The Highlander's Enigmatic Bride: A Scottish Historical Romance Novel

by Lydia Kendall

“Your uncle and father wish to see you, my lady,” she said quietly.

  “Ye, thank you, Charlotte,” Isabel replied. “Tell me, did you get in an awful lot of trouble on my account?”

  “No, my lady. Your father and uncle were very kind to me, very understanding,” Charlotte replied.

  “I fear they shall not be so with me once they learn of all the terrible things I have done,” Isabel replied, starting to cry again. Charlotte stood uncertain of what to do.

  “Forgive me,” Isabel said, embarrassed by her outburst. She gathered her emotions and rinsed her face until she could pass her appearance off as being somewhat put together.

  Charlotte helped her dress fully. Isabel could still smell that she needed a proper bath and hoped Charlotte had not noticed but was certain she likely had. She would bathe after she met with her father and uncle.

  Unless they banish me from the house which is quite likely at this point.

  “Charlotte, where am I to meet them?” she asked.

  “In your father’s room, my lady. He is not well today, and your uncle deemed it best that you allow him to lie down and rest while the three of you discuss all that has occurred,” Charlotte said.

  Isabel sighed, fearful of what was about to happen to her.

  “My uncle is not fond of me,” she said quietly.

  “Do not worry, my lady. I am sure he will be fine. He has taken excellent care of your father in your absence. We are all hoping that your father’s health will improve now that you have returned,” Charlotte said.

  “Yes, it seemed he was not well while I was gone,” Isabel replied, thinking of the snoring image of her drunken father.

  “Indeed, my lady, he was not. But your return may perhaps change that. We are very glad you are home, that you have returned to us. It was very sad when you were not,” Charlotte said.

  Isabel was taken aback with emotion at the knowledge that she was cared for by this girl who could have risked so much for having accompanied her on the dangerous mission.

  “Anyway, my lady, you ought to go to them,” she added at last.

  Isabel nodded and left the room, prepared to face her father and her uncle. It was difficult to focus on anything, acutely aware that she truly just wanted to be in Edan’s arms at that moment and nowhere else. Nevertheless, this was where she was, and she had to answer for all that had happened.

  Isabel knocked on the door of her father’s room, and the door was opened from the inside by her uncle. He looked at her with scorn.

  The Duke of Gordon lay quietly, watching her enter the room. Isabel felt the guilt and shame overwhelm her once more. Their accusing eyes covered her.

  “Isabel, my dear,” her father began in a scratched voice, raising his arms to embrace her.

  “Father,” she replied, rushing to him. Perhaps he was not seething at her after all. Maybe it would all be well.

  She turned to her uncle and saw that no matter the acceptance she had experienced from her father, her uncle would not be so generous. Her punishment would come, and it would be unpleasant.

  Still, despite the pain and agony of separation, the guilt and shame of what she had done, and the knowledge that Edan would likely never see her again, the moment she was in her father’s embrace, Isabel was relieved to be home.

  Chapter 38

  “A toast to oor men who are brave and true,

  For fighting the English like they were meant to,

  I promised meself that I’d fight like a man,

  And wouldn’t ye ken it, the weak buggers ran!

  So here’s to those who were willing to fight,

  To wipe out the nonsense of the English blight,

  All ye brave men, strong ye stand!

  Victory belongs to the Scotsmen’s land!”

  A bellow of victorious cheers rang out in the great hall. They hadn’t had to fight, but they had been ready to. They hadn’t had to lose a single man, but they were brave enough to risk it if they’d had no other option.

  Bards and poets stood one after the other to sing the praises of their people. It seemed that peace had finally settled on the clan for the first time since the death of James. They were no longer concerned about the Duke of Gordon. He had his daughter and no longer had any need for vengeance.

  But in Edan’s heart, a fresh storm was brewing. He had moments of ache and want, instances of forgetting that she was gone. Isabel. He could call her that, now that he knew her name.

  The separation was greater than he thought he could bear, and yet his anger kept him driven towards a hard bitterness that he craved as a means of easing the pain. If only he could forget her. If only he could make her disappear.

  Is it better to have lost her? To ken that I got to feel that way? Or would it have been easier if I’d never seen her, never kenned her? Aye, that would be so much easier. Kenning what I’ve lost, that it was all a lie, that is more painful than anything, Edan thought.

  He was certain that he would never be able to love again.

  But before him, in the great hall, life was abundant. Caitriona danced with many different men and Robert held Lorna in a close sway. It seemed that everyone in the clan was full of joy, except for him.

  Stop being a sod, feeling sorry for yerself, he internally scolded. Rejoice with yer people, ye havnae any reason to be so sad.

  Despite their joy, Caitriona and Robert looked on at Edan now and then, knowing that he was facing great pain. Between the agony of Isabel’s betrayal and his duty as their leader, they had come to realize how lonely his office left him.

