The words wouldn’t leave her head as she went to her bedchamber. James would never do that to her… marry her off to a man the age her da would be if he were still alive. He would not marry her off at all since Ruddock, Sorrell’s husband, had granted her and Willow the right to choose their husbands once James had pledged the clan’s loyalty to him.

She had met Lord Polwarth on several occasions throughout the years. He was a man of wealth and prestige. He had married twice and buried both wives, neither having given him any children. She remembered him as a man with fine features, good height and solid build. He lived a good three hour ride from here, and the last she had seen him was at her da’s funeral. So what brought him here now?

Thaw guided her down the stairs and though she hadn’t needed his help, having easily mastered the stairs she had traveled up and down since she was a bairn, she followed his lead. It was good practice for him.

Eleanor was waiting for her in the Great Hall.

“Cook has something for Thaw and I thought I’d take him outside while you talk with James and the guest,” Eleanor said.

Thaw barked when he heard Cook mentioned and he eagerly went with Eleanor after permission from Snow. She paused at the solar door, her stomach suddenly growing unsettled.

James is well aware that you are to marry a man of your own choosing.

Why then this unease?

Snow knocked, hurried to be done with it.

“Snow, how wonderful to see you again.”

Snow was glad Eleanor had informed her that Lord Polwarth was in the solar with James, since she didn’t recognize his voice and certainly would have startled when he greeted her so robustly and took her hand to lead her to a chair.

“You remember Lord Polwarth, Snow?” James asked.

“I do,” she said after sitting. “He was a good friend of our father’s.”

“And I miss him to this day,” Lord Polwarth said.

“What brings you here, Lord Polwarth?” Snow asked, unable to contain her trepidation.

James responded. “Lord Polwarth has an offer for you, Snow, which he insisted I present to you.”

“It is not of James’s doing. It is my thought and my thought alone,” Lord Polwarth said, taking full responsibility.

“And you are under no obligation to accept it,” James added quickly.

Snow’s stomach churned more and more with every word spoken, sending an awful unease to run through her, even though James said she was under no obligation to agree to the offer. It also sounded obvious that James hadn’t wanted to present the offer to her, that he already knew her answer. So why bother her with it?