Kilgannon (28 page)

"My father was happy even though he was a younger son."

"Yer father wasna a Scot."

"Yours is not the only race with pride," I said sharply.

He laughed. "Yer right, lass, and I'm sorry for the slur." He pulled me to him. "Do ye ken how good for me ye are?"

I relented. "Yes, Alex, I do. You're a very fortunate man."

"I am that." He grinned and kissed my neck. "Ah, lass, I am that." I thought we would leave then and go back to the castle, but he made no move and I sat with him, wondering what was next.

"Alex," I said when he sighed to himself again. "What else?"

"Ah, well, I'm just being melancholy, no doubt, but I keep thinking of what yer Robert Campbell said. He was correct. I am the last of a dying breed, lass, and I ken it. I just dinna know how to stop it." I could not think of an answer but took his hands in mine and watched him as the afternoon sun glowed above us, his eyes narrowed against the glare, his hair a golden halo around his head. Most of the clan would never know the depth of his acceptance of responsibility for their future. Most would never doubt that life as they knew it would stay the same. And it was his duty to see that it did. But I knew, as he did, that Robert was right and that the world would come to our door and bring with it the things that would change Kilgannon. I just didn't want Malcolm to be the bearer of the changes. Or the beneficiary. I sighed, catching his somber mood, but a moment later he smiled.

"Well, we'll just do the best we can, no? I dinna have a better solution and there is not a better man to do it." He laughed then, his grin infectious. "I am a fortunate man, Mary Rose."

"Oh, yes, my lord," I said, and stroked my hand up his thigh under his kilt. "Very fortunate," I said. "Very, very fortunate."

"I am that," he said, and kissed me, laughing. And then moved my hand where he wanted it. "But I'm willing to share my fortune."

When the afternoon cooled we left our perch and started back to the castle. At the top of the hill he stopped and turned to me.

"I'm going to have an interesting discussion with Malcolm."

"Oh?" I said, hearing the worry in my voice.

He laughed. "Dinna fret, lass. I can manage Malcolm."

That night there was music and dancing. Alex did not speak to Malcolm, but he watched him. For his part Malcolm stayed in his comer with his friends, which suited me. But I didn't think about Malcolm long. We were too busy with the puppies. Entranced, the boys debated long and hard over their names and finally decided. Alex raised his eyebrows at their choices and teased them, "What, named after Lowlanders?" But the boys were pleased with their decision and as stubborn as their father, so Robert the Bruce and William Wallace came to live with us.

Later, alone in our room, Alex kissed me and went to bathe. I fell asleep while he was gone, but when he climbed between the covers, trying to be quiet, I raised my head and greeted him.

Ah," he said. "Yer awake. I was wondering if it would be rude to wake ye just so I could attack ye. Three weeks, lass. I dinna think I'll be going on many of these trading trips, Mary Rose. I missed ye too much this time," he said into my hair.

"I missed you terribly," I said, stifling a yawn.

"Am I boring ye?" He chuckled in the dark.

"No, but I did have to share you this evening with the entire clan. Apparently I do not have the same attractions as they."

"Aye, well, that's the truth of it," he said, kissing me. "And glad I am that ye do not." He kissed my neck and shoulder and slid his hand down my side and then up again. "I am here now, and, Mary Rose, since I can never tell around here when there'll be another opportunity to be alone with ye, let's not miss this one, aye?"

We didn't.

Alex was downstairs before me the next morning. The hall was full, but Malcolm was nowhere to be seen. I sighed contentedly. I'd had a wonderful night's sleep. Alex sat on a bench, quiet and contemplative, leaning against the table, one long leg crossed over the other, the boys playing at his feet. He watched the rain through the open hall door and greeted me with a quiet smile. "Good morning, lass. How are ye?"

"I slept very well," I said with a smile. He nodded.

"I'm sure ye did, Mary Rose. Ye snored considerably." I laughed as I sat next to him. He gestured to his sons. "I'm thinking it's time to get a tutor, lass. I know ye've been teaching them their letters and numbers, and I have as well,but Ian's almost six and he'll be needing more schooling. Have ye any objection?" I shook my head, surprised at his topic, and followed his gaze to the boys where they sprawled on the floor with the puppies.

"Where will you get a tutor?" I asked, watching Ian pet his dog with loving strokes.

"I'll write to St. Andrew's and see if they have a recommendation. I dinna finish, because my father died and I had to come home, but I still write to some of my teachers. One of them will know someone. And Angus and I think it's time Matthew went to university."

"You're sending him away?" I asked, startled.

