A Rogue at the Highland Court: An Arranged Marriage Highlander Romance

by Barclay, Celeste

  “You’re assuming the worst, Ally, and none of it has come to pass. Don’t beg for trouble where it doesn’t exist.” Ewan reverted to his courtly accent, and Allyson wasn’t sure she liked it as much as his brogue. The burr suited him. She hoped he would abandon the clipped and flat speech once they returned to the Highlands.

  “I still don’t think I can leave with you. It’s Lent. The church would uphold no marriage, not even a handfasting.”

  Ewan sat back in his chair as he considered Allyson’s arguments. He cast his gaze on his brother, who remained silent during his exchange with Allyson. He raised a brow at Eoin, who shrugged. He leaned forward once more and covered Allyson’s hand with his.

  “We aren’t leaving, Ally. Eoin and I will keep to ourselves as much as we can. We’ll continue to go to the lists in the morning, and I’ll spend what time I can with you in the afternoon just like we’ve been doing, but we’ll take our meals with our men.”

  Allyson shook her head, but Ewan saw the resignation on her face. “You can’t eat with your men. It would cause too many chins to wag if you went from sitting on the dais to a table below the salt.”

  “Your father and brothers will return in a few days, and then we will resolve all of this. In the meantime, I’m sending a messenger to court for the betrothal agreement. When the meal ends, we’ll slip into the gardens and make our pledge with Eoin as our witness.”

  The rest of the meal passed with little talking among the three despite the conversation flowing around them. Allyson excused herself as soon as she could, claiming fatigue but made her way to the gardens as they agreed. Ewan and Eoin were already waiting.

  “Ally, I’ve never wanted aught more than I want to make this commitment to you.” Ewan’s sincerity and eagerness were clear in his words and his gesture when he kissed the back of Allyson’s hand. Allyson and Ewan turned to face one another once Ewan unfastened the length of plaid from his shoulder. Eoin wrapped the material around their wrists as they joined hands. Ewan took a deep breath before making a pledge he never imagined would have such significance as it did in that moment. “I, Ewan Andrew Gordon, will take you as my wife upon the date we pledge our troth before God and priest.”

  “I, Allyson Elliot, will take you as my husband upon the date we pledge our troth before God and priest.”

  Ewan and Allyson stared at one another for several heartbeats before both of their faces broke into wide smiles. Ewan bussed a kiss on Allyson’s cheek before pressing a brief one to her lips. The brothers retired to their chamber, where Ewan and Eoin discussed what they would do until they could ride away from Redheugh with Allyson and put her past behind them.

  * * *

  Ewan turned to climb into bed that was little more than a cot, when someone pounded on the door. He drew his dirk and checked to see that Eoin was armed before creeping to the door. Enemies rarely announced their arrival, but neither man was willing to be unprepared now that they were unwelcome guests. Ewan drew the door open to find a Gordon retainer on the other side.

  “A messenger in the king’s livery just arrived with this for ye.” The man held out a rolled parchment and nodded when Ewan took it from him. Ewan turned to look at Eoin after he closed the door. He crossed the chamber and sat on Eoin’s bed next to him. He slid the ribbon off and unfurled the document. A smaller piece of vellum lay on top of the larger one. Both men recognized their father’s handwriting.

  I pray this finds you well, sons. Laird Elliot sent word that you’ve recovered your runaway bride, Ewan, and that you’ve stopped at Redheugh. The king is eager to resolve the matter of your betrothal. Laird Elliot informed the king that Allyson would be before a priest the day after Easter, regardless of her feelings on the matter. He assures she’s past her fit of temper and will cause no problems as a dutiful wife. You need only marry her and bring her to Huntley, then get the flock to her father. You can do as you choose while you’re away, and if it should take a little longer to return, she’ll surely be none the wiser. Get her with child, and she’ll have little time to cause trouble. Her dowry will pay for the additions to the keep, so be certain to secure the coin before you depart. Godspeed.

  Ewan clenched the parchment so tightly that it vibrated between his hands. Eoin eased the document and the missive from his brother’s hands lest Ewan crumple it.

