He was silent a moment. But he stared now into the fire. "When a man and a woman come together, their hearts must join. They must be of one body and one mind; the Great Spirit deems it so. Your bible teaches the same. Luki is very beautiful, but… her heart is not pure. I cannot join with such a woman."
"I don't understand."
"She seeks to lure me with her body. She cannot. What I seek is much deeper. Her spirit is unclean. I will not take her to my bed and make her mine."
"But I’m a married woman, don't you realize that I am unclean?"
"What I see in you is clean, Hannah. He has touched you, but he has not taken your heart. You are not of one body, not of one soul. Had you been, I would never have interfered in your life."
She stared into the fire now. "Yes, yes your right about that. But how did you know that? How could you know so much about me?"
"Your eyes tell much about you. I look into your eyes and see your soul."
She turned her head in question. "Have you read the bible?"
"Some yes, much I do not understand, and yet, much is the same as the Arapaho believe."
She glanced at him, "I'm sorry, I cannot be your wife Lone Wolf, it would make me an adulterer. I could not bare the shame of it. But… I thank you, for asking." She smiled at him now.
"Perhaps, but you have never given him your heart, that much I know… So, in my eyes, you are not married. Only when the heart is given, are you truly married."
"That seems a bit too simple. The law doesn't see it that way."
"A woman carries her heart in her eyes. How did you come to be with him? For you do not belong with him. The Great Spirit would never put good and evil together."
She looked down now, as though ashamed. "My folks sold me for two horses."
He turned away, shaking his head.
"It is not a marriage sanctioned by your God or even the Great Spirit."
"Don't Indians often marry that way?"
"Yes, but most of the time, they marry with their hearts. They choose them because they want them for a wife. They offer their family many horses for them."
"Horses are what Liam offered. So, I guess it's not so different after all."
"But he offered for lust, not love."
"And how did you figure that out?"
"You are a beautiful woman, probably a child when he took you. But you had never known a man."
Her eyes widened.
"I've heard that Indians sometimes have more than one wife. I could never marry a man who loved other women too."
He smiled. "You do not want to share your husband?"
"No. Not if I gave my heart to him."
Again, he smiled. "That is good to know, Hannah."
"Liam wanted me. I just didn't want him."
"So, your souls are not together."
"No, that's true, but in the eyes of the law, I am married to him. I can't change that. It would be illegal to marry another."