Graeme stared at her in surprise. “You allowed your family to believe you were mad for three years because you didn’t want to marry Ian McHugh?”
“He was evil,” she whispered hoarsely. “I was so afraid of him. I tried to tell my father, but he put my concerns down as maidenly fears. He refused to believe me and it hurt, because I love my father dearly. I thought that he’d side with me. Not Ian.”
Graeme’s brows drew together. He was starting to gain a clearer idea of the whole thing and it was giving him a very bad feeling. He didn’t think that he’d like whatever it was she’d have to say to his next question.
“Why do you say he’s evil? What did he do to you, Eveline?”
Her breathing sped up. As his hands slid down her neck, her pulse jumped and accelerated rapidly. He could feel her panic. Could feel her fear.
A tear slid down her face and collided with his hand where it rested against her neck.
“He liked to corner me. He’d seek me out when no one was around. He pursued me relentlessly. He even came to my bedchamber one night. He liked to … touch me. He’d whisper threats in my ear as he touched me. He’d tell me how my life with him would be. What being his wife would be like and what I could expect when we married. He said terrible, horrifying things. He suggested things I can’t bear to repeat. I had no idea such evil existed and I don’t understand why. I never gave him insult. I never did anything to anger him and yet he seemed to hate me and he seemed determined to punish me the moment I became his wife.”
Graeme trembled with rage. He had to let go of her face for fear of hurting her. He dropped his hands, his nostrils flaring at the image of Eveline at another man’s mercy. Young, terrified, and vulnerable.
“Did he hurt you? Physically? Did he ever do more than touch you?”
“N-no. He seemed to enjoy taunting me with what was to come.”
“I’ll kill him,” Graeme said starkly.
Eveline paled. “N-nooo. You c-can’t. Please. I don’t want anyone to know.”
“I know,” he bit out. “No one else has to. But I know and I won’t let his sins go unpunished.”
Sorrow and shame crowded into her eyes and he could contain himself no longer. He pulled her into his arms and cradled her against his chest.
He had his arms full of a sweet, soft lass. His own. His wife. One he no longer had to feel guilty over desiring. She was as capable of understanding her marriage as he was. They could have a proper marriage if she so desired. He knew he did.
He kissed the top of her head and remained silent, for she wouldn’t hear what it was he had to say.
She burrowed trustingly into his embrace and he inhaled her scent, letting it linger in his nostrils as she cuddled against him. They still had much to discuss, but he was loath to end the sweetness of the embrace just yet.
For several long moments, he remained as he was, holding her tightly against him. He wanted her to trust him and the fact that she’d admitted everything to him was a huge step in the right direction. She’d told him something she hadn’t even related to her family.
When he finally pulled away from her, he remembered their very first meeting and his brow furrowed in confusion.
“Eveline, the first time we met, you stared at me and I remember having the sense that you were intensely focused on me. Even across the room when you couldn’t have seen what it was I said because I was turned sideways. But I saw you from the corner of my eye and I had the sense that you could … hear me or at least understand what it was I was saying.”
She licked her lips nervously. “ ’Tis hard to explain. I hear certain … sounds. Not like you do or I used to. There are tones that I feel in my ears, sort of a vibration, more of a sensation than anything. I feel that when you speak. It’s like a warm hum in my ears, and it was enjoyable. I was shocked and then … happy … that I could hear certain tones of your voice. It was why I later went to your chamber. I wanted to hear more.”
“That’s interesting,” he said. “It would seem you don’t have a complete hearing loss.”
She shrugged. “Mostly. I don’t hear actual words. I’ve forgotten so many sounds. I used to remember them. I was able to close my eyes and play the sound in my head. Now it’s not so easy. The sounds are gone.”
She sounded so sad that it made Graeme’s chest tighten. He couldn’t imagine being without his hearing, and yet Eveline had made the best out of a terrible situation. She’d taught herself a valuable tool in surviving her situation. If she could read words from people’s mouths, then she could effectively eavesdrop on conversations that were well away from her. The possibilities were staggering. No wonder she’d had such a miserable time in his clan. Even if his clansmen were discreet enough to make their remarks far enough out of Eveline’s hearing, if they were in viewing distance or even if they whispered, she’d know what it was they said.
She twisted her hands nervously in her lap and then looked back up at him. “I wanted to tell you. I wanted a new … start. I thought that here I could start over. That I would be away from the fear that I would be forced to marry Ian. I knew nothing of you, but resolved that you couldn’t possibly be worse than him.”
“I’m uncertain over whether to take that as a compliment,” Graeme said dryly.
She flushed. “ ’Tis only the truth I speak. I intended to tell you, but when I arrived, I was made to feel so unwelcome. I feared if people knew the truth, they might be even more daring and I also feared …”