And it was almost as if he was goading her.
She stared at him, but her stare was blind.
‘I won’t...hit you.’
‘What have I possibly said to deserve that?’
‘You judged me.’
‘I did. Tell me what’s wrong about my judgement.’
‘You want the truth?’
‘Tell me something I don’t know,’ he said wearily and her hand itched again.
Enough. No more. Say it and get out.
He wanted the truth? He wanted something he didn’t know? She took a deep breath and steadied.
Let him have it, then, she told herself. After all, the only casualty was her pride, and surely she ought to be over pride by now.
‘Okay, then.’ She was feeling ill, cold and empty. She hated what she was about to say. She hated everything that went with it.
But he was her husband, she thought bitterly. For now. For better or for worse she’d made the vows. The marriage would need to be annulled and fast, but meanwhile the truth was there for the telling. Pride had to take a back seat.
‘I make no profit. I won’t inherit the castle, no matter how married I am,’ she told him. ‘Believe it or not, I did this for you—or for your inheritance, for the Duncairn legacy Eileen cared so much about. But if I can’t see you without wanting to hit out, then it’s over. No lies are worth it, no false vows, no inheritance, nothing. I’ve tried my best but it’s done.’
Done? The world stilled.
It was a perfect summer’s day, a day for soaking in every ounce of pleasure in preparation for the bleak winter that lay ahead. But there was no pleasure here. There was only a man and a woman, and a chasm between them a mile deep.
Done.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked at last.
‘I mean even if we managed to stay married for a year, I can’t inherit,’ she told him, in a dead, cold voice she scarcely recognised. ‘I’ve checked with two lawyers and they both tell me the same thing. Alan left me with massive debts. For the year after his death I tried every way I could to figure some way to repay them but in the end there was only one thing to do. I had myself declared bankrupt.’
‘Bankrupt?’ He sounded incredulous. Did he still think she was lying? She didn’t care, she decided. She was so tired she wanted to sink.
‘That was almost three years ago,’ she forced herself to continue. ‘But bankruptcy lasts for three years and the lawyers’ opinions are absolute. Because Eileen died within the three-year period, any inheritance I receive, no matter when I receive it, becomes part of my assets. It reverts to the bankruptcy trustees to be distributed between Alan’s creditors. The fact that most of those creditors are any form of low-life you care to name is irrelevant. So that’s it—the only one who stood to gain from this marriage was you. I agreed to marry you because I knew Eileen would hate the estate to be lost, but now... Alasdair, I should never have agreed in the first place. I’m sick of being judged. I’m tired to death of being a McBride, and if it’s driving me to hitting, then I need to call it quits. I did this for Eileen but the price is too high. Enough.’
She took off her shoes, then wheeled and started walking.
Where was a spacecraft when she needed one? ‘Beam me up, Scotty...’ What she’d give to say those words.
Her feet wouldn’t go fast enough.
‘Jeanie...’ he called at last but she didn’t even slow.
‘Take your car home,’ she threw over her shoulder. ‘The agreement’s off. Everything’s off. I’ll see a lawyer and get the marriage annulled—I’ll do whatever I need to do. I’d agreed to look after the castle for the next few weeks but that’s off, too. So sue me. You can be part of my creditor list. I’ll camp in Maggie’s attic tonight and I’m on the first ferry out of here tomorrow.’
‘You can’t,’ he threw after her, sounding stunned, but she still didn’t turn. She didn’t dare.
‘Watch me. When I reach the stage where I hit out, I know enough is enough. I’ve been enough of a fool for one lifetime. Foolish stops now.’
THERE WAS ONE advantage to living on an island—there were only two ferries a day. Actually it was usually a disadvantage, but right now it played into Alasdair’s hands. Jeanie might be heading to Maggie’s attic tonight but she’d still be here in the morning. He had time.
He needed time. He needed to play catch up. Jeanie was right: if she’d been a business proposition, he would have researched before he invested.
An undischarged bankrupt? How had he not known? The complications made his head spin.
The whole situation made his head spin.
He tried to get her to ride home with him but she refused. Short of hauling her into the SUV by force he had to let her be, but he couldn’t let her walk all the way. He figured that was the way to fuel her fury and she was showing enough fury as it was. He therefore drove back to the castle, found her car keys hanging on a nail in the kitchen, drove her car back along the track until he reached her, soundlessly handed her the keys, then turned and walked back himself.
She must have spent a good hour trying to figure out how not to accept his help, or maybe she didn’t want to pass him on the track. Either way, he was back at the castle when her car finally nosed its way onto the castle sweep.
Maybe he should have talked to her then, but he didn’t have all the facts. He needed them.
Luckily he had help, a phone call away.
‘Find anything there is to find out about Jeanie Lochlan, born on Duncairn twenty-nine years ago,’ he told his secretary. Elspeth was his right-hand woman in Edinburgh. If anyone could unearth anything, it was her.
‘Haven’t you just married her?’ Elspeth ventured.
‘Don’t ask. Just look,’ he snapped and whatever Elspeth heard in his voice he didn’t care.
Jeanie was back in her rooms downstairs. He was in his sitting room right over hers. He could hear her footsteps going back and forth, back and forth. Packing?
Finally he heard her trudge towards the front door.
He met her at the foot of the castle stairs and tried to take an enormous suitcase from her.
‘I can manage.’ Her voice dripped ice. ‘I can cope by myself.’
And what was it about those few words that made him flinch?
She was shoving her case into the back of her battered car and he was feeling as if...feeling as if...
As
