The Duke's Dark Secret (Historical Victorian Romance) (15 page)

              “We’d best finish here and start in on supper, then.” Murron warned her cousin. “There’s plenty to do before those two meet up again, and I’ve no mind to have them bicker and in a foul mood because they’re hungry. As am I, come to think of it.” She noted.

###

              The small cottage of Dhugall and Murron MacAllarran was soon crowded. Besides the two children, Dhugal, and Morron in the two room building, Jocelyn was helping Murron with supper and Fingall was glancing nervously between the fireplace where they were working and anywhere else his eyes settled. The men were occupied in discussing a land dispute, while the women mostly stayed quiet or worked; but all but the children were acutely aware of the unspoken tension in the room between the two guests.

              “So, brother.” Dhugall said during a lull in the conversation, “Are you putting your mind to that earlier matter we discussed, by any chance? Is it crowding your thoughts even a we speak?”

              The man’s playful smile was merely a hint under his reddish beard, but Fingall knew it well. Murron recognized the tone and, guessing at the conversation, smiled at her husband’s jibe.

              Fingall shifted nervously in his seat. “I prefer we focus on my case. You know it’ll be settled tomorrow.”

              “So it will be. But surely, you aren’t a man whose only focus is on money, land, and cattle? I’ve never taken you to be so.”

              “And so I’m not.” His brother replied with a touch of irritation. He’d tried to maintain a proper and civil tone through the discussions in the company of Jocelyn; he didn’t want to be seen as a hothead. But his brother’s ribbing was annoying.

              “Then surely, you’re given to other considerations in life. The simple pleasures. Take for instance, marriage.”

              “Ah, Dhugall, enough now.” Fingall finally let his displeasure show, folding his arms and turning away.

              “Now, I’ve heard that Lowlanders and Englishmen demand a dowry for marriage. But I’ve always thought you had a romantic streak about you, that you’d marry first for love. Am I right, my dear?” He asked, including his wife in the conversation. “Do you think my own brother would let his heart settle him down rather than a keenness for gold and treasure?”

              “I should think that were so.” Murron suggested, agreeably enough.

              “And what do you think, cousin Joss,” Dhugall prodded, “What think you of a man who would place his heart’s desire above a bit of property?”

              She turned bright red as she stirred the pot over the fire. “I’m sure I do not know Mr. MacAllarran well enough to make such judgements. It seems an improper thing to ask.”

              “Well, in principle, cousin. Would you not agree it is better-”

              Fingall cut him off. “Oh, leave her be now, brother. I’ve never said I needed a dowry or that it had anything to do with my settling down. I wouldn’t mind… that is to say, I shouldn’t… you’ve gone and put me out of sorts when I should be settling my mind to arguments for tomorrow. Let’s not go on about matters that are not so pressing.”

              They went back to their discussion, and when dinner was served, the four adults exchanged news and tidings from the village and from Jocelyn’s home in Inverness. Despite resenting being pushed into discussions of love, Fingall couldn’t help looking up from his meal and catching a glimpse of the woman at the opposite end of the table. For her part, she was doing much the same and the few few times their eyes actually met, they both quickly darted away, not wanting the other to know what they were up to. Yet, feeling somewhat bolder, Fingall caught and held her gaze on the third time, drawing a smile from the corner of her lips which he returned.

              After the meal, the women cleaned up the mess while, as they usually did, the men did chatted with one another. As Jocelyn cleared his bowl, Fingall felt her hand brush against his. It felt like a charge racing through his body, the subtle warmth and touch sparking his interest. He wanted it to last, but it couldn’t and when she broke away he felt a strong desire to take her by the hand and tell her how he felt.

              The time to leave was near at hand, and he found he didn’t want to go. But as he made ready, Jocelyn caught his eye once more.

              Knowing his customs, he took on an air of formality. “Brother, I wonder if your wife’s cousin would wish to go for a walk with me. Accompanied by your good wife, of course.”

              Dhugall nodded his assent. “It is a good night for a walk. Let’s the four of us walk along the Loch after the children are in bed. Murron?”

              “Sounds lovely to me.” She enthusiastically agreed.

              Jocelyn and Fingall walked out in front of the married couple, keeping a respectful distance from one another. They started off quietly enough, both too shy to say much. At last, Fingall started things off by asking, “How long will you be visiting us in Bodhuvan?”

              “I’m not sure. My mother died two months ago-”

              “I’m saddened to hear this. I wasn’t told.”

              She nodded. “It was hard at first, but we knew it was coming. She’d been ill for some time before being called to be in God’s presence. It was not becoming I should live with my father, so I am here for now. There are other relatives I may impose upon if need be. I don’t wish to overstay my welcome.”

              “You are most welcome among us.” Fingall said. “I’m sure I can speak for my brother in this matter.”

              She smiled. “The loch is quite lovely. It reminds me of Loch Ness near my own old home. I used to go on long walks there with mother before she grew sick.”

              The walked for a long time, discussing how they’d grown up, their hopes and dreams for the future. As the shadows grew longer, they at last returned to Dhugall and Murron’s home.

              It was an idyllic walk home for Fingall, and he had to admit to himself that life was looking the brighter. With hopes of a positive outcome in his land dispute the next day, he returned to his cottage in high spirits.

