Quest of the Highlander (Crowns & Kilts Book 5)

by Cynthia Wright

  “Was that how it was with my mother? A romantic notion that had to be put aside?”

  The duke was silent for a long moment before he gently replied, “I fear it is true.”

  Chapter 28

  Nora pushed open the window and breathed deeply of the wild red roses that climbed up the back of her little house in Cockspur Court. August, with its stifling heat, was on the wane. Nora paused to savor the feeling of well-being that swept over her. At last, it seemed her life might be coming together.

  That very week, Master Mostinck had announced that he might have a buyer for Nora’s Maiden with a Harp tapestry. To Nora’s astonishment, Mostinck later reported that the wealthy merchant man purchased it on the spot, so entranced by the hanging that he’d insisted on paying even more than the asking price. Her small, handmade tapestry purse, filled with gold sovereigns and angels, was now hidden in a cabinet. It was enough for Nora and her baby to live on for a long time, perhaps even enough to buy a house of their own.

  She now turned back to the loom, loaned to her by Micheline, that nearly filled this snug room. She looked forward to this time to plan a small tapestry for her baby. Nora had even made the cartoon herself, knowing that she must practice the skill of sketching her own patterns if she truly aspired to be a master weaver.

  Yet the effort had made her miss Lennox more than ever. There were no words to describe the ecstasy of a true artistic collaboration like theirs. Nora kept his original cartoon close by her loom. Each time she unfurled it and remembered when Lennox had first shown it to her at Duart Castle, she felt anew that sense of bliss. Completion.

  And the pain of loss.

  She prayed Lennox was finding happiness with the Duke of Hastings. It wasn’t hard to imagine him, splendid and strong, in the garb of an English nobleman, perhaps riding through the woods with a group of new friends. She hoped he felt the sense of belonging that he’d been searching for all his life.

  Nora supposed she would always ache for him, but each day she felt stronger, more certain that she would find fulfillment for herself and her baby.

  Her loom always brought her joy. Now she wondered which shades of tan and golden thread would be best for the rather friendly-looking lion in this tapestry. Nora was poring over her collection of wool, silk, and metallic threads when a knock sounded dimly at the entrance. It continued for a bit before she remembered that Joan Farthing had gone to care for her ailing aunt and wouldn’t return until tomorrow, at the earliest.

  As Nora rose, the baby kicked. Because of the style of her gown, she could still hide her condition from others, but very soon that wouldn’t be possible. Gently, she patted her belly and murmured affectionately. “Don’t worry, little one, I have not forgotten you.”

  Joan’s big gray cat, Samuel, was napping on a stool near the hearth, seemingly unbothered by the knocking. It came to Nora that the person at the door might well be Joan, returning for something she had forgotten.

  “I’m coming,” called Nora. With one motion, she lifted the bar from the door and pulled up on the latch. A tall male figure filled the portal, cast into shadow by the light behind him.

  “Ah,” said the caller in a deep, chillingly familiar voice. “What a relief to find you at home, Nora.”

  Quickly, he came forward into the small parlor and reached back to close the door. As Nora focused on the man’s face, her heart froze.

  “I must be seeing things,” she said. “You… You are—”

  “Dead? Not a bit. Such a nasty rumor,” Sir Raymond Slater replied, smiling. “But you look frightened, pet. There’s absolutely no need. Did you really imagine a storm at sea could kill a man like me?”

  Nora took a deep breath, trying not to let anything he said distract her. “How did you know I was here?” Heart pounding, she reminded herself that he could not possibly know about the baby. “Why have you come?”

  As Slater swept a hand around the small, neat parlor, Samuel narrowed his eyes and rushed from the room. “Won’t you invite me to sit down?” Slater took a chair. “That’s better. Might I trouble you for some refreshment? Ale will do if you cannot offer me wine.”

  She wanted to refuse but realized that could be dangerous. Instead, she brought him a cup of ale and took a seat near the cabinet where her coin-filled tapestry purse was hidden. “Will you now answer my questions?”

