Stealing the Bride Read Free

him. I have not ignored passion’s call so that ye can decide who shall pay my whore price. The man wants to come and dally on the green grass of spring before collecting his dowry fortune that comes with a blue-blooded wife. He’ll use me to prove his seed is good and then toss some words of how much he values ye out before riding back to his castle.”
    Dunmore cast a quick glance behind them to make sure her voice wasn’t drawing curious eyes. That only made her madder. He closed the distance between them and hooked her arm with one hand. She was slender, but not petite by any means. Elspeth dug her heels in, refusing to be moved so simply. Her brother would know that she meant it when she said no.
    “He had two children with his last wife, so his seed is nae doubted. Don’t be hating the man for something he is nae intent on doing. I am talking about getting ye a husband far above any that ye might have aspired to with the meager dowry yer clan can afford.”
    “No man comes to see a lass like me without thinking he’s going to be getting all of me. Our clan is nae powerful enough to make him worry about offending us if he leaves me with his bastard.”
    Dunmore let her go, his face full of frustration. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Then what shall ye have, Brother? Naught but another mouth to fill.”
    “Ye are nothing like the other girls he has wed. Their noble blood was thin, but yers is strong, Elspeth, and no Leask woman is considered stained for bringing a new life into this world. If ye have a child, it will be a member of this clan. Conceived during a handfasting.”
    Elspeth felt her eyes go wide. “That is an old custom and ye know the church frowns on it. We’ll both end in the stocks if Father Simon Peter hears even one word about handfasting. Even England is once more a Catholic nation with Mary Tudor sitting on the throne. Keep talking about handfasting and even being laird will not save ye from being shamed by the church for it.”
    “Handfasting is a Scottish custom and one that has been honored by our ancestors.” Her brother’s face clouded with pride. “We’re Scots, not English, and handfasting is Scottish. It does not diminish our faith. The church makes changes to suit its needs, like saying that nuns and priests can’t marry, in order to keep all their land and money. But there was a time that they did wed and they were still devoted to God. Chastity is about keeping money in hand, and I propose a handfasting between you and Monroe to gain ye a better husband than I can get ye with coin alone.”
    Elspeth began to pace. She’d always known the day would come when her brother returned from some clan with an offer of marriage for her. She snorted. At least she had assumed it would be marriage. She had spent her time dreading that she might wed an old man when she should have been fretting over being offered up like a tart just because the man was laird of one of the most powerful clans in Scotland.
    But Hayden Monroe was powerful, so much so she felt her throat tightening as if there were a noose around it. There would be plenty of her own kin who would eagerly dress her up in the finest dress she owned and present her to him. Never mind that her honor would be forfeit. Even if her brother spoke the truth about the changes in the church, it did not change the times they were living in. She’d be judged by the priest sitting up at the church in his dark robes.
    “I’ve not remained pure to whore it away, Dunmore. ’Twas something I was saving for the man who would respect me for it.”
    Dunmore lowered his voice. “Monroe does value yer purity. The man has his pick of all the daughters in Scotland, and he is riding here to meet ye.”
    “Because ye promised him that I would spread my thighs for him.”
    Dunmore frowned at her but Elspeth glared back at him.
    “What I promised him was that ye are no meek lass, and ye are not, Elspeth. Ye have steel in yer spine and