“Lady Rob is no witch,” Gordon told the boy.
Duncan looked confused. “But Mama said she was.”
“Dinna argue aboot it now,” Rob said, touching her husband’s arm as he rounded in anger on Kendra. “’Tis done and past. Gavin will want to recover with his mother by his side.” She noted the angry twitching of a muscle in his cheek and pleaded, “Please, Gordy.”
He glanced at his trembling son in his arms and nodded once. “I’ll meet ye at the lodge after I take Gavin to his mother’s.”
Kendra lifted her youngest son by Fergus out of one of the women’s arms, flicked a sour glance at Rob, and walked away. Following in her wake, Gordon started across the glen in the direction of a cluster of beehive-shaped hovels.
“The bitch never even thanked ye,” Gabby muttered, drawing her lady’s attention. “Dewey and I will walk ye back to yer lodge.”
“I can find my own way,” Rob said. “Besides, I’d prefer being alone for now.”
Clutching the shawl tightly around her shoulders, Rob stepped forward, and the milling crowd of Campbells parted for her. She’d only gone ten yards when a familiar voice called out, stopping her in her tracks.
“Lady Rob!” Duncan raced toward her, quickly closing the distance separating them.
“Yes, Duncan?”
“Thank ye for rescuin’ my brother.”
Rob smiled. “Yer verra welcome.”
“And . . .” The boy dropped his gaze to his bare feet and added, “I’m sorry I made ye cry.”
Rob felt renewed hope swell within her breast. She reached out, lifted his chin, and waited until he raised his gaze to hers.
“What’s done is past and forgotten,” she assured him.
The boy smiled with relief.
“Ye’d better hurry home and help yer mother care for Gavin,” she said.
Duncan nodded. Turning on his heels, he ran across the glen in the direction his parents had taken.
When Rob reached the lodge. Smooches attacked her with love. She dropped the damp shawl onto the floor, scooped the pup into her arms, and hugged him. After setting him down on top of the bed, she removed her wet garments and donned one of her husband’s shirts. His scent of mountain heather clung to it and soothed her badly frayed nerves.
Feeling depleted of energy, Rob lay down on the bed. The enormity of almost losing Gavin hit her with the impact of an avalanche. What if her ruby hadn’t darkened? What if she hadn’t reached the glen in time? What if she’d been unable to make him retch the water he’d swallowed?
The door swung open suddenly. Gordon grinned at her and held the fish he’d earlier caught high into the air. “Are ye up for cleanin’ fish?” he asked.
Rob looked from his smiling face to the dead fish. Covering her mouth with one hand, she leaped off the bed and made a mad dash for the door. Outside, she dropped to her knees and heaved dryly while her husband gently held her head. When her spasms passed, she leaned heavily against his legs.
“Should I take that as a no?” Gordon asked, caressing the top of her head.
Rob managed a faint smile. “Yer verra funny, my lord.”
Gordon lifted her into his arms, carried her inside the lodge, and set her gently down on the bed. After pulling the coverlet over her, he discreetly tossed the dead fish out the door.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Gordon yanked his boots off and then lay down beside her. “Feelin’ better?” he asked, gathering her into the protective circle of his embrace,
“Aye, but too much excitement and the smell of dead fish is a sickenin’ combination,” Rob answered. “How’s Gavin?”
“Badly frightened.” Gordon cast her a thoughtful look and said, “Tell me, angel. How did ye know what to do?”
“Well, I saw that my star ruby had darkened,” she replied. “Then Gavin leaped into my thoughts and —”
“I meant, how could ye know what to do to revive him?” Gordon interrupted. “I didna think ye could swim.”
“I told ye I could swim,” she said, “but I hate the deep water.”
“Tell me how ye knew to revive him.”
“Verra well, but ye must promise not to feel sorry for me.”
He gave her a puzzled smile and nodded.
“Once when I was a young girl, I sneaked out of the postern gate and wandered to the shore of Loch Awe,” Rob began, careful to keep her gaze fixed on his chest lest she see pity in his eyes. “I heard the children playin’ and wanted to join in their fun. As I neared them, they” — her voice cracked with remembered pain — “they called me a monster and ran away.”
