She now wanted a true wedding with Dalton, and she believed it might be possible to one day lie with him and have children. He had given her such hopes, she longed to share them with her father. It might bring him back to reality.
‘We are going to be married again legally. This time, it will be here, according to the Scottish traditions. I have begun making the plans, and I will write to Mother to ask her to come.’
She intended to meet with Mrs Hughes today and plan the menu for the wedding feast. Then she would ask the housekeeper to have her wedding gown cleaned so Regina could wear it a second time.
As she bandaged her father’s right wrist, he started coughing again. To distract him, Regina spoke about the roses she planned to cut from the garden. She kept up a stream of conversation, but he was like a statue, with no response to her words.
At last, she could bear it no longer. She crossed her arms and regarded him. ‘Whatever possessed you to do such a thing? Why would you hurt Miss Goodson?’
‘I was very drunk,’ her father admitted. ‘I was angry and foolish. I—I don’t know why I did it. But... I do pray that she will be all right.’
‘I never wanted to marry Locharr,’ she said. ‘It was an arrangement between you and Tavin MacKinloch, nothing more.’
Her father’s face reddened, and he spoke at last. ‘It was a good match for you, Regina. Camford was not the man I chose.’
A flare of anger caught her. ‘No, but he was the man who chose me. He tried to stop me from being humiliated when Locharr ran off to marry his governess.’
Ned stared at her. ‘And whose fault was that?’
His words dug into her consciousness, and she could not believe he would be that callous. ‘You’re not blaming me for this, are you?’
He shrugged. ‘They do call you the Lady of Ice. Perhaps if you had been kinder, not so cold, he might have married you instead.’
She took a step back, feeling as if he’d slapped her. In a tremulous voice, she added, ‘You, of all people, know why I am cold to men. How can you make this my fault?’
‘It was years ago, Regina. You have to face your fear and move on.’
Which was exactly what she was trying to do. But she was done with being his pawn, obeying him without question. ‘Do not ever try to interfere with our lives again,’ she said. ‘Lachlan made his choice, and so have I.’
‘You are not married to the viscount. The ceremony was a farce.’
‘No one knows that but us,’ she pointed out. ‘And it can easily be remedied.’ She couldn’t believe that he was arguing with her after all this. ‘Dalton is a good man.’ In a low voice, she added, ‘He has offered to forgo a dowry, and he will repay your debt to Locharr.’ In a cool voice she added, ‘That is why I was supposed to wed him, is it not? You didn’t have enough money to pay the blackmailer years ago, and you borrowed from the laird.’
When he made no denial, her spirits sank. ‘Do I have any dowry at all? Or was that a lie, too?’
‘A small one. Only five thousand pounds.’ Her father sighed. ‘I made some poor investments, years ago. You’re right, that I didn’t have enough money to pay the blackmail, much less your dowry. Tavin offered to help, and he agreed that I would pay him back as part of your dowry.’ He shrugged. ‘The debt is still there, though I don’t want to give fifteen thousand pounds to MacKinloch and that governess. It was meant for you and the laird.’
‘If you borrowed money, then it must be repaid to their clan. You don’t have a choice, Papa.’
Ned’s face grew pained. ‘I feel as if I’m giving money to the woman who stole the life you should have had.’
She understood his feelings, but he was honour-bound to repay his debts. The laird’s people had suffered over the years, and her dowry would have provided for their needs. ‘You don’t have to pay the money,’ she said. ‘Dalton has offered to repay the debt on our behalf.’
‘I don’t want you beholden to him, Regina.’
Her frustration only deepened. He had no right to criticise her choices, even if he only meant to protect her. ‘You mean you don’t want to be beholden.’ She glared at him and added, ‘Dalton is a viscount and the heir to an earldom. There is nothing wrong with my choice to wed him.’
‘Does he know what happened?’ Her father regarded her with a pointed look.
‘Some of it,’ she hedged. ‘Not everything.’
Ned sighed, and his shoulders lowered. A moment later, he reached for his handkerchief and coughed again. ‘I don’t want anyone else involved. It’s not too late, Regina. If you want to walk away from this marriage, it can still be done.’
But that wasn’t what she wanted at all. With Dalton, she had found a patient man who did not force her into anything she wasn’t ready for. Last night, he had shown her that the intimacy between a husband and a wife could be wondrous.
‘I will not leave him,’ she said. ‘Not after everything he has done for me.’
‘And what will you do if the blackmailer does not stop? What if...the worst is revealed?’ he demanded.
‘I will be in Scotland, under Lord Camford’s protection.’
Her father’s coughing grew worse, and he struggled to regain control. ‘I know you believe that, Regina. But I fear you cannot hide your secrets for ever.’
She met his gaze.
