The Highlander's Runaway Bride (22 page)

Then the MacKay rose and called out theirs.
‘Bratach Bhan Chlann Aoidh!'

He forced himself to his feet and did what was expected of the Mackintosh's man. After a few minutes, the hall quieted, and Eva's father took his leave. Walking behind them along the dais, he placed his hands on Eva's shoulders and whispered to her. The words were loud enough so he could hear, and they simply confirmed the gossip told below.

‘I am proud of your efforts, Daughter. For speaking to the Mackintosh on my behalf.' More words were spoken, but the only two Rob could discern were
our agreement
.

Rob glanced at Brodie, but his cousin did not look his way. Or would not. He waited, his world crashing around him, until he could no longer. ‘Brodie.'

This time Brodie did meet his gaze, and the truth was there—Eva had been at the heart of her father's plans. When the nod of permission came, Rob stood and left, not waiting on Eva. He walked blindly but ended up in the one place he did not wish to be—their chambers.

He stood there, as memories poured over him, now knowing that every word she'd spoken was a lie. Part of a plan to use him and his nearness to Brodie to get what the MacKay wanted.

When the door opened, he knew it could be only one person and it was the one he did not wish to see at this moment.

Chapter Twenty-Three

E
va followed him when he'd left the dais. He'd heard most of her story but needed him to know some parts others did not. Now though, watching him pace like a lethal animal, she thought she should not have returned here. She'd not feared him in a long time, but now, his anger was palpable and dangerous. She leaned against the door, waiting in silence for him to say something.

‘How many were there?'

‘What?' She did not understand the question. It was not what she expected he would ask. He strode over and stood right in front of her, his height and girth blocking everything else from her view.

‘Goddamn it, Eva! How many men have you lain with? They said you spread your legs for any man, and I want to know. How many have had you?'

She'd slapped him before she even knew she'd lifted her hand. Lies or not, 'twas an insult.

‘And now you play the lady?' He touched his cheek and smiled grimly at her. ‘Just so,' he said, stepping back. ‘What did you tell Brodie on your father's behalf?'

His fury made him seem larger than he truly was. He kept making tight fists with his huge hands and releasing them.

‘I only told Brodie of my father's plans. I asked him for nothing on his behalf.' The words did nothing to abate his anger. Instead, it seemed to make it worse.

‘You expect me to believe that? After the rest of it?' he shouted. ‘What other part did you play in his plans? From the start of it?'

‘I did not know, Rob,' she began, but he was there, so close she could feel his breath on her face. She turned away rather than see the hatred and disgust in his eyes. But he came back to his first question, yelling it at her again.

‘How many before me, Eva? How many times did you play whore for your father's aims?' He leaned his head back and rubbed his face. ‘And you watched me spill blood to mark the sheets that morning. What a laugh you and your father must have had over that!' Then his voice dropped, and it was filled with a plaintive tone, making the demand sound more like he was pleading for her to answer.

‘There was one man before you, Rob. Only one,' she said. ‘

It seemed to knock some of the rage from him. He stepped back, thinking on her words. But he was not done, and her hell began with his next words.

‘You have a child?'

The words were softer than she could have expected, but the pain of hearing them from his lips cut her in two. She could only nod, for it hurt to breathe or think or even live in that moment.

‘Mairead.' He said her name before Eva could or did. ‘The name you call out in your sleep. Your daughter.' She nodded again. He staggered back away and fell into one of the chairs, staring wildly at her. ‘You gave up a child to gain your father's favour?'

Her control snapped at that accusation. Before she knew it, words spewed out of her mouth, calling him every foul name and word he'd taught her and others she'd only heard. She ran over to him to...do something to make him stop. He grabbed her hands in one of his hand and backed her up against the wall. Trapping her legs between his, he stopped her from kicking and flailing.

‘You stupid miscreant!' she yelled. ‘I did not give her up. He took... He took my...' She stopped then, losing all desire to explain or to fight him. Her body collapsed, and he released her. She slid down the wall and sat on the floor. He walked away then and took a place on the other side of the chamber.

‘Mayhap it was for the best that he took her,' he said. ‘Where is she now?'

