Ewan watched the women’s faces as Agnus and Graeme apologized, and Kenneth attempted to rationalize his dereliction. All three of Allyson’s sisters stood around Margaret, not a remorseful face among them. He understood none of the women would ever welcome Allyson. The hatred Margaret held toward Allyson was too embedded in her daughters for them ever to reconsider their beliefs. They were too jealous and covetous to ever forgive what they believed were Allyson’s sins to bear.
“This is quite the spectacle you’ve created, Ewan. Are you proud to have aired our family’s dirty laundry? Got a little more than you bargained for, didn’t you? And you, Allyson, what were you doing rummaging through things that don’t belong to you? If you hadn’t been in the attic, doing God only knows what, you wouldn’t have found those.” Margaret jerked her thumb over her shoulder. A speculative look crossed the older woman’s face. “That’s where you go to hide, isn’t it? That’s where you sneak off to when you wish you were anywhere but here. When we wish you could be anyone but yourself.”
Margaret signaled two maids and whispered to them when they came to stand before her. They hesitated but nodded before turning toward the stairs. They rushed up them, and Allyson pushed away from Ewan when she realized the women headed toward the stairs that led to the attic.
“No!” Allyson lifted her skirts and dashed after them. By the time she reached the landing, the women were out of sight. She ran up the next flight of stairs and down the passageway to the attic door. She rattled the doorknob, but they’d locked it. She didn’t have her key with her. Allyson pounded on the door, but the maids refused to answer. She ran back down to her chamber and retrieved the key, making it back to the attic door as her mother unlocked it with her own key and disappeared through the doorway. She elbowed past the twins and her brothers, but her mother and sisters were already in the attic by the time she reached the bottom of the steps. She heard her mother’s voice, filling her with dread.
“All of it,” Margaret ordered.
Allyson stared in horror as the maids ripped apart precious books and her sisters shredded drawings she’d made as a child. She recognized the one of her on a horse with a faceless man, the one Ewan had seen. She snatched it from Laurel’s hands, holding it against her breasts.
“Why?” She begged.
“You are not welcome here. Your noseying around destroyed our family,” Margaret snapped.
“I thought it was your infidelity, Margaret,” Kenneth wrapped his hand around his wife’s wrist and squeezed until she dropped the figurines she held. He pulled her away, his face florid with rage he barely contained. Graeme and Angus rushed to stop their sisters, barking orders at the maids to leave. But the damage was done. Allyson’s possessions lay strewn across the floor, wooden figures smashed to smithereens, parchment torn, and books barely hanging on with bindings in tatters. Ewan feared Allyson might collapse as she swayed beside him. He eased her against him, encircling her in his embrace, tucking her head against his chest as though he could shut out the world around her and keep her from seeing the devastation.
“I’m so sorry, Ally,” Ewan murmured. “I never in my wildest dreams imagined they would do something like this. I didn’t think I’d be giving away your secret.” Ewan felt tears fall along his cheeks, the first he’d shed in nearly a score of years. Allyson looked up to see the regret and heartbreak on his face, but all she could do was nod.
Eoin stepped forward, then squatted on the tapestry where Ewan and Allyson spent several nights. He examined what remained, moving salvageable items to the side. The pile was small. He rolled the tapestry, hiding the rest. The twins looked at one another, a message passing between them. They would ride at dawn, but not before Ewan had the contract amended. No one in the Elliot clan would ever dictate where Allyson lived again.
“Ally, we’re going to your father’s solar right now to explain what’s happened while he was gone, then you’re coming back to the tower with me. We ride first thing in the morning. Is there aught you need from your chamber?” Ewan whispered.
Allyson shook her head, her mind too clouded to fully make sense of Ewan’s words. Ewan looked over her head at Kenneth, who still held his wife’s arm. Their contempt and disgust for each other was plain for everyone to see.
