THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

enough whisky in the last three hours to support the conclusion. He stomped down the stairs. He had to get to the carpenter before the man started crafting the chapel pews. There was nay hope for it; the precious wood would now have to be used to make a verra sturdy door for Beth’s cell.
      In the kirk, after speaking with the carpenter, Duncan ran a gentle hand over the chiseled words on his first wife’s simple two-foot square stone marker. Tears formed then threatened to spill.
      “I’m so sorry, lass. I did not appreciate ye full well while ye lived.” This woman, who had never sought him out, who had never returned a kiss, had been the best of the lot.
      His throat tightened as he whispered, “Someday, Mary, ye will have the fine bronze effigy I promised. Yer likeness will hold a lily in yer right hand.” She’d ken the reason he would choose the symbol of the Blessed Virgin. “My shield will be on yer chest, and our babe in yer left arm. Aye, and yer father’s shield will shine above ye. All who look upon it from then until forever will ken ye were the only jewel in my thorny crown of wives.”
    He ran a slow hand over the letters again then backed away. He blinked, removing the wetness blurring his vision and took a deep breath. He had to find his blacksmith.
    The new door hinges the smitty labored over would have to be turned into brackets so a beam as wide as his palm could be dropped across the door the carpenter now grumbled over.
    “My lord!”
    Halfway across the bailey, Duncan turned to find Isaac running toward him, Rachael being dragged behind him like a dingy in a ship’s wake, flopping and stumbling, her short legs no match for Isaac’s length of limb or speed.
    “Slow, Isaac! Dinna be abusing your ladywife in such a disgraceful manner.”
    When they came abreast of him, Rachael could barely catch her breath.
    “My lord, Rachael has something of great import to tell ye. Ye must pay heed.” Isaac looked about, his gaze settling on the hay barn. “We can talk in private over there.”
    Twenty minutes later, Duncan shook his head in disbelief. “Ye mean to say she does this scraping of her body with a blade daily?”
    “Aye, my lord,” Rachael mumbled. “‘Tis the way of her people.”
    “‘Tis foolishness in the extreme,” Duncan growled as he searched through the night’s memories seeking the truth of Rachael’s words. He had thought it odd his ladywife’s legs felt like porcelain, and had been most aroused finding her underarms naked and had licked. “Humph!”
    He turned to Isaac. “Tell the carpenter he can stop grumbling and use his precious oak for the pews, and then release Young Kevin from guard duty.” As Rachael turn to follow her husband, Duncan stayed her with a hand. “Nay, lady, I want another word with ye, if ye dinna mind.” He could see that she did, but she stayed as he commanded.
    With Isaac gone, Duncan stepped close enough to Rachael to bury his boot tips beneath her skirts. He then puffed out his chest and stretched to his full height. Rachael immediately blanched.
    Good. He had her attention.
    “Now, dear lady, will ye be kind enough to tell why I—being completely overwrought with grief and horror—heard ye and my lady laughing to kill yerselves just moments ago?”
    “Uhmm...” Rachael’s face turned the color of whey. “We...umm...we were discussing ye finding her with a green face, my lord.”
    Narrowing his eyes, he crossed his arms and waited. She couldna lie any better than his ladywife.
    Rachael chewed on her lower lip. Apparently understanding he wasn’t about to let her go until he had the whole of it, she finally blurted, “’Twas about yer manner of tupping, my lord.”
    “And this is a matter for laughter?” Outrage infused his face with heat.
    “ Nay, my lord! ‘Twas just the manner of Beth’s telling...” She looked to the floor. “...about her flowers and ye snuffling and sniffing her skirts, my lord.”
    He cocked his head to better examine Rachael’s face, and as he suspected, found her flushed and struggling not to laugh.
    Exasperated, he cautioned, “One word of this—”
    She held up her hands. “Oh nay, my lord! I would never think to do such a thing.”
    He had little doubt she’d already told Isaac, but he waved her away. Hopefully, ‘twas the end of it.
    Until he faced Beth again.
    And how on earth would he do that? Ack! He’d been brutish to the extreme in his treatment of her—though given