the fact that his daughter would always be barren, and that he was lucky to get any son-in-law at all considering that fact.
'Then why do ye want her?' asked Sithean.
'Because, uncle, I love the minx.'
Sithean said no more. He had never found his daughter particularly lovable, and he knew her reputation. Considering himself lucky to be rid of her again, he named a very generous figure for her dowry and was accepted. The wedding was set for the spring.
When their uncle had left, Glenkirk turned to his brother. 'Why?' he asked. 'Ye could have had pretty Isabella Forbes, and legitimate sons.'
'Because, Patrick, I really do love Fiona. I have since I was a boy.'
'She's a whore! Forgie me, Adam, but she'll lie wi any man.'
'Not now she won't. Dinna look so skeptical, Patrick. Remember Nelly Baird?'
'Aye,' said Glenkirk ruefully, recalling a particularly lovely wench he'd been keeping in Edinburgh. She'd been all his until he let his brother spend a night with her.
Adam laughed and then, becoming serious again, said, 'Fiona will whore no longer. It's just that her capacity for love is great, and until last night no man was big enough to fill it. I am, and she's content now.'
'But ye could hae had legitimate sons wi the Forbes girl.'
'You and James and Michael will all have sons to carry on our branch of the family. I'd rather hae my little red- haired bitch.'
'I'll not say ye nay, brother,' said the earl, 'for young Mistress Catriona Hay has me dancing a merry tune.'
'Take my advice, Patrick, and tame the wench, or ye'll hae no peace in yer house.'
'Aye, but how?'
Adam shrugged his shoulders. 'That,' he said, 'is yer problem, brother. I've got my own, and her name is Fiona.'
Margaret Leslie stormed into the library.
'How could ye!' she raged at her oldest son. 'How could ye allow your brother to wed wi that… harlot? Sithean is chortling wi glee at having rid himself of the bitch a second time. Fiona may be my niece, but I will nae allow one of my boys to mate wi that she-wolf!'
Patrick drew himself up and looked down at his mother. 'I would remind ye, madame, that I am the head of this family, not you. I make the decisions here. Adam is in love wi Fiona, and she wi him. Sithean has consented, and supplied a generous dowry. They wed in the spring. Ye will welcome her as ye have welcomed Catriona, and Ailis Hay, and as ye will welcome Isbella Forbes.'
Margaret Leslie turned to her younger son. He took his mother's hands in his. 'I do love her, mother,' he said. 'Ye had yer happy years wi father. Now I would hae mine wi Fiona.'
Meg Leslie burst into tears, and her two sons put their arms about her.
'Ye were always willful. All of you boys!'
'Madame, we would be happy. You and our father set us the example,' said Adam.
She sniffed delicately. Wiping her eyes, she smiled at them. 'Very well, my lord earl, and my foolish younger son. I shall welcome Fiona, though I still believe it to be wrong. The lass has a streak of mischief in her. She can be wicked when she chooses. I dinna like it.'
Chapter 4
THE Earl of Glenkirk wooed his bride-to-be with the elegance and grace of a French courtier. When Ellen brought Cat breakfast each morning, there was always something on the tray from Patrick. It might be simple, perhaps a sprig of pine and a gilded cone tied with red velvet ribbons. Or it might be as valuable as a carved ivory box holding a dozen diamond buttons. Cat and Patrick became better acquainted on short rides through the December snows, and long walks in the sleeping gardens.
Patrick Leslie was a well-educated man, and his young betrothed, who had struggled so hard for her own education, listened to him eagerly. It amused the earl to find this serious mind housed in such a lush young body. But it worried him that she was so innocent. Raised in the insular world of Greyhaven, she understood almost none of the facts of life.
She had grown secure enough in his company to suggest they be married on St. Valentine's Day. After Easter, Adam and his Fiona would be quietly wed- though all the family knew that wedding would be a mere formality. They were already living together as husband and wife. And Fiona, who had always run to the lean, was growing as plump and sleek as a cream-fed cat.
'She almost purrs,' giggled Ailis Hay. 'I only hope my Jamie's as good as the lasses say Cousin Patrick and Adam are.'
'As good at what?' asked Cat.
Ailis' large blue eyes opened wide, then she giggled again. 'Oh, Cat! Yer such a tease!'
'I dinna know what ye are talking about, Ailis. Ye hope Jamie's as good as Patrick and Adam in what?'
'In bed, you goose!' said Ailis, exasperated. 'They say the Glenkirk men drive the lasses mad wi delight! I canna wait till I'm wed in June!'
'God, Ailis! Yer as big a whore as Fiona!'
Ailis' eyes filled with tears, and her blond curls quivered with outrage. 'I am,' she said with great dignity, 'as virgin as ye are, Catriona Hay! But there the similarity ends! I look forward to my nights in the marriage bed, and I shall do my best to please Jamie. Yer as cold as ice. And if ye dinna change yer ways, the earl will seek solace in a warmer bed. Who would blame him?'
Cat stalked away from her cousin. Since the family had arrived for Christmas, Glenkirk's behavior had been quite correct. There had been no repeat of that night before the fire when he'd unleashed emotions in her she had never felt before, and still wasn't sure she could handle. She wanted to feel those feelings again.
That night, clad only in a soft linen shift, she crept from her apartments and hid in an alcove by the earl's rooms. It was cold, and he didn't come till quite late. She slipped from her hiding place and followed him into his room.
He turned. 'Why, Cat, sweet. What is it?'
She shivered, and he quickly dropped his fur-lined cloak over her shoulders.
'Now, love, what is so important that ye come to my rooms in the middle of the night?'
Shyness overcame her. He picked her up in his arms and, cradling her, sat down in the chair by the fire. 'Tell me, my sweet.'
Her voice was low. 'I want-I want ye to make love to me.'
'Nay, hinny. If I believed that I should have ye stripped, and in my bed in an instant.'
'Please, Patrick! I really do! Oh, my lord, I am so woefully ignorant! My mother has tried to remedy this, but she makes love sound so lofty and spiritual. Then Ailis chortles and giggles about the reputation of the Glenkirk men, and Fiona is sleeping openly wi Adam, and looks so damned superior and content.
'Very well,' he said, and there was a hint of laughter in his voice, 'but if ye become frightened, or want me to stop, dinna be afraid to ask me.'
'All right, Patrick.'
The room grew very quiet, the crackling of the fire the only sound. His one arm cradled her, the other was free. Slowly he pushed one side of her shift down, exposing a lovely globe-shaped ivory breast, its nipple colored deep rose. For a moment he gazed at the perfection of it. His hand cupped it tenderly, and squeezed. He felt her quiver ever so slightly, and his thumb reached out to rub the tantalizing pink point into hardness. He heard her gasp softly, and a smile spread across his lips.
He bent to kiss her, and heard his cloak fall to the floor as she wound her arms about his neck. Carefully he pulled the shift off her lovely body and dropped it on the cloak. He stroked her satiny skin. Though she trembled, she
