Mystic Mountains

"Don't you touch me. If I ain't fit to wed you then I ain't fit to be treated no better than a whore!" In her anger she lapsed into the cockney speech picked up on the ship.
    Her cheeks flamed and her hair streamed wildly about her head. Tiger 's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared before he turned his back on her and went back to tend his horse.
    "I never treated you like a whore, Bella. And have no fear, I 'll not touch you again." 
    When Tiger turned he was alone in the stable with Satan. The horse whickered, nuzzling his ear. Tiger picked up the mobcap Isabella dropped in her frenzy of anger. Crushing it in a palm he slumped onto a bag of grain, his head bent.
    Ye gods! What had he done? In all honesty he had to adm it he deserved her contempt.
     
    * * *
     
    "What in God's name have you done to that girl?"
    Thelma gave Tiger a sour look as she placed a plate of food on the table before him. "I 'm blessed if she wasn't the happiest lass in this colony when she got up this morning and her chirpiness was fit to drive me mad all day. It all changed as soon as you turned up."
    "Leave it, Thelma," Tiger snapped, his mouth set as he picked up his knife and fork. " 'Tis strictly between Bella and me."
    "Oh, Tiger!" Thelma glared at him. "I pray you haven 't done something that's going to spoil the girl's life. She was in such doldrums when she arrived here, and I've watched her blossom."
    Tiger scowled a warning, but she persisted, "She enjoyed the ball so much, she was like a little girl with her first present, and it was all thanks to y ou. And something tells me this unhappiness is all down to you too."
    "Forget it, Thelma," Tiger warned.
    He felt bad enough without Thelma rubbing salt into the wounds. He'd hurt the chit, now she would doubtless hate him. God! He deserved to rot in purgatory. He was no better than Malloy. Worse, for the Irishman was a simple lecher whereas he'd used seduction to slake his lust. He deserved her scorn; what he hadn't expected was the pain that gnawed at his innards.
    Tiger saw Thelma 's eyes narrow thoughtfully and he knew she suspected what he'd done.
    "No, Tiger. " She put her palms on the table and made a sound of disgust in her throat. "I would never have believed it of you. How could you do that to the girl? After all she's been through. I don't believe it."
    "Like I said, Thelma, keep out of it. 'Tis not your business."
    "No, you 're right." Thelma drew in a ragged breath as she folded her arms and rocked back on her heels. "But I'm the one who will have to pick up the pieces of her broken heart."
    "She won 't have a broken heart, Thelma. She's too tough. Believe me, she's already back to calling me names. She's a survivor, she'll get by."
    "She 's no tougher than . . . why, than that wee bird out there." She fluttered a hand toward the garden where a lone bird filled the air with its sweet song. "An' just when she was beginning to find some happiness in life."
    Tiger felt like slamming his fist into something. "Hell! What do you expect me to do? Marry the wench?" 
    "An' what's so bad about that idea? What is she? Too far beneath you, Tiger? Have you got so far above yourself you see the girl as only fit to warm your bed and not fit to share your life?" Stomping over to the dresser she began clattering dishes.
    "That 's more or less what she said." Tiger pushed his plate away, the food forgotten. "Where is she now?" He looked about, rubbing his nape wearily.
    "Off licking her wounds, I don 't doubt."
    Tiger put his head in his hands and groaned.
    She turned to glare at him, her chest heaving. "Men," she muttered. "Christ, us women have to place our lives in your hands an' there's not one of you that has the brains to know how our minds work."
    The chair toppled as Tiger scraped it back.
    "Enough!" he roared.
    Furious with her and himself he strode from the room.

 
     
     
    Chapter Sixteen
     
    Isabella put her ear to the door. She heard Thelma and Gillie bid the other two goodnight, then Dougal and Tiger speaking softly.
    Poor Dougal had been so confused these past few days, knowing something was dreadfully wrong but unable to get up the courage to broach the subject. She knew he 'd sensed her despair, but had been unable to fathom out the animosity between her and Tiger. Or perhaps he'd known yet preferred to keep his own counsel.
    At last she heard Dougal going out, then the floorboards creaked as Tiger paced backwards and forwards. He stopped by her door, and she could