The housekeeper squeezed Katie’s shoulders, then shook her head. “No, ye arenae, hen,” she said grimly. “He does the same tae a’ the new lassies, especially the bonny ones. It is the way he looks at ye. Try tae keep out o’ his sight if ye can, an’ after a while ye will get used tae him an’ he will get used tae you. He is a nasty bit o’ work an’ ye must be careful, but.”
Katie nodded. She was scared to death.
“If ye have any trouble wi’ him, go tae see Mistress Minna,” the housekeeper advised. “They are like chalk an’ cheese. She is kind an’ considerate, an’ he is selfish an’ spiteful. Remember what I said, hen. Stay out o’ his way.”
Katie nodded. “Aye, Missus Mackintyre, I will.”
* * *
Now, as Jamie stumbled from the parlor up to his bedroom that night, he thought of the new chambermaid, and a surge of desire shot through him. She was so luscious! Why not go and fetch her now and relieve himself of this unsatisfied lust? Yes. The servants’ quarters were only a few steps away. Why not?
Accordingly, he staggered along to the end of the corridor with the passage that went downstairs to where the servants slept and opened the door of each chamber to see who was there. Two women slept in each tiny chamber, but fortunately for him, Jamie found the maid he was seeking almost at once, in the second room. Conveniently, her bed was just beside the door. He almost laughed with glee.
He leaned over and dragged her out of her bed, then pulled her onto the floor and hauled her to her feet.
Katie had been sleeping soundly, but when she felt the sudden rough grasp of two hands on her shoulders, she screamed, but Jamie thrust his face into hers and hissed: “Be silent, or I will make you wish you had never been born.”
“What - what are ye goin’ tae dae to me?” Katie asked desperately. “Dinnae hurt me, please. I will dae whatever you want, I swear, M’Laird.”
“I will not hurt you as long as you are a good lass.” Jamie told her, his voice as harsh as broken glass. “But don’t disobey me or you will be very sorry!”
However, he did not notice that the maid who shared a room with Katie had woken up too. She was too scared to cry out, but she followed them upstairs as silently as she could, wearing nothing but her nightgown, and ran to fetch the nearest guard on duty.
* * *
Jamie was on fire with lust as he pushed the young woman up the stairs before him, so much so that he found himself unable to wait any longer to have his way with her. He pushed her onto a step and frantically began to unbutton his breeches.
Katie, terrified, began to scream again, then she tried to push him backwards down the stairs, but she did not have the strength.
Now that she was fighting him, Jamie was enjoying himself even more. He loved to see fear in a woman’s eyes. Then suddenly he realized that despite all the temptation and stimulation, in spite of the fact that he had rendered this woman absolutely helpless and completely submissive, his body would not cooperate. He looked down at his shaft, which lay flaccid and limp in his hand. He growled, just as his sister’s hand landed on his shoulder and shoved him sideways away from Katie.
Jamie felt a jolt of agony as his shoulder hit the wall behind him with enough force to ensure a great purple bruise in the morning. He had no time to worry about it, however, as two of the biggest of the guards came to stand over him. Neither of them laid a hand on him, but their looming presence was enough to sober him up almost instantly, as was the hard slap that his sister administered as he turned to look at her.
“Are you all right, Katie?” she asked fearfully, noting the welts on the girl’s wrists where her brother had gripped her.
Katie nodded, quite unable to speak. Tears were coursing down her cheeks, and she was trembling uncontrollably. Minna took off her cloak and put it over the young woman’s shoulders. At last Katie got to her feet, assisted by Minna, who put her arm around her waist and led her carefully downstairs to her room, followed by the guards.
By this time the corridor to the servants’ quarters was filled with curious staff members, all eager to find out what had happened. When she saw Katie, the housekeeper rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the young woman, holding her close and rocking her like a baby. Her gaze met Minna’s over Katie’s shoulder, and Minna thought she had never seen such anger in anyone’s face in her life.
“Come and see me in the morning,” she told Missus Mackintyre. “Will she be all right tonight?”
“She can sleep in my room,” the housekeeper answered. “I will take care o’ her.”
Minna nodded. “I will place two guards at the end of the corridor and give them my authority to prevent anyone from coming in here. I am sorry about all this.”
“It is no’ your fault, Mistress,” the housekeeper answered angrily. “If ye don’t mind my sayin’ so, your brother is a bad man.”
“I agree with you,” Minna said grimly. “I will send down a little whisky to calm Katie down. Goodnight, Katie. Once again, I am sorry.”
Katie shook her head. “No, Mistress. It was no’ your doin’. Thank ye for savin’ me.”
Minna patted her shoulder, then sighed and went upstairs, after telling one of the guards to fetch the whisky, and stationing another two at the entrance to the servants’ quarters. She knew from bitter experience that there was absolutely no point in trying to speak any sense to Jamie now. She stumbled up to her room and flopped onto her bed. She was unable to sleep, however, since she was replaying the incident she had just witnessed over and over again in her mind.
Her brother had deliberately embarked on a campaign of intimidation against everyone in the castle. No-one would cross him because he would burst into flames at the slightest provocation, and the reason why he had victimized the newest staff member in the castle was simply because he could. He liked having power over people, and was proud of the fact that he could do it. He was mean-spirited and vicious, and although he was her brother, Minna found it very hard to love him.
She fell asleep shortly after the first gray streaks of dawn began to paint the night sky, having tossed and turned for the remaining few hours of the night.
It was only when Lorna drew the curtains and shook her awake that Minna opened her eyes and moaned.