“I’m going to do what I should have done the first time you bore me a bastard. You will retire to a convent. You are too great a disgrace to be seen. I will petition the king and the Pope to sever our marriage.” Kenneth growled, and Ewan feared for a moment that he might strike Margaret. He shifted his gaze to Laurel, Mary, and Alice, who stood in silence, awaiting their fate for their contribution to the ugly scene. “Laurel, you and your husband will move your family into a croft. If you can show remorse for your actions in the coming the years, I will consider allowing your family to return to the keep. Alice and Mary, choose a convent or I will find you husbands forthwith. Naught changes for Angus and Graeme, except you two will join me for hours in the chapel on our knees, atoning for our misdeeds. You all remain my children as you always have been, but this family changes as of today. Ewan, please join me in my solar to complete our business.”
Ewan moved to guide Allyson toward the stairs, but she shook her head. She cast a sweeping glance around the attic, her heart broken and in need of solace. “Go. You said you don’t require my signature. I need some time alone. I’ll find you in a little while.”
“No. I won’t leave you alone. I don’t trust your mother or your sisters. I’m scared you’re no longer safe here. Your mother isn’t a well woman, and the hate she’s instilled in your sisters won’t disappear just because you’ve confronted them. Please, come to the solar with me. When we finish, I’ll bring you back here. I’ll guard the door, and you can have as much time as you need.”
Allyson capitulated and nodded. Ewan felt the fight go out of her as she leaned heavily against him. They followed Kenneth and Angus to the laird’s solar. Eoin stood outside the door, guarding the discussions while Graeme corralled the women to the Great Hall where they ate in silence. The conversation swirled around Allyson as numbness settled over her. She’d taken a seat next to Ewan, his hand holding hers, but when she shivered, he lifted her into his lap, cradling her against his large chest. She absorbed the heat Ewan radiated, and her eyes drifted closed. Ewan felt the moment Allyson drifted off, her body going lax against his. He hadn’t noticed he stroked her head until it was time to wake Allyson. Ewan explained what transpired with Mary and Eoin in the garden, what happened while Kenneth was on patrol, and how he and Allyson intended to return to court to inform the king that they were duly wed. When Kenneth’s initial bluster blew over, he accepted that after what he witnessed that evening, Ewan had done the right thing to protect Allyson. Ewan shook Allyson’s shoulder until she woke.
“Mo aingeal, do you want to return to the attic, go to your chamber, or settle for the night in mine?”
“I don’t know.” Allyson’s thready voice worried Ewan. The color hadn’t returned to her face, and her hands were like icicles. “Whatever you want, Ew.”
What Ewan wanted was to order the Gordon horses saddled and to ride out that night. He recognized that would needlessly endanger Allyson, and they all needed the benefit of a good night’s sleep before setting off. They faced two days of hard riding, which meant at least one night under the stars. Ewan feared Allyson might fall ill from the strain.
“We’ll stick to the original plan. I’ll take you to the attic, then your chamber. Gather aught you want to take with you, then we’ll go to my chamber.”
“Nay. We can stay in my chamber. I’d rather be alone, but I know you won’t agree to that, so we can sleep there.”
“If that’s what you prefer, then that’s what we shall do.”
Ewan and Allyson left the laird’s solar and made a stop in the attic. Allyson lifted the lid on a dusty chest and pulled out a stack of parchment, each covered in drawings that demonstrated Allyson’s artistic gifts. Ewan recognized how her t
alent improved over the years. She rolled them tightly before securing them with a ribbon that held her hair back. She found a small sack that she filled with the items Eoin set aside. They made their way to Allyson’s chamber, where she hurried to pack a satchel with two fresh chemises and two kirtles she’d mended. Once she added stockings, her combs and a bar of soap, she had all the belongings she intended to take from the place she’d called home for most of her life. Ewan helped her undress and offered to sleep on the floor by the locked and barred door, but Allyson shook her head and wordlessly patted the bed beside her. It was narrow and forced them to lie on their sides. Allyson fell back to sleep as soon as Ewan’s arm wrapped around her middle. Ewan watched Allyson sleep for a long time before exhaustion overtook him. He wished he could spend every night for the rest of his life as they were now, but he wasn’t sure that would be possible once they returned to court. Even if they were legally married, the king and the bishop would likely force them to wait out the rest of Lent to share a chamber, insisting they sleep apart until they were sacramentally wed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Gordons, Allyson, and Kenneth set off at dawn the next day with little fanfare or send off. Angus and Graeme wished them well, but none of the women in the laird’s family made an appearance. It was just as well. Allyson didn’t have the fortitude for another confrontation. She mounted and followed Ewan through the gates of Redheugh, praying she need never return. They rode hard the next two days, making camp only when the road became too dangerous to navigate in the dark. Kenneth appeared tempted to intervene when Ewan spread his bedroll next to Allyson’s, but a glare from Ewan and a possessive arm wrapped around Allyson’s waist reminded him that she was now Ewan’s responsibility. They hadn’t announced before departing that their betrothal was now a marriage, but Ewan intended to request an audience with the king to inform him that the wedding would need to take place immediately. They’d been away from Stirling for a month, and they had little more than a week to wait for Lent to end.