He shot a blue glance at me. "Not sending him away, Mary, letting him go and learn. He'll go to St. Andrew's like me and his da, and he'll have some learning of his own. But he'll finish, like his da, and both of them will be better educated than their chief. Lass, the boy's ready to go. It's time." When he spoke again, his tone was pensive and his topic different. "Mary, ye and I, we both know a bit about loss. More than most, less than some, but both of us have lost our parents and grandparents, and I've lost a brother and a sister." His eyes met mine. "I would keep the one I have left." I nodded, swallowing my nasty thoughts about Malcolm. This was obviously not the time to mention the Diana's losses. I wondered if I ever would.

The afternoon brought sunshine and half the clan, each man with a grievance or story to share with Alex. By evening he was finished talking, but they stayed, and the hall was full of music and dancing. I had despaired of ever having a moment alone with him again and sat watching the others dance when a hand on my shoulder roused me. I looked up into Alex's eyes, his head bent close to mine. "I was thinking we'd steal a moment,
Mary
Rose," he said, and smiled as he led me from the hall. In the library he stirred the fire and then crossed the room and poured a glass of whisky. "I've spoken to Malcolm," he said, settling into the chair.

"Oh?" I watched the light play across the planes of his face.

He sipped his whisky. "Aye. It willna happen again."

"Good," I said, afraid to say more.

We sat in silence until he raised his glass and looked through it at the flames. "Mary, what is bothering ye about the accounts?" I stared at him. How could he know? I answered my own question. Thomas, of course. I took a deep breath and plunged in, explaining about the Diana's costs and revenues. He listened, then laughed. "Dinna look so wary, lass, I'm not a fool. I ken we were losing money, I just dinna ken how much. That's why I took the Diana away from Malcolm and hired that captain to sail her for us. And ye ken what happened then. We went from having a ship that lost money to having no ship. From now on we'll do our own sailing."

"But the repairs
—
" I started.

"Aye," he said, interrupting me. "I ken about the repairs." He frowned into his glass and then looked up to meet my eyes. "They were extraordinary, aye, even for an old ship, and she is the oldest of the bunch of them. I asked Malcolm about them. She lost more money faster than any ship I've seen. It still doesna add up correctly, but he is young and inexperienced. No one learns these things except by doing, ye see. When it got to be too much I removed the Diana from him and then we lost her entirely. So I'm much better off now, no?" He grinned lopsidedly and finished his whisky. "Ye ken I'm not a great businessman, Mary," he said, "but we're doing all right."

"Why do you trade at all?"

He looked at me blankly, then sat up straight, looking at me. "Have we no' talked of this before?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Aye, well, there's no mystery here. The rents from the clan dinna pay the taxes on this old castle nor do they even come close to paying to keep it repaired. Some of the work, of course, comes from rent paid in kind, but I need cash to pay the taxes." He sighed. "I canna raise the rents further, and I willna let the tacksmen do it either. And the taxes canna wait. The English need my money to subjugate the Scots. The money for the taxes and everything else has to come from somewhere, so we went and got it. I pay the English with money they give me for selling them French wine. Seems only fair. And then," he shrugged, "there is the fun of seeing other parts of the world. It works out well." His eyes roamed my face and grew darker. "But now I think
I’m
going to want to stay much closer to home." I smiled and leaned to kiss him.

A knock interrupted us, and Alex raised his eyebrows at me as he called out. Thomas opened the door. "Sorry, Alex, but yer wanted in the hall. Duncan of the Glens has just arrived, and he needs to talk with ye."

"At this hour?" Alex growled. "Can he not just have a glass or two and we'll talk in the morning?"

Thomas shook his head. "He says it's important and he must talk with ye as soon as possible and he'll wait until yer free."

Alex sighed and looked at me, shrugging his shoulders. "What now?" he asked as he stood.

"What now" turned out to be an outraged Duncan. He complained that a MacDonald had gotten a MacGannon girl with child, and he pushed the girl forward. The girl was no more than sixteen, a tall, pretty blonde with bright blue eyes that were huge now with terror. Duncan stood behind her, his outrage making her seem small. Alex sat on the table, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, and listened to Duncan's tirade about the indignities suffered by MacGannons at the hands of MacDonalds for three hundred years, and I realized that Alex had heard this all before, probably many times. The girl stood in the center of the circle of men, staring at the floor, her tears falling unheeded on the stones. When at last Duncan sputtered to an
end, Alex
straightened and asked mildly, "This is yer niece, Duncan? This is little Loma? An' ye want me to punish her?"

Duncan shook his head furiously. "No, no, not at all. I want ye to force the bastard to marry her."

It was soon settled. Loma and the man she loved, Seamus MacDonald of Skye, both wanted to marry, despite their parents' objections. Alex calmed the weeping girl and told her he'd write to the MacDonald. Duncan nodded, satisfied.

