“He certainly seems to take hisguardingye seriously.” Greer giggled again. “’Tis a wonder he didna crawl into the bed with ye.”
Juliana felt her face warm again. Luckily, no one had walked in on them when hehadcrawled into bed to get her warm. A totally different kind of warmth flooded through her as she remembered, settling into a strange pulsing between her thighs. “That would not have been proper.”
“Aye, it would have been,” Sima said. “Ye are handfasted, nae?”
“Handfasted?” Greer stared at her.
“Ye didn’t tell us that.” Aileen’s voice sounded accusing.
Juliana blinked. Rory must have told the laird and his brother—and Sima—the whole story about their ruse. “He only said that to convince the Camerons to let us go. He did notmeanit.”
The sisters exchanged glances again, and this time neither of them smiled. Juliana looked from one to the other. “What? Maybe saying we were handfasted was a lie, but it worked to help us get away. It is not like I am actually going to hold Rory to it. He knows I do not intend to marry.”
“But ye agreed to it, aye?” Sima asked.
“I…I… Yes, I did.” Juliana frowned. “But I did not have a choice. Not if we were going to be believed.”
Aileen and Greer glanced at each other again.
“Did Rory just tell Neal Cameron?” Greer asked.
Juliana frowned. “No. His father was there, too.”
Aileen looked thoughtful. “Anyone else?”
“Well…yes. We were in the great hall, so I imagine a whole lot of people—at least the ones nearby—heard it. But that still does not mean anything.”
“I am afraid it does,” Sima said.
“What?” Juliana shook her head. “Rory was not actually proposing to me.”
“’Twould have been easier if he had.”
Juliana stared at her. “Why?”
Sima studied her for a moment before answering, as if she were trying to choose her words carefully. “In Scotland, a handfasting is as binding as marriage. At least, for a year and a day. After that, either of ye may decide to leave.”
“Yes, I understand that is a somewhat common practice,” Juliana replied, “but only if both parties meant what they said at the time. This was simply a ploy to get us away.”
“’Tis still binding,” Greer said.
“Especiallysince there were witnesses,” Aileen added. “The Camerons and the MacLeans all heard Rory declare ye to be handfasted. And ye said ye agreed. That makes it real, whether ye like it or not.”
“That cannot be true! In England, a woman—or a man—can cry off a betrothal. Especially when nothing…nothing…carnalhas happened.” Juliana lifted her chin. “That is what we will do.”
That remark was met with total silence. Juliana looked from one woman to another, an odd prickling of trepidation beginning at her nape. “What is it?”
“Ye cannot simply ‘cry off,’ as ye say. Ye are both honor-bound to uphold your oaths,” Sima finally replied. “By Scottish law, ye are legally married.”
“But…but that would mean…”
Greer giggled, and Aileen looked amused. Juliana didn’t see anything funny in it at all. They didn’t understand that she never intended to let another man near her again. Not inthatway. She caught Sima watching her and struggled to maintain composure. This could not be happening. “I would be Rory’s wife?”
“YeareRory’s wife,” the older woman answered. “In every sense of the word.”
Why had Rory not explained what handfasting really meant? Juliana had asked herself that question dozens of times over the last several hours since she’d returned to her bedchamber to rest.
Not that she was getting any rest. Her mind was galloping full speed, like a horse bolting from an open stable door. Exceptherdoor was closed, not open. Actually locked, from what Sima had said. There was no escape—at least for a year and a day—so perhaps banging her head against a wall would more aptly fit how she presently felt.
