“Numbers, Gray?” his father asked.
“What?”
“You’re off in the clouds, son. I asked how many men you think we need to muster.”
“This is no time to be daydreaming of bonnie lasses, brother,” Munro admonished.
“Lasses?” his father exclaimed. “What lasses?”
Garnet furrowed his brow and stared at him. “I think he’s taken with our Faith.”
Gray scowled. “I wasna thinking about a lass,” he lied. “I was wondering if Argyll will land on Islay or…”
To his chagrin, his father persisted. “Faith Cameron? But she’s…”
“Eighteen,” Garnet supplied.
“What about this Meaghan girl in Edinburgh? Jewel seems to think…”
“Enough,” Gray declared. “Are we here to plan strategy or discuss my love life?”
His father looked askance at him. “You’re right. We’re all on edge. This isn’t a time for romance.”
As they pored over the maps of the rugged isles of Argyll once again, Gray had to reluctantly agree his sire was right.
Life Is Complicated
May 12th 1685
Faith helped herself to food from the servery the next morning. She didn’t need to turn to know Gray had come up behind her. She felt his presence.
“Is that all ye’re going to eat?” he asked, eyeing the small slice of smoked ham on her trencher.
“I canna digest a big meal first thing in the morning,” she admitted.
“I’m always ravenous after a good night’s sleep,” he replied, heaping ham atop slices of fresh black bread.
She hadn’t slept well, her dreams haunted by the memory of Gray stripped to the waist, his strong body sheened with water.
“Although actually,” he said, handing her a tankard of watered ale, “I didna sleep well last night.”
“Ye must be worried about the invasion,” she said.
“Nay. In truth, I dinna think Campbell has much chance of success.”
This came as good news, but the breath hitched in her throat when he led the way to the family table and took the seat next to her in Esther’s place. “Er…”
“Dinna fash,” he teased. “Wouldn’t ye rather sit with me than with yer sister?”
She smiled, despite the glowering looks Esther was sending her way from the servery. “Of course, but ye should be with the men of yer family.”
“I’ll likely spend most of the day with my father and brothers. I want to sit with ye for a while.”
He tore off a chunk of bread and offered it. “’Twill go well with the ham.”
She accepted, aware she was blushing. “Aye.”
“May I?” he asked, pointing to her meat with his sgian dubh.
“Please,” she replied, accepting the first morsel from the point of the eating dagger. She chewed daintily, thankful for her late mother’s rigid adherence to impeccable table manners. Thrown off balance by the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, she searched her mind for something to break the silence. “Ye said ye didna sleep well?” she asked, immediately wishing she hadn’t posed such a personal question.
He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t answer until he’d swallowed his food. “And ye’re at fault.”
Her appetite fled. He was toying with her. The sensible thing to do was giggle and excuse herself, but she gave in to the compulsion to meet his gaze. The sincerity in his blue eyes stole away her breath. “I dinna understand.”
“Aye, ye do,” he said softly, twirling a finger in a lock of her hair. “Ye’ve already admitted I’m in yer heart and I’ve thought of little else but Faith Cameron since I arrived home.”
She startled when a sullen Esther appeared behind Gray.
“Yer pardon, but ye’re in my seat.”
Faith glared at her sister. “Why not sit with Giles?” she suggested pointedly.
Maggie and Rachel took their usual places. “I told her to sit somewhere else,” Maggie declared, plonking a bowl of oatmeal on the scarred table.
Faith was mortified when Gray picked up his trencher and got to his feet. Obviously, he didn’t want to spend another minute with a bunch of squabbling lasses.
“I’ve usurped yer place, Mistress Esther,” he quipped. “Come, Faith. Let’s find a more private place to break our fast.”
Looking smugly down her nose at her sister, Faith rose and followed him out of the hall. She clutched the trencher, hoping the trepidation swirling in her heart didn’t show on her face. A tryst with Gray Pendray—her holier-than-thou parents must be turning over in their graves.
