Hiding Katherine by GG Shalton (reading women .txt) 📗

The earl chuckled. “Please, let us have a seat on the bench.”

“I am sure many men plead their hearts to you, my dear. Your beauty is unlike any I have ever seen.”

She blushed and turned away. “That is not always a good thing, my lord. Men think they may love me, but they don’t.”

“Fair enough. Now, tell me about the Earl of Delbert. Were you taken against your will?”

She shook her head, looking at him pleadingly. “I was not kidnapped, my lord. I never agreed to the marriage with the earl. I fell in love with Ian and wish to marry him.”

“What about your father’s wishes?”

“My lord, my father beat me into submission. It’s his way. He doesn’t care about me, only land and money. He wants the alliance with the earl for his own purpose, not mine.”

“Aren’t most noble marriages made in such ways?”

She shrugged helplessly. “Perhaps, but when I met Ian, my life changed. I am of age and don’t need my father’s permission to marry. I will marry Ian. The earl was a nice man, but I do not wish to marry him.”

“This will cause problems.”

“I don’t wish to cause anyone problems. I ran away willingly. It’s my fault. Not Ian’s or any of his family. Ian has graciously provided me his protection. My grandmother was from Scotland and it is where I wish to live.”

“Ah! That must be it.” He nodded his head knowingly. “There had to be a little Scottish in such a lovely creature.”

“What will happen now?”

He sighed deeply. “I will let our king and the Earl of Delbert know that no one abducted you and that you assured me you wish to stay and marry a man in Scotland. I can’t imagine why Ian ever let you go back to England in the first place.”

“It was not his fault,” she quickly protested. “He went away to a battle. I was abducted by my brothers and brought back to England.”

He reached for her hand providing comfort. “Then he did not provide you enough protection. If you were ever mine, I would never let that happen.” He took her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

She had trouble maintaining eye contact because she was embarrassed at his words.

Taking her hand away, she whispered. “I should be getting back. I don’t want to upset Ian.”

“You mean Cold-Heart? I have heard the horror stories. I think the stories may be exaggerated from what I have seen.”

Katherine did not comment back and stood up from the bench. The earl stood and offered her his arm for their walk back to the solar.

They entered the solar, and all conversations ended. Ian took three long strides pulling Katherine from the earl’s arm and moving her away from him. He scowled at the earl, “Satisfied?”

The earl smoothed his jacket ignoring his abrupt manner. “I am. I will send a missive today to the Earl of Delbert. Our king also had an interest in this situation. I am now convinced that Miss Tolland left of her own free will. She will probably not be safe returning to England and I will trust you to protect her.”

“My lord, I assure you that we will take the utmost care of my new sister,” Jakub said, trying to smooth the tension. “I invite you and your men to stay for the celebration tonight. We will enjoy a feast and dancing. We are celebrating the birthday of my great-grandfather who built this castle. It’s a clan celebration every year. We will also celebrate the engagement of my brother and Miss Tolland.”

The earl glanced back at his men for approval and then looked at Jakub. “We accept your hospitality and will stay for the celebration.” He took his leave and left the solar followed by his men. After they departed, Marion closed the door and looked back at her children.

“Ian, you must address him as my lord,” came Marion’s disapproving reply. “He is a powerful man in Scotland, more than his father ever was. You were a bit disrespectful.”

Ian huffed. “My respect needs to be earned. The fact that I let him take my fiancée alone is more than enough.” He turned to Katherine asking, “What did he say to you?”

Nervously, she rubbed her lips together. “Nothing too much. He wanted to know why I didn’t want to marry the earl and asked about my relationship with my father as well. I told him I had nothing against the earl, it’s just that I was already spoken for and I chose to marry you. He said noble marriages were normally decided by their parents. I agreed, but in this case, I was of age to make my own decisions.”

Ian bent down and kissed her on the cheek. The act of affection seemed to shock his family as they all looked at each other. Ian was not the man who displayed any type of open tenderness. True, he could be threatening and brooding, but the woman who stood beside him had changed him.

Ian’s mother walked over to Katherine and hugged her. “I am so happy that you will be part of our family. Come let’s pick out a gown for you to wear tonight.”

Katherine looked up at Ian who winked at her. “I will see you at dinner. I must take care of a few things with my men.”

Katherine dressed in an apricot gown that sparkled when the light reflected on it. It accentuated her curves and had a lower neckline that showed off her sun-kissed skin from their adventure earlier that day. Fretting over the tightness of the fit, she tried to pull it looser unsuccessfully. She wished for a looking glass, but finally settled to leave the dress alone. Perhaps, it wasn’t too tight but only felt like it.

A knock on the door interrupted her fretting and she opened it and found Marion standing at her door. She gasped when she saw Katherine. “Wow, that