The Highlander's Runaway Bride

by TERRI BRISBIN

She took to her bed on the fourth day and lost track of the passing of night and day after that. When the door slammed against the wall, she barely heard it. But, the foul words did make her smile as Margaret cursed her way across the chamber.

  ‘I am away for three days, and everything and everyone has gone to hell in my absence?’ she shouted. ‘What in bloody hell is happening?’

  Eva did not have the strength to answer her. Nor the desire to speak of it. Nor to defend her acts against the woman’s brother. Luckily, Margaret did not need anyone to carry on a conversation. She forced Eva from the bed, washed and changed her and had her sitting in one of the chairs without ever pausing to allow for an answer if Eva wanted to give one.

  ‘Drink this,’ she ordered, placing a cup of something warm in Eva’s hands. When she would have put it down untouched, Margaret lifted it to her mouth and poured it in. Eva had no choice but to swallow.

  Margaret called Nessa, and the two cleaned the chamber thoroughly. Some hours later, when satisfied of her condition and the chamber’s, Margaret sat in the other chair. Eva understood what that meant but did not wish to speak about Rob.

  ‘Arabella wants to see you. She sent me first to tend to you. I will get her.’

  ‘Nay,’ she whispered. ‘No one.’ Margaret must have heard the desperation in her tone, so she nodded.

  ‘For now.’ She stood and walked to the door. ‘Do not get back in that bed except to sleep. When you tire of sitting, walk. When you tire of these four walls, leave it. You are not a prisoner here.’

  She appreciated the woman’s common-sense approach to everything, even if she knew she was more prisoner than she’d ever been anywhere before.

  ‘I will return on the morrow. I want to see you dressed when I arrive at midday.’

  * * *

  But on the morrow, it was not Margaret who invaded her privacy first. Arabella accepted the word ‘nay’ no more easily or happily than Margaret. She knocked twice, loudly, and then entered, not waiting to be asked in. Standing before her, the lady tapped her foot impatiently and then grumbled.

  ‘You must give me leave from my promise, Eva,’ she said, kneeling before her. Grabbing both of her hands, she shook her head. ‘They do not understand. Let me explain your reasons.’

  ‘You do not know all of it, Bella,’ she said. ‘And you gave your word.’

  The lady began cursing then, using some words she recognised as Rob’s favourites and others favoured by Margaret. She wanted to smile, but just could not.

  ‘I would ask the favour of you that you promised me,’ she said softly.

  Eva could not stay here in the keep and be reminded of the fleeting joy they’d found. This place belonged to Rob and when he returned from whatever called him away, he should be able to live here in peace. Once Brodie carried out his promise, she would disappear from their lives forever.

  ‘What do you need? What can I do for you?’ Arabella asked her.

  ‘You once offered the use of a cottage in the village. I would like to move there until Brodie arranges an end to things.’

  ‘End to things? What do you mean?’ The lady stood and studied her for a long moment before shaking her head violently. ‘What does he arrange?’

  ‘He will see to the dissolution of our marriage.’

  ‘Nay!’ she cried out. ‘Nay!’ Bella began pacing, long strides across the chamber and back. ‘You are married. You love him. He loves you. There can be no ending of it.’ Her voice rose in volume until she was shouting.

  ‘’Twas a marriage based on deceit and lies, Arabella. Not a valid one in the eyes of the Church or law.’

  ‘But you were forced to it. To protect your child. Surely, Rob understands your reasons?’ It took but a moment for the lady to realise that Eva had not made things clear with him. ‘You did not tell him the truth? He does not know,’ she whispered. ‘Why? Why would you let this happen?’

  ‘Because I love him, Arabella.’ She smiled then, thinking of the man. ‘You know you would walk through hell for Brodie. Well, this is, I suspect, my walk through hell. But he will be safe and free of involvement with me and my father. He can find happiness elsewhere.’

  Arabella looked up and muttered what sounded like a prayer before looking at her. ‘Let me help you. I pray you, give me leave to speak to Brodie on this.’