Later, alone in our room, I was quiet and Alex thoughtful as we sat before the fire. "What will you do if the MacDonald doesn't approve the marriage?" I asked at last. "Will you go to Skye?" Morag, I knew, lived at the other end of the island, and I tried to remember how big the island was.

But Alex shook his head. "If the MacDonald says no, lass, I willna go to Skye." He looked at me with a tired smile and reached for my hand. "No, Mary, we'll go to Skye."

But we did not go to Skye. The MacDonalds came to us.

A week after Alex wrote to the MacDonald, the man himself arrived. He came on a cloudy and breezy day, with an entourage of clansmen. And two women. Alex and I welcomed them at the dock. The chief of the MacDonalds, known as Sir Donald MacDonald of that Ilk, was a big man, and fleet, both of thought and word. The striking man next to

Donald must be Seamus himself, I thought. This young man was buoyant, his gray eyes gleaming, his dark hair neatly tied back, and his clothes well groomed. The two women stood behind the MacDonald, one in middle age, her hair graying around her pretty face, the other much younger with brown hair and eyes that were now fixed on Malcolm. Deirdre, who knew both, welcomed them with warmth, and the older woman smiled gratefully at her.

"Kilgannon," roared the MacDonald in Gaelic, "I've come to eat yer food again and to invite ye to a wedding."

grinned at him. "Ye've saved me a trip then, Sir Donald, for which I thank ye. Going from paradise to Skye is always difficult, but returning home makes it worth the trouble."

The MacDonald laughed heartily, smacking Alex's shoulder. He turned to me then and spoke cordially in English. "Mistress Mary, how are ye? The most beautiful bride I've seen in a long while. How are ye adjusting to life among the heathens?"

I laughed. "Quite well, sir, thank you."

"Good," he said loudly, "because ye have no choice now, ye ken. 'Tis done, yer marriage, and from what I hear ye'll no' be able to have it annulled." He laughed and I blushed. "Not that ye'd want to, though." He looked at Alex fondly. "He's no' a bad man, for all that he's so ugly." Both men laughed and I smiled. "Alex, I've brought my cousin's girl, Sibeal," the MacDonald said, pulling the girl forward to stand in front of us. 'Thought ye'd like to meet yer new sister-in-law." Alex looked at the older man in surprise. Behind me Malcolm moved uneasily and someone started laughing. Next to the MacDonald, Deirdre's expression was guarded.

"Aye. Yer surprised," said the MacDonald, nodding. "Imagine what I felt when I received yer outraged letter, Alex. We can work a trade, no? I'll take yer Loma MacGannon and ye take our Sibeal MacDonald, though ye are getting the better of the deal. I had to do a bit of talking to get her parents to adjust to the idea. Still, I do think children are best brought up in their father's house." He turned that fierce gaze behind us. "Don't ye agree, Malcolm?"

Alex and the MacDonald disappeared into the library with Malcolm, Angus, Thomas, and several of the MacDonalds, leaving the rest of us to our own devices. I talked to the women, quickly discovering that the older woman was Sibeal's mother. Sibeal said little, alternately radiant and worried. She was a lovely girl, and I was not surprised that she had caught Malcolm's eye.

Sibeal's mother Gdina was quite frank about their visit here today. "We were not sure of our reception," she said as we sipped wine before the fire. "Kilgannon's letter was most displeased, I heard, and then Sibeal came to me and told me she was" —she glanced at her daughter—"in the same condition, and that the child was Malcolm's. Sir Donald thought that verra amusing, and he told her we'd just pay ye a little visit and fix it all up." Gdina met my eyes. "I want my daughter to be happy. And she says Malcolm makes her happy."

"I would want my daughter happy as well," I said softly, although I seriously doubted that Malcolm could make anyone happy. I wondered how Alex was faring, and as if in answer, the men catapulted from the library.

Alex came to me at once and whispered in my ear, "Dinna fret, Mary. All is well. I may have gray hair before the year is out, but all is well." I patted his hand and smiled up at him. He straightened then and called for music and whisky.

They stayed for three days. It had been decided that Malcolm and Sibeal would marry in two months in Skye, and Lorna and Seamus before that in Glendevin. Word was sent to Lorna, and I suspected when I did not see him that the messenger was Seamus himself, delivering the letter that Alex had written to her mother. Sibeal, clearly delighted, clung to her proposed bridegroom. Malcolm was his usual self, shrugging when anyone mentioned the marriage. What he thought I never discovered, nor did I care, but he was not attentive to Sibeal and he did not seem the least bit embarrassed.