Her head snapped back against the wall as though he had backhanded her. Could she tell him all of it? What if her father did still have her somewhere? Dare she confide in him now? One glance at his face, distorted by anger and disgust, gave her the answer.

‘She is gone. The price I paid for defying his wishes.' She could say no more about Mairead.

After a few minutes of silence, she managed to climb to her feet. Stumbling, she crossed the chamber and sat on a chair. He watched her but said nothing. When he finally headed for the door, she knew she must say the words now, for it would be the last time she would see him.

‘I may have married you because of my father's plans, but I did not fall in love with
the Mackintosh's man
.' He stopped but did not face her.

‘I fell in love with Robbie Mackintosh, a man loyal to his cousin. A good man who did not strike back when it was his right. A kind man who took care of a woman he should have left behind. A faithful man who did not stray from his vows even when he was refused by his bride.'

Tears flowed freely now, making it difficult to speak. She brushed her hand across her eyes.

‘An honourable man who would not give up because he had given his word.' He turned and looked at her then. ‘I love Robbie Mackintosh, the man. Not the bloody Mackintosh's man.'

Without acknowledging her words by action or sound, he left, closing the door behind him.

Strange, once he left, she could not cry. Enveloped in complete sadness and utter devastation, the tears would not come.

* * *

Eva remained there, not speaking to anyone for the next two days. Servants came and removed Rob's trunks and belongings from the chamber. Nessa tried to see to her, but she waved the girl away. Calls to meals were ignored. Summons to Arabella's chambers went unanswered. She sat, unable to do anything at all.

Rob never returned. She had no idea of what he was doing or what he would do, so she contented herself knowing that Brodie would find a way to dissolve their marriage. What that meant for him or for her, she knew not.

Nessa was the only one who returned, unbidden, to clean around her. And to force her to drink something from time to time.

She learned her father was leaving from the girl on that second day. And learned of Rob's hasty departure two days later.

It hurt too much to wonder over where he went. It hurt too much to even breathe. Eva had not thought that anything could hurt more than the loss of her daughter. But this loss did.

She took to her bed on the fourth day and lost track of the passing of night and day after that. When the door slammed against the wall, she barely heard it. But, the foul words did make her smile as Margaret cursed her way across the chamber.

‘I am away for three days, and everything and everyone has gone to hell in my absence?' she shouted. ‘What in bloody hell is happening?'

Eva did not have the strength to answer her. Nor the desire to speak of it. Nor to defend her acts against the woman's brother. Luckily, Margaret did not need anyone to carry on a conversation. She forced Eva from the bed, washed and changed her and had her sitting in one of the chairs without ever pausing to allow for an answer if Eva wanted to give one.

‘Drink this,' she ordered, placing a cup of something warm in Eva's hands. When she would have put it down untouched, Margaret lifted it to her mouth and poured it in. Eva had no choice but to swallow.

Margaret called Nessa, and the two cleaned the chamber thoroughly. Some hours later, when satisfied of her condition and the chamber's, Margaret sat in the other chair. Eva understood what that meant but did not wish to speak about Rob.

‘Arabella wants to see you. She sent me first to tend to you. I will get her.'

‘Nay,' she whispered. ‘No one.' Margaret must have heard the desperation in her tone, so she nodded.

‘For now.' She stood and walked to the door. ‘Do not get back in that bed except to sleep. When you tire of sitting, walk. When you tire of these four walls, leave it. You are not a prisoner here.'

She appreciated the woman's common-sense approach to everything, even if she knew she was more prisoner than she'd ever been anywhere before.

‘I will return on the morrow. I want to see you dressed when I arrive at midday.'

* * *

But on the morrow, it was not Margaret who invaded her privacy first. Arabella accepted the word ‘nay' no more easily or happily than Margaret. She knocked twice, loudly, and then entered, not waiting to be asked in. Standing before her, the lady tapped her foot impatiently and then grumbled.

‘You must give me leave from my promise, Eva,' she said, kneeling before her. Grabbing both of her hands, she shook her head. ‘They do not understand. Let me explain your reasons.'

‘You do not know all of it, Bella,' she said. ‘And you gave your word.'

The lady began cursing then, using some words she recognised as Rob's favourites and others favoured by Margaret. She wanted to smile, but just could not.