Preoccupied with where to find a private place to eat that wasn’t likely to jeopardize Faith’s reputation, Gray almost bumped into his sister as she entered the hall, Blair in tow. Her broad smile faded when she saw Faith.
“We’re going to eat outside, in the grounds,” he explained lamely.
He and Jewel were friends—always had been. They were kindred souls in many ways—not like the Cameron girls who seemed very different from each other.
However, his sister knew about Meaghan, or rather, she probably assumed he’d committed himself to the Guthrie girl. In truth, he wondered if he’d gone along with the hints about a marriage to please Jewel and Beatris.
“Good morrow,” Faith said to her foster mother, planting a wee kiss on Blair’s cheek.
Jewel arched a brow. “’Tis a mite chilly outdoors.”
The reality that Faith was Jewel’s foster daughter might render his sister hostile to the notion of a relationship. And he sensed Faith worshipped the ground Garnet and Jewel Barclay walked on. She would never do anything without their approval.
He’d thought life in Edinburgh was complicated—clandestine meetings in dark alleys, never knowing who to trust completely—but then he hadn’t anticipated falling in love with Faith Cameron.
Love?
He was getting ahead of himself. “Nevertheless,” he replied. “Will ye and Blair join us?”
Faith sensed Jewel’s displeasure and could only surmise her foster mother didn’t approve of a friendship between her and Gray. “Perhaps I’ll eat with ye and yer mam in the dining hall,” she told Blair.
“Nay,” Gray replied emphatically. “Dinna fash, sister. I’ll take good care of Faith.”
“See that ye do,” Jewel replied, taking her son by the hand.
Faith had no choice but to follow Gray to the outdoors, but the scowl on his face showed his mood had changed.
He perched on the low wall surrounding the ornamental gardens. “’Tisna very comfortable,” he said, “and my sister was right. The air has cooled.”
She settled her trencher on the wall and sat next to him. “I remember when we were traveling from Edinburgh, ye and yer sister seemed to get along well.”
“Aye. Always have. When she was kidnapped, I was terrified we wouldna find her alive.”
She preferred not to think on those dark days when her father’s treasonous acts had torn apart her family and resulted in her being sold to a lecherous man. Gray’s courage had saved her. “I was terrified I’d have to spend my life with Sir David. He wasna a good man.”
“I kent it the moment I set eyes on him,” he replied.
She plucked up her courage. “Ye never asked me.”
“’Twas none of my business,” he replied. “And ye didna behave like a lass who’d been violated. I remember ye and yer sisters chattered non-stop throughout the journey.”
She would have to find a way to reassure him Sir David hadn’t had the chance to steal her maidenhead, but she smiled, content for the moment to move on to another topic. “Mam and Dad never allowed us to be bairns. Squabbles were frowned upon. We tolerated each other because there was no alternative.”
“United against a common foe.”
“Aye. Perhaps Jewel sees me as an enemy who wants to steal away yer friendship.”
The sadness that crept into his eyes was upsetting. “Nay. She has Garnet as her best fri
end now. But she and I will always be close.”
“I envy ye,” she admitted. “I love Maggie, but Esther and Rachel remind me too much of our mother.”
They sat in silence for long minutes, both trenchers set aside. He too seemed to have lost his appetite. She wondered why Jewel would oppose a relationship with Gray if jealousy wasn’t the reason. She anticipated the earl and his wife might have reservations, given her parentage, but…
“I havna been honest with ye,” he said, so softly she barely heard.
The knot in her belly tightened as he took hold of her hand. “Tell me,” she replied.
“There’s a lass…Meaghan…in Edinburgh.”
Hungry nestlings still clamored to be fed by their harried parents. Lambs bleated in the meadows. Faith’s world had fallen apart. Meaghan Guthrie would make the perfect bride for Gray. Pretty. Kind. From a good family. “I ken Meaghan, the daughter of our neighbors in Edinburgh.”
“Dinna misunderstand. I lodged with the Guthries, and Jewel and her cousin Beatris…”
She withdrew her hand from his grasp and slipped down from the wall. “’Tis expected ye’ll wed Meaghan.”