They rode into Stirling early the morning of their third day of travel. Ewan was proud of Allyson’s resilience. She had shown no discomfort while on horseback for hours at a time, and she tended to her horse herself. She helped prepare their meals, cooking the animals caught and making bannocks each morning. Eoin teased that they’d make a real Highlander of her yet. Ewan’s heart thudded as Allyson beamed at the praise. The time it took to return to Stirling had a rejuvenating effect, and Allyson emerged from her shell once more. Her relationship with her father was strained, but neither appeared to hold any animosity toward one another.
As they dismounted in the bailey, Allyson experienced a wave of trepidation. Her return would force her to accept the consequences of her decision to run away. She stared at the facade and wondered what rumors circulated among the ladies-in-waiting. While at Redheugh, she had the distraction of her family and Ewan. While nothing good had come of her time with her family, the extended time with Ewan had fostered a growing love between them. Had they not been able to spend so much time together, isolated from the interfering courtiers or Ewan’s duties at home, Allyson doubted they would have grown close. They might not even tolerate one another. Instead, she’d found a best friend, a partner, and a man she adored.
“Are you ready, mo ghaol?” Ewan whispered as he came to stand beside her.
“I suppose, though, it wouldn’t matter if I weren’t. I fear the king shall be angry with me and the queen disappointed.”
“We won’t know until we enter.” Ewan laced his fingers between hers and squeezed. Allyson’s eyes dropped to the sight of their hands joined. Ewan intended for them to enter as equals and to display his support from the onset. They followed Kenneth into the castle, with Eoin bringing up the rear. Guards divested the men of their weapons before they entered the passageway leading to King Robert’s Privy Council chamber. They found Laird Andrew Gordon pacing in the corridor. The chamberlain bade them to wait, and it felt like an eternity before he returned to open the door and ordered them to enter. Allyson glanced around the large gathering chamber, noticing that several men gathered around a center table, discussing parchments laid across the surface. Other courtiers milled about the periphery of the chamber, but all conversations halted when Allyson and Ewan entered. Curious faces and smirks aimed at Allyson made her want to shift nervously, but she employed every skill she’d learned at court to maintain a neutral mien and proper posture. They approached the king, the men bowing and Allyson curtseying. Then they waited again, Ewan rubbing his thumb over the back of Allyson’s hand. When the king finally shifted his attention to them, his gaze was riveted on their hands, and a smile tugged at his mouth before he stifled it.
“It seems you resolved the earlier issues,” King Robert boomed, and Allyson wanted to shrink into the floor as everyone in the chamber looked in their direction. “It appears not only have you made amends, but you’ve developed a fondness for one another.”
“Your assessment is correct, Your Grace,” Ewan responded. “Much has happened in the past moon, but the time away from the distractions of court life gave Lady Allyson and me the opportunity to get better acquainted with one another.”
“Distractions? I believe you mean temptations.” The Bruce studied Ewan, then shifted his gaze to Allyson. “There is a difference about you both. Ewan, you appear a wee humbler, and Lady Allyson, you appear more at ease than I have ever seen you.”
