Betrayed Read Online Free PDF Page B

easily afford it, but he’d sacrificed women and sport to save enough money for his first share in the East India Company. Even in the prosperous years that followed, he’d managed his fortune wisely. Handing even a tuppence of it over to the family that had forgotten him and now used him as a messenger rankled his pride. But it was a small price to pay to be rid of them; the MacKenzies had given their word, and Michael had promised to remind them of it.
    â€œMy mother is concerned about her son’s happiness.” The use of the singular son described perfectly his own lack of position in the family. Michael wasn’t sure he cared anymore.
    â€œHow generous of her.”
    â€œIndeed, and you needn’t deal with her at all, if you so choose.”
    â€œMeaning that I can just hand over my dowry to you.”
    â€œAnd then wed my brother as planned.”
    â€œNo. Lachlan MacKenzie worked hard to earn my dowry. I’ll not see it wasted in the name of male pride.”
    His respect for her trebled, and he suddenly had a craving to know more about her. “You do not consider the betrothal binding?”
    â€œYou mean as a contract?”
    She radiated self-assurance. Perhaps Henry had not fallen to misfortune, as Mama had said. Perhaps pride had brought him low. But how, then, had he wooed and won this strong, enchanting woman? “It is a legal document.”
    Amid a soft rustling of velvet, she strolled to the hearth and stoked the fire. “The law will not enforce it.”
    A fresh blast of heat warmed his bare knees, and he smiled. “Why ever not? Dowries have been forfeited for lesser reasons than a bride’s change of heart.”
    Replacing the fire iron, she dusted her hands. “Ah, but my reasons adhere to the principle of the maxim.”
    Maxim? Michael knew little of betrothal laws. Calcutta was hardly a marriage mart for British nobility. But surely a contract was a contract. “Are you certain you’ve been given good advice by your father’s solicitor?”
    As if she were a governess addressing an naive charge, she patiently said, “The maxim in both courts and chancery states that a contract that opposes sound policy and is of dangerous tendency to the community is void. I assure you that fulfilling my betrothal to your brother flies in the face of sound policy and is fraught with dangerous tendencies to any community he inhabits.”
    Shocked by her passionate and learned discourse on the law, Michael lamely said, “Surely that law applies only to the lower classes.”
    â€œPrecisely the station of the Elliots.” Her smile was pure sarcasm.
    Stung and amused at once, Michael didn’t know whether to laugh or protest, so he took the soldier’s part and challenged. “You cannot swear duress. You chose him freely.”
    â€œIf you or any of the Elliots try to hold this troublemaker to the agreement, you will all suffer duress. I shall not be taken lightly.”
    Michael believed her. Formidable perfectly described Sarah MacKenzie. He recalled another of his mother’s condemnations. “My mother swears you have a head for manly concerns.”
    â€œHow delightful,” she said, laughing. “Your apologetic mother continues to overstep herself.”
    Familial loyalty waned and a retreat beckoned. Michael grasped it. “You know her far better than I, but my ready inclination is to agree with you. How did you and the Elliots come to this dreadful pass?”
    Surprise lent a wholesomeness to her elegant features. “Ask them. The tale is better told from their part. I doubt you would see my view of it.”
    She had a lot of pride, this Highland lass. Michael was inspired to learn all of her secrets and listen to all of her opinions.
    He moved his feet closer to the fire. “My poor brother languishes in debtor’s prison, and my mother has sunk to ranting and raving.” Securing the