being forced inside by her family whenever so much as a drip came down from the skies. She was fortunate to reach the back door before the heavy rain began.
She tried not to make any noise as she eased the door closed behind her. She didn't want to disturb the reunion between mother and son and thought only to wait by the door to the hall until there was a satisfactory lull in the conversation before she entered the room. Her plan was to quickly introduce herself, make certain both Euphemia and Raen were comfortable and had everything they needed, and then leave again so they could catch up on each other's news.
She heard Euphemia's whispered remarks and assumed she was talking to Raen.
'I don't know if Connor married well or not. Brenna's a pretty little thing, but she's barely grown and cannot possibly have acquired the skills necessary to run a household. She seems very eager to please, and from what I've observed, I would say she's already loyal to Connor. Pity she doesn't have an older woman to show her the way, but then, very soon now, that won't matter, will it? There can be only one mistress here.'
'Pretty, you say? Describe her to me,' Raen insisted.
'For heaven's sake, you would ask about such inconsequential things,' Euphemia scolded. 'Couple with camp followers if you must, but put aside any lustful thought for another man's wife. Have you learned nothing in the past few years? You would jeopardize everything if you…'
'Calm yourself, Mother,' Raen ordered, his voice sharp with irritation. 'I was merely curious. You insult me by suggesting I would even consider bedding a married woman.'
'You've done it before, Raen,' she reminded him. 'Several times, as I recall.'
'When I was too young to know any better,' he said. 'Connor must be pleased with his wife. Do they seem happy to you?'
'From what I've observed, I would have to conclude Connor is very unhappy. I haven't spent sufficient time with her to ascertain how she feels about him.'
'If she satisfies him in bed, what more could he want? I for one wouldn't care what my wife's other skills were.'
'Is mating all you ever think about?'
'Most men think of little else. I'm no different, Mother, so you can quit scowling at me with disapproval.'
'I cannot know for certain, of course, but I would have to assume she doesn't satisfy him in bed either. He moved her out of his bedroom and into another earlier today. She must have gone to him and pleaded, or perhaps she reminded him she couldn't give him an heir unless he bedded her.'
'Did she convince him?'
'Yes,' Euphemia answered. 'Just an hour past, I saw one of his men carrying her clothing back into Connor's chamber.'
'You make him sound quite miserable,' Raen remarked with a laugh.
'I believe he is,' his mother said with conviction. 'I don't feel sorry for him, of course. He married her out of spite and has no one to blame but himself. Do you know he didn't even steal the woman he went after?'
'What nonsense is this?'
'I'm telling you the truth. Brenna's father promised MacNare one daughter and sent him another.'
'How very English,' Raen muttered, his voice as caustic as lye.
Brenna's face felt as though it were on fire, so embarrassed was she by the conversation about Connor's physical satisfaction with her, or rather, dissatisfaction. Intimate matters between a husband and his wife should never be discussed by others. Were Connor's relatives so uneducated and crude because they lived in the barbaric land in the north and simply didn't know any better?
Although it didn't seem possible, her embarrassment had intensified a moment later when Euphemia mentioned that Connor hadn't even captured the woman he'd wanted.
His stepmother had it all wrong. Connor hadn't known or cared which sister was being sent to MacNare; he simply intended to steal the man's bride, and that's exactly what he did. But how in heaven's name had Euphemia found out what her father had done? It seemed perfectly plausible to Brenna that his stepmother would have been privy to the feud going on between the MacNares and the MacAlisters-everyone in the Highlands knew about it-and it was also plausible that she had heard from others that MacNare planned to marry a woman from England.
It didn't seem plausible that she would have also heard that one sister had been promised and another sent, unless Connor had told her.
Why would he have done such a thing? It wasn't like him to ever tell anyone anything he was planning, except for Alec and his two close friends, Crispin and Quinlan, of course, but they were just like Connor. They wouldn't have told Euphemia something they would consider inconsequential.
She leaned heavily against the door while she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. She felt humiliated and worthless, but then, why wouldn't she? Her own father had treated her with callous disregard when he'd snatched her out of her warm bed and sent her to MacNare without so much as a fare-thee-well.
Had Connor been disloyal to her? She shook her head as soon as the possibility came into her mind. Granted, her husband had a considerable list of flaws that were bound to drive her daft by the time she was an old woman, yet he also had a fair number of virtues. He was above all else an honorable man, of that she was absolutely certain, and honorable men didn't deliberately embarrass their wives.
Heaven only knew how Euphemia had found out, but one day, when Brenna had won her approval and friendship, she would get up the courage to ask her.
The immediate problem facing her was proving to Euphemia that although she was young, she was still quite capable of running Connor's home. His stepmother hadn't said anything unkind about her, which gave Brenna considerable hope that she would be able to prove herself in no time at all.
Connor's family should be important to her, and jn the back of her mind she knew that once he noticed how she accepted his relatives, he would realize he should give her side of the family the same consideration. At the very least, he should show some interest in listening to her talk about her brothers and sisters. He didn't even know their names now. In time he would, she vowed.
Her work was cut out for her, but she'd never backed away from a challenge before, and she wasn't about to back away now. Her ultimate goal was to turn an unfeeling, hardened warrior into a loving husband, and one way or another, she would make it happen. Training a bear to genuflect would probably be easier than teaching Connor to be thoughtful. Still, it could be done, couldn't it?
She straightened away from the door and with renewed determination and a firm plan in her mind, she took a slow, deep breath and opened the back door. Then she slammed it shut so Euphemia and Raen would hear, forced a smile on her face, and went inside.
'Good day, Lady MacAlister,' she called out from the doorway.
'Good day, Brenna. I'm happy you could join us. We've been waiting for you quite a long time now.'
'I apologize if I kept you waiting. I was in the kitchens going over tonight's meal.'
'Come forward, child, so I may introduce you to my son.'
She felt a surge of anger at being called a child, quickly suppressed it, and did as she was asked. Raen was standing by the hearth. She intended to go to him before she curtsied, but Euphemia's son got to her first. 'Twas a fact, he actually ran, but thankfully he had enough presence of mind to stop before he ran her down. A bit unsettled by his enthusiasm, she took a quick step back to put a decent amount of distance between them.
'My son's name is Raen,' Euphemia called out. 'And from the look on his face, I can only conclude you've given him quite a start. Son, where are your manners?' she added in a sweet voice.
And still he didn't say a word. His close scrutiny made her uneasy in no time at all. What was the matter with him?
'It's a pleasure to meet you,' she blurted out, looking up at him while she waited for him to stop gawking at her and say something in return.
She was surprised the man standing before her was related to Euphemia. They didn't look anything alike. Raen evidently favored his father's side of the family, which really wasn't all that fortunate, because they must have been rather dull-looking people.
He wasn't unpleasantly dull, just rather ordinary, with lackluster features and pale coloring and hazel eyes that couldn't decide what color to be. He was tall, nearly as tall as Connor, as a matter of fact, yet given to fat around his chest, not muscle, which meant he didn't do much strenuous work on his land.