  “And ye wonder why I thought what I did aboot marriage. Father condones me being unfaithful and even encourages it,” Ewan growled. He pushed away from the bed and stalked back to the window, where he scrubbed his hands over his face before leaning toward the narrow opening. He stood thinking in silence, Eoin giving him space, until he decided on how to proceed. “As soon as Kenneth returns, we depart. We’re taking Ally back to court. If Father is there, ye must speak to him before he has a chance to speak to Ally. Lord only kens what he might say to her. If he’s nae there, go to Huntley. Tell him how things have changed, how I’ve changed. Eoin, if he lets on that I should keep a leman, he’ll devastate Allyson, and I dinna ken that she’ll ever trust me again.”

  “But ye’ve already explained to her that yer view on marriage has changed, that it doesnae match Father’s anymore.”

  “Aye, but who’s kenned me longer? She’ll believe aught Father says, assuming he kens me better. The last thing I need is for her to bolt again or lock herself away. Allyson is the one person who could make me come to blows with Father. I will protect her nay matter what, Eoin. I’m warning ye now, I will choose her.” He spun around and glared at his brother, daring Eoin to mock him.

  “Ye’re in love with her,” Eoin mused quietly. His comment made Ewan stop short as Ewan moved toward his bed. He wanted to shake his head, deny Eoin’s accusation, but he realized Eoin would never condemn him for loving Allyson. He had suspected he was falling in love with her, but his reaction to her mother that day confirmed it. His need to defend her had bordered on the pathological.

  “I believe I do, and I dinna ken what to do,” Ewan confessed.

  “What to do? Make the marriage to the lass real, have a passel of bairns, and live a happy life together.”

  “It’ll never be that simple.”

  “Then make it that way. Explain what’s happening. Confess what Father wrote and warn her that Father doesnae ken that ye’ve chosen a different view on marriage than he holds. Then face the future together.” Eoin strode to his brother’s side, placing his hand on Ewan’s shoulder and squeezing. “It doesnae have to be any harder than that. The lass loves ye, too.”

  Ewan looked at Eoin for a long moment before nodding. They sat together once more and studied the betrothal agreement, pointing out portions that concerned them. He had barely scanned it when he saw it the first time, too enraged to care. He recalled most of it favored Allyson in the event he left her a widow, but he was dissatisfied with her options to return to Redheugh or retire to a convent. Her widow’s portion was enough to provide for her even if he died within the next few years, or it would be a hefty dowry to an abbey. He pointed to the line and turned to Eoin. He couldn’t accept Allyson being forced to leave their home.

  “If I die before ye, ye must make certain she can remain with us. If ye’re laird, ye must make certain that nay one will force her out upon yer death,” Ewan’s grave voice made Eoin nod several times.

  “She’s to be ma sister. I always wanted one. After all, I’ve always been stuck with yer ugly mug.”

  “Ugly? Ye shouldnae be so hard on yerself.” Ewan grinned and appreciated his brother’s attempt to add some levity. “Ye’ll see to her wellbeing if I’m gone?”

  “Of course. I would have regardless, but I can see how much she’s come to mean to ye. Ewan, ye have a lifetime of responsibility and duty ahead of ye. I’ll always do everything I can to support ye, but I’ll never be the lady of the clan. If ye’ve found a woman who ye love and who’ll be a good addition to our clan, then I will endeavor to ensure she’s always protected, just as ye would do yerself. Besides, ye’re nae so ugly now that I thin
k aboot it.”

  “Thank ye, brother,” Ewan murmured. The brothers embraced and clapped one another on the back. “Do I wait till morning?”

  “Ye’d dare go to her chamber at this time of night? When it’s next door to Mary’s? I damn well wouldnae go there alone.”

  “Good thing ye’re coming with me.”

  “What? This isnae a good idea, Ewan.”

  “Just come with me to her door. Then ye can go, and I’ll be out before morn.”

  “Before morn? Ye’re going to risk spending another night with her? Ye’re a bluidy bampot, and I’m one too to be considering this. Ye already tested yer luck arguing with Lady Elliot.”