  ‘The only thing you should speak to him about is if he will permit me the use of a small cottage while he handles the situation. It could be months or more, and I do not wish to live it here in the keep.’

  The lady gave a brisk nod and then left and the quiet descended once more into the chamber. Word came later that Brodie had given permission for her to move to the village. A few days later, she moved there and began the process of living alone and on her own.

  * * *

  Brodie had been a damn idiot over the whole thing. Instead of telling Rob what he wanted to know, the man insisted on being his usual, close-mouthed self. But Rob would not answer his questions except to say that he had not raised a hand to her.

  The same could not be said of her.

  He’d been so angry when he left their chambers that Brodie sent him to the village on some made-up matter, anything to get him away from Ramsay MacKay and his daughter. Then he was sent to help repair the mill, which took another whole day. By the time he’d returned, the MacKay had left and Eva restricted herself to their chambers.

  He’d sent the servants to remove his belongings and clothing, and he now slept in his old chamber. Well, he stayed there but sleep eluded him.

  Sleeping meant dreaming, and his dreams were filled with...her.

  Finally, a few days later, Brodie sent him off to escort their last guests from the coast to Glenlui. They both knew the assignment was a farce, but it removed him from the place he did not want to be. He’d ridden off alone, just like the last time. And as with the last time, he spent the first days of the journey cursing...cursing a lot.

  The first day, he did not think about her or the expression on her face when he’d raged.

  The second day, he did not think about her answers to his questions or the way she’d raged at his words.

  The third day, he did not think about her declaration.

  But on the fourth day, all he could remember were her words about the child she’d had. And the pain that tore her apart when faced with delivering Arabella’s bairn. It had not been the pain of her courses that had driven her, sobbing and curled up, to the floor. Rob understood that now.

  It had been the loss of her child that had driven her actions from even before they’d met.

  When he’d suspected another man, a lover whom she’d lost or was separated from, she had been mourning the loss of her daughter. When he thought she’d run from him, she’d been running to find the child. The melancholy that afflicted her with every mile they travelled south was fear and hopelessness, because it meant she would never see the child again.

  That realisation drove him to his own knees and to prayers that he would be forgiven for his part in the travesty played upon her.

  He walked most of the fifth day, memories and thoughts of her, of them, plaguing his every step. And, when he reached the coast without ever encountering the guests Brodie had sent him in search of, he knew the real reason Brodie told him to leave.

  He also knew what he had to do.

  And no one would stand in his way.

  * * *

  Three weeks later, after discovering that brutes could not bear up under the kind of punishments they so freely gave to others, Rob was back on the road south.

  To Glenlui and to his wife.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Her life took on a regular pattern now. In spite of her efforts to hide away from the strange, questioning glances or the whispers about what she’d done to th
eir Robbie, Margaret would not allow it.

  As she’d told Eva that first morning and any morning when Eva objected to joining her on her visits, every woman should have some skill to live by. And, if Eva planned to follow through on the annulment Brodie promised to arrange, she would, more than most, need a way to make a living.

  So each morning and some afternoons as well, Eva carried Margaret’s supplies and listened and watched and learned. She could dress a wound now, could stitch the deeper cuts and she could treat a fever. Eva had also helped Margaret when she’d set several broken bones, though she’d lost the small amount of food she’d eaten while watching the procedure.

  Four weeks had passed since Rob left Glenlui, and she existed in limbo. Brodie said his legal advisors were searching for a solution and they’d consulted with the bishop. He never mentioned Rob other than his reports on his progress, or lack of it, and she never asked.

  It was the worst part of all of this.

  To feign disinterest when she wanted to ask many, many questions and know that he was well. She hoped that, in time, he would not hate her for the lies and deceit.

  This day had dawned bright and clear and, since it was close to midsummer, it would be a long one. An overturned cart in the fields had caused a number of injuries, forcing Eva to help Margaret for many hours. When they finally arrived back in the village, Magnus told her of Brodie’s invitation to sup in the hall.

