youngest died of hunger. You can see why I canna allow Patrick Simpson to be transported,” Kitt said. “ ’Tis a death sentence.”
“Surely not always.”
“I willna take the chance with one of mine,” she said.
Alex noticed the possessive
one of mine
. There was nothing false about Katherine MacKinnon’s sense of responsibility toward her clan. He wondered how far she was willing to go to gain her ends. “Who did you finally agree to marry?”
Her green eyes were filled with hate as she said, “The bloody Duke of Blackthorne.”
“The duke?” Alex asked incredulously.
“I promised my father on his deathbed that I would trick Blackthorne into a handfast marriage, then do my best to get pregnant and bear a son to inherit the land. It doesna matter now. The duke is dead, drowned in the sea.”
“If the duke had lived, would you have gone through with it?”
She met Alex’s shocked look with determined eyes. “I would do anything I believed would improve the lot of my clansmen. Even sacrifice myself in an Englishman’s bed.”
“How did you plan to convince the duke to wed an impoverished Scotswoman?”
“My station is not so low,” she said. “You forget I’m a lady by birth. Two generations ago, Blackthorne Hall belonged to my family—not his. I am pursuing the matter in the courts, but it would have been easier to marry him.”
Alex scowled. “I canna believe you were willing to do such a thing! ’Tis despicable to marry a man for profit.”
“ ’Twas not for profit! ’Twas for the sake of my people. The land and the castle were stolen from us after Culloden by the English. Blackthorne Hall—Castle MacKinnon—should have been mine. If the duke wasna so cruel, I doubt my father would have suggested anything so desperate.”
“Even so, I canna like it.”
“
I
didna
like
it!” she spat. “I tell you I had no other choice.”
“The courts—”
“Move too slowly,” she interrupted. “Bairns are starving. My clansmen are being forced off land their families have farmed for generations, never to return.”
“What will you do now that the duke is dead?”
“I dinna know,” she admitted with a huge sigh. “I made a vow to my father on his deathbed that I would do whatever was necessary to save the clan. Now that his plan has come to naught, I … I dinna know what to do.”
Alex gingerly rubbed at the two-days’ growth of beard on his bruised chin, then said, “If you’re willing to go so far, I’m surprised you havna thought to steal back a little of what the duke’s taken from you.”
“ ’Tis too dangerous.”
“Why?”
“If anything went missing, the duke’s steward, Mr. Ambleside, would not have to look far to find the obvious suspects.”
“You’d have to be caught with the loot.”
Kitt searched Alex’s face. “Are you seriously suggesting I rob the duke’s estate?”
“Think of yourself as a Scottish Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. There’s a certain nobility, even justice to the crime, is there not?”
Kitt’s brow furrowed uncertainly. “I suppose. You make it sound so easy, but—”
“It is.”
“Not so easy as you might think,” she argued. “There are soldiers billeted not far from Mishnish to keep the peace. We have few weapons, even fewer horses.”
“If you’re clever enough, you willna need weapons or horses.”
Kitt pondered the idea a moment longer, then shook her head. “It wouldna work.”
“Why not?” Alex persisted.
“I dinna believe the men would follow me. And I wouldna send them on such a perilous endeavor without their chief.”
“I see,” Alex said. “That’s a problem right enough.”
Kitt could hear weeping through the open windows long before they reached the door to the one-room stone-and-thatch cottage where Patrick and Dara Simpson lived with their five children and Patrick’s elderly mother. She hurried her pace, knocking loudly on the wooden door.
“Dara,
“Surely not always.”
“I willna take the chance with one of mine,” she said.
Alex noticed the possessive
one of mine
. There was nothing false about Katherine MacKinnon’s sense of responsibility toward her clan. He wondered how far she was willing to go to gain her ends. “Who did you finally agree to marry?”
Her green eyes were filled with hate as she said, “The bloody Duke of Blackthorne.”
“The duke?” Alex asked incredulously.
“I promised my father on his deathbed that I would trick Blackthorne into a handfast marriage, then do my best to get pregnant and bear a son to inherit the land. It doesna matter now. The duke is dead, drowned in the sea.”
“If the duke had lived, would you have gone through with it?”
She met Alex’s shocked look with determined eyes. “I would do anything I believed would improve the lot of my clansmen. Even sacrifice myself in an Englishman’s bed.”
“How did you plan to convince the duke to wed an impoverished Scotswoman?”
“My station is not so low,” she said. “You forget I’m a lady by birth. Two generations ago, Blackthorne Hall belonged to my family—not his. I am pursuing the matter in the courts, but it would have been easier to marry him.”
Alex scowled. “I canna believe you were willing to do such a thing! ’Tis despicable to marry a man for profit.”
“ ’Twas not for profit! ’Twas for the sake of my people. The land and the castle were stolen from us after Culloden by the English. Blackthorne Hall—Castle MacKinnon—should have been mine. If the duke wasna so cruel, I doubt my father would have suggested anything so desperate.”
“Even so, I canna like it.”
“
I
didna
like
it!” she spat. “I tell you I had no other choice.”
“The courts—”
“Move too slowly,” she interrupted. “Bairns are starving. My clansmen are being forced off land their families have farmed for generations, never to return.”
“What will you do now that the duke is dead?”
“I dinna know,” she admitted with a huge sigh. “I made a vow to my father on his deathbed that I would do whatever was necessary to save the clan. Now that his plan has come to naught, I … I dinna know what to do.”
Alex gingerly rubbed at the two-days’ growth of beard on his bruised chin, then said, “If you’re willing to go so far, I’m surprised you havna thought to steal back a little of what the duke’s taken from you.”
“ ’Tis too dangerous.”
“Why?”
“If anything went missing, the duke’s steward, Mr. Ambleside, would not have to look far to find the obvious suspects.”
“You’d have to be caught with the loot.”
Kitt searched Alex’s face. “Are you seriously suggesting I rob the duke’s estate?”
“Think of yourself as a Scottish Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. There’s a certain nobility, even justice to the crime, is there not?”
Kitt’s brow furrowed uncertainly. “I suppose. You make it sound so easy, but—”
“It is.”
“Not so easy as you might think,” she argued. “There are soldiers billeted not far from Mishnish to keep the peace. We have few weapons, even fewer horses.”
“If you’re clever enough, you willna need weapons or horses.”
Kitt pondered the idea a moment longer, then shook her head. “It wouldna work.”
“Why not?” Alex persisted.
“I dinna believe the men would follow me. And I wouldna send them on such a perilous endeavor without their chief.”
“I see,” Alex said. “That’s a problem right enough.”
Kitt could hear weeping through the open windows long before they reached the door to the one-room stone-and-thatch cottage where Patrick and Dara Simpson lived with their five children and Patrick’s elderly mother. She hurried her pace, knocking loudly on the wooden door.
“Dara,
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