Alex's manner was reserved, but he held my hand under the table as he listened to the MacDonald's opinions. The man had a lot of opinions. Alex rose the moment I yawned behind my hand, and we said our good nights, inviting everyone to continue celebrating. He took my hand openly then and the MacDonald called out remarks as we left the hall, but Alex did not banter as he usually would have. Upstairs, the staff was bustling under Berta's
direction, preparing
rooms for the. unexpected guests, and I was grateful she was here to oversee the situation, for tonight I wanted to be with my husband.

When he closed the door to our room Alex sighed and leaned against it. I stood in the middle of the room, waiting, having decided not to say anything against Malcolm until I could better judge his mood, despite the many comments running through my mind. Alex moved at last from the door and began undressing, then paused in front of the chest where he kept his clothes, his gaze somewhere beyond the wall he was staring at. I waited for what felt like an age, then went to stand next to him.

"Alex," I said at last, and he turned slowly to me. "Are you all right? What happened that I haven't been told? What did they say? What did you say? What did Malcolm say?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much, lass," he said, but smiled.

"Alex," I began in a low voice meant to be threatening, but he had pulled me to him and my voice came out in a squeak. He kissed me, a thorough, lingering kiss, and then looked smugly down at me.

"Speechless. I can still do it." He grinned.

"I am not speechless," I snapped. "And you will be sleeping on the floor tonight if you don't tell me."

"I dinna think so. If I want to be in yer bed I will be there. Dinna show yer teeth if ye canna bite." At my puzzled expression he threw his head back and laughed. "I do love ye, Mary."

"Alex," I said, leading him to the chairs in front of the fire. "Tell me before I burst. What happened? What's the matter?"

He sat in a chair and pulled me onto his lap. "I'm just tired, lass. I'm verra tired of Malcolm and the energy it takes to sort out the messes he creates. This one went well and we've not made an enemy of the MacDonald, but not without an effort."

' What happened in the library?"

He sighed and ran a hand along my thigh, then down my skirt and up my leg beneath the material. "The tale's not worth the trouble, lass. We established that both Loma and Sibeal are with child. No one disputes that Seamus and Malcolm are responsible, and neither lass cries foul. Both want to marry. Seamus is eager to marry Loma, so that one was easy, but the MacDonald was quite displeased about Sibeal and he cornered Malcolm. I'm not sure Malcolm wanted to marry, but marry he will."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that Malcolm dinna come forward and declare his true love like Seamus, so by comparison he looked reluctant. Sir Donald wasna pleased with a reluctant bridegroom and a pregnant bride, and being Sir Donald, he was.... persuasive."

"Did you leap to Malcolm's defense?"

Alex shook his head. "No. He got in the predicament without my help, and I let him get himself out of it without my help. Besides, lass, I couldna very well look Sir Donald in the eye and say, aye, my brother's gotten this girl with child, but he's no' of a mind to marry just the now, so will ye go on home and we'll think on this later? Can ye see Donald's face had I said that?"

"No." I laughed softly and brushed his hair back from his face. "Alex, would you have married me?"

"I did. Wait, let me think." He looked at the ceiling and then met my eyes. "Aye, I did. Twice." He kissed me and stroked my leg. "I would have married ye fifty times, Mary Rose."

Lorna and Seamus were married in a quiet ceremony in Glendevin. Alex had invited them to marry at Kilgannon, but Lorna wanted to be married in the little chapel near her home. A buoyant Duncan gave the bride away, and I was warmly welcomed by his family. This time I did not offer to eat anyone's foot, although they teased me and offered me several. I laughed with them, delighted that they felt comfortable enough to banter with me. Still, by nightfall, I was glad to return home. It was almost dark by the time we came through the small pass and entered the glen at the far side of Loch Gannon, I caught my breath at the sight of Kilgannon ablaze with lights, its reflection shining in the water before it. The keep loomed above the yard and was topped by torches. Torches were at each corner of the outer wall as well, and I realized I'd never seen Kilgannon from outside the walls at night.

"How beautiful," I said in awe. Alex, a sleepy Jamie on his shoulder, turned to me with a tender smile.

"Aye, lass," he said. "Paradise. I wasna exaggerating to the MacDonald. The most beautiful spot on earth. Ye see why I couldna marry just any woman. I had to find one who would do my home proud." I smiled, then saw Malcolm's glance at his companion behind Alex's back. The two looked at each other with raised eyebrows, and I knew they would mock Alex later. Alex followed my gaze and gave them an appraising stare. "Of course," Alex said, more to them than to me, "I made my decision with my mind rather than just my body." He added something in Gaelic that caused Malcolm to frown and Malcolm's companion to laugh. The phrase was not one I'd been taught, but I didn't ask for a translation.

What a wonderful day it had been, I thought. Loma's wedding had been perfect, the bride and groom blissful. And soon Malcolm would marry and leave for Clonmor. It looked like a lovely summer.