Fiona looked from him to her sister. “Murien, you know St. John was searching for that ring. There is no excuse for what you did.”

“I didn’t steal it. I was going to return it to St. John as soon as—” She closed her lips over the words.

Malcolm unclenched his jaw. “You were waiting for the ring to prove its magic, weren’t you? But nothing happened, so you kept it, waiting.”

Murien’s face flooded with color. “Don’t laugh! You took it to Kat, but nothing happened when it was on her finger, either.”

“Nay,” Malcolm said, eyeing Murien’s closed fist with interest. “Something did happen.”

Devon’s gaze went to Kat. She flushed and shrugged. “It grew warm, that’s all.”

Murien’s expression tightened. “Warm? How warm?”

“Very. So much so that I—well, I could feel it inside.”

“I don’t understand.” Murien peered at the ring. “I’ve held it and held it and it still feels cold. So cold that it makes my hand ache and—”

Fiona took the ring from Murien. “You owe St. John an apology.” She crossed the room and handed the talisman ring to Devon. “Here you are, sir. I ask for forgiveness for the actions of my family.”

Devon looked down at the ring. It lay against his palm, sparkling as if newly minted. That was one of the ring’s odder characteristics—that it never appeared old, but always new.

Always new. The words echoed softly through Devon’s mind. Would that he could keep his feelings for Kat always new. Then he’d have no compunction about marrying her.

Marrying her. Good God, where had that come from?

Did he want to marry Kat? His fingers curled over the ring and he searched his heart for the answer. It was not long in coming…the truth was that he loved Kat Macdonald. And in a way he’d never thought himself capable.

Of the many women he’d once thought he’d loved only to become un-enamored of them in a remarkably short time, he’d never once awakened with the urgent need to tell them some news or thought. He’d never before wondered about their opinions on matters near to his heart or found himself storing up questions that might loosen some bit of information about them or their thoughts and feelings.

The reason his love for Kat was so different was that he had been different. In getting her to open to him, he’d opened his own heart and soul to her. And in doing so, he’d found a woman of gentleness and compassion that answered something deep inside him.