“Desperation does not excuse murder,” she told her husband.
“Surely, you understand how those in power might manipulate others' desperation for their own means?” Kiernan asked.
It is shocking to learn that one’s leaders are willing to sacrifice their countrymen for money and power came another startling salvo from her father's letter.
Then it seemed Kiernan had read her mind when he asked, "How does a man take back that which was stolen from him by his betters?”
“He-there are channels one goes through." She clamped down on the strange sense of indecision that muddled her brain. "Protocol. Not murder.”
Kiernan gave a gentle smile that caused her chest to tighten.
“Ahh," he said. "And the men who have been trampled upon should trust those in power, those who robbed them, cast them from their homes like animals—and worse—to follow this protocol?”
The words were barely out of his mouth when her mind flooded with those few rich and powerful men who rule supreme in our society have stolen our rights.
Anger shot through her. “You condone murder under any circumstances?”
"I should ignore the innocent who are murdered by their masters, yet bring to justice those men who strike back at their murderous overlords?" he said, but might as well have repeated her father's words, Ironically, had I known then what I know now, I would be guilty of their accusations.
The tears she'd held in check since discovering Kiernan was in Dornoch burned the corners of her eyes. It was as if he had read her father's letter. But that letter lay in the bottom of a drawer in England.
“How can you understand?" she demanded. "You’ve never faced hunger, cold, the prospect of no home.”
“Perhaps not,” he agreed. “But Ashlunds are also MacGregors, and MacGregors live under threat. You will remember Zachariah and his men.”
Phoebe drew a sharp breath. She had taken Zachariah for a man who double-crossed an employer, who had masterminded the kidnapping of a wealthy marquess. But Kiernan inferred that the employer wanted Kiernan MacGregor the man, not the British nobleman.
Phoebe lifted her chin. “Kiernan MacGregor may face many dangers, but what chance is there the Marquess of Ashlund will ever stand accused of treason?”
Kiernan didn't break from her stare. “After today, very great. You see, I am confessing to you my part in aiding criminals escape the fate their government would impose upon them.”
“You are in league with them,” she cried.
“In league with them for what, a plot to kill a woman hundreds of miles away?"
Phoebe glared at him. “The duchess would not be so blasé about the plotting of her murder.”
He gave a short laugh. “She would like nothing better than to send those men to the gallows for something that never happened.”
“You're twisting the truth. Their plot to murder anyone is a crime.”
“Can you so easily judge and condemn a man who has had even the most basic rights denied him?” Kiernan asked.
Would it shock you to hear that I relish the day I shall destroy my accusers? They have taken all I hold dear: you, our darling Phoebe and, lastly, "my freedom," she said out loud. Surprise flickered in Kiernan's eyes, and she added, “I am not their judge. The law must deal with them."
“You mean the law dispensed by people like the duchess, or perhaps those gracious men in the House of Lords? Say, Lord Ronald Harrington, who makes the very laws that protect them?”
“Lord Harrington?”
You cannot know how my accusers make even the most abhorrent criminal look like one of God’s angels. I sorely underestimated the depth of their deceit.
Her head swam. Surely her father hadn't meant—
“You think I'm wrong to slip the hangman’s noose from around the necks of accused criminals?” Kiernan asked.
Just as I did yours, she knew he was thinking, and could no longer hold back the tears.
“Damnation, Phoebe.” He pulled her close. “I’m not as bad as all that, I promise,” he said. “I've been a terrible suitor and a worse husband. Finding me here is inexcusable, and my confession in such surroundings…”
His confession? He had confessed to aiding criminals. Criminals he believed were victims…just as his kinsmen David had been? Winnie was right, Kiernan hadn't forgotten.
“I shouldn't have left you only a day after our marriage," he said.
She became aware of the heat of his fingers around her waist. Phoebe shook her head in an effort to clear the haze in her mind.
"And, while I forgive you, you are correct," he said. "We didn't consummate our marriage."
He shifted and the moist warmth of his lips touched her throat. His mouth moved in what seemed infinitesimal increments along her neck. Shivers raced along her flesh. His mouth slid onto her ear.