A Highland Knight's Desire (A Highland Dynasty Book) (15 page)

A healer? Another cannot assume Duncan’s care
. After she sat, Meg tapped the pincers of the claw and shook her foot. “Please, call me Lady Meg. Now—”

He drew his eyebrows together, looking so much like Duncan, though his face was etched and weathered with deep lines. “Why the blazes did he bring you here?”

Must she relay the whole adventure? As swiftly as she could, Meg told him everything she thought pertinent about their journey, leaving out certain details, like kissing Duncan and pretending to be his wife. Divulging that wee tidbit of information could find her in a world of trouble, if not completely ruined.

“It seems you’ve had quite a harrowing adventure.” His harsh features softened. “You are welcome at Kilchurn, m’lady. I shall have my wife appoint you with a suitable chamber straight away.”

“Oh, no.” Meg stood. “I need to see to Sir Duncan’s healing.”

“Are you an herbalist, a healer?” he asked.

She hated to lie. “Aye, of sorts.” She’d applied Duncan’s ointment and helped him with the leeches. That had to count for something.

He scratched his grey beard. “’Tis a bit untoward . . .”

“Please. He saved my life. And I . . . I’m in training to be a nun.” She stood and clasped her palms together. “We’ve been traveling together for days. He is unconscious. What harm could befall me?”

Lord Campbell had immediately stood when Meg rose, as was courteous, but worry now etched his weathered face. “How long has he had the sweat?”

“A day.”

“And you’ve been applying a Gypsy salve?”

“One purchased by Duncan himself.” Her mind rifled through the list of herbs Hubert, the healer at Tantallon, kept on hand. “He needs an astringent for certain. Ah . . .” She held up her finger. “St.-John’s-wort.” She sounded like a sheep-brained simpleton, but Lord Campbell couldn’t keep her from Duncan’s side.

“We must do everything possible to see my son survives this.”

Meg crossed herself. “I’ve been praying to the Holy Mother ceaselessly.”

He gave her a grim nod. “If you desire to assist the healer, I see no harm in it.”

She could have thrown her arms around Lord Glenorchy’s neck and hugged him. “Thank—”

He held up a finger. “But as soon as he rouses, I shall have a retinue to accompany you home. Duncan sent your brother a missive?”

“Aye.”

“Thank heavens for that. I wouldn’t want the Earl of Angus in a rage because he thinks the Campbells have absconded with his sister.” Lord Glenorchy shook his head. “We’ve enough troubles without creating them for naught.”

A heavyset woman opened the door and bustled into the solar. She carried a basket, and panted heavily as if she’d just run a distance. “M’lord. I came . . . as soon . . . as I received word.”

Lord Campbell gestured with an outstretched palm. “Mistress Alana. This is Lady Meg. She has been tending Duncan’s wounds whilst they traveled from Northumberland. Between the pair of you, I trust you can set my heir to rights.”

The matron frowned in Meg’s direction, but bowed her head respectfully. “Very well, m’lady. We’ve no time to waste.”

Meg stepped beside her. “Agreed.”

Following the healer up the winding tower stairs, Alana glanced at Meg over her shoulder. “What happened to the lad?”

Meg hardly regarded Duncan as a lad, but relayed the same story she’d given to his father.

“Gypsy salve?” the healer asked. “’Tis a wonder he survived.”

“Sir Duncan said Gypsies put all sorts of mysterious essences in their healing ointments.”

Mistress Alana grimaced. “Aye, like sheep’s piss.”

Meg covered her mouth to hide her gasp. “I pray not.”

“Well, we shall have a look. We cannot have Sir Duncan succumbing to the sweat.” She exited at the third landing and pushed through a chamber door.

Duncan rested on the bed, lying on his side. He didn’t appear to be awake.

Meg hid the claw behind her back. She recognized Duncan’s brother standing with five other women. “Sir John? You’ve returned.”

“I arrived but moments behind you.” Striding forward, John clasped her hand. “I feared this would happen, given his fall.”

She glanced past him to five women, all staring at her with exasperated expressions, as if she were personally responsible for Duncan’s state of health. “Sir Duncan held on right until the last. As soon as we docked at the Dunstaffnage pier, the fever got the better of him.”

“Using Gypsy salve, he was,” Alana said, frowning and arching her brow toward Meg.

Everyone in the room gasped.