  When she tried to beg off, Magnus told her it was actually an order and, since he must obey it, he would carry her over his shoulder if she would not walk at his side. Though certain he could not be serious, she thought the better of it when Margaret did not tell her otherwise.

  Walking between them up the path to the gates, she realised it would be the first time she’d returned to the hall since the night when her betrayal had been exposed to Rob. Nervous about being in the middle of his kith and kin, Eva tried to come up with a way to avoid it. By the time she knew there was no way, they stood at the steps leading into the keep.

  ‘Eva,’ Margaret said. ‘Fear not, Magnus and I will stand at your side. If Brodie has called you here, no one would dare insult or harass you or they face his wrath.’

  ‘Come, lass,’ Magnus said softly. ‘Give me your arm.’

  So, with the two people who should be most angry at her side, the three made their way through the door and into the hall. Though some whispers swirled around her, no one said anything aloud. Eva was halfway through the large chamber when she saw him.

  She could not do this. Not now. Not yet. He had returned and waited there with Brodie and Arabella...and a young woman stood at his side. Eva stopped suddenly, forcing Magnus and Margaret to do so.

  ‘I cannot,’ she began, shaking her head and trying to back away from them and him. ‘I pray you, do not force me to do this.’

  She pulled free then and turned, prepared to run if she had to in order to get away from him. Eva had only taken three steps when his voice called out to her.

  ‘Running away again, Eva?’

  Eva stopped at his words, but she could not face him, not when he’d clearly found another and had brought the woman here to his home.

  ‘You were the one who left,’ she whispered to herself, reminding her of his actions after the terrible disclosures of her sins against him. She clenched her fists and felt the sting of her nails pressing into her palms.

  ‘Look at me, Eva,’ Rob said.

  She could not look at him. She must not look at him.

  She would not survive it.

  She would not...

  Her heart pounded and her lungs would not take in a breath at his words, his order. If she looked at him and saw the same disgust and hatred in his gaze, it would destroy what little of herself that still remained.

  ‘You said you loved me. You said you trusted me. Then turn around and face me, wife.’

  A gasp escaped before she could stop it. Surprised that he would speak of love and trust at this moment, she shook her head and tried to make her feet move...away from him. Tears poured down her cheeks and the sobs trying to force free nearly overpowered her.

  ‘I pray you, Eva, turn around.’ His voice was softer then, almost pleading with her to face him.

  She wanted to resist these soft words. She wanted to leave here, leave him, and never feel this kind of pain again. But she was the sinner in this, and he was the victim of her wrongdoings. Margaret hovered in the fringes of her sight ready, she knew, to intervene in some way. Eva had no wish to cause more problems between Rob and his sister, so, she turned slowly to face him. Swallowing deeply and blinking against the tears, she stared at the man she loved.

  Oh, God, he looked even more handsome than before! It took nothing more than a quick glance to prove how weak she was about him. Most likely, seeing him after such an absence and knowing he would never be hers again had made her want him even more. He stood there in silence and waited until she raised her gaze to his before he spoke.

  In that moment, everything and everyone else in the hall disappeared and it seemed to be only the two of them. Eva waited for him to say whatever drove him to have her summoned here, though she suspected it would drive her to her knees. Taking in a breath and trying to let it out, she nodded at him.

  ‘What do you wish to say?’ she asked. His gaze narrowed as he seemed to examine her face. ‘Brodie said...’

  ‘This is between you and me, Eva.’

  She closed her eyes for a moment. This was worse than she could have imagined. Margaret’s promise about Brodie’s protection clearly did not and would not extend to her estranged husband. Losing him was not enough of a punishment? Now he sought her humiliation before everyone she had called friend?

  ‘We left Durness and Tongue rather hastily those months ago,’ he said, stepping closer. ‘And I discovered that you had left something behind. Something very important.’