Gordon felt his heart lurch. How could the MacArthurs have been so cruel to his beautiful wife, his angel?
Revenge against them for hurting her leaped into his mind. When he became the Duke of Argyll, he’d —
“Dinna pity me,”“ Rob whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek as she gazed into his eyes.
“I wasna pityin’ ye,” Gordon lied.
Rob recognized the pity shadowed in his gaze and knew he was lying, but loved him for not telling her the truth. She cast him a knowing smile and then continued. “One of the crofter’s daughters became hysterical with fear when I chased after her. In her desperate flight away from me, she fell into the loch. Fortunately, my father had come searching for me. He dived into the water and pulled the girl to shore. His pounding on her back and breathin’ into her mouth revived her finally.’”
“Did the children never play with ye?” he asked, one hand stroking her back soothingly.
“I never ventured to the loch again,” Rob said. A rueful smile touched her lips when she added, “I remember demandin’ that my father order the children to play with me.”
“And did he?”
Rob shook her head. “My father said that he couldna force the children to play with me because the clan is stronger than the laird.”
An aching tenderness for the angel in his arms swelled within Gordon’s chest. He brushed his lips across her temple and said, “So ye befriended the cook who taught ye to make perfect bannocks.”
Rob pinkened. “And Old Man’s milk too.”
“Forgive me, my love,” Gordon whispered.
“For what?”
“For failin’ to send ye the doll I promised.”
“I forgave ye for that long ago,” she told him.
Gordon dipped his head, and his mouth covered hers in a lingering kiss meant to heal. She was his exquisitely beautiful wife, and he wanted to erase a lifetime of painful memories. Easing her troubled spirit for the next two hours was easy, and they dropped into a sated sleep.
Early the following morning, Gordon awakened and rose from their bed to stoke the embers in the hearth. He dressed noiselessly and then perched on the edge of the bed to study his wife in sleep.
A smile touched his lips as he traced one long finger down the side of her silken cheek. His wife was brave and bonny and vulnerable.
And he loved her.
God’s balls, when had he fallen in love with her? Gordon wondered. Love was for women and fools. Well, he wasn’t a woman so that made him a fool.
Gordon knew without a doubt that admitting his love for her would be a grave mistake. He’d seen too many men at court ruled by the women whom they loved. When they were old and gray and drooling in their dotage, he would tell her he’d loved her for all the years of their marriage.
Leaning closer, Gordon pressed a kiss on her parted lips. When her eyelids fluttered open and she wrapped her arms around his neck, he chuckled huskily against her mouth.
“Good mornin’, angel,” Gordon greeted her. “’Tis early yet, but I’ve important business needin’ my attention. Are ye up for makin’ me a stack of bannocks while I’m gone?”
Rob smiled drowsily and nodded, saying, “Yer wish is my command, my lord.”
“Och, fibbin’ is a terrible sin.” he teased her. “Be certain ye dress decently because I just might return with company.”
�
�Who?” Rob asked, perking up.
“’Tis a surprise.” At that, Gordon gave her a quick, teasing kiss and left the lodge.
Humming a bawdy tune, Gordon marched down the path to Glen Aray. This summer’s shieling had been eventful. He’d made Rob his wife in fact as well as name and nearly lost her to his clansmen’s superstitions. Then there was the matter of his youngest son who would be lying in an early grave if not for his wife’s swift intervention.
And he’d fallen in love.
That startling fact brought a smile to his lips. Realizing that he was grinning like an idiot, Gordon schooled his features into an expressionless mask. If he chanced to meet anyone along the path, they’d think he’d lost his wits.
A few of the shieling’s events had gotten out of control. As the future Duke of Argyll and Campbell laird, Gordon decided he needed to exert his authority. His wife had been ill lately and needed his protection. Kendra had poisoned Duncan and Gavin against Rob. Setting that straight was his duty.
Unannounced, Gordon barged inside one of the beehive-shaped hovels and grinned at the provocative sight that greeted him. Leaning against the doorway, he said in an overly loud voice, “Age is slowin’ yer reflexes, Dewey. I could kill ye where yer layin’ yer wife.”