  Suddenly, Callum came up beside Edan and rested a hand on his shoulder.

  “I ken it wasnae easy,” he said.

  “Aye, right brutal it was, but there we have it. It’s over. She’s gone and it’s better that we move on without nonsense distractions. The clan is me bride,” Edan responded. “Besides, ye hate the Brits. Surely ye are terribly glad to see her go.”

  “I am glad to hear it to be truthful. I hate those buggers more than I can say,” Callum said. “But still, I ken it hurts ye. And I do believe ye, I fully trust that ye mean it when ye say the clan is yer bride. But if it’s true, then we should really discuss further this issue of Cormag. Ye ken he’s a wild thing, a dangerous thing.”

  “The issue has been settled, uncle. Twice. It was voted that he be removed from his position and monitored in battle. True, we were not diligent when the Duke attacked, but it all turned out. Now we’ve voted again. Ye heard the results,” Edan said decidedly.

  “But ye can override them!” Callum urged.

  “Why? Why are ye so determined? I dinnae understand,” Edan said.

  Callum sighed. “I just dinnae think he’s safe for us.”

  “No one does. But this is where we are with it, so we’ve got to move on,” Edan told his uncle with slight irritation. “Please dinnae think I’m not appreciative of all ye’ve done to help the clan. But I cannae go against the council. Not now. I cannae overrule them for ye. I have to gain their trust.”

  “Aye, now that it’s about someone else’s wish and not yer own?” Callum asked.

  “What do ye mean by that?” Edan asked with offense.

  “Ye ken exactly what I mean. Ye were fine to ignore them when ye wanted to be with the English lass and look where that got us. But when it’s standing up on behalf of another man of the Mccallions, ye arnae willing,” Callum said. He seemed to be shaking with the anger.

  “That’s not at all what it comes down to and ye ken it,” Edan said. But deep down, his uncle’s words struck him. Was it true? Was he only willing to disregard them if it was for his own selfish reasons?

  “Ye dinnae ken what Cormag is really like. Filled with lies and manipulation,” Callum said.

  “About what, exactly?” Edan asked.

  Callum was quiet for a moment.

  “Just promise me ye will nae accept a word from him without asking me whether or not it be true. He tells lies about people, uses those lies to t
ry and cover for his own errors,” Callum said vaguely.

  Edan watched him for a moment. Something wasn’t right, he just didn’t know what. Cormag and Callum hadn’t been on good terms since the death of James, and they had been seen a few times in heated discussions.

  The thought tore at his gut, making him want to lurch with vomit. He maintained control and decided to push the suspicions from his mind.

  “Anyhoo,” Callum began, “I had best be going.”

  He quickly rose and left Edan sitting on his own, watching the clan around him as they enjoyed the music and drinking. It was just the sort of merriment he needed, and yet he felt deeply unable to engage in it.

  As he stared at the clan before him, Edan thought about where Isabel might be in that moment. Was she telling her father about everything she had seen? Were they perhaps considering an attack to revenge James after all? Had she been a mere spy?

  Or was she lying in bed remembering their time together? Was she thinking of the sweet gift she had given him within the standing stones? When she yielded to him to be the first to fully take hold of her body?

  It didn’t matter. She was gone. And the songs continued to resound in the hall.

  Callum was leaving through the door, taking his hatred of the English with him so that his nephew didn’t have to listen to it anymore. Edan had no stomach for those words now. No desire to listen to more against the people his friend and lover had come from.

  Suddenly, in the midst of his thoughts, Edan noticed the small frame of his mother entering the great hall through the doorway. It would not be easy to get to her, but he didn’t trust her to be alone. He worried that someone might accidentally bump her frail body or say something painful with good intentions.

  He knew she could not be spoken to of his father, it was too much agony for her. And yet, people always wanted to tell her how sorry they were for her loss. It didn’t help.

  Edan sidled against the wall past the dancers and merriment until he found his way to her. She looked up into his blue eyes with her own. The same wide-eyed innocence that people always saw in him was a reflection of Rose’s face.

  “Mother,” he whispered, taking hold of her in his arms. The embrace felt to him like holding a short broomstick, but he knew her frailness was the result of the grief only. She could be strong again if she allowed herself to be.

  “Me son,” Rose said in reply. She let her eyes gaze on all the people, and it was clear that she was anxious.

  “What are ye doing here, Mother? Is it too loud? Are ye not able to sleep well enough?” he asked.

  “I am well, me son. I am well. And ye were victorious it appears. What a man ye are! What a man! I am so proud of ye, lad. Yer faither would have been proud too. Now, I must go again. There are too many folk here, too many. Enjoy yer party,” she said, turning to leave.

  “Mother, ye will not stay?” Edan asked, knowing it was likely too overwhelming for her.

  “Aye, lad. But only for one dance. One dance with me lad,” she replied.