Meg suddenly wished she’d taken the soldier’s advice and stayed at Dunstaffnage until Duncan’s fever broke.

John regarded the women over his shoulder. “Forgive me. These are my sisters, Helen, Gyllis, Marion and Alice.” He gestured to a lovely older woman wearing a grey wimple. “And my mother, Lady Margaret.”

Meg curtsied. “I wish we could be making our acquaintance under less dire circumstances.”

“Aye,” Alana said. “Everyone out and let me work. You too, Lady Meg.”

No
. Meg planted her feet firmly. Lord Glenorchy had given her a direct order to work beside the healer. “I will not leave Duncan’s side.”

“I, too, would like to stay,” Lady Margaret said. “Though he did not come from my womb, Duncan is my son.”

Alana knitted her brows. “Very well. You’ll need a strong stomach. His wound is on his arse.”

Lady Margaret arched a dour eyebrow at Meg. “Well then, ’tis not proper for you to be here.”

Must everyone stand in her way? Did no one understand that she would
not
leave Duncan’s side? “I have been tending his tender behind for days.” She stood a wee bit taller and clenched her fist. “I intend to take up the veil after I return to Tantallon. Besides, Duncan was injured during my rescue. I am
personally
responsible for his recovery.”

Alana set her basket on the table and moved to the bed. “If you’re both staying, you can help me remove his chausses.”

Lady Margaret picked up a folded plaid from the footboard. “Drape this across him for modesty’s sake.”

Meg chewed her bottom lip. She should have thought to do that at the inn. She wouldn’t have seen quite so much of him if she had.

Once Duncan’s sleeping form was covered, Lady Margaret turned to Meg. “You hold the blanket down while we take care of the rest.”

She nodded. At least they had allowed her to stay.

The two women quickly removed his shoes, chausses, and braies. Alana lifted the blanket and hissed. “’Tis angry red and filled with pus.”

Meg peered around the plaid. “As I feared, ’tis worse than this morning.”

Alana leaned near the wound and sniffed. “I need hot water and bandages.”

Lady Margaret hastened to the door. “I shall have them sent up straight away.”

“And some willow bark tea. We’ll spoon it into him.” Fishing in her basket, Alana pulled out a stoppered vial and held it up. “This is my own concoction. ’Twill hurt like the devil, but drastic measures are needed. We cannot have the heir to the Lordship of Glenorchy succumb to a wound on his backside.”

Meg stared at the vial. “What’s in it?”

“Whale oil, houseleek and pure whisky.”

“Whisky?”

“Aye. Potent, too.” Alana picked up a rag and doused it with her brew. “He’ll need this applied at the turn of every hour.”

Meg watched her intently. “I can see to that.”

“Aye?” Alana didn’t look up. “You care for our young knight, do you not?”

Meg’s heart skipped a beat. “He risked his life to save me. I would never be able to live with myself if . . .” She couldn’t say it.

Servants bearing ewers of hot water arrived, with Lady Margaret carrying a tankard, a worried crease to her brow. “I’ve brought the willow bark tea.”

Alana took the cup. “Go ahead and tend to your duties, m’lady. Lady Meg and I have it in hand.”

Lady Campbell cast a worried glance to the bed. “Very well, but I want to receive word as soon as there is any change, better or worse.”

Alana bowed her head. “Aye, m’lady. You’ll be the first to know, as always.”

Meg reached for the tankard. “I can spoon the tea into his mouth.”

“It will be difficult with him on his side, but I do not want to put him on his back.”

“Mayhap if we turn his shoulders just a bit.”

“Good thinking.”

Meg smiled inwardly. She’d been feeling so out of place. Having the gruff older woman take note of anything she said was a small boon.

After turning the hourglass on the bedside table, Alana applied hot compresses while Meg dribbled the tea into Duncan’s mouth. She released a long exhale when his Adam’s apple moved. At least some of the tea was getting into him.

The matron placed a damp, folded cloth on his head. “This needs to be changed hourly as well.”

“I can do that.”

“’Tis late.” Alana pushed a stray lock of hair under her wimple. “You should go down to the hall for your meal.”

Meg tightened her grip on the wooden spoon. “I’m not leaving him.”

Alana stood and wiped her hands on her apron. “You are a headstrong lassie, are you not . . . ah . . . m’lady?” Her gaze shifted to the claw pincers that held the tankard.

