Page 52 of His Secret Highland Bride

“Aye.”

“The kitchens? The women like to talk.” She recalled the women at Riccarton and the gossip they shared while working. They knew all that went on in the castle.

“Aye. They don’t know, either.”

“Hmm…” She continued to rub the tension from his shoulders as she thought through the situation. She paused. “If she stole something from the clan, she wouldn’t want anyone to find her so she’d have to give it back.”

He didn’t speak. He simply rubbed his temples as if he’d measured every option. But she went on, hoping her words would inspire an idea.

“She wouldn’t go to an ally of Clan MacPherson because they wouldn’t stand with her if faced with losing the alliance. Which means she would have done the opposite. She would have gone to an enemy of the clan instead. Then, if you came to claim her, they could use her protection as a reason for war.”

He blinked. Slowly first. Then a few rapid blinks as if he’d just woken from a deep sleep. He turned to stare at her. His eyes grew wider as he considered her words.

“She went to side with an enemy,” he whispered. “That makes perfect sense. I’d thought she would stay clear of an enemy, as she only has a few feckless young men with her. But she has nothing to fear. She’s the widow of the MacPherson clan. She is no longer one of us. She can be one of them.”

“One of who?” Lindsay asked, having lost the trail of his thoughts.

“A bloody MacColl.”

Lindsay gasped. She’d heard horrible tales of the MacColl clan. If that’s where the laird’s stepmother ran, the laird would have a difficult time swaying them to give back what was taken. Not without a fight.

Lindsay wrapped her arms around her husband and kissed his shoulder. If the MacPhersons went to war with the MacColls, Shane would be called to join the army. She wished she could hold on to him forever and keep him there with her, where he’d be safe. But she could not. She would be forced to watch him leave and hope he came back.

…

Shane barely slept the night before. Not just because he was desperate to think of a way to get Deirdre and the money back without having to fight with the MacColls. But also because Lindsay was restless.

Not only had she slept so close to him he could barely move, but when she did drift off, she began thrashing about, calling his name, and crying. She’d apologized but refused to tell him what her nightmares had been about. He didn’t need her to tell him to guess she was worried he would be caught up in a war with the MacColls. But she didn’t know how caught up he would be.

He couldn’t shake the feeling he had brought all of this on himself, with his betrayal of Maria and his deceit with Lindsay. This tragedy was nothing he didn’t deserve for his sins. He’d had the good fortune to marry two wonderful women and had found a way to ruin both of them.

All night he’d considered what to do to save his clan, to save his marriage, and he was still thinking about it when he kissed her and left for the castle that morning. He’d come up with no solution that would not end in heartbreak. In his study, he sent a lad to find his brother and send him in.

“What is it?” Alec asked in his normal, unhappy tone.

“I believe Deirdre has gone to the MacColls.”

“Why do you think she would have done such a thing? They hate the MacPher— Ah.”

“Yes. It’s perfect, don’t you see? They will offer her protection, and they will give it hoping to draw us to war, where they will most likely win.”

“What will we do?”

Shane appreciated that his brother had said “we” instead of “you.” It made him feel less alone in this mess. But in the end, it would be Shane’s decision. And Shane’s success or failure. He couldn’t fail. To do so would be to lose his entire clan. The MacColls didn’t take prisoners. And they didn’t take innocents into their clan—even if they pledged fealty to the MacColls, the MacPhersons would be slaughtered.

“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted to his brother.

“Is it too much to hope the MacColls will grow weary of Deirdre and simply send her back to us with the things she’s stolen from us?”

Shane only lifted his brow. They both knew that wouldn’t happen. As much as Deirdre annoyed them, she was a skilled temptress. She was beautiful and knew how to use her gifts to earn loyalty from any man with a working cock. At least those who weren’t related to her.

Having called her “mother” for over a decade, Shane, Tory, and Alec knew the real Deirdre. The selfish witch who didn’t care who she hurt so long as she got what she wanted.

It would be just like the woman to have the clan embroiled in war so she could keep her useless baubles. No matter how many lives were lost. Meanwhile, if the Wallace laird found out Shane had breached the agreement his father made to marry the man’s daughter, Shane could be facing two possible battles with shabby weapons and lazy warriors.

“I have brought my misfortune down on the clan,” he said and went on to tell Alec about Maria and how he had been responsible for her death. Alec, like Lindsay and Tory, disagreed. But he knew this was his punishment: to be forced to give up Lindsay because he’d walked away from Maria when she needed him.

“We still have the Grants,” Alec reminded him. “Ronan is laird now. He would bring his men and fight with us.”