  “Aye. I am. I need to see her, and I willna have yer big ears listening outside the door, nor am I going to be traipsing aboot in the dark for someone to catch me and claim I’ve compromised Mary or Alice.”

  Eoin’s mouth flattened into a thin line, but he crossed the room and held the door open for his twin.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Ewan and Eoin crept into the Great Hall and past the sleeping men and women until they reached the stairs that led to the family chambers. Years of hunting and fighting taught them to tread silently as they climbed to the second floor. Ewan pointed to a door on the right, and they eased their way along the passageway until Ewan knocked softly. He waited, but there was no answer. He tried again, but Allyson still didn’t answer, so he pressed down on the handle, cringing when the metal creaked. He poked his head in but immediately realized she wasn’t in her chamber. He scanned the surfaces and caught sight of the kirtle she wore to the evening meal along with her hair combs on a table next to a pitcher and ewer. He suspected he knew where she was.

  “She’s nae here,” he whispered to Eoin. “Go back to our chamber. I ken where she is.”

  When Eoin shook his head, he pointed above them and mouthed “attic.” He noted Eoin’s confusion, but he wouldn’t spill Allyson’s secret, and certainly not in the middle of the passageway in the middle of the night. They walked back to the stairs, and Ewan waited for a moment as Eoin descended and looked back once before crossing the Great Hall. Ewan continued on to the door that led to the stairs that would take him to the attic and hopefully Allyson.

  Allyson scrambled to hide the book she read when she heard someone open the attic door. She scurried behind a large trunk and waited. It was too late to blow out the candle she’d brought with her. Whoever approached would have seen the light upon opening the door. She preferred to have it lit to identify the intruder. She sighed when she recognized Ewan’s head as it appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “Ally?” his whisper wasn’t very quiet.

  “Aye, Ewan. I’m here.” She stepped around the chest, but realized she wore only her chemise and robe. The previous times they’d been in the attic, she’d been fully clothed, not that it had mattered once her skirts were around her waist. Despite Ewan seeing her completely naked earlier that day, somehow Ewan spying her in her bedclothes seemed intimate in a way the other times didn’t. She clutched her robe at the throat and waited for Ewan to cross the distance between them. “What’re you doing here?”

  “I went to yer chamber, but when I discovered ye werenae there, I figured ye’d be here.”

  “You went to my chamber. What if someone saw you?”

  “Eoin and I were careful nae to be seen.” Ewan didn’t notice that his brogue continued, even though he spoke to Allyson instead of his brother.

  “Eoin? You were both wandering about! Are you trying to rip my reputation to tatters? Angus told people about you, Eoin, and Lady Bevan. They’ll assume you were up to your old tricks if they find you at my door in the middle of the night. Riding off with you for the afternoon did little to improve matters after everything Mother accused me of. People overheard. Good God, Alice or Mary could claim you were visiting them.” Allyson made to step around Ewan, but his hands gripped her upper arms.

  “Dinna panic, mo ghaol.” Ewan leaned down to gaze into her eyes.

  “What did you call me?” Allyson croaked.

  “Ma love.” Ewan watched as Allyson’s eyes shuttered, and he suspected she believed it was a trite cliché, not the beginning of his promise of devotion. He swept her into his arms and carried her to the place they’d slept the previous nights. “Ally, I’m nae tossing that phrase aboot lightly. I’ve never called a woman that. I said it because I mean it. I’m in love with ye, Allyson.”

  “You are?” she breathed.

  “Aye, mo ghaol, I am.” He brushed hair from her temple and pressed a soft kiss. “I didna imagine I would be. I didna plan to be, but I realized how strong ma feelings are when yer mother spoke to ye this afternoon. Ma need to get ye away from her, from here, nearly overwhelmed any sense of reason. All I focused on was protecting ye.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re in love with me. You feel obligated because you intend to marry me. You may even be fond of me, or you’ve seemed to be of late.”