  “May I say, first, that you are even lovelier today than when we last were together in Scotland?” He inclined his head slightly to indicate what he meant by together. “You have a certain glow, pet.”

  Nora felt sick. He knows! She told herself that he must not see her panic. “How kind of you to say so.” She looked at him, waiting.

  “I have spoken to your friend, Lady Fairhaven,” he said. “She has confided all your secrets. For your own good, of course.”

  Of course. Forcing a smile, Nora murmured, “That does sound like Cicely.”

  As Slater continued to speak, he sounded almost sincere. “I have taken some time to think about this situation, and now that I am here, seeing you, my feelings are…” He swallowed. “Quite tender. Do you remember how it was between us that night? How sweet you were, giving yourself to me?”

  She wanted to protest that she did not remember any such thing, but his manner was disconcerting. There was so much about that night that was a blur in her memory. Was it possible that Sir Raymond remembered it all differently?

  “We both may have drunk a bit too much wine,” he conceded, leaning forward, holding her gaze. “I realized, once it was clear that you were innocent, that perhaps we should have stopped sooner. But in that moment, when you were responding to my kiss, I lost my head.”

  “I suggest we both put it behind us, then,” Nora managed to say, her mouth dry. “Let us pretend it never happened.”

  “But that is impossible, is it not? Cicely tells me you are with child. What sort of man would I be to turn my back on you at a time like this?”

  Her face felt hot. “What are you suggesting?”

  “I will confess something to you alone, pet. Perhaps I was more shaken by my brush with death than I have cared to admit. Perhaps I have had cause to examine my life, and I find it…wanting.” His voice seemed to thicken. “Perhaps all that has happened between us is a sign from God.”

  Rising, he came closer and dropped to one knee before her. Nora fought an urge to recoil from him. She searched his face for a sign of deception, but he appeared to be completely in earnest.

  “I want an heir,” he was saying. “I have wealth and a position at court, and we have already determined that we deal well together, if you take my meaning.” He smiled now, his short, pointed beard lending him a jaunty air. “Come and live with me so that we might make a home for this baby.”

  At a loss for words, Nora replied, “This was the last thing I expected you to say today.”

  Jeweled rings glinted on the hand he stretched out to capture hers. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

  “Yes, you did,” Nora replied quickly. “Just a few minutes ago.”

  “Don’t you miss the touch of a man?” As his dark eyes fell on her bodice, his nostrils flared slightly. “There is so much I want to teach you, pet.”

  Nora firmly withdrew her hand. “I must ask you not to press yourself on me, sir.” Breathing evenly, she forced herself to remain calm. “I appreciate the offer you have made.” What it had been exactly, she wasn’t certain, for he had never mentioned marriage. “However, I already have settled on a way forward with my life. I am quite capable of raising my baby without your assistance.”

  “Raising a child on your own? That’s ridiculous!”

  Nora lifted her chin. “I assure you it’s not. I’m doing quite well, fending for myself and selling my work to those who appreciate my gifts.”

  Slater narrowed his eyes, clearly incensed. “Are you refusing me?”

  “I am.”

  The Englishman bolted to his feet. “You will regret this.” Looking
around the room, his eyes fell on the tapestry Nora had replicated of her with Lennox in the galley. Stalking closer, he pointed at the fair-haired figure and sneered. “It’s him you dream of, isn’t it? That Highland bastard who dares to lord over his betters! No doubt he’s a fine fellow now, swaggering about in his doublet and hose, beside his doting father, the Duke of Hastings. Surely you don’t imagine he will ever make you his duchess?”

  In the next instant, Sir Raymond Slater stormed out the front door, slamming it in his wake. Nora’s heart was pounding as she rushed over to replace the bar.

  With all her heart, she prayed he would never come back.

  * * *

  “Where is your fine claymore?” asked Grant as he walked with Lennox toward Greythorne Manor. “Have ye thrown it in the sea?”

