Tamed by a Laird (31 page)

With a bewildered look, she said, “But I didn’t. I have never signed any document having aught to do with my marriage to Reid
Douglas.”

Hugh clamped his lips together, stopping the angry words that threatened to spill from his tongue.

When Hugh looked furious but said nothing, Jenny stared at him. “Why do you not speak? Do you think I am lying again? I swear
I am not.”

He shook his head. Then, as if he thought a headshake had not been enough, he muttered, “I ken fine that you are not lying,
lass. I must think on this, and if we are going to spend the night here, we must have more hot food.”

With that, he got up and left the tent. Jenny stared after him, her own temper igniting at such treatment. If he were not
so big… If Lucas were not also out there…

Then, despite her anger, she smiled. The image of herself running after Hugh, shaking him, and forcing him to speak his thoughts
to her was too absurd to sustain.

Still, she wanted to know what she had said to make him so angry, and the only way she could imagine doing that was to ask
him. So she pushed off the blankets, put her boots and cloak on again, and went after him.

She found him skinning rabbits with Lucas.

“Mercy, but you caught those quickly,” she said to Hugh.

His lips twitched, but he said only, “Lucas set the traps before and had just collected these two.”

“Fine work, Lucas,” she said with a smile. “Doubtless, you have caught more by now. Mayhap you should go and see.”

He glanced up at her, then looked at Hugh.

“Go, Lucas,” Jenny said firmly. “I would have a word with Sir Hugh.”

“Stay, Lucas,” Hugh said. “We have nowt to discuss, lass. I told you to stay inside where you will keep warm.”

“Did you, sir? I did not hear you say any such thing. I heard naught and saw only your back as you left. If you want Lucas
to hear what I will say to you, he must of course stay. However, I should think—”

“I’m goin’,” Lucas said, standing and setting aside his rabbit, neatly skinned.

“Nay, then, you’ll not,” Hugh said curtly. “You will—”

“Master Hugh, I ’ave stuck by ye through many a good day and many a bad ’un, but ye’ll ’ave to deal with your own sorrows
now. They be none of my making, nor nowt to do with me. Shout when ye want me, mistress.”

With that, he strode off into the woods.

If Jenny was astonished, Hugh was more so.

“By heaven,” he exclaimed, “I’ll have something to say to that—”

“You already have much to say that you do
not
say, sir,” Jenny said crisply. “But Lucas is
not
the one who put you in such a temper.”

“Jenny, wait now, lass—”

“What concerns me is what
I
must have said to put you in such a fury. I had been thinking how easily I could talk with you. Then, with a single statement,
I got a look as near rage as I have seen on any man’s face before you walked off without explanation. That will not do, sir.
You would not tolerate it had I done it, nor will I tolerate such treatment from you. If I said aught that I should not have
said, pray—”

“Sakes, lass, I’m not angry with you!”

“Then who or what has put you out so?”

He grimaced. “It is not so easy to explain,” he said, clearly making an effort to speak quietly. Glancing in the direction
Lucas had taken, he sighed.

“It cannot have been Lucas,” she said.

“Whisst now,” he said. “I wish you would go back inside that tent.”

“I warrant you do, but unless you mean to pick me up and carry me there, you will
not
get your wish. So, talk to me, Hugo,” she added softly. “Explain.”

It was the first time she had called him Hugo in private, but it felt comfortable to do so, and right.

“I should not discuss the matter with you at all, let alone explain why I feel as I do,” he said. “It is wrong to meddle in
another man’s affairs.”

She frowned, thinking back to what she had said before he stalked out. “ ’Tis the marriage settlements, then. That I did not
sign any made you angry. Moreover, you had just said that I should
not
have signed them if I did not want to marry Reid.”

“Let be, lass. Do as I bid you now, and get back inside.”

“Nay, then, I won’t.”

When he moved to stand, she said, “Stay where you are, sir. You cannot come the husband over me only to force my
obedience
. You say you will not meddle in another man’s affairs. But whose business is it if not mine and my husband’s?”

R
elaxing, Hugh shook his head at Jenny, but her argument impressed him.

Although she was naïve in some ways, her habit of command was clear. He had not seen her reveal it so deliberately before,
but he had a sense now of having committed a wrong for which he ought hastily to apologize.

He suppressed the impulse, saying instead, “Jenny, I cannot expect you to understand my dilemma. Still, I hope you will believe
that I’ve been wrestling with my conscience since I left the tent. Sithee, lass, you are Dunwythie’s ward, you are under age,
and I gave the man my word that I would find you and restore you to him. Moreover,
because
you are his ward, he does have certain rights. And, as he has been managing your affairs, this tangle we’re in is his business.”

“I do not see that such details have aught to do with the matter at hand, sir. You are legally my husband, are you not?”

“Aye, for the nonce, but—”

“Never mind the nonce, Hugo. If you are legally my husband, then you replace my guardian, do you not? A woman cannot have
both, can she?”

“In certain circumstances, such as when the husband is also a minor—”

“Good sakes, but you put me out of patience, sir. You are
not
a minor. At present, you are my husband, however little you like it and for whatever time you remain so.
As
my husband, you have a duty to protect me, do you not?”

