When she looked back at him again, tears swam in her eyes, making them deep, blue pools. “I was to marry Ian McHugh.”

“Just a little louder,” he encouraged.

“I was to marry Ian McHugh,” she said again.

He nodded. “Yes, I know. The betrothal was broken after your accident. I assume he cried off because of your … condition.”

She nodded solemnly. “It was mere weeks after the accident had occurred and I was still confused and afraid. But when I realized that I wasn’t going to have to marry Ian because my own family thought I was daft, I knew that if I told them differently, I would likely have to honor the agreement.”

Graeme stared at her in surprise. “You allowed your family to believe you were mad for three years because you didn’t want to marry Ian McHugh?”

“He was evil,” she whispered hoarsely. “I was so afraid of him. I tried to tell my father, but he put my concerns down as maidenly fears. He refused to believe me and it hurt, because I love my father dearly. I thought that he’d side with me. Not Ian.”

Graeme’s brows drew together. He was starting to gain a clearer idea of the whole thing and it was giving him a very bad feeling. He didn’t think that he’d like whatever it was she’d have to say to his next question.

“Why do you say he’s evil? What did he do to you, Eveline?”

Her breathing sped up. As his hands slid down her neck, her pulse jumped and accelerated rapidly. He could feel her panic. Could feel her fear.

A tear slid down her face and collided with his hand where it rested against her neck.

“He liked to corner me. He’d seek me out when no one was around. He pursued me relentlessly. He even came to my bedchamber one night. He liked to … touch me. He’d whisper threats in my ear as he touched me. He’d tell me how my life with him would be. What being his wife would be like and what I could expect when we married. He said terrible, horrifying things. He suggested things I can’t bear to repeat. I had no idea such evil existed and I don’t understand why. I never gave him insult. I never did anything to anger him and yet he seemed to hate me and he seemed determined to punish me the moment I became his wife.”

Graeme trembled with rage. He had to let go of her face for fear of hurting her. He dropped his hands, his nostrils flaring at the image of Eveline at another man’s mercy. Young, terrified, and vulnerable.

“Did he hurt you? Physically? Did he ever do more than touch you?”

“N-no. He seemed to enjoy taunting me with what was to come.”

“I’ll kill him,” Graeme said starkly.

Eveline paled. “N-nooo. You c-can’t. Please. I don’t want anyone to know.”

“I know,” he bit out. “No one else has to. But I know and I won’t let his sins go unpunished.”

Sorrow and shame crowded into her eyes and he could contain himself no longer. He pulled her into his arms and cradled her against his chest.

He had his arms full of a sweet, soft lass. His own. His wife. One he no longer had to feel guilty over desiring. She was as capable of understanding her marriage as he was. They could have a proper marriage if she so desired. He knew he did.

He kissed the top of her head and remained silent, for she wouldn’t hear what it was he had to say.

She burrowed trustingly into his embrace and he inhaled her scent, letting it linger in his nostrils as she cuddled against him. They still had much to discuss, but he was loath to end the sweetness of the embrace just yet.

For several long moments, he remained as he was, holding her tightly against him. He wanted her to trust him and the fact that she’d admitted everything to him was a huge step in the right direction. She’d told him something she hadn’t even related to her family.

When he finally pulled away from her, he remembered their very first meeting and his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Eveline, the first time we met, you stared at me and I remember having the sense that you were intensely focused on me. Even across the room when you couldn’t have seen what it was I said because I was turned sideways. But I saw you from the corner of my eye and I had the sense that you could … hear me or at least understand what it was I was saying.”

She licked her lips nervously. “ ’Tis hard to explain. I hear certain … sounds. Not like you do or I used to. There are tones that I feel in my ears, sort of a vibration, more of a sensation than anything. I feel that when you speak. It’s like a warm hum in my ears, and it was enjoyable. I was shocked and then … happy … that I could hear certain tones of your voice. It was why I later went to your chamber. I wanted to hear more.”

“That’s interesting,” he said. “It would seem you don’t have a complete hearing loss.”

She shrugged. “Mostly. I don’t hear actual words. I’ve forgotten so many sounds. I used to remember them. I was able to close my eyes and play the sound in my head. Now it’s not so easy. The sounds are gone.”

She sounded so sad that it made Graeme’s chest tighten. He couldn’t imagine being without his hearing, and yet Eveline had made the best out of a terrible situation. She’d taught herself a valuable tool in surviving her situation. If she could read words from people’s mouths, then she could effectively eavesdrop on conversations that were well away from her. The possibilities were staggering. No wonder she’d had such a miserable time in his clan. Even if his clansmen were discreet enough to make their remarks far enough out of Eveline’s hearing, if they were in viewing distance or even if they whispered, she’d know what it was they said.

She twisted her hands nervously in her lap and then looked back up at him. “I wanted to tell you. I wanted a new … start. I thought that here I could start over. That I would be away from the fear that I would be forced to marry Ian. I knew nothing of you, but resolved that you couldn’t possibly be worse than him.”

“I’m uncertain over whether to take that as a compliment,” Graeme said dryly.

She flushed. “ ’Tis only the truth I speak. I intended to tell you, but when I arrived, I was made to feel so unwelcome. I feared if people knew the truth, they might be even more daring and I also feared …”

She bit her lip and turned away, but he turned her back, his expression fierce. “What did you fear?”

