The Imposter (36 page)

 Devon’s steely
gaze held Berkshire’s, demanding through his body language that the man settle
down.

Berkshire walked towards
the desk across the room and took a drink of water from a cup sitting on the
desk.  Pulling himself together, he ran a hand over his mostly bald head in an
effort to straighten what few hairs he retained.  He walked back towards us and
moved a wooden chair so that he could sit facing us.

Devon took this as
his invitation to begin.  “When my men found yer daughter’s carriage, one of
them heard movement out in the forest next tae the road.  He went to explore
what the source of the noise was, and he found her,” he said, eyes flashing
over to me.  She tried tae run away, fought Nathan something fierce,” Devon
said proudly, having always liked my fiery side.  “When Nathan finally caught
her, he asked her name, and she said that it was Kate.  My men assumed that
because her name was Kate, she was yer daughter.  We had never seen yer
daughter before and we thought that by some miracle, she had survived the
attack.”

Berkshire’s eyes
shifted from Devon to me.  “Why did ye lie about who ye were?” he said sternly.

“I didn’t lie,” my
voice came out shaky, I cleared my throat.  “I don’t remember who I am, but I
do remember is that my name is Kate, spelled with a K.  Kate, short for
Katherine, spelled with a K.”

“And why should I
believe ye?” he said, eyes angry.

“Because I’m
telling you the truth.  I’m starting to get back bits and pieces of my memory,
but I don’t remember the attack on your daughter.  I’m not sure if I was
traveling with them, or why I was out in the forest that day,” I lied, the pang
of guilt stuck in my stomach. 

I knew that I
hadn’t been traveling with his daughter.  Devon and I had decided that pleading
amnesia was the best effort towards the truth that we could give the Berkshire’s
in regards to explaining my presence in the forest.

“She is not a
spy,” Devon said firmly.  “She is an innocent lass that got caught up in this
whole mess by accident.  Being that she didna remember anything, she actually
thought that she was Cate Berkshire,” Devon explained.  “We made the situation
worse because we thought that she was yer daughter Cate, and Collin, my brother
forced her to marry me after our father’s death.”

“Yer father was an
honorable man, I was sorry tae hear of his untimely passing,” Berkshire said sincerely.

“Thank ye,” Devon
nodded in response.

“I wouldna have
offered my daugher’s hand tae him in marriage had I no thought that he was
honorable,” Berkshire continued.  “I have nae choice but tae hope that his honor
has passed into ye his son and that ye are being truthful in this matter.”

“I assure ye that
I do have my father’s honor, and that I am indeed being truthful with ye,” Devon
said, holding eye contact with Berkshire.  “I’m sorry for yer loss, Berkshire,
but my wife had nothing tae do with it,” he assured calmly.

Berkshire nodded
coolly at Devon, cleared his throat and said quietly, “Douglas will see ye
out,” before he strode quickly from the room, leaving the door open.

                                                            ***

We were ushered
quietly to our horse, and bid farewell from Castle Berkshire unceremoniously,
but with a small parcel of food to tide us over for our journey.  Berkshire’s
dismissal of us led me to believe that he got some peace from knowing what had
happened to his daughter, but I could tell that he was not fully satisfied with
my story.  Having no choice but to believe me or to insight a feud with the McClains,
he chose to take the high road and accept my story, even if he did not totally
buy it.

“Where will we go
now?” I asked relieved that our duty to the Berkshire family had been
fulfilled, but unsure of what the future held for us.  I had killed the Laird
of Clan McClain, a crime that could not be taken lightly by the people of the clan.

“We go home,” Devon
said confidently, as he spurred Stanley into motion and held me to his chest a
little tighter.  Clearly he was still unsure of my abilities regarding staying
astride a moving horse. 

“What?” I asked,
taken aback by his intentions to return to his clan after I had murdered their
leader.  We would be killed for sure.

“I’m now the Laird
of the clan.  Someone will have found Collin by now, and they will be expecting
me tae return.  They’ll be expecting me tae take my role as leader of the clan. 
I’m sure that my men will ken that I was the one responsible for his death,
having found out that he took ye.  They will be expecting us tae return shortly
and I canna let my people down.”

“They won’t kill
us?” I asked, shocked by his matter-of-fact intentions.

It had not
occurred to me that Devon was now Laird of Clan McClain.  I knew that my mouth
was hanging open in surprise and I made the effort to close it.

“Nae, they won’t
kill us.  People have wondered why I hadna killed him already.  In fact, there
were many in the clan who encouraged me tae do sae over the years.  It was my
love for Da that kept me from taking Collin out sooner.”

I was speechless. 
Highland customs were something that I was afraid that I would never get used
to.

“Actually, I
should thank ye for killing him for me.  Ye saved me from a lifetime of guilt and
Hail Mary’s,” Devon chuckled.  “He deserved it anyhow.”

“I can’t believe
you, thanking me for killing your brother!”

“Someone needed
tae do the deed, and yer soul is free and clear.  It was in self defense after
all.  Had I killed him out of spite or hatred, my soul would have been in
question.  Worked out better than I could ever have planned, lass.”

“I hadn’t thought
of it that way, I guess.”

“And since I’m
Laird, that makes ye the Mistress of the clan.  I plan to have ye beside me in
all decisions regarding our people, and the running of the keep.”

“Of course I’ll be
beside you.  You’ll never get rid of me now!  As far as running the keep and
taking care of your people, I’m not sure how much help I will be there.  I’m
still trying to figure this strange world out.”

“OUR people,” Devon
corrected me.  “Ye will be perfect, just as ye always are.  There are insights
and knowledge that ye bring from yer past that will be invaluable to us.  I
want ye involved in everything.  I need ye beside me tae help me be the Laird
that my father had envisioned that I would someday become.”

I smiled softly,
enjoying the feeling of belonging that Devon had so sternly insisted that I
have.  Our clan.  We would lead the clan together, helping each other to be the
best that we could possibly be.

“I love you, Laird
McClain,” I whispered, turning around and kissing him soundly.

Devon reined Stanley
to a halt, and tied the reins around the pommel of the saddle so that he could
have both hands free for the business at hand.  “I love ye too, Mistress
McClain.  I’ll live each day thankful that ye were sent tae me,” he vowed as he
wrapped his arms around me and captured my lips in a passionate kiss.

I too was
thankful.  Thankful that I had jumped into the ocean and found safety in this
rugged place.  All that I had loved and lost from my life before seemed trivial
when compared with all that I had gained in my new life.  I had found a love
most unexpected in Devon, but it was a love truer and deeper than I had ever
known was possible.  I had found my home.