  She did not understand what he meant and could not remember anything left behind. Then Eva watched as Rob slipped his free hand inside his cloak and lifted it aside. He held a small bundle in the crook of his arm. Eva shook her head, staring at it and trying to ascertain what it was and why it meant anything to her. For a moment, she thought it looked like a... She looked at him and shook her head.

  ‘So I went back and retrieved it, her, for you, Eva.’

  Her?

  Her?

  Her heart filled with dread and fear at his words. Her whole body trembled as her gaze dropped once more to stare at the bundle he carried.

  A bundle? Dear God, was it a baby?

  It could not be...

  ‘She is bigger than the last time you saw her,’ he said as he held out the bundle towards her, and Eva realised he did hold a bairn, wrapped snugly and asleep.

  She?

  It was not possible. Do not hope. Do not think it. The words repeated inside her thoughts, but it was her heart that began to hope for the impossible in that moment. Her hands itched to reach out, but she could not. She could not breathe, and she could not dare to hope against hope that this was... It was his next words though that shattered her world.

  ‘Mairead,’ he whispered to the babe sleeping there, ‘’tis time to wake and meet your mother. She has waited too long to see you again.’

  Eva shook her head even as she stepped closer to him, staring in disbelief at what, or rather whom, he carried.

  ‘It cannot be...it cannot be...my Mairead.’ The words came out on gasps as she tried to consider what he was saying.

  She’d last seen her daughter on the day of her birth, and this infant was nothing like her. This bairn was so much bigger with a thick thatch of pale straw-coloured hair. Her Mairead had been nearly bald, with eyes that were neither blue nor brown. He held the babe out to her, and Eva could not help but notice the similarity of the shape of her eyes
to...Eirik’s!

  This was Mairead!

  She reached out to touch the babe when her body began shaking violently. Any thought of taking the bairn in her own arms ended as the world around her first flashed in brightness then sank into darkness.

  ‘Mairead.’

  Eva whispered the name and reached out to touch the babe. In the next moment, her eyes rolled up into her head and she crumpled. Rob barely caught her with his free hand and kept her from hitting the floor. He called out for help.

  ‘Magnus! Help me with her,’ he said. As Magnus lifted Eva in his arms, Margaret moved to take the babe but he shook his head. ‘No one holds her until Eva does.’

  Pride, he thought, shone in his sister’s gaze then, and she stepped back and let him follow Magnus forward. Brodie pulled the large chair he used from the table and Magnus placed her there.

  There was so much to say and so many things done and not done, for which he needed to beg forgiveness. He was not certain she would forgive him, considering the terrible things he’d said to her the last time they’d spoken. Worse, he had, in fact, broken faith with her. He’d demanded that she have trust in him when he had not the same in her. But, he hoped and prayed during his journey that she would forgive him for that lapse.

  Only a minute or so passed before her eyes began to flutter open. Rob crouched before her, holding the very well-behaved child there.

  ‘Eva? Are you well?’ he asked. Margaret handed her a cup of wine, which he thought she would refuse. She drank it down before reaching out to touch the baby.

  ‘Is it truly her?’ He nodded. ‘Can it be?’ Her voice quivered in fear but with a hint of hope. ‘How did you find her?’

  ‘I had a...talk with your father and discovered where he’d sent her,’ he explained briefly. Eva still had not touched her daughter. Shifting the bairn in his arm, he leaned over and placed Mairead in her mother’s arms. He would give her a full explanation later. For now, she needed her bairn.

  Eva sat motionless, staring at the child but not saying anything, her hand suspended in the air over the baby’s face, as though afraid to even touch her. The expression of shock over the bairn’s return was there on her face for all to see. Even Arabella cried softly, and Brodie took her in his arms to comfort her. Margaret just rested her hand on Rob’s shoulder, patting it in approval. Then, Mairead, who’d been easier to travel with than most women, decided to wake up. Peering at all the unfamiliar faces, she scrunched up her face and screamed out her displeasure and discomfort.