Free Highland Groom by Hannah Howell

those incidents were actually attempts to kill me, then it cannae be the Camerons. Clouded though my memory is, I am fair certain I didnae ken a single member of that family until a year ago."
    "If ye ken ye didnae meet them until a year ago, then ye must be getting your memory back."
    "Nay. I dinnae recall the meeting or anything else about that time. I do have a mostly clear memory of the time several months before that and they werenae kenned by me at that time."
    "So, do ye feel certain Lady Ilsa isnae your wife."
    "I feel certain she and I were once lovers. I was certain of that the moment I kissed her. I kenned the taste of her, the feel of her," he added softly.
    "Then ye must ken that she speaks the truth when she claims ye were handfasted."
    "Nay, I just ken that we were once lovers. I dinnae recall any of the times we spent together, if any promises were made, or e'en if she was a virgin."
    Diarmot watched Sigimor, Ilsa, and Gay wander through the garden, the children skipping all around them. From the way they studied the garden, were obviously deep in a discussion, and occasionally stopped to study a plant or two, Diarmot suspected they were intending to resurrect the sadly ignored garden. He was not sure why or when it had fallen into disrepair. When he had inherited Clachthrom, he had brought the garden his uncle had neglected back to life. In the first days of his marriage to Anabelle, he had thought she had enjoyed its beauty, only to discover she used it to cuckold him repeatedly with any man willing to betray his laird. Diarmot suspected that was when he had ceased to care about the garden.
    In fact, Diarmot had the uncomfortable feeling that was when he had ceased to care about a lot of things. What little had been done to soften the starkness of Clachthrom's keep had mostly been done before his marriage and some in anticipation of it. He now did what was necessary to keep himself out of debt and his people safe and fed, but little else. It surprised him somewhat to realize he had done next to nothing to prepare his keep for Margaret, the woman he had intended to marry. He did not like to think his wretched marriage had caused him to lose all joy and interest in life.
    "She was a virgin," Nanty said after a few minutes of consideration.
    It took Diarmot a moment to realize Nanty was referring to Ilsa. "Ye were there to examine the linen, were ye?"
    Nanty gave him a look of disgust. "Ilsa has fourteen brothers and two score and seven cousins, mostly male. She was undoubtedly verra weel guarded. I am surprised ye managed to seduce her." He looked out the window to see Sigimor tickle a laughing Ilsa, then chase her around the garden obviously threatening to tickle her some more, much to the delight of the children. "She is the cherished only sister. Tis plain to see."
    Even though he had to agree, Diarmot said, "If she is so cherished and protected, why has that girl Gay been allowed near her?"
    "To help feed your greedy sons. And, I think ye ken what happened to that poor lass as weel as I do. One doesnae need to hear her tell the tale. Ye can see the truth in the way she shies away from any mon. Aye, and trembles so pitifully when she is in a room crowded with men. She nearly burrows into Ilsa.
    I think the lass was blessed when the Camerons took her in and, if she wasnae so terrified of men that she can barely speak to one, she would probably tell ye the same."
    "Ye make them sound like cursed saints, as if I blaspheme by e'en considering them liars or, worse, my enemies."
    "Ill tempered for a mon who spent last night in the arms of a fair lass, arenae ye?"
    "The woman appears at my wedding, claims things I cannae remember and none of ye ken aught about, waves some papers I dinnae recall signing under the priest's nose, and, next I ken, I am married to her. Aye, I feel certain she and I once made love. That isnae any reason to trust in her or her kinsmen. Neither is a kindness to children or a poor abused