  The crowds of people parted, and the hall grew quiet as the clansmen noticed Edan coming to the floor with Rose in his arms. He held her gently, and she surprised him with her strength as the tune to a waltz began.

  Edan counted the one-two-three-one-two-three in his head and while sweeping his mother around the room. Everyone watched with joy to see her smiling broadly for the first time in over a year.

  Caitriona was pleased at the sight of her mother dancing, and a familiar warm glow flowed through her.

  Slowly, more couples joined in the dance, and all too quickly, it had ended.

  Rose looked up at her son. “I think I should like to lie down, now. Thank ye for the dance, me lad. Ye are a good lad.”

  “And ye are the most beautiful woman in the room, Mother,” Edan replied.

  “Ye charmer,” she said with a smile that hinted at her former youthfulness. “But where is that little English beauty?”

  Edan’s voice caught in his throat.

  “I do hope ye didnae scare her off. It’d be good ye ken, for ye to be with her. I imagine it would change things, yer love. I imagine that love could bring peace between two neighbors that hate one another. Just a thought,” she said.

  Leaving Edan standing in the middle of the room, Rose departed the hall to return to her room.

  Chapter 39

  “Isabel, I am relieved you are home. For your father’s sake, that is. But you understand my anger, yes?” Ezra began with a gentleness that was unexpected.

  They were standing outside the Duke of Gordon’s bedroom who had fallen asleep not long after Isabel had pled with them for Edan’s innocence. He had seemed not to hear her, but at least she felt she had planted the seed. She would ask again and again for her father to listen. Edan was innocent and it must be known.

  “Yes, Uncle. Please do forgive me. I know you had your suspicions when I first left. I was just so desperate to seek vengeance for the loss of James. Little did I expect to find that the Laird had nothing at all to do with it,” Isabel replied. Her father was not the only one who needed to be convinced about Edan.

  “Well, you say that. But, do you truly believe it? Please listen,” he said, holding up a hand to stop her protesting. “I have heard that he is a charming young man. Do you think perhaps he was using that to his advantage? To fool you?”

  “Never,” Isabel said confidently. There was no chance that Edan had been the one using her. It was quite the reverse.

  Ezra looked at her, unconvinced. Isabel knew she was naive, that her family would have thought it would be easy for her to get caught up in the throngs of romance. She had never been allowed near a man alone before. She was still impressionable.

  Isabel had not told them about her relationship with Edan, merely describing it as a friendship. But it was easy for her uncle to decipher what that truly meant.

  “Well, then. You seem quite certain. I do hope you are right. I hope that he was genuine and truthful with you. It does, however, mean that we still do not know the truth behind the death of your brother.

  “Do you think there was anyone you might suspect for that?” Ezra asked with genuine worry.

  “There was a brutish man,” Isabel began. “The one who took Charlotte and me. I cannot say for certain, but it did seem as though he was rather out of sorts after we arrived. And that he had taken a step back in what was expected of him.”

  “Ah,” said Ezra. “Tell me, what was he like?”

  Isabel thought, scrunching her eyebrows together. “Well, brutish, like I said. With a crop of red hair on the top of his head, shaved around the sides. And he was quite large.”

  “Did you get his name?” Ezra asked.

  “I do not recall it. I am sure I heard it, I believe it began with the letter ‘C’, but it was unfamiliar to me. I do not remember what it was,” she said apologetically.

  “Hmm,” was the only reply.

  “Do you think Father will demand they hand him over to us?” Isabel asked. She both feared the thought of approaching the clan but also relished the idea that communication might still be open.

  Ezra waved the idea away. “Oh, I doubt it. We have no evidence that it was him. No, I think perhaps it is best we allow your father to grieve his loss of James and rejoice in his recovery of you. But perhaps I will make some inquiries.

  “Sending another army hardly seems the answer, but it would do well for us to remain safe by knowing our enemy amongst the Mccallions.”

  “Yes, Uncle. That would be wise,” Isabel said, remembering the way Cormag had treated her initially. It would do them no good to have to deal with his awful behavior again.

  “Well then, we had best let your father rest. I imagine the next few days will still be quite difficult for him as we decrease his wine. But it is for the best. He will be poor tempered, but soon you will have your father back,” Ezra promised. He had been weaning the Duke off the wine again since the night of Isabel’s rescue.

&n
bsp; “Thank you, Uncle. For taking such good care of him while I was gone. Charlotte told me how you looked after him,” Isabel said.

  “He is my brother and has cared for me since boyhood. You know, I am younger than him by nearly a decade and when our father died, it was your father who looked after me.

  “Adapting to his role as the Duke of Gordon, and raising me at the same time, it was very difficult for him. Our mother did her best, but she was also trying to deal with the loss. Your father was the one who cared for us both,” he said. Ezra looked somewhat misty-eyed as he recalled all of the deeds the Duke had performed on behalf of his family.