‘I would ask the favour of you that you promised me,' she said softly.

Eva could not stay here in the keep and be reminded of the fleeting joy they'd found. This place belonged to Rob and when he returned from whatever called him away, he should be able to live here in peace. Once Brodie carried out his promise, she would disappear from their lives forever.

‘What do you need? What can I do for you?' Arabella asked her.

‘You once offered the use of a cottage in the village. I would like to move there until Brodie arranges an end to things.'

‘End to things? What do you mean?' The lady stood and studied her for a long moment before shaking her head violently. ‘What does he arrange?'

‘He will see to the dissolution of our marriage.'

‘Nay!' she cried out. ‘Nay!' Bella began pacing, long strides across the chamber and back. ‘You are married. You love him. He loves you. There can be no ending of it.' Her voice rose in volume until she was shouting.

‘'Twas a marriage based on deceit and lies, Arabella. Not a valid one in the eyes of the Church or law.'

‘But you were forced to it. To protect your child. Surely, Rob understands your reasons?' It took but a moment for the lady to realise that Eva had not made things clear with him. ‘You did not tell him the truth? He does not know,' she whispered. ‘Why? Why would you let this happen?'

‘Because I love him, Arabella.' She smiled then, thinking of the man. ‘You know you would walk through hell for Brodie. Well, this is, I suspect, my walk through hell. But he will be safe and free of involvement with me and my father. He can find happiness elsewhere.'

Arabella looked up and muttered what sounded like a prayer before looking at her. ‘Let me help you. I pray you, give me leave to speak to Brodie on this.'

‘The only thing you should speak to him about is if he will permit me the use of a small cottage while he handles the situation. It could be months or more, and I do not wish to live it here in the keep.'

The lady gave a brisk nod and then left and the quiet descended once more into the chamber. Word came later that Brodie had given permission for her to move to the village. A few days later, she moved there and began the process of living alone and on her own.

* * *

Brodie had been a damn idiot over the whole thing. Instead of telling Rob what he wanted to know, the man insisted on being his usual, close-mouthed self. But Rob would not answer his questions except to say that he had not raised a hand to her.

The same could not be said of her.

He'd been so angry when he left their chambers that Brodie sent him to the village on some made-up matter, anything to get him away from Ramsay MacKay and his daughter. Then he was sent to help repair the mill, which took another whole day. By the time he'd returned, the MacKay had left and Eva restricted herself to their chambers.

He'd sent the servants to remove his belongings and clothing, and he now slept in his old chamber. Well, he stayed there but sleep eluded him.

Sleeping meant dreaming, and his dreams were filled with...
her
.

Finally, a few days later, Brodie sent him off to escort their last guests from the coast to Glenlui. They both knew the assignment was a farce, but it removed him from the place he did not want to be. He'd ridden off alone, just like the last time. And as with the last time, he spent the first days of the journey cursing...cursing a lot.

The first day, he did not think about her or the expression on her face when he'd raged.

The second day, he did not think about her answers to his questions or the way she'd raged at his words.

The third day, he did not think about her declaration.

But on the fourth day, all he could remember were her words about the child she'd had. And the pain that tore her apart when faced with delivering Arabella's bairn. It had not been the pain of her courses that had driven her, sobbing and curled up, to the floor. Rob understood that now.

It had been the loss of her child that had driven her actions from even before they'd met.

When he'd suspected another man, a lover whom she'd lost or was separated from, she had been mourning the loss of her daughter. When he thought she'd run from him, she'd been running to find the child. The melancholy that afflicted her with every mile they travelled south was fear and hopelessness, because it meant she would never see the child again.

That realisation drove him to his own knees and to prayers that he would be forgiven for his part in the travesty played upon her.

He walked most of the fifth day, memories and thoughts of her, of them, plaguing his every step. And, when he reached the coast without ever encountering the guests Brodie had sent him in search of, he knew the real reason Brodie told him to leave.

He also knew what he had to do.

And no one would stand in his way.

* * *

Three weeks later, after discovering that brutes could not bear up under the kind of punishments they so freely gave to others, Rob was back on the road south.

To Glenlui and to his wife.