Grabbing for the bed linens that had been drawn up to her chin, she jerked them childishly over her head and closed her eyes as she heard him stomp across the room.

Duncan’s heart seemed to pause its pumping in his chest as his father stepped aside and he saw the linen drawn up over the form on the bed. He had awoken only moments before to find himself in his father’s bed, his head pounding with a vicious beat that seemed to make his very teeth ache. Allistair and Ebba had been standing on either side of him. His cousin had managed a smile of relief when his eyes opened, then announced he would go inform Angus that he was awake. But Duncan had called him back as he moved away and questioned what had happened.

The explanations had stunned him mightily. He recalled standing in the doorway to his own chamber, about to leave, but that was all. Being told that someone had apparently struck him over the head and tossed a lit torch and bottle of uisgebeatha into the room, then blocked him, his mother-in-law, and his wife into the room to die a fiery death had been a shock. Learning that Iliana had tried to fend off the fire with wet linen while her mother shouted out the window for help had raised some pride in him for her ingenious thinking. But when Allistair had told him that Iliana had been engulfed by flames when they crashed into the room, nothing could have kept him in the bed. Not the throbbing in his head, not the dizziness that had assailed him as he rose, nor the way his vision had blurred frighteningly as he had stumbled out into the hall.

Only the sight of her shrouded body could bring him to a halt as the fact hit him that she was dead. He should not be so affected by her death, he knew. She had not been a good wife. She’d refused him his rights and done exactly as she’d pleased despite his orders to the contrary. And yet, his brain seemed suddenly full of her. He recalled with crystal clarity the day she had arrived. He remembered her false bravado as she had refused him his rights the morning after their wedding, saw her face alive with intelligence and good humor as she had spoken with Lady McInnes, smelled the flowery scent that clung to her and felt her in his arms, shivering with desire. He heard her passionate moans in his ears, followed by breathless laughter as he had…loved her? Aye, he’d loved her.