              By the next evening, he would realize how wrong he’d been to live in hope of better days ahead.

###

              The two rivals stood across from one another in the field, close to blows as the discussions were winding down. Colin McIntosh had his burly arms folded before him, his blonde, full beard jutting out as the man sneered down his nose at Fingall. For Fingall’s part, he fantasized about running a sword through the man and kicking his lifeless body over a cliff. Fingall wasn’t a violent man, but he couldn’t deny that his neighbor brought out the worst in him.

              “It’s my right to graze this land.” Colin told the clan elders, who were standing nearby and between them, discussing the matter. “It’s been my family’s right for generations, and no MacAllarran can say otherwise.”

              “Men of Bodhuvan village,” Fingall declared, stamping his feet from impatience and a desire to see the matter resolved. “Every inch of this land has been MacAllarran since ancient times. In the name of neighborliness, I have tolerated McIntosh’s gradual crossing over into my lands for grazing for some years. Each year, he presses his grazing further beyond the bounds. This blackthorn-” he declared, motioning to a nearby dead tree, “has been the boundary as far as that copse of trees beyond my outlying buildings. Yet McIntosh would have you believe it is that hazel, much further beyond. My brother will bear witness to the ancient marker.”

              “I will,’ Dhugall agreed, stepping forward. “And there are four others among us, each man here, who can attest to the boundary as recognized in my childhood, by my father, and by his father before him. I will stake my honor and my family name upon this claim.”

              “I too have observed this marker,” one of the elders remarked. He was an ancient, white-bearded figure with a bent back and he required a cane to stay upright. “I do recall this very blackthorn, withered though its boughs may be now as my own limbs have become, as being the marker when I was a child. It was shown to me by the MacAllarrans.”

              “These are lies!” McIntosh shouted, and he spat on the ground. “MacAllarran and his kin have bought these proceedings.”

              This accusation drew outrage from the gathered men. The elders took only a moment to confer. “Your intemperate disposition does you no credit, Colin McIntosh.” The leader of their village said. “Leod McFarland is an honest man, and we can’t agree to your rash complaint. The decision goes to Fingall MacAllarran. You will cease to graze upon his lands and you will gift him one fat heifer of his choice.”

              The man turned brilliant scarlet and held up his clenched fist at Fingall. “You’ll try to take one of my cattle and I’ll run cold steel through your gut!”

              “It is a decision of the clan.” The village leader reminded him coldly. “If you fail to pay, you are an outlaw.”

              McIntosh snarled. “I’ll abide by the law then. One of you lot may take the heifer. If that fool steps foot upon my property, I’ll kill him.”

              “You’d be wise to take your rotten carcass off my land, McIntosh, while you can still walk.”

              The men fumed at one another, but when their backs turned, Fingall couldn’t resist a wide grin. His brother clapped him on the back as they headed back to the house.

              They had gone some distance towards the house when Mártainn approached them from the direction of the village. His face was set, the visage of a man on a mission.

              “We bring great tidings, blacksmith!” Dhugall announced. When he saw the man’s face, his attitude shifted. “What is it? You bring word to us as well?”

              “I do.” He shook his head. “The man who travelled with your cousin-”

              “My wife’s cousin.” Dhugall corrected.

              “Yes. He let slip his message as I was shoeing his horse. It seems we are to go to war after all. Donald is moving across Ross from the Isles and expects to reach Inverness in two days. He’s pledged to burn Aberdeen.”

              A long-simmering threat of war over rival claims to the lands of Clan Ross were about to be unleashed. On the one side stood Donald, Lord of the Isles, whom the clan supported. On the other, Lord Albany and his force of Lowlanders.

              Fingall cursed. “Then we go to war.”

###

              The rush of battle swirled around Fingall, and he was beginning to feel exhaustion running raw through his swinging arm. His wool-padded jacket, an aketon, was drenched in blood; so too was his two-handed axe. Dhugall’s own axe was coated as well, though he wielded a smaller one paired with a round shield. So far, the shield had saved his life from two arrows that had nearly cut him down in the field of battle. Fingall had been fortunate and merely been missed.

              “Stay near to me, brother!” He warned Dhugall, then saw a pair of Lowland men rushing the distance between themselves and him. “To me! Men of Bodhuvan, to me!” He shouted, and took a strong defensive stance.

              The first man to rush towards him he simply side-stepped and planted his axe into. The man stumbled and fell, dead. Others took his place, but by then Fingall’s kin were at his side and defending him. The enemy fell, quickly overwhelmed by the Bodhuvan fighters.

              A break in the battle on their flank gave Fingall a chance to assess things. Their numbers were far superior to the men of Albany and the south. But as he watched, he saw some of the men of Ross and the Isles giving up ground. Hundreds of dead lay about him. It was horrifying.

              His own village, from a quick glance, had suffered a few losses and casualties. Mártainn had suffered a severe blow to his head, but was up and still fighting. Colin McIntosh and his brother were missing, which didn’t trouble Fingall much. He’d seen at least three young men felled by arrows and a fourth cut down by the wall of warriors that had attacked them. However, by standing strong and working closely together, their men had managed to come through most of their battles well enough.