Startled by the intrusion, the bucking couple on the pallet snapped their heads around. Gabby shrieked with outraged embarrassment, but Dewey threw back his head and hooted with laughter.
“Get off me, ye bumblin’ oaf,” Gabby ordered. “He can see everythin’ God gave me.”
“Playin’ Adam and Eve, are ye?” Gordon teased. “I’ll wait outside, and ye might as well take yer time aboot it. Ye willna be returnin’ to yer nestin’ until tomorrow.”
When Dewey appeared a few minutes later, Gordon started walking in the direction of a certain hovel. “Escort Kendra and her bairn back to Inverary,” he ordered his man. “Pass the night there, and when ye return in the mornin’, bring Granny Biddy with ye.”
“Granny Biddy?” Dewey echoed. “She willna want to come up into the mountains.”
“Tell Biddy that Rob’s been ill recently,” Gordon said, “but I dinna want to alarm the lass by forcin’ her back to Inverary.”
Dewey nodded in understanding.
When they reached Kendra’s hovel, Gordon entered without announcing himself. He nudged Kendra awake and said, “Pack yer belongin’s. I’m sendin’ ye back to Inverary. The boys are stayin’ here with me.”
“I dinna want that witch near my sons,” Kendra told him.
Gordon clenched and unclenched his hands, fighting the urge to strike her. “I didna ask what ye preferred,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument. “If ye ever again accuse my wife of bein’ a witch, I’ll have Fergus beat ye within an inch of yer life, and then I’ll cast ye out of Argyll.”
Kendra clamped her lips shut and packed her few belongings. With that completed, she walked over to the pallet where Duncan and Gavin slept. Gently shaking them awake, she smiled at their sleepy expressions and gave each a kiss on the cheek.
“Fergus needs me at Inverary,” she told them. “Yer father is here to take ye up to his lodge so ye needna miss any of the shielin’.”
Turning away, Kendra lifted the baby from her pallet. Duncan and Gavin kissed their half-brother. After casting Gordon a sullen look, Kendra walked out the door.
Gordon stared at his sons who returned his stare. “I want to talk to ye aboot Lady Rob,” Gordon said, joining them on their pallet. “But ye must swear never to tell her we had this conversation. Can I trust ye?”
“Ye can trust me,” Duncan said, “but Gavin canna keep secrets.”
“I’ll keep this one,” the six-year-old promised. “I’d do anythin’ for Lady Rob.”
“Because the MacArthur children feared the mark on Rob’s hand, they refused to play with her and hurt her feelin’s,” Gordon told them. “Lady Rob had a verra lonely childhood. Not only that, but she’s been feelin’ puirly lately.”
“She willna die, will she?” Duncan asked.
“No, Dewey’s bringin’ Granny Biddy back from Inverary to help her get well again,” Gordon answered. “I want to be certain that ye boys treat Lady Rob kindly. She loves the both of ye verra much, and ’twould be a shame if ye added to her worries by makin’ her feel worse than she already does. Can I trust ye to guard her feelin’s?”
“Ye can count on me,” Duncan said.
“Me too,” Gavin agreed.
“Come along then.” Gordon rose from the pallet, adding, “Rob’s makin’ us a mountain of bannocks, and Dewey said they’re even better than Granny Biddy’s. If we dinna hurry back to the lodge, Smooches will gobble them up and save none for us.”
* * *
Rob grabbed the bannock spade and lifted the last of the bannocks from the girdle over the hearth. Being careful not to drop them, she set the bannocks down on the cooling rack and then wrapped them in linen to keep them moist and warm until her husband returned.
Where had Gordon gone? Probably to see Gavin, she answered herself and wondered how the boy was feeling this morning.
Touched by an angel.
Rob stared at the devil’s flower staining the back of her left hand. How unpredictable these people were. One day the Campbells reviled her for being Old Clootie’s handmaiden, and the next day they regarded her as a saint.
Rob heard the door opening behind her. Wearing a smile of greeting, she whirled around but then stared in surprise as her husband’s sons followed him into the lodge. Smooches reacted to their presence first. The pup dashed across the chamber and lovingly attacked the boys.