“I do,” he said, his voice gentler, his expression softening.

“Then I ask you, what would you, as my lord husband, say to me and to my uncle about my
not
having signed those marriage settlements?”

He hesitated, although he knew exactly what he’d like to say to Dunwythie for treating her so badly.

“Tell me, sir, or by heaven, I shall begin to throw things!”

Her hands were on her hips, her beautiful golden eyes flashed, and both dimples showed, deep and enticing.

He stood up. “Jenny, love,” he said, “if you
ever
throw anything at me, I’ll put you across my knee and see that you don’t so much as think of doing so again.”

She stared at him, clearly surprised, as the endearment echoed back to him.

“Jenny, I should not—”

“Tell me what you would say, Hugo,” she said softly, standing her ground.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “You say I should simply act as your husband, but it is not simple at all. You know it is not.
We do not even know if ours is a legal marriage, but whether it is or not, we’ve agreed that it must be annulled. Dunwythie
will then resume his position as your guardian until you marry Reid.”

“But if I have signed nothing—”

“You are still betrothed, lass, and that betrothal still predates our marriage, so your uncle has the right to annul it. Moreover,
I doubt that Phaeline will allow him to do aught else. Or Reid, come to that. As your betrothed, he also has rights.”

“Do I have none?”

“Aye, you do,” he said, resting his hands gently on her shoulders and looking into her eyes. “Did they truly say nowt to you
about any settlements?”

“Phaeline said only that after I was married, Reid would take over the management of my estates. She said that that is a husband’s
right.”

“In most instances, it is,” he said. “But you are a baroness in your
own
right, and although you are still legally a minor, any sensible magistrate would consider you old enough to know your own
mind, not just now but also when your father died. Even without such a decision, your uncle had a duty to explain
any
agreement he made on your behalf. That would include anything having to do with your estates, and certainly any marriage
settlements. Not only must you understand them, but you must swear an oath that you do, before witnesses, when you sign them.”

“But I didn’t do any of that! I never even saw them. I do know that my father said I would remain Easdale of Easdale after
I married, but Reid certainly did not understand that. He said
he
would become Easdale of Easdale.”

“Did he?” Hugh frowned.

“I expect he just did not understand about the title,” she said.

“Or they inserted some such agreement into the settlements.”

“Mercy, can they do that?”

“They can put anything they like into them. That is why the law requires them to explain the settlements to you and you to
agree to them by signing them. I think we will have more to discuss with your uncle now than just your… your adventure.”

She drew a deep breath and let it out. “By heaven, sir, if you will stand by me, I begin to look forward to that discussion.”

His hands were still on her shoulders. He gave them a squeeze, wishing he dared do more to comfort her, and said, “I’ll stand
by you, Jenny. Now, will you shout for Lucas, or shall I?”

After they ate their supper, Jenny walked again with Hugh to the edge of the woods and saw that the snow had stopped. The
air was still, the only sound the distant tinkling of a rill. A lone star shone briefly before a cloud concealed it.

“Do you think it will snow more tonight?” she asked.

“I shall no longer predict the weather,” he said. “It does feel warmer than it did last night, however. It may rain tomorrow,
but I doubt it will snow.”

They turned back, and she thought how comfortable it was. Despite her words earlier, she had no wish to return to Annan House
and Reid Douglas.

When they reached their little camp, she saw Lucas eyeing them warily, as if to judge whether one or the other was likely
to show temper again.

Hugh said, “Go to bed, lass. We’ll see to the fire, and then we’ll sleep, too.”

“How early must we leave?”

“Not early,” he said. “We’ll let it warm a bit first if it has a mind to.”

She nodded, understanding that he did not want to make it obvious to everyone at Annan House, by arriving too early in the
day, that they had spent the night together on the road.

Without snow, on such a good road, travelers could easily manage the fifteen miles from Dumfries to Annan in four or five
hours. Even with the snow, it would take only two hours from where they were to reach Annan House—three at most.

After washing her face in the icy water of the rill, and brushing her teeth with a handy twig, Jenny pulled the two pallets
apart as they had been in Dumfries, sought her own, and snuggled under her share of the blankets. She was still awake and
not nearly warm enough yet when Hugh came in.

“I don’t seem to have enough blankets,” she said.

“We’ll share them all then,” he said evenly.

“Would you mind if I got close to you again for a while?”

“Nay, lass. As you said, we’re husband and wife tonight, whatever the future holds for us.”

She was soon warm but made no effort to move away and wondered if she should feel guilty for staying where she was.

“What do you suppose God thinks about this tangle?” she murmured.

To her surprise, he chuckled, then laughed out loud. When he could speak, he said, “Only He can know that, but I warrant He
must have a sense of humor.”

Content with that answer, she soon slept, only to waken some hours later aware that she must have tangled herself in her kirtle.
The skirt had crept up around her hips, and she felt an odd bunch of material or something under her left breast. There was
also more weight than usual on her bottom.

Coming more clearly to her senses, she realized that she had turned onto her stomach in such a way that Hugh’s left hand cupped
her breast and his right cupped a bare bottom cheek. Smiling contentedly, she relaxed.