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The clock in the hall had just chimed ten and she was curled up on the sofa
in the library when Rory came in.
Casting the book aside and getting to her feet, she kissed him affectionately
on the cheek then frowned at his tired and worn appearance. 'You look as if
you need a drink. How was the auction?'
'A waste of time,' he said brusquely. 'I left early.'
He slumped into his armchair then accepted the large glass of whisky.
'Thanks, lass. Leave the bottle handy.' He took a large swallow, sighed and
smacked his lips, then looked at her fondly. 'You're a bonny girl, Shona. I
wish your mother had lived long enough to see how you've grown up.
You've got my red hair, but when I look at your eyes it's like looking at her.'
He sighed again, finished his glass, then held it out for a refill. 'Aye, you're
about the only thing left in this world that means anything to me, Shona.'
Oh, God! she thought. Why did he have to be so maudlin tonight of all
nights? How was she going to tell him now?
She turned her head away, afraid that he'd see the heart-sick expression on
her face. She, his very own flesh and blood, was going to betray him. It
might turn him against her forever. But there was no way out. She was
trapped, both by her conscience and her promise to Dirk.
Swallowing the bitter bile in her throat, she said quietly, 'I... I've got
something to tell you, Father. Something you may not like.'
His heavy brows came together, then he nodded at her to proceed. 'Go on,
then. You've never been afraid to speak your mind before. It's too late to
start changing the habits of a lifetime.'
She looked at him helplessly, then gathered her courage and said, 'Dirk
MacAllister is calling to see you in the morning.'
He blinked once then growled, 'Is he indeed? And what have I done to
deserve his company?'
She jerked the words out quickly. 'Dirk and I... We... we're getting
married.'
There was a sharp crack as the glass splintered in his massive fist and he
glared down at his hand and muttered, 'Damnation!'
His hand was badly cut and she rushed forward to help him, but he brushed
her aside. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he wrapped it tightly
around the wound, then he turned his bleak eyes back to her. 'I'm going to
pretend that I never heard that. No daughter of mine would ever lower
herself enough to marry a MacAllister. Now get to .bed and--'
A mixture of sorrow and defiance distorted her voice. 'Pretending won't do
any good, Father. I'm going to marry him, and that's all there is to it.'
Colour suffused his face and there was a silence so taut that she could hear
her heart thudding in her ears. She wanted to flee from the room and hide
from the shocked anger in his eyes, but it was too late for that. Her only hope
lay in calming him down and making him listen to reason.
'We... we're in love with each other, Father,' she declared in a voice that
was still cracked and uneven.
'In love?' He repeated the words to himself like someone trying to
understand a foreign language.
'Yes.' She added quickly, 'Dirk isn't at all like I'd been led to believe. He's
not like his father. You can judge him for your '
He cut her off savagely. 'How long have you been seeing him? Since you
came back from university? Meeting with that cur behind my back! Lying
and cheating! Deceiving me!'
The accusation first numbed her then provoked her to a stammering
response. 'Th...that's not true. I...I haven't been lying to anyone. Or meeting
Dirk in secret. I've never even spoken to him until this afternoon.'
'And on the basis of one afternoon's acquaintance you've decided to marry
him?'
Even to her ears it sounded improbable and ridiculous. 'Yes... That's the
truth, Father. I swear it. It... it all happened so suddenly. We just met
and... and--'
Dark suspicion clouded his face and he thundered, 'Did you lie with him?
Have you had carnal knowledge of each other?'
She winced. The biblical style and brutal manner of his interrogation made
her feel like the whore of Babylon and she hung her head, waiting for his
wrath to subside.
His breath rasped in his throat then he said heavily, 'Aye. I see you're not
even bothering to deny it.' Shaking with rage, he drove the knife of his
contempt deeper into her soul. 'If it had been with anyone else, I could have
forgiven. But to allow yourself to be contaminated and defiled by a creature
like that!'
'He isn't a creature,' she retorted, stung at last into a show of defiance. 'Just
because you've always hated the MacAllisters--'
He made a gesture of damnatory dismissal and turned his back on her.
'Leave the room. This discussion is finished.'
Resentment flashed in her eyes. 'What discussion? You won't even listen to
me, will you? Why should I have to suffer for your prejudices? The least
you can do is agree to see him.'
He reached for his bottle and sneered, 'Aye. I'll see him. And when I do...'
He left the threat unfinished and went to the cabinet for another glass.
The storm returned that night, no rain but a screeching, howling wind that
made sleep next to impossible. In the darkness of her room she lay for hours
tossing and turning and praying for oblivion and a release from the
questions that haunted her mind.
Her father had ridiculed the idea that she could have fallen in love with Dirk
after only such a brief encounter. Was he right? Was she simply confusing a
strong sexual attraction for the real thing?
Dirk was the first man she'd ever completely submitted to. She recalled in
every vivid detail the way he'd looked into her eyes and told her that he was
going to make love to her. The thought of resisting him had never even
entered her head. Her need for him had been sudden and overwhelming, a
hunger that had ignored every constraint of decency and self- preservation
in its craving for satisfaction. It had been self-indulgence on the grand scale.
The question that now disturbed her demanded an answer. In the same
conditions could anyone other than Dirk have evoked the same feelings in
her? The violence of the storm... the lightning that had almost killed
her...then the warmth and intimacy of the fire. Then the way his experienced [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]