“I went along with it, just to keep them happy, I suppose. ’Twas foolish of me. I dinna love her, Faith.”
She closed her eyes to contain welling tears and wished for a warrior of old who would move heaven and earth to possess the woman he loved. But she was too confused to ask Gray about his true feelings. In any case, he’d evidently given some sort of troth to the Guthries. If he didn’t love her enough to fight for her, then…
“I wish ye every happiness,” she whispered.
He stood and leaned his forehead against hers. “I realize now my happiness lies with ye.”
Unable to hold back the tears, she bolted back into the house.
Unexpected Visitor
May 16th 1685
Gray found no opportunity to speak to Faith for several days. He caught only a glimpse of her now and then. She never ate in the dining hall at the same time he did, no matter that he varied the times of his meals. Maggie always curled her fingers into a wave, but Esther and Rachel’s scowls deterred him from asking about Faith.
He didn’t blame her for avoiding him. He wasn’t sure what he would say if they did bump into one another.
I willna wed Meaghan.
The days are empty without ye.
Discussions about the future were moot in any case until the Rising was dealt with. He could offer no commitment; he and Faith hardly knew each other. A little voice in his head scoffed at that notion. He couldn’t explain why he’d been smitten so hard and so fast, but panic surged at the prospect of not having her in his life.
He spent most of his waking hours in the training fields or in discussions with his father and brothers, collapsing into bed exhausted every night.
Faith haunted his sleep. Tired as he was, his shaft had no trouble rising to the occasion whenever he dreamt of her—a lass he hadn’t given much thought to for nigh on three years. He craved her smile, her blush, her lovely body. The realization he’d never once thought of Meaghan Guthrie that way brought on feelings of guilt.
He’d be obliged to travel back to Edinburgh to face Quinn and Beatris. That prospect lay like a lead weight in his gut, but he wouldn’t make a good husband for Meaghan. She deserved a man who loved her.
Perplexingly, his sister was also avoiding him and Garnet had become politely aloof. He felt isolated in the home he’d looked forward to returning to. He decided to broach the topic after one of the strategy meetings in the Map Room. “Can I speak with ye,” he asked his brother-by-marriage as everyone was leaving.
Garnet eyed him. “About what? I thought we covered everything.”
“Ye ken what. We used to be friends.”
“Aye, then ye came back and stirred up a hornet’s nest. My wife is miffed with ye.”
“Because of Faith.”
“Why did ye make advances if ye’re promised elsewhere?”
Gray inhaled deeply. “I’m nay promised, as ye put it, except in Jewel’s mind.”
“And Beatris’,” Garnet added.
“And probably Quinn’s,” Gray admitted as they strolled down the hallway. “I didna think through the ramifications of playing along. ’Twas a mistake to try to keep everybody happy.”
“Weel, ye havna made Faith happy and the lass has been enamored with ye for years.”
“I ken.”
“That’s not to say she’s the same timid creature ye rescued in Edinburgh. She’s a woman grown with a lot to give to the right mon.”
“Ye sound like a proud father.”
Garnet grasped his elbow and pulled him up short. “’Tis exactly what I am,” he snarled. “Faith is my responsibility, and we have high hopes for her. She’s intelligent and honest, and deserves an honorable mon. I failed in my duty to take care of a woman before, and it nigh on cost yer sister her life. I willna fail again.”
Gray narrowed his eyes, not sure if there was a veiled threat in Garnet’s words, but he lost his train of thought when Jewel happened along the corridor, her face flushed. She was smiling broadly, her arm linked with Quinn Guthrie’s.
For a panicked moment, Gray imagined his sister had somehow arranged for Quinn’s arrival, but he quickly dismissed the notion. His mentor had no doubt come because of the Rising. He proffered a hand. “Mr. Guthrie! I wasna expecting to see ye again so soon. Welcome.”
Quinn’s hearty acceptance of his handshake confirmed Jewel had said nothing about Faith.
“Good to see ye again,” Garnet exclaimed as the two men embraced.
