She remained silent for a long moment and he felt her gaze on him. Needing to look into her eyes and compel her to tell him the truth, he set the poker aside, rose from the hearth and faced her. He tried not to stare at her wrapped in that blanket. Likely, she only wore a thin smock beneath. Although he didn't want to imagine her bare body under the delicate garment, he couldn't help himself.
"Very well," she said. "If you must know, he is a brute and a beast. And he tried to… to force himself on me."
"Damnation," Dirk muttered, the heat in his blood turning to fury. "He didn't succeed?"
"Nay."
Still, the bastard should be strung up by the neck. "How did you escape?"
She hesitated, as if considering, then shook her head. "'Tis best that you not know."
"You didn't kill him." If she had, those MacLeod guards who'd come to their camp last night wouldn't have been so benign. Nor would they have allowed the women to pass the castle without a search.
"Nay. At least, I don't think so."
"Considering they let us pass without any dispute, I'd have to say nay."
She sighed. "I'm glad. I certainly wouldn't want to kill anyone. Nolan had a dagger on his belt. I grabbed it, then we fought for it. I think I cut him shallowly, though it was too dark to see. When he came after me that final time, I knocked him on the head with a stoneware jug. He was out cold last I saw him, and bleeding a lot, but he was still breathing."
If she'd injured him so sorely, why had the guards and clansmen not been more hostile? Unless Nolan hadn't told them she'd injured him. Likely, he wouldn't want anyone to know he'd been bested by a lass, nor that he'd attempted to rape her.
"Where did this happen?" Dirk asked.
"In the bedchamber I was using at Munrick."
"Did anyone in the castle know about it?"
She shook her head. "Not while I was there. We slipped out and left that night, before anyone could learn of it. I knew if Nolan awoke and found me still there, he'd try to kill me."
"Without doubt," Dirk muttered, his muscles tensing with the need to grasp a sword in his fist and go after Nolan.
The knave wouldn't want his brother, the chief, to ken he'd wanted to rape his future wife. But she was right. Nolan would likely seek revenge against her if given the opportunity.
Hell. What had Dirk gotten himself into? Couldn't be helped. He wouldn't have left her out in that snowstorm to freeze to death. He was glad he'd run into her and been able to provide some assistance.
She was in a mess. Since she hadn't killed Nolan, the MacLeod chief would still want to marry her, given her beauty and whatever deal he'd struck with her brother.
"If Torrin MacLeod finds out where you are, he'll come after you," Dirk said.
She shook her head, dark eyes wide. "I won't marry him now. Not after his brother behaved so barbarously."
He couldn't blame her for that. And he was glad she didn't wish to marry the MacLeod, but often it didn't matter what the woman wanted. Mostly 'twould depend on her brother and what he decided. Dirk needed to talk to the man. When they reached Durness, he'd send him a missive.
"The MacLeod may even accuse me of kidnapping or stealing his bride," Dirk muttered, despising being accused of things he didn't do. And spending the night with her in this cottage, no matter how innocent, would only make it worse if the MacLeod learned of it.
"Nolan said Torrin had a mistress in the village, a woman he loves and has natural children with. He but wanted to marry me to bear him a legitimate heir… but mostly for the three-hundred acres that came with me."
"Ah." The bastard couldn't see that Isobel was worth far more than any three-hundred acres. But he knew land was often part of a dowry and sometimes a man wanted the dowry more than the wife. "Blood is thicker than water, lass. 'Tis not often a man will go against his own brother."
She shrugged. "'Haps Torrin is natured like Nolan. I don't know them well enough to say."
"I met them when we were all young lads, but I don't know them well either. 'Haps they're both savage outlaws." One thing still puzzled Dirk. "Why have you not married before now?"
"I did. That marriage was also arranged by my brother. I'm a widow."
Dirk frowned, thunderstruck by this news. Why hadn't she told him she'd been married? He supposed the subject never came up. And what business was it of his, anyway?
"I'm sorry to hear of your loss," he said. "What happened?"
"He was older, more than twice my age, and he became ill shortly after we wed."
"I see." 'Twas common practice for older men, especially chiefs, to secure young beautiful ladies as wives. 'Twas fortunate for them, but he could see how the women might not appreciate it much, unless the older men spoiled them. He wondered how her husband had treated her. And how long he'd been dead. Dirk had a lot of questions for her, but he should not ask them. He wasn't as nosy as Rebbie.