  “This has naught to do with obligation, Allyson. It has everything to do with a feeling that’s in every inch of me. I’ve had Eoin at ma side every day of our lives, and I never imagined I’d need another person. But I need ye. I need to see yer smile. I need to hear yer voice. I need to have ye at ma side. I trust ye just as I do ma brother, and that’s because I’ve gotten to ken ye. The woman I kenned at court wasna the whole woman I now ken ye to be. There is so much more than anyone else sees, and I’m the only person ye allow to glimpse these parts of yer character, yer soul. Ye wouldnae do that if ye didna return ma feelings.”

  Allyson looked down at her hands that rested in his much larger palm. His fingers were curled around the back of hers while he wrapped his other arm around her with his hand resting on her hip. Her back leaned against his shoulder, and she laid her head against his chest. She absorbed the comfort he offered and realized she’d never been as content as she was when she was in Ewan’s company. Sitting against him in the shelter of his arms seemed right. She couldn’t imagine ever being this at ease with another man. She twisted so she could gaze into his emerald depths.

  “I return your feelings, mo chridhe.”

  “I’m yer heart?”

  “Aye. As unlikely as it is, I won’t lie and deny I’m in love with you, too. You’re not the man I assumed from what I saw at court. I jumped to conclusions based on my own fears and past. I didn’t give you a chance. This afternoon, all that you said, it confirmed what I’ve discovered since we’ve been here.”

  “I dinna think we would have gotten to ken one another past our preconceived impressions had we remained at court. Neither of us would have been so unguarded, and I’m certain I wouldnae have curbed ma excesses. Chillingham excepted, running away from court was the best that could have happened for us. It’s given us an opportunity to see who we are away from court.”

  “What you say is true. If we’d spent this time at court, I would have despised you and never forgiven you for what I assumed were your flaws. Even if we married and retired to the Highlands, I doubt I would have opened my mind to appreciate what you’re like away from court. Or it would’ve taken me much, much longer. By then it might’ve been too late. I would have driven you into any open arms.”

  “The only open arms I want are yers, and I hope they close around me.”

  “As much as I can reach,” Allyson giggled before bringing her lips to his. She ran her hand up his chest to his neck and tunneled her fingers into the hair at his nape, her thumb running over the bristle. He used both hands to cup her jaw as they poured their feelings into the kiss. It wasn’t like any of the ones they shared before.

  Ewan knew it was time to show Allyson the contracts and his father’s missive. He gave her one last lingering kiss. When they broke apart, Ewan shifted and pulled the parchments from his sporran. Allyson saw Ewan’s unease and guessed what he would show her. “The contracts?”

  “Aye, but that’s nae all that arrived. My father sent Eoin and me a missive.” A
llyson canted her head and furrowed her brow as she attempted to read Ewan’s troubled expression. “It pains me to share this with ye, but I fear what ma father might say to ye before I can convince him he and I nay longer see marriage through the same eyes.”

  Allyson glanced down when Ewan unrolled the vellum. She watched his expression as he handed her the smaller of the parchments. She saw his nervousness, and she perceived his tension as it pulsed through him. She scanned the contents of the missive and nodded once, slowly.

  “Does your father believe it’s possible to love one woman and to be faithful to her?”

  “I dinna ken. Perhaps once he did, but I dinna ken if his experiences have jaded him too much for him to see nae every marriage has to be like his.”

  “But most marriages he knows of are like his was. The king has a slew of bastards. I’m my father’s bastard.”

  “Dinna say that, Allyson. You are nae.”

  “You heard my siblings. You’ve seen how my parents treat me.”

  Ewan inhaled until air filled his lungs to bursting before setting Allyson aside. He stood and helped her to her feet, then led her to the paintings. He uncovered the ones he’d discovered that that first morning. When Allyson gasped, he let go of them and reached for her as she stumbled backward, her fingers covering her mouth and her eyes wide as saucers. She shook her head as tears poured forth as Ewan pulled her into his embrace. She pointed past him before clenching her hand into a fist that laid against his chest. She trembled as she buried her face in the swath of plaid that crossed his chest and shoulder. She clung to him as she sobbed. Ewan knew she’d recognized the resemblance as quickly as he had. It only took Allyson seconds to realize all the hateful things said to her over the years had been entirely false, and to make matters worse, neither of her parents did anything but perpetuate the suspicions.