”
Georgiana sighed. “She’ll still leave, Angus. She can’t stay.”
“Why not? Alec will see her safe,” Angus said. “He’s a man of honor. He’ll do right by her.”
Georgiana folded her arms over her chest. “I’d say she’s more than proven she can take care of herself.
Alec is betrothed to Sophie. If Caroline stays here, she’ll still be doomed to live a life of heartache and sorrow, don’t you see?
She has pride and honor of her own. She would never consent to live as your grandson’s mistress. ”
Angus glared at her. “What of the girls? They’ve come to love her.
So have the villagers. I doubt they’ll love Sophie.
Caroline belongs at Glenlorne, but Sophie will forever be an outsider.
” He looked at his beloved, realizing that she would have been an outsider at Glenlorne too, if she stayed, hated by the clan just for being a daughter of the enemy.
“You could never have stayed with me, could you, all those years ago?”
She smiled sadly. “Do you think I haven’t got Caroline’s courage? It would have been nigh impossible—but I would have tried, Angus. I would have endured anything to be with you, to spend my life here. How can you even ask that?”
“How can I not?” he demanded. “It is impossible, even now.”
“If you believe that, then this curse will never end,” Georgiana said sadly, and faded into the darkness.
Angus sat on the bank of the loch, watching Alec swim in the icy waters in the dark. He’d been in there long enough to shrivel his flesh to ice, yet he swam back and forth, back and forth, his muscular body cleaving the black surface like a man trying to escape a shipwreck.
Angus was still waiting when Alec came out at last and flopped down on the bank beside his plaid.
Angus knew well enough why Alec was here.
It was Caroline. He’d spent plenty of nights in the icy water himself, trying to forget Georgiana, his body as stubborn as his broken heart about letting her go.
He stared out at the cold water and knew Alec was facing a lifetime of nights here.
“Lad, you’re going to have to fix this,” he murmured, though he knew Alec couldn’t hear him.
“How the devil am I supposed to fix this?” Alec murmured to the loch.
“It’s a puzzle. I know ye need the money.”
“Sophie,” Alec mused.
“Aye. She has plenty, but there’s more to this than just money. I lived my whole life without love, swimming in this bloody loch because I couldn’t forget her.”
“Caroline.” Alec sighed.
“Georgiana.” Angus sighed. “Not that I could have married her, ye understand.” He took off his bonnet and tossed it on the ground in frustration. “I didn’t have a choice, and you do. I understand, lad, truly I do. You have to choose between your heart’s desire, and your duty as laird.”
Alec stared across the loch at the tower, not hearing a word, and Angus followed his gaze.
“Aye, I have my own history with that tower, lad. I know well enough that it can drive a man daft, remembering, wishing things had been different.” Alec didn’t move.
“Och, didn’t I teach you anything? Responsibility, duty, I remember teaching ye that.
Probably sitting right about here too. The clan comes first, I recall telling ye.
I believed it then. I should have taught you about love.
When I lost Georgiana, I married for money.
I had to, after Culloden. Yer grandmother’s family was loyal to the Crown.
They kept their land, their fortune, and they helped hunt down the poor fools who fought for Charlie, but marrying her meant I could keep Glenlorne, and I thought that was all that mattered.
I couldn’t have gone after Georgiana, ye understand—she was already married to Somerson, lad.
It was too late for us. But you, Alec, you have a choice to make, and I hope ye’ll make it before it’s too late. ”
Alec rubbed his wet hair with a fold of his plaid, oblivious. “I know what you’re thinking. I spent many nights swimming here myself, trying not to remember,” Angus said. He smiled out at the water. “Och, she was a sweet thing, just like Caroline is—”
Alec got up and wrapped his plaid around his hips, belting it in place. He didn’t bother to put on his shirt. He slung it over his shoulder and headed back toward Glenlorne.
Angus watched him go, and felt the agony of loss all over again.