For a moment, Mared could not find her tongue; she felt herself blush under his intense scrutiny and looked to her mother for help. But her mother could not help her now and stared grimly at the floor.
“Come in, come in, lass,” her father said wearily, and Mared forced her feet to move across the room. Father gestured to the chair next to him, and she sat, noticing only then that the entire family was present. Liam stood behind Ellie, who looked at Mared with pity. Grif was standing before the writing desk looking rather grim, and Anna was seated, her head bowed.
Mared glanced at her father and was inwardly startled to see how weary he suddenly looked—much older than his sixty years. The lines around his green eyes were pronounced, and the stubble of beard on his chin a steely gray.
He sighed. “Mared, leannan,” he said, and leaned across to put his palm to her cheek. “Ye are too stubborn for yer own good.”
She blinked in surprise, and Father dropped his hand. “What did ye think we would do, then? Did ye think three thousand pounds and more would miraculously appear to pay Laird Douglas?”
“N-no,” she said quickly, and glanced at the others in the room. All of them were glaring at some inanimate object, save her mother, who looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment. She risked a glimpse of Payton, who had not moved, not so much as blinked, but continued to stare at her coldly, all the warmth in him gone. Vanished.
“Ye know we must repay our debts, aye?” Father said again, patting her hand.
“Aye.” Of course she knew it. How could she possibly forget it? She’d thought of nothing else in every waking moment, searching for an answer, trying to think what they might sell to raise the money they needed to repay Payton Douglas, cursing the day they had ever borrowed from him.
“What, then, did ye think Hugh would come back to us and present us with the beastie?”
With a frown, Mared shook her head. “Hugh will no’ come back to Scotland. No’ ever.”
“Aye, exactly,” Father said, and leaned forward, so that his face was inches from hers. “So why in God’s name, then, did ye refuse Douglas?”
She had prepared herself for this. “Ye know why, Father. He’s a Douglas,” she said calmly.
“Aye, aye, he’s a Douglas, a bloody Douglas!” her father suddenly erupted, rearing back and slapping his hands against the arms of his char. “But what choice have ye left to us now?”
He suddenly sprang to his feet and began to pace.
“Aye, ye’ve made quite a fine mess of things, miss! Ye’ve left us with no options, ye’ve closed every bloody door! Would ye give over Talla Dileas before ye’d honor yer word?”
“Carson!” her mother cried, but Father waved her off.
“No, Aila, no, I willna hear yer pleas for leniency! Were it only her fancy, aye, I’d agree, she’d marry whomever she pleases. But ’tis no’ her fancy! Her actions affect us all! Look what she has done! Look what she forces us to do!”
“I donna understand,” Mared said, suddenly alarmed. “What have I forced ye to do?”
“Be strong now, Mared,” Liam said sternly. “Ye must do yer duty for yer family.”
“What duty?” she cried, coming to her feet as her heart climbed to her throat.
“Ye gave yer sacred word, Mared! And on yer word, I agreed to the terms of the loan! And now that ye’ve refused to honor yer word, ye leave us no choice!” her father bellowed.
Whatever Payton had done, whatever he’d demanded, Mared could feel the full force of it shake her very foundation. “What do ye mean, Father?” she helplessly insisted. “What choice?”
“What he means is that ye will still be mine,” Douglas said, his voice silky and dark.
Her fear faded to fury and Mared whirled around to face him. “What have ye done? What have ye said that—”
“No,” he said sharply, pointing a menacing finger at her. “Ye’ll no’ speak to me thus. Ye will show the proper respect due yer employer.”
“What?” Mared laughed hysterically. “What rubbish!”
“Mared,” Mother said low, clasping her hands together beseechingly. “Please listen. We’ve no other choice.”
Now Mared’s heart was pounding so hard in her chest that she struggled to breathe. “Tell me,” she demanded of Payton. “Tell me what ye’ve done.”
A single brow rose over his cold gray gaze. “What I’ve done?” He flashed a grin as bleak and cold as the devil’s. “I warn ye to hold yer tongue, for I willna abide insolence in my household staff.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but Mared gasped with outrage at the same moment Grif was at her back, his arm firmly around her waist. “No, Mared,” he said in her ear. “No. Ye will listen now. Ye’ve said enough already.”
“Have ye all gone mad?” she cried, clawing at Grif’s arm. “I donna belong to his household staff and I never shall, God in heaven, I never shall!”