“That if you knew I wasn’t daft, that any tenderness you had shown me would disappear and that you would treat me like your enemy’s daughter. Hated. Loathed. It was a terrible position to be in. Afraid to tell the truth. Wanting to have a … normal … marriage. Afraid if you knew, you would be angry at my deception.”

Graeme sighed. “You’ve worried yourself into knots, Eveline. ’Tis not a very comfortable position, is it?”

She shook her head ruefully. “Nay, it isn’t.”

“We have much more to speak on, but I need you to know this. Your place in my clan is assured. I will do anything necessary to protect you and to afford you the respect due your position as my wife. I’ll allow no one to offer insult or to harm you in any way, physically or emotionally.”

Her shoulders sagged in relief. Then she glanced up at him, her eyes wide and hopeful.

“And will our marriage be real, Graeme? Will I be a real wife to you or do we merely play roles made necessary by a king’s decree?”

A low growl sounded in his throat, a noise he knew she couldn’t hear, but he damn well hoped she could feel the vibration rumble from his chest.

He tilted her chin upward and then slid his mouth over hers in a long, leisurely kiss.

When he pulled away, she was breathless and her lips were swollen.

“You’ll be my wife, Eveline. Make no mistake about that. Our marriage will most certainly be consummated.”

CHAPTER 22

Eveline’s heart was about to hammer out of her chest. She was nervous, excited, elated. So many things all balled up into one huge knot. She felt near to exploding. She wanted to ask when? And where? And how? Or what about now? But none of those things were proper or very ladylike. The very last thing she wanted to do was appall her husband.

Wanting to keep the connection to him, to be able to still touch him, she slid her hands over his palms, twining her fingers with his.

“I do not regret having to marry you,” she said gravely.

It was very odd to find herself speaking again, to know she was talking, but not be able to hear the words coming from her mouth. The vibrations tickled her throat, and already it was sore from the sudden explosion of words.

Her tongue was dry and she slipped one of her hands from his to rub at her throat.

“Would you like water?” Graeme asked. “Your throat must ache. You aren’t used to using your voice.”

She nodded, and he rose and went to the small table by the window where a jug of water was kept.

He poured a goblet full and returned to the bed, retaking his position just in front of her, and held the cup out to her.

She took it and sipped, grateful for the cool water against the rawness of her throat. When she’d yelled earlier, it had hurt. Now she would pay for her temper.

He touched her arm to gain her attention and she looked up to see him staring intently at her.

“I do not regret our marriage either, Eveline.”

Her eyes widened. She hadn’t expected such an admission. She’d made her confession for no other reason than that she’d wanted him to know. She hadn’t done it so he would reciprocate. But she couldn’t help the intense relief or the warm glow that arose from within her at his statement. Maybe … maybe they could have a marriage more like her parents’.

“I don’t anticipate that our marriage will be easy. ’Tis obvious our families are in opposition. My views on your kin are unchanged and I do not say so to hurt you. I say it because I won’t lie to you.”

She swallowed, but held his gaze so she’d catch every word even if they did hurt.

“But I do not regret the union that was forced upon us.”

He touched her cheek in a gentle caress.

“I’ll protect you, Eveline. I’ll not let my kin do harm to you, nor will I allow them to disparage you in any way. We must decide now what we tell them. There is no reason for you to live in secrecy, hiding in the shadows any longer. Ian McHugh cannot hurt you here.”

The hand holding the goblet shook, and he carefully pried it from her hand, setting it on the floor beside the bed. Then he took both her hands in his and squeezed gently as if to offer her support.

“They’ll likely still think me daft,” she blurted. “ ’Tis true I do have a defect.”

Graeme scowled. “ ’Tis not of your doing. You suffered an accident and subsequent illness. You can speak and make known your thoughts, your needs. You can understand what others say to you. You can do everything a normal lass can do. The only difference is that you cannot hear. That does not make you daft or any less intelligent, and anyone who says differently will have me to answer to.”

Her heart lightened and warmth traveled through her chest until she was smiling. Relief was overwhelming. After living so long with the fear of discovery, with guilt over her deception, she was seeing an end to it all.

He was offering her freedom of the sweetest kind. Freedom from the stigma of being less than a person, even though she’d brought it on herself. Freedom to have a normal life, one devoid of fear. Never would she have to worry over Ian McHugh again.

“If you wish to tell your clan the truth, I’ll not argue the point,” she said. “Perhaps then they’ll know that when I do not respond, it’s not because I’m slighting them. It’s because I have not heard their address.”

The cadence of Eveline’s speech was oddly mesmerizing. It was certainly different. But to Graeme it was pleasing. Others would still likely disparage her when she spoke just because she sounded different. She still struggled over some words and she hadn’t learned to monitor the loudness of her tone—how could she have when she hadn’t practiced?

It was a task he’d set Rorie to immediately. His sister had developed an affinity for Eveline from the first day. Rorie was a solid ally for Eveline, and Graeme didn’t have to worry that Rorie would be disloyal to her. Rorie could help her find the right volume so Eveline would better know how loudly she was speaking by the way the words felt coming out of her throat.

“I think it best they know the truth,” Graeme said. “I don’t want to give them any reason to continue with their insults and disrespect. Not that you wouldn’t be due that respect if you were ‘touched.’ There’s no reason for others to levy such hatred toward that which they do not understand. But this way they’ll know what a capable, intelligent young lass you are, even more so because you have no hearing and yet you’ve managed to teach yourself the very difficult task of reading words from people’s mouths.”