Turning, Iliana glanced toward the door and felt her heart sink. It was Duncan entering and he looked angry. Very angry. Almost rabid. Aye, he looked as if he could not wait to get her alone. Oddly enough, that simply stimulated an urge in Iliana to avoid such an occurrence.

Turning abruptly to Lady McInnes, she forced a smile and babbled, “Well, surely then if the invitation is still open, my lord husband and I would be pleased to stay for sup.”

She knew she’d made a mistake the moment the words left her mouth. She could actually feel her husband’s fury as he moved up behind her.

As he and Ian joined them at the table his expression promised that she would regret accepting the invitation. Sighing inwardly, Iliana listened as Ian repeated what he had learned from Duncan regarding their marriage. The news that it had been arranged to protect Iliana and her mother was not new to them, of course, but what she had not told them—quite simply because she had not known—was the exact amount of the dowry that the king had provided to ensure that the wedding took place.

There was silence for a moment after the young man revealed the amount. His parents were obviously staggered by the size of it. Iliana was shocked herself and was not sure whether to be flattered that the king would offer so much to keep her and her mother safe, or insulted that so much had to be offered for Duncan to marry her.

She got little chance to ponder that, however, as Laird McInnis snapped out of his surprise to ask, “And what will ye be doin’ with the coins?”

Iliana turned curiously toward her husband, amazed at the sudden change that overcame him. All the stiffness and anger slid from him like water off a duck’s back and his eyes, his face, his very person seemed suddenly aglow with excitement.

“I’m plowing most o’ it back into Dunbar. Between that and the coins I’ve stored away over the years, there is much I can finally get done. I plan to start by reinforcing the wall. ’Tis in rough shape and constantly threatens to crumble about our very ears. Then there is the moat; I would have it deeper, I think, and wider. Then I thought I might enlarge the castle itself, and I also wish to increase our flock o’ sheep…”

Iliana stared at her husband’s animated expression. ’Twas like seeing an entirely different person, someone completely foreign from the sullen, grim-faced man she had married. She rather liked this character. He was ambitious and enthusiastic. Energy seemed almost to be pouring off his body as he spoke. Iliana could actually feel the heat of him warming her side as she sat beside him. It was a pleasant feeling. Almost a tingling that danced along her left side, energizing her.