“No, unfortunately you can’t, Douglas,” Colin said. “But I can and I firmly intend to. She swore to obey me when we were wedded but she hasn’t yet gotten beyond the abstract to the concrete.”
“How the devil could I obey you when you were in Edinburgh? Ignoring me, I might add. You were happy as a lark in that damned house with the black hole in the drawing room ceiling, weren’t you?”
“Ah, a bit of anger, Joan? Perhaps you would like to tell everyone here why I have remained in Edinburgh?”
“Your reasons were absurd. I reject them. I spit upon them.”
Colin sighed. “It’s difficult. I wish to deal with you properly but I can’t, not with your damned brothers hovering about. Douglas, Ryder, why don’t you remove your wives from this bedchamber? Then I can question Joan suitably.”
“No, I want Alex and Sophie to stay here! I’m hungry. It’s time for lunch.”
“Ah,” Colin said. “And which of the wives is to take MacPherson his lunch?”
“Go to the devil, Colin.”
Ryder laughed. “Well, we’ll have our answer soon enough. Unless they wish MacPherson to starve, they will have to take him food sometime. Then we will know.”
“Why did you remain in Edinburgh, Colin?” Douglas asked.
“To protect my wife,” Colin said simply. “And my children. That morning when she had the cut on her cheek, it was from a bullet ricocheting off a rock and striking her. I couldn’t allow her to remain in Edinburgh with me. I thought she would be safe here, and she was until MacPherson decided to leave Edinburgh and go to ground back here.”
“What children?” Ryder asked, looking at his brother-in-law blankly.
“Not again,” Sinjun said. “I have two stepchildren, Philip and Dahling. You will meet them shortly. They will adore you, Ryder, as all children do. They might not even run screaming from you, Douglas, if you would stop your scowling.”
Douglas was giving Colin a brooding look. Finally he sighed. “There is much here to consider. I think I shall take my wife to bed—so she can rest, naturally—then I would like to meet my new niece and nephew.”
“Come along, Sophie, you may accompany Alex. If I get you alone, I just might behave in a manner ill-suited to our blissful married state.”
When Colin and Sinjun were alone, Colin shoved off the mantel and strode over to her. His expression was bland but his eyes, those beautiful dark blue eyes of his, were hot with anger. He sat on the bed beside her. He said nothing, merely leaned down over her, his face inches from hers. He looked into her eyes. Finally he said very quietly, “You have gone too far this time. I will tolerate no more insults from you, no more interference in my affairs. Where is MacPherson?”
“If I tell you he might be able to hurt you. Please, Colin, can’t I continue with my plan?”
He leaned back a bit and crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me this plan of yours.”
“I am delivering Robert MacPherson up to the Royal Navy. I understand they aren’t terribly discriminating about who is delivered up to them, whether or not the man wishes to be there or not, you understand.”
“Oh yes, I understand.” He looked away from her now. “It isn’t a bad plan,” he said mildly. “Which ship of the Royal Navy do you have in mind?”
“I sent Ostle to Leith to see which ships were available to us. There’s bound to be at least one, don’t you think?”
“Yes, if not right this minute, then not long from now. However, there is something you couldn’t have known that makes it impractical.”
“And what is that, pray?”
He grinned at the rancor in her voice. “The word clan comes from the Gaelic clann and means simply ‘children.’ So you see, the Clan MacPherson are really the children of MacPherson. If you eliminate one of the clan, or children, the others are bound to seek revenge and retribution. If you make the son of the laird disappear, the Kinross clan will be the prime suspects, and there will be violence. It will escalate with scarce any provocation at all. It’s a vicious cycle. Do you understand?”
Sinjun nodded slowly. “I didn’t realize. Oh dear, what shall I do now, Colin?”
“First, you will promise me that you will never again take matters into your own white hands. You will never again keep secrets from me. You will never again seek to protect me from any enemies.”
“That’s a lot to promise, Colin.”
“You did it before and you lied to me. I will give you another chance, mainly because you’re too weak for me to beat you with any sort of efficacy.”
“I will promise if you will promise the same thing.”
“I’ll beat you despite your weakness.”