chair up to the bed and sat down. “Tell me what happened. From the beginning.”
Cora stared at her hands. “My mother was a beautiful woman. She was coveted by many, and she was so charitable. No matter what anyone calls her, I’ll always love and admire her. I’m not ashamed of where I come from.”
Looking up, she saw the question in his eyes, but he didn’t interrupt. Taking a deep breath, she plunged into her story. “My mother was a whore. Not a desperate and poor woman on the streets, but a wealthy and independent one. Her door was open to any woman seeking asylum, and many poor families brought their older children to her. She would train them in whatever they wished. Those that wanted could follow in her footsteps, but she also secured them jobs as maids and cooks. If a woman decided to follow in her footsteps, she would know that she’d never be treated unfairly. My mother even made men sign contracts before they could take them out as mistresses, and if they were mistreated in any way, those contracts allowed the woman to leave.”
Alec stared in amazement. “They wouldn’t have held up in a court of law.”
“On the contrary. My mother was well-known in the justice circles. They were honored. She didn’t just provide safety to women. If a man found himself wounded in an embarrassing situation, such as facing his lover’s husband, he could come to my mother for healing. She had a gift for making people better.”
“That’s how you learned?”
“I wanted to apprentice with a doctor, but my mother wouldn’t have it. She wanted me to marry well and have everything for free that she had to work so hard for. She died before that could happen. I was thirteen years old.”
“Duncan didn’t claim ye?”
“He probably didn’t know. Lady Thistle was one of the benefactors of the home. She was the daughter of the Duke, but rather than marry for status, she married far beneath her station for love. Still, she had tons of money and spent it and her time with my mother helping those in need. She adopted me quietly until arrangements could be made for the women in the home. Without my mother’s status, Lady Thistle feared that the courts would no longer protect them. It was months before word finally got out. Lady Thistle had hoped that her status as a duke’s daughter and the money that I had inherited from my mother would help me find a husband, but without my mother’s protection, I was simply the daughter of a whore. Still, my family loved me, and I knew that even if I never married, I’d be secure and happy.”
Alec sat quietly while she continued with her story. “Several months ago a strange man showed up on our doorstep. He had a letter from the King of Scotland naming me the heir to the MacKay clan provided I marry Innes Campbell. The Thistles were so shocked that they wanted to go to the King of England to disband the contract, but I knew there was no reason for him to intervene on my account. Despite the Thistles’ love for me, I knew my station in life.
“My father gave me time to say my goodbyes. I could tell that he wanted a relationship with me, but I was stubborn. I couldn’t understand why he would leave my mother if he truly loved her as he claimed. I could only be convinced that there was nothing but desire between them, and I despised his claims otherwise. But that night, when we left, Seth MacKay attacked the carriage. And after he’d killed our father, I felt guilty that I hadn’t done more to give the man his due.”
“Seth killed Duncan?” Alec whispered. “’Tis a good thing that he’s already dead. The MacKays are no friends to the Sinclairs, but Duncan was a good man. We mourned his passing. Why didn’t he kill ye?”
Here was the moment of truth. She could admit that Innes was involved, but it was her word against the brother of a laird. If no one believed her, Innes would be free to take his revenge.
She didn’t know Alec. She couldn’t trust him with the whole truth. “He was fascinated by me. He took more pleasure of my torment than he would my death.”
“Does Innes know who you are?”
Vehemently, she shook her head. “I don’t think Seth disclosed the truth to anyone for fear of the King’s missive.