Not about to allow a common woman to remark about her deformity, Meg rested the tankard on the table and faced her. “I am an earl’s daughter. It is in my breeding to never give up.”

The healer straightened the plaid covering Duncan. “Mm hmm.”

“I may have a deformed hand, but I manage just fine and am not any lesser a person for it.”

Color spread across the older woman’s cheeks. “You have proven yourself thus, m’lady.”

Meg had expected more of a fight. Perhaps being an earl’s daughter helped—or was it because after years of being treated as a cripple by her family, Meg had finally come upon the chance to prove her worth? She picked up the tankard and resumed spooning the willow bark tea.

Carrying her basket, Alana moved in beside her. “There’s nothing we can do now aside from more of the same until he wakes. Since you are unwilling to leave his side, I’ll have the kitchen send up some food, m’lady.”

“I thank you.”

Alana carried a wooden chair from near the hearth and set it by the bed. “You should seek a bed soon.”

“I cannot.” Meg gratefully sat. “I owe him my life.”

“I admire your strength.” The matron nodded thoughtfully then pointed. “My cottage is up the hill. If he should worsen during the night, send a guard to fetch me.”

Once Alana took her leave, a barrage of visitors stopped by Duncan’s chamber. Everyone expressed their worry and desire to help. Meg wished she and Duncan were back at the inn where she could be left alone to tend him, but it was fitting for his family to be concerned. After reiterating time and time again that she intended to tend Duncan through the night, Lord Campbell finally departed for his own bed.

Only an army could have removed her from Duncan’s chamber. Thank the stars they hadn’t resorted to that.

Meg crossed to the window and pulled aside the furs. Icy night air cut through her gown, but it refreshed her face and gave her renewed energy. She’d promised Lord Campbell she would sit with Duncan until he woke. He needed her, and she could not fail him.

She didn’t tarry long at the window for fear the draft would chill the chamber. Rubbing her hands across tired eyes, she stoked the fire and returned to Duncan’s side. The sand in the hourglass trickled to nothing. Dutifully, she pulled back the plaid and applied the whisky tincture.

Duncan moaned and jolted slightly to her touch. Leaning over him, she examined his eyes.
Still closed
. “Duncan?” she whispered.

He made not a move, and she continued applying the cloth, followed by a cool compress. Three more times the hourglass drained its sand and she followed the same ritual, keeping the cloth upon his forehead cool all the while.

Often Duncan moaned, but never roused. The fourth time she turned the hourglass, her eyelids refused to stay open.
If I rest for a brief moment, my strength will return. Besides, there’s naught to do but wait until the sand runs its course again
.

Meg tiptoed to the far side of the large four-poster bed. There was ample room for them both. She’d not disturb him in the slightest if she were to rest on the far side, and this time there would be no chance he’d sidle across and drape his arm over her waist.

She curled up and faced him. The candlelight flickered amber across his face, highlighting his unblemished skin, darkened by his black beard. In slumber, Duncan resembled an angel and Meg could think of nothing more beautiful than he.

His lips were moist and shimmered with the candlelight. The desire to kiss him became so strong, her entire body ached. If only she could marry a man like Duncan Campbell. He cared not about what others thought of her deformity. A man as virile and important as he would have no deference for the opinion of others. Inching across the bedclothes, Meg managed to work herself so close to him she could feel his breath upon her face.

Running her hand to his bearded chin, her breathing labored. Her blood coursed hot beneath her skin with a thundering heartbeat in her ears. Gently, she brushed a single finger over his lips—soft as satin. A yearning spread deep inside, so intense, Meg feared she might burst. Lowering her lashes, she closed the distance and kissed him.

Unable to pull away, she hovered. His mouth was warm and inviting. He smelled of cinnamon and musk, and his lips pulsed a steady rhythm. If only she could breathe life into him and take away the sweat. When she slid her hand to his chest, Duncan moaned. With the sound of his voice, not only her breasts, but her entire insides ignited into a fevered flame. Overcome with the desire to kiss him again, she smoothed her hand to his back and pulled her body flush against him.

Solid, warm male pressed into her breasts, her abdomen and her quavering thighs. Hot moisture pooled between her hips. She slid her leg across him and tugged him closer. Heaven help her, she would be damned to hell. Something hard filled the crux of her womanhood, the sacred spot alive with yearning, craving more.

Meg closed her eyes. “I wish I could keep you forever,” she whispered.