“Exceedingly reasonable, Laird.” Hamish laughed.
“So, Alastair died, the MacIan debt was more profound than anyone imagined, and I ignored it when a few more head of sheep and cattle wandered across my border. Then Niall MacIan managed to marry one of the wealthiest heiresses in Scotland.”
“As I hear tell, much to everyone’s surprise, she is one of the bonniest as well.”
“Rich and bonny, a lass after my own heart,” sighed Tadhg. “So now MacIan has recovered financially and has a bonny wife to warm his bed. Why is he still raiding Matheson land and at the same time threatening me to stay off his? Hamish, I have grown tired of being reasonable. This time, we will retaliate.”
“Tonight?” asked Hamish eagerly.
“Nay. Let’s let Laird MacIan enjoy his success and feed my sheep for a couple of weeks before fetching them home.”
~ * ~
Bone weary when he rode with his men to Duncurra late that morning, Niall wanted nothing more than his sweet wife and his warm bed. He knew something was wrong when Alan rode out to meet him. “What has happened? Is it Katherine? Tomas?”
“Laird, it’s nothing like that. Malcolm MacLennan has arrived with Lady Eithne.”
Niall gave a huge sigh of relief. “Is that all? Did ye think ye needed to meet me with that news? My mother, while unexpected, is only a minor irritation.”
“I beg your pardon, Laird, but I’m thinking she may be more than a minor irritation. I understand your mother has claimed her right as Lady MacIan, taken over Duncurra, and sent your wife to bed last night without supper.”
Niall swore and kicked his horse into a gallop, not stopping until he reached the keep. Giving his horse over to a stable hand, he strode into the keep in a black fury. Eithne sat chatting with Malcom at his table in his chair, but he didn’t see any sign of Katherine.
“Mother, this is a surprise,” said Niall, trying to tamp down his rage.
“Well, darling, I don’t see why it would be. You didn’t give me nearly enough money to live on in Edinburgh, so there is nowhere else I can go. Malcolm was visiting the royal court and agreed to escort me home.”
“Home?” Niall snorted in disgust. “Mother, I gave ye a larger stipend than ye deserved, considering how close ye came to ruining us. Ye had more than enough for a comfortable life. Where is my wife?”
Eithne pouted and tears welled up in her eyes, “You are being deliberately cruel, your father would be so ashamed of the way you treat me.”
“I see to the welfare of my father’s clan, which is significantly more than ye did. Where is my wife?” he ground out through gritted teeth.
“As I warned you, son, that girl is totally unacceptable. She is unskilled, willful, and rude. You really must do something about her. She boldly defied me last night, in front of my clan. I told her perhaps going to bed hungry would sweeten her mood, and she stomped off. I have never been so embarrassed, so humiliated. Not that I care as long as I don’t have to suffer her distasteful company, but I believe you will find her in your chamber.”
Niall headed for the tower stairs, taking them two at a time. Reaching his chamber, Niall threw the door open and demanded, “What did ye do?”
~ * ~
Katherine, who sat by a cold hearth sewing, responded with disbelief, “What did I do?”
“Ye know what I mean,” said Niall crossly. “What happened?”
Katherine told herself to stay calm. She shook her head slightly and said, “Niall, please don’t be angry until you have heard the whole story.”
“Katherine, my mother is a mean-spirited, bitter woman. I know this—everyone does. But by all that’s holy, were ye unable to keep the peace for one day?”
Katherine’s heart sank. Without knowing any of the facts, he was blaming her. In spite of assuring her he would make an effort not to assume the worst, he had done exactly that. She remembered the day in the glen when he said, “I am a very flawed man, and set in my ways. It may take a few tries before I get the knack of it.” Still, she believed once he heard the story he would understand.
“Damn it, Katherine, answer me!”
“Where shall I start?” asked Katherine, looking down.
“Start with why my mother says ye defied her in front of clansmen,” Niall answered. “You remember the definition, don’t you? Willful disobedience?”
Katherine remembered Malcolm’s words, “Niall will be very disappointed to learn of the disrespect ye have shown to his mother.”
Katherine sighed, “Your mother was retiring to her chamber for a bath. She said she wanted the evening meal ready when she returned and I should be dressed properly without—without my kertch on, or I would not dine at her table. I told her I understood she was a Chisholm and, as a Highlander herself, I hoped she would appreciate why I couldn’t do that. Then she—she—”