“’Tis a great pleasure to finally visit Kilmer,” Quinn replied. “The powers that be in Edinburgh commanded I be closer to the action, in case decisions have to be made quickly. Is there news?”
Gray bristled. Evidently, he wasn’t considered competent to make important decisions. “Nothing since the fiasco in the Orkneys, but we should hear something soon from the dragoons I dispatched to the coast.”
“Or from Atholl,” Quinn added. “He’s aware of yer preparations here.”
“I’ll show our guest to his chamber,” Jewel interrupted.
Quinn smiled. “I’m anxious to see the Cameron lasses. I expect my former neighbors have grown into bonny young women. ’Twas tragic about their parents, but they’re better off here.” He took Jewel’s hand. “Ye’re a generous soul. Few new brides would take on four foster daughters, especially given their family history.”
Gray clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to defend Faith and her sisters.
Garnet shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “They’ve been a blessing to our family. Blair has had the benefit of four older sisters to spoil him and they’ll be a big help with Gemma. Marten loves them as his aunties. They’re flourishing, and will be glad to see ye. Especially Maggie.”
“Still a minx, is she?”
“Aye,” Jewel said softly. “How is Beatris? And the girls?”
“Fine, fine,” Quinn replied with a wink. “Meaghan sends her love, Gray.”
He nodded, annoyed he’d been backed into a corner. “Have ye met my parents yet?” he asked in an effort to change the subject.
“I’ve been remiss,” Jewel replied. “My father is probably playing with his cannon in the back meadow. I’ll take ye.”
“Guess who’s here,” Esther shrieked breathlessly when she arrived in the small parlor the Cameron sisters shared.
Faith startled, wincing as the embroidery needle pierced her flesh. Sewing was a trial at the best of times. Now, there was as speck of blood on the sampler. “Who?” she asked, sucking her finger.
“Mr. Guthrie.”
Maggie, who also had no patience for embroidery, flung her sewing to the floor and got to her feet. “Is Kate with him?”
Faith held her breath. No doubt the Rising had prompted their former neighbor to travel across Scotland, and it was unlikely his daughters had accompanied him. Still,
if the youngest lass had come, Meaghan…
“Silly goose,” Esther replied. “He’s here on government business.”
Rachel hurried into the parlor. “He’s in the back meadow with the earl.”
Faith followed her gleeful siblings.
As soon as he saw them across the meadow, Mr. Guthrie hurried to embrace Maggie. “My goodness,” he exclaimed. “Look at ye, Maggie Cameron. A proper young lady.”
She hugged him, but replied, “Nay. Esther and Rachel are the proper ones. I’m still naughty.”
Laughing, he set her on her feet and hugged Esther, then Rachel. “And what about Faith?” he asked, looking directly at her. “I dinna recall ye being a naughty lass.”
Faith hesitated, certain I’m in love with Gray Pendray was emblazoned across her forehead.
Arms open wide, he frowned. “Are ye too old to give yer auld neighbor a hug?”
She went into his embrace, biting back stammered words of apology seething in her dry throat.
“Shy as ever,” he remarked to Gray who stood beside him, jaw clenched, eyes full of regret.
A wave of nausea threatened to swamp her. Mr. Guthrie was a kind and generous man. His influential position in the government had played a crucial role in rescuing Faith and her sisters from a life of menial servitude in Edinburgh. Gray clearly respected and admired him. I canna renege might as well have been tattooed on Gray’s forehead.
She was saved from keeling over when Maggie slipped a warm hand in hers. Then, suddenly, everyone’s attention was on Smythe who’d appeared from the front of the house. “My lord,” he shouted breathlessly.
The earl hailed him. “What’s amiss?”
“Riders in the courtyard, Colonel. Sent by the Marquess of Atholl.”
The Mission
Gray hated the desolation that marred Faith’s lovely face, but this wasn’t the moment to sort out the mess he’d created. The other men were already hurrying to the courtyard. It would be deemed strange if he lingered.
Highland Rising (The House of Pendray Book 4) Page 4