  “I’ve done no such thing,” Lennox protested. For good measure, he reached over to lightly cuff the lad’s arm. “I couldn’t bring it here in the coach, though. I had to leave it behind at Weston House.” He paused, feeling the accusing heat of Grant’s stare. “It still belongs to me. It always will.”

  “Oh, aye. I suppose so.” His young friend looked doubtful.

  The two of them were returning from a few hours at the archery butts, a fine practice field built near the stables. Even the duke had joined them for a few rounds, impressing Lennox with his skill, yet now it seemed his father’s every glance carried extra weight. It had been a relief when he went off to meet with his steward.

  “I know what ye are thinking,” Lennox continued. “Ye wonder if I could truly find happiness here, in this world.” He took a deep breath. “Without Nora.”

  “Amen,” Grant intoned soberly.

  “Nora herself urged me to give this a fair chance.” He stopped at the edge of the knot garden, where gardeners were clipping the boxwood hedges. “And now that I’ve been here for weeks, my doubts grow. But I do not see how I could turn my back on the duke. He is, after all, my true father.”

  “Is he?”

  Lennox met the boy’s level gaze. “Ye know he is. Can ye not see it clearly, every time we are together?”

  “I see that you two look just the same, and he is a fine man, but there is more to being a father than that. Magnus MacLeod was by your side from birth.”

  “I suspect Fiona told ye to say these things.”

  “I may have heard them from her mouth,” Grant conceded, smiling. “I have spent a lot of time with her, after all. Fi is like an aunt to me, and Bayard is like a father. Your sister-in-law, Violette, has been there to guide me when my own ma was too selfish to be bothered.” He paused. “True family is more than blood.”

  Emotion rose up in Lennox, stinging his eyes. “The duke has suffered so much loss. My appearance in his life has brought him hope and happiness. He wants to petition the king to make me his rightful heir. How can I turn away from him now?”

  “’Tis surely a dilemma,” the lad agreed. “But I thought ye set out on this quest to find your own destiny, Lennox. What do ye want?”

  Grant’s words were like a dirk in Lennox’s heart. When he spoke, his voice was choked. “God save me, I want to make a life with the woman I love. Nora.” Leaning against a tree, he raked a sun-darkened hand through his hair. “I do not want to interfere if she is happy in her new life, as you have said she is. Yet, before I make a decision about this life with the duke, I must know if there is a chance for Nora and me. Will ye go to her, Grant? Ask if she will see me.”

  His young friend seemed to suppress a smile. “What about her babe? Could you love her when she is heavy with another man’s child?”

  Lennox gave an impatient nod of his golden head. “I already do.”

  Chapter 29

  On the first day of September, Nora was surveying a newly restored tapestry when Master Mostinck approached her.

  “I have been impressed by your work,” he said without preamble.

  She lifted her chin so that she was perhaps an inch taller than the stout Fleming. “Thank you, sir. I am pleased to know it.”

  “I want you to oversee a group of weavers who are about to begin work on a new tapestry, the one we are calling The King’s Joust. It will be a test for you, Mistress Lovejoy. Even though you are a woman, I think you may be up to the challenge.”

  Her heart sped up. She had seen the large cartoon for the new tapestry when it arrived in sections from France. Nora had wondered if Mostinck would choose her to be one of the weavers, but this news was beyond her hopes—though not, of course, beyond her dreams.

  “I would be honored to accept such a position, sir,” she said, smiling. Soon enough, he would know that she was with child, but by then the new tapestry project would be well underway. She would prove to him that she could do the work, no matter what.

  “Good, good!” Mostinck nodded several times. “Tomorrow we will meet with the weavers.”

  When he had gone, Nora sat at her loom and tried to absorb the news. Slowly, her future was unfolding as she had envisioned. The baby would complicate matters, but if Nora kept her focus clearly on what was in front of her, she knew she could successfully navigate each challenge.

  “Mistress Lovely?” A boy’s voice broke into her reverie.

  “Lovejoy,” Nora corrected as she looked up. There stood a liveried page, gazing at her as if she were an angel.

  “From my mistress, Lady Fairhaven,” he said, holding out a sealed message, and Nora realized the page was wearing Lord Fairhaven’s livery. “I’m to wait for your reply.”

