him with new eyes. How profoundly disappointing that the cur had decided to take advantage of Isobel’s naivety and inveigle his way into her heart.
But not for much longer.
Brodie swallowed audibly before he spoke again. “My lord, I ken ye are no’ here to listen to me beat aboot the bush. So let me begin by saying, I am deeply in love with Lady Isobel and there’s no’ a day that goes by that I dinna regret that Lord Angus walked in on us before I got the chance—”
“So you only regret the fact you were caught, not the fact you’ve been dallying with my sister?”
“No. Tha’s no’ what I mean at all, my lord.” Brodie inhaled a deep breath as though he was trying to harness his own fraying temper. “Look, I ken we’ve got off to a bad start, but I’m sure we can work this out.”
“There’s nothing to work out.” Hamish reached into the pocket of his coat and withdrew a blank banknote. “This madness ends now. Today. Name your price. How much do you want to stay away from Isobel? Ten thousand pounds? Will that do?”
Bright color flagged the crests of Brodie’s sharply cut cheekbones. “I dinna want yer money, my lord. I want to marry yer sister. We’re both in love. It’s that simple.”
“Twenty thousand, then? Do you have a pen or a quill somewhere?”
Brodie shook his head. “My lord—”
“Name. Your. Price.”
But Brodie would not be cowed, even by a snarling, six-foot-three Highlander with a half-mangled visage and death in his glare. The young man crossed his arms over his wide chest and thrust out his jaw. “I willna. Lady Isobel and I will wed. She is of age, and we have the blessing of yer mother, Lady Sleat, even if we dinna have yours. Indeed, we could have been married weeks ago if we’d exchanged vows of handfasting. But we both wanted to wait and wed in a kirk.”
Hamish ground his back teeth together hard enough to crush gravel. He had to give the lad credit, he had balls. “It doesn’t matter what you want—”
“The only thing that matters”—Brodie punctuated his point with a jab of his finger—“is Isobel’s happiness. And I intend to make it my life’s work to give her whatever her heart desires. Unless ye intend to strike me down, there’s no’ a goddamned thing ye can do about it. The banns have already been called for two consecutive Sundays. And tomorrow will be the third.”
Hamish took a step forward. “What did you just say?” His voice was a low, menacing growl.
Fear flashed like quicksilver in Brodie’s eyes, but the young man didn’t budge an inch. “You heard me. After I was banished from Muircliff, yer sister explained the whole situation to Lady Sleat, and she now understands my intentions are true. And after I had a word with my brother, he agreed to read the banns. Isobel and I can marry tomorrow if we so choose.”
“Are you telling me that everyone in Dunmuir, indeed, everyone far and wide, knows about this?”
“Aye.”
Hellfire and bloody brimstone. Hamish wheeled around and faced the window. Leaning forward, he slammed his fists onto the sill and stared out at the sea. The banknote crumpled in his grip. He felt gutted. Duped.
There was no way he could force his sister to throw over Brodie MacDonald if the whole community knew of the impending nuptials. Well, everyone but me, he thought bitterly. No wonder Isobel had been as blithe as a bird in spring. It was a fait accompli.
What stung the most was the deceit. His mother, Isobel, and even Angus had lied to him about what had been going on behind his back as he’d raced pell-mell to Skye.
At least bloody Brodie MacDonald had been honest.
“I ken it’s a lot to take in, my lord,” continued Brodie. “But I want to reassure you that I’m no’ a fortune hunter. I am no’ without means or connections or aspirations. My uncle Sir Archibald MacDonald has offered to support me should I choose to pursue further studies at the University of Edinburgh with the view to becoming a solicitor. He’ll even provide us with a town house to reside in. But I willna move away if Isobel wishes to remain here. I would do anything at all fer her, my lord. She means everything to me.”
“Yet you won’t give her up.” Hamish turned around and sat back on the sill with his arms crossed.
“Nae, that I will no’