“I am, Your Majesty,” Allyson spoke clearly but softly. She’d never felt comfortable during audiences with the king. She much preferred the time she spent with Queen Elizabeth. While still an imposing figure, the queen didn’t strike fear within Allyson.
“Your Grace, before aught else is said, I must inform you that Lady Allyson and I are legally married. We will have the sacramental wedding during Eastertide.”
“A betrothal ceremony is the same as a wedding. No priest will conduct the service.” The king shook his head. A look of genuine regret crossed his face as he studied the couple once more, noting Allyson’s stricken expression.
“Your Majesty?” Allyson waited for the king to acknowledge her, holding her breath, fearing King Robert’s reaction to her addressing him rather than waiting to be spoken to. When King Robert nodded, she proceeded. “If I might clarify, You Majesty. A betrothal isn’t sacramental. It doesn’t have to include a priest because it’s a promise to marry in the future which means it doesn’t violate canon law. We, um, already ensured that we’re legally married. We made our promise to marry in the future, and Eoin witnessed it. And since then, we, um—” Alyson couldn’t finish, her cheeks on fire with embarrassment.
King Robert paused as he considered Allyson’s announcement; he was slow to respond but eventually nodded his head. “It seems I will need to inform the bishop that there will be a wedding during Eastertide.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
The king returned to the center table and his advisors. While Eoin and Allyson talked quietly, Laird Gordon looked between his older son and his new wife.
“That went far more smoothly than I imagined,” Andrew spoke up. He had remained silent since they entered the Privy Council chamber. He’d barely acknowledged their arrival in the passageway. Ewan grimaced, fearing what his father would say next. The words made Ewan cringe. “I believe a tavern and a wench are in order to bid farewell to your bachelorhood.”
“Nay, Father. Those are part of my past. I have no interest in any woman other than Allyson.”
“Come now, you aren’t really married until the church ceremony. You made your position clear before this disaster. You don’t intend to alter your lifestyle. You have at least a sennight, if not a moon or more, before you’ll marry before God. Until then, we’ve got the contracts secured, and we can go on about our lives. Laird Elliot and I will set a date for the marriage. Until then, we’ll return to Huntley while Lady Allyson remains here or returns to Redheugh. It matters little to us.”
Allyson we
nt rigid as Andrew’s words drifted to her. Eoin broke off mid-sentence as he looked past Allyson to his father and brother. He glanced down at Allyson before placing his hand on her arm in reassurance. Ewan’s irritated voice spoke over Andrew’s, and his words calmed Allyson’s moment of panic.
“That is not what will happen, Father. I will not be leaving Allyson anywhere. You heard Allyson, and I’m certain you understood her. We are already married, and the church service will be in ten days. If we can’t marry before a priest the day after Easter, then I will remain at court or Allyson will come home with us, but I am not going anywhere without her. She absolutely will not return to Redheugh. That is unacceptable.” Ewan pushed his shoulders back and lifted his chin in challenge to his father. “I am more than just betrothed to Allyson, and I am responsible for her wellbeing. And let me be very clear about something, Father. I love Allyson. Much has happened in the past moon, which I’ll explain at a better time. But make no mistake, I will be faithful to Allyson until I draw my last breath. She and I will have a very different marriage than you and Mother or Allyson’s parents. I will honor my vows from today until the end.”
Andrew watched his son, noting his son’s conviction and a hint of defiance as he defended his bride and his marriage. It was the most honorable act he had seen Ewan commit, and it filled him with pride.
“I wish you a happier marriage than I had with your mother. If you love Allyson, as you say you do, then you’re already on the right path. Your commitment and integrity reassure me that one day you will lead our clan with honor.” Andrew clapped his son on the shoulder before sticking out his hand. Father and son grasped forearms in a warriors’ handshake. Andrew turned to Allyson and smiled, waving her over. “I owe you an apology for those uncouth words you must have overheard. I understand that circumstances have changed much while you were away. I welcome you to Clan Gordon, lass. I hope you find your new home and family welcoming because we look forward to your arrival at Huntley.”
A Rogue at the Highland Court: An Arranged Marriage Highlander Romance Page 26