  The brief note informed Nora that Cicely had returned from the country and was staying at Weston House. Could Nora meet her there today to address a matter of some urgency?

  “You may tell your mistress that I will come as soon as my work here is finished,” Nora told the boy.

  “Her ladyship instructed me to escort you myself,” he said earnestly.

  “How nice. What’s your name, young sir?”

  “Ted.” He beamed back at her.

  An hour later, Nora was allowing Ted to lead the way through the crowded streets of London. When they came to a flower seller, Nora stopped to purchase a posy of pale blue love-in-a-mist blossoms for Cicely. As they drew near Weston House, she realized how much she had missed her friend.

  It was a fine day, and Nora felt her spirits rise. The bright sails of tilt-boats dotted the Thames like colorful flowers, and children were running over the garden pathways. It came to her that Andrew & Micheline must have come home as well.

  As Ted brought Nora around to the gardens, Cicely rose from the bench where she had been sitting and rushed forward, skirts lifted.

  “My dear friend!” she cried. “How are you feeling? Do join me.” Glancing toward the page, Cicely added, “Ted, will you let Her Grace know that our other guest has arrived?”

  They sat together at the same table where Lennox had first met the Duke of Hastings. Remembering the splendid night and the heartbreaking morning that followed, Nora closed her eyes for a moment. That night in Lennox’s arms, giving every bit of herself to him, might have to last her for the rest of her life.

  “I have been simply longing to speak to you,” Cicely said abruptly. She looked charming as always, in a fashionable gown of pink and silver. “I would have asked you sooner, but I have been beset by the most terrible siege of something very similar to mal de mer.”

  “Seasickness?” Nora puzzled over this and smiled. “Oh, yes, now I understand. The baby. I suffered from that as well.”

  “Don’t you find it is sometimes quite unbearable to be a woman?” Without waiting for an answer, Cicely continued, “I have a confession to make. The last time I left your house, I encountered someone.”

  “I know, it was Sir Raymond Slater. I do wish you had not spoken to him about me.” Nora gave her a chastening look. “He came to visit me just a few days ago. He offered, I believe, to make a home with me for the baby.”

  Cicely gasped. “Sir Raymond proposed marriage to you?”

  �
�Oh, no, I don’t think he intended that at all.” She smiled ruefully. “Something much less proper. I declined.”

  “Thank God you were able to send him away! I meant well, telling him where you lived and that you were increasing with his child, but after Robin and I returned to Kent, I had second thoughts. There was something faintly sinister about him, even when he was offering me a fancy sweetmeat. I wanted to trust him, yet doubt crept in.”

  Something shifted in the depths of Nora’s memory. “A sweetmeat?”

  “Yes. He keeps them in a jeweled case. It was all innocent enough, no doubt, but I didn’t care for the way he watched me, like a cat stalking its prey.” She shook her head, as if to dispel the memory. “I began to see him in a different light, but by then it was too late. I had already encouraged him to involve himself in your affairs. Can you ever forgive me?”

  “I know you were only trying to help, and everything worked out fine, so let us put it behind us.” Nora’s heart softened at the sight of her friend’s repentant expression. “It is fortunate that Lennox has removed himself from my life, for if he’d been there when Sir Raymond appeared, I hate to think what might have happened. Lennox despises him.”

  Cicely looked nervous. “How did you manage to turn Sir Raymond away?”

  “I simply told him, quite firmly, that I prefer to manage on my own.” Nora smiled at her friend. “And it is true.”

  “But he is the father of your baby,” mused Cicely, “and he could make your life very comfortable.”

  “I beg you, put any lingering notions you may harbor about Sir Raymond out of your mind. I do not need his help! Everything is coming together after all. I’ve sold the tapestry, so I have means, and now Master Mostinck has assigned me to oversee a large tapestry project. It’s a step forward toward achieving my goal.”

  “I am very happy for you, but…” Cicely’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you never tire of being alone? You are a woman, after all.”