“Look who’s with me,” Gordon said needlessly, setting a pail of milk down on the table.
Recovering herself, Rob gave him a puzzled smile and said to the boys, “Are ye hungry? Yer just in time to help me eat that stack of bannocks.”
“I could eat the whole thin’ myself,” Duncan said, dropping his satchel on the floor.
“Me too,” Gavin agreed, and set his own satchel down beside his brother’s.
“Are ye ready, sons?” Gordon asked. When they nodded, he turned to Rob and gestured toward the open door, saying, “We give ye sunshine . . .”
“And flowers,” Duncan said, handing her a freshly picked bouquet of heather, buttercups, and dandelions.
Gavin winked at her. “And the gift of our smiles.”
Rob giggled. “Thank ye, my lords. I canna think of any three thin’s I’d prefer.” She filled a mug with water and placed the flowers in it, then set it on the table. “Drag those stools over here,” she ordered. “Who wants Old Man’s milk?”
“I do,” Gavin answered.
“So do I,” Duncan said.
“Me too,” Gordon added.
Rob served them the bannocks and then mixed four mugs of zested Old Man’s milk. Gordon sat down in one chair while she sat in the other. The boys sat on the stools. Rob couldn’t help thinking that being here like this made her feel part of their family. A warm feeling of acceptance and security enveloped her.
“These bannocks are as good as Granny Biddy’s,” Duncan said.
“Even better than hers,” Gavin corrected him.
“Yer an incorrigible flatterer,” Rob told the six-year-old.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“’Tis a handsome rogue who always tells the ladies what they wish to hear,” she explained.
“That sounds like lyin’ to me,” Duncan said.
“Well, sometimes tellin’ the truth isna the kindest thin’ to do,” Rob replied.
The boy looked at his father for verification.
Gordon shrugged and nodded.
“We’re stayin’ with ye for the rest of the shielin’,” Gavin spoke up.
Rob flicked her husband a questioning look and asked, “What aboot Kendra?”
“Fergus needed her at Inverary,” Gordon lied for the benefit of his sons. “I suppose he missed her company.”
“Dinna ye wa
nt us with ye?” Gavin asked, drawing her attention.
“Great Bruce’s ghost, of course I want ye here,” Rob answered. “What larks the four of us will share.”
Gavin pointed at Smooches and said, “Ye mean, the five of us.”
“I stand corrected,” Rob said with a smile.
Gordon and Duncan went fishing after breakfast, but Gavin chose to stay behind. Rob and the boy wandered outside and sat beneath a birch tree while Smooches scurried about and inspected the immediate area.
“Tell me aboot when I’m supposed to lie,” Gavin said, gazing up at her with piercing gray eyes so much like his father’s.
“Yer never supposed to lie,” Rob told him, hiding a smile. “However, there are two kinds of lies. A bad lie almost always hurts someone, but a good lie keeps a loved one from becomin’ hurt or angry. So a bad lie causes pain, but a good lie prevents it.”
“I ken what ye mean,” Gavin said. “If Grandfather asks me if I’m payin’ attention to my lessons, I should say yes even if I’m not. Grandfather is an old man, and we dinna want to upset him.”
“Exactly.” Rob reached out and picked a dandelion. “Close yer eyes. I want to see if ye love butter.”
“How can ye do that?” the boy asked.
“If I put this dandelion beneath yer chin and it reflects yellow, that means ye love butter,” Rob told him.
At that, Gavin closed his eyes and lifted his chin.
“Oh, I see that ye simply adore fresh butter,” she said.
Gavin giggled and said, “Let me try.”
Rob handed him the dandelion, closed her eyes, and lifted her chin. His voice sounded very close when he said, “Ye love butter too.” She opened her eyes and found him practically nose to nose with her.
Gavin gifted her with his father’s devastating smile. Unexpectedly, he lifted her left hand and pressed a kiss on her birthmark, saying, “I love ye, Lady Rob.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she brushed them away with her fingertips. “I love ye, too.”
“Why do I see tears in yer eyes?”
“’Tis joy, sweetie,” Rob told him. “Ladies always cry when they’re happy.”
Courting an Angel Page 29
