when he said, “Pray, madam, be sure that that door is shut fast.”
Catriona was astonished when her grandmother said quietly, “It is, sir.”
“Good,” Fin said. “By your leave now, Shaw MacGillivray, I would speak privily with your daughter. Before I do, though, I will make my position clear to you all. Davy Stewart has tried to make a farce out of this business simply to amuse himself. I will not allow that to continue.”
“How d’ye propose to stop him, lad?” the Mackintosh asked curiously.
“You may leave that to me, sir. In return, I will endeavor to persuade the lady Catriona… again… that her best course is to accept this marriage, as I do. I will also insist, however, that we marry tomorrow instead of tonight. But,” he added when Catriona stiffened, “I will not employ threats or allow anyone else to do so to achieve that course. I sincerely apologize for my curtness to you just now, sir,” he said to Shaw. “But I will not accept a bride who must be beaten into marrying me. Nor do I think you want a good-son who would allow that. Would you, sir?”
“Nay, lad. In troth, I’m fast coming to hope that I’ll have ye in his stead.” Shaw put out his hand, and when Fin gripped it, Catriona relaxed at last.
The Mackintosh said, “If ye’re sure about tomorrow, Fin, I’ll tell Rothesay m’self. Ye can smooth over aught that ye need to smooth with him afterward.”
“He has likely realized already that something has gone awry,” Fin said.
“Aye, well, I’ll draw on his vast knowledge of women, then,” Mackintosh said with a twinkle. “I can say it be more seemly to wed by daylight and will thus make the lass happier. I’ve other things to suggest, too, and I’ll want Shaw with me. Annis and Ealga will retire to the ladies’ solar, so that ye two may bide here.”
“Thank you, sir,” Fin said. In a blink, Catriona was alone with him, but if she expected her trial to be over, she soon learned her error.
“I have something to say before we discuss any marriage,” he said with the same chilly edge to his voice as when he had spoken to Shaw.
Swallowing hard, she said, “What is it?”
“Simply, that if I ever again hear you talk that way, to me or to anyone else in authority over you, I’ll react much as your father did. I hope I would never slap you in the midst of such a company, but be sure that I would soon put you over my knee. So keep that in mind as we continue, for as much as I would dislike taking a bride whose father had to beat her into marrying me would I dislike marrying one who believed that I would not react as sternly to such rudeness.”
“You do frequently stir my temper, though,” she reminded him.
“And when I do, you may tell me so,” he said, putting a warm hand to her sore cheek. His voice gentled as he said, “I’ll expect you to tell me civilly, lass, although I will allow for temper, as I hope you will for me. Also, I’ll have much more tolerance in private than if you hurl my faults at me before an audience.”
“Particularly such an audience as I chose tonight,” she said ruefully. “That was not well done of me. By my troth, though, I saw no one but you. I was furious to learn that after you’d said you would persuade them, they were going to force you to marry me at once. I… I don’t remember ever being as angry with anyone as I was then with you, even though they were doing it. Why do you suppose that is?”
Instead of trying to answer the unanswerable question, Fin gently stroked her reddened cheek and said, “Art still angry with me now, little wildcat?”
“Nay,” she murmured, and he was glad to see a tiny smile as she did. “I’m still unsure about all this, though. It happened so suddenly, and it seems so unfair to you, especially when it was my own unruly tongue that caused all the trouble.”
“Davy caused it,” Fin said. “He has complained of boredom, and when he is bored—or frustrated, as he also is—he makes mischief, with females or otherwise. In this case, it was both. But, see here, lass, you are wrong if you think they have forced me into a wedding. You heard how easily I can stop it, and I