gone stark white, her cheeks robbed of the roses that usually bloomed there.
Enid set aside the bowl and passed a hand over her cousin’s line of vision. Sabrina didn’t even blink.
Truly frightened now, Enid gave Sabrina’s shoulder a harsh shake. “Cousin! What is it? What did she say to you?”
Sabrina blinked. Her voice was barely audible. “She told me what I could expect from the marriage bed.”
“Oh, is that all?” Enid plopped down on the bed, then remembering herself, affected a look of wide-eyed horror. “Is it so dreadful?”
Sabrina shuddered. “Horrible!” Her eyes finallyfocused. She cupped a hand around Enid’s ear and whispered into it.
Enid gave a satisfying gasp. “No! She must have been jesting. He couldn’t possibly put … that”—her voice rose to an excited squeak—
“there.
”
Sabrina nodded solemnly, then whispered something else.
“Oh, dear Lord!” Enid felt her eyes roll back in her head at the thought. Sabrina fished in Enid’s pocket, pulled out the bottle of hartshorn, and waved it under Enid’s nose. Enid fanned herself with her hand, hiding her dreamy smile. “Imagine doing that with such a strapping … male … animal.”
Shaking off her shock, Sabrina jumped down from the bed to pace. “Oh, that’s only the beginning. It gets worse. Much worse. Perhaps I should kill myself. After I’m dead, they can lay me out in the drawing room in my wedding gown. Papa can kiss my wan, cold cheek if he dares.”
Fresh tears sprang to Enid’s eyes at the vision of her noble cousin meeting such an ignoble end. “Perhaps Morgan’s not the monster you imagine. Might some part of him not be amenable to taking a wife?”
“No doubt. And thanks to Mama, I now know exactly which part.”
Her burst of energy spent, Sabrina dragged herself back to the bed and sank down beside Enid. “I swore I wouldn’t give him a moment’s pleasure, but it seems a man will seek his pleasure how he chooses and a woman’s will means nothing. Even before Morgan believed the Camerons murdered his father, he despised me. What’s to stop him from slaking all of his rage on me? What if he decides to make me pay for all the Cameron crimes against his family, both real and imagined?”
Enid saw Morgan’s face in her mind—stern, forbidding, beautiful even at its most mocking. She shivered. “How you must hate him!”
Sabrina bowed her head. “Would to God that I could.”
It was not her cousin’s lack of tears that rentEnid’s heart, but her quiet despair. She touched Sabrina’s hair. It was soft and thick and so much more lovely than her own wispy blond strands.
Sabrina was the brave one. She had been Enid’s friend from their very first meeting. Shamed at being banished from London, Enid had been sniveling in her bedchamber when a fat, hairy spider had cornered her on the bed. It had been Sabrina who calmly scooped up the puzzled little fellow and escorted him to the window before drying Enid’s hysterical tears. Frustration now swelled in her. Even if there was something she could do to help Sabrina, she knew she would lack the courage.
Helplessly she patted Sabrina’s shoulder, forgetting the bowl of vegetables, which tumbled to the rug. A plump toadstool bounced across Enid’s foot.
As she bent to pick it up, her pale eyes narrowed with a fierce determination Sabrina wouldn’t have recognized. “Perhaps your Morgan will find his taste for revenge more bitter than he expects.”
Morgan stumbled over the stoop, biting off a blasphemy that caused every head in the candlelit kirk to swivel in his direction. Ranald stepped on his heels. Morgan threw back his shoulders, tacitly warning every Cameron who had come to witness this farce of a wedding that their first chuckle at this MacDonnell’s expense would be their last.
It was a miracle he could walk at all with the damnable leather flaps cinched to his feet. He had no need of sandals! His own soles had been
Enid set aside the bowl and passed a hand over her cousin’s line of vision. Sabrina didn’t even blink.
Truly frightened now, Enid gave Sabrina’s shoulder a harsh shake. “Cousin! What is it? What did she say to you?”
Sabrina blinked. Her voice was barely audible. “She told me what I could expect from the marriage bed.”
“Oh, is that all?” Enid plopped down on the bed, then remembering herself, affected a look of wide-eyed horror. “Is it so dreadful?”
Sabrina shuddered. “Horrible!” Her eyes finallyfocused. She cupped a hand around Enid’s ear and whispered into it.
Enid gave a satisfying gasp. “No! She must have been jesting. He couldn’t possibly put … that”—her voice rose to an excited squeak—
“there.
”
Sabrina nodded solemnly, then whispered something else.
“Oh, dear Lord!” Enid felt her eyes roll back in her head at the thought. Sabrina fished in Enid’s pocket, pulled out the bottle of hartshorn, and waved it under Enid’s nose. Enid fanned herself with her hand, hiding her dreamy smile. “Imagine doing that with such a strapping … male … animal.”
Shaking off her shock, Sabrina jumped down from the bed to pace. “Oh, that’s only the beginning. It gets worse. Much worse. Perhaps I should kill myself. After I’m dead, they can lay me out in the drawing room in my wedding gown. Papa can kiss my wan, cold cheek if he dares.”
Fresh tears sprang to Enid’s eyes at the vision of her noble cousin meeting such an ignoble end. “Perhaps Morgan’s not the monster you imagine. Might some part of him not be amenable to taking a wife?”
“No doubt. And thanks to Mama, I now know exactly which part.”
Her burst of energy spent, Sabrina dragged herself back to the bed and sank down beside Enid. “I swore I wouldn’t give him a moment’s pleasure, but it seems a man will seek his pleasure how he chooses and a woman’s will means nothing. Even before Morgan believed the Camerons murdered his father, he despised me. What’s to stop him from slaking all of his rage on me? What if he decides to make me pay for all the Cameron crimes against his family, both real and imagined?”
Enid saw Morgan’s face in her mind—stern, forbidding, beautiful even at its most mocking. She shivered. “How you must hate him!”
Sabrina bowed her head. “Would to God that I could.”
It was not her cousin’s lack of tears that rentEnid’s heart, but her quiet despair. She touched Sabrina’s hair. It was soft and thick and so much more lovely than her own wispy blond strands.
Sabrina was the brave one. She had been Enid’s friend from their very first meeting. Shamed at being banished from London, Enid had been sniveling in her bedchamber when a fat, hairy spider had cornered her on the bed. It had been Sabrina who calmly scooped up the puzzled little fellow and escorted him to the window before drying Enid’s hysterical tears. Frustration now swelled in her. Even if there was something she could do to help Sabrina, she knew she would lack the courage.
Helplessly she patted Sabrina’s shoulder, forgetting the bowl of vegetables, which tumbled to the rug. A plump toadstool bounced across Enid’s foot.
As she bent to pick it up, her pale eyes narrowed with a fierce determination Sabrina wouldn’t have recognized. “Perhaps your Morgan will find his taste for revenge more bitter than he expects.”
Morgan stumbled over the stoop, biting off a blasphemy that caused every head in the candlelit kirk to swivel in his direction. Ranald stepped on his heels. Morgan threw back his shoulders, tacitly warning every Cameron who had come to witness this farce of a wedding that their first chuckle at this MacDonnell’s expense would be their last.
It was a miracle he could walk at all with the damnable leather flaps cinched to his feet. He had no need of sandals! His own soles had been
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