He reined his horse in when Mary stopped in the middle of the field. Mary’s profile was stunning. Her hair was loose and flowing down her back and her chin was tilted up, thus exposing his eyes to the curve of her neck, the arch of her cheekbones and the noble tilt of her nose.
Leith did not know much about the old-world goddesses, but at that moment, he swore that she was the embodiment of Diana, a goddess of noble virtue. She closed her eyes as her head tilted toward the sun and her lashes and long curve on her chin made his stomach clench.
God’s blood, she’s…beautiful.
Seeing her lips slip open and a breath leave her lips, Leith had to turn away. The urge to taste her lips had rammed into his gut harder than a gauntleted fist.
“Your land is stunning,” Mary said with admiration.
With his chest swelling in pride, Leith nodded, “I ken, it’s worthy for a painting. We delight ourselves in holding these glens pure. Our forests, lochs, and mountains are what makes this country. The soil under our feet is a part of our blood and bones.”
Mary began to ride again and her voice was laden with resignation. “I wish I could say the same about England. We are as separate from our land as the east is far from the west.”
“And that is where ye fail,” Leith said while moving his horse near her. “Ye should honor the land, after all, when one dies, it is where we all go.” His sober words were starting to make him pensive, and probably Mary. He could not have that, “Care to take a gallop?”
“Are you that eager to lose?” Mary asked with a sly tone.
Surprised at her dare, Leith grinned, “I willnae lose.”
“You will,” Mary said and then she was off like a shot from matchlock musket.
“Cheat!” he shouted at her as he spurred his horse on. The land was flat but the grass was high. The horses bolted with their hooves barely meeting the ground as they ran. Leith knew he could easily overtake Mary as her horse, not a stallion like his, was shorter and had not been bred and trained to sprint.
He could win, but he would allow her to have fun, as he knew she had not had much. Her hair billowed after she spurred her horse into the last few hundred feet of the meadow, and her gleeful laughter trailed after her. It was as unbridled as the horse galloping under her.
What can I do to hear that sound even more?
In the middle of that happy thought, he realized that being near her was not going to be possible. What in God’s name am I kenning, in less than an hour she will be gone from me and I will be back to Tarrant. ‘Tis the most I can get.
She came to the end of the meadow and spun the horse with ease. Her face was lit with mirth as he came cantering to her side. “I told you that you would lose.”
I chose to lose, lass, me stallion could overtake yers and run circles around ye even while ye were galloping. Dinnea ken too much of me losing, lass.
“And so, I have,” he nodded.
Her smile was radiant, “Where are we going now?”
“Now, northwest of here,” Leith said positioning his horse in the same direction. “We are heading to the Ettrick Waters where yer friend’s aunt is.”
“Scotland is large,” she said while following his lead, “How on earth do you know where to go at times?”
Looking over at her, Leith had to stop himself from reaching over and fingering a loose lock of her hair. “I cannae say for all of us, but for me, the knowledge of the land comes from me runnin’ over all of it. I was a soldier before this, lass. I had long nights on the glens and roads and mountains. Over time, the land and its environs just made itself stationary in me mind.”
“Were you in wars?” Mary asked as they entered another stretch of forest.
“Aye,” Leith said, “a major one at the Battle of Tippermuir and after that with the local clan’s skirmishes. There were many quarrels over land and cattle.”
Mary ducked under a low-lying branch. “Were you injured in that war.”
Gravely, but I willnae tell ye about it. I spent a few months in the sickbed fighting for me life, battling blood loss and then infection.
“Aye, I was,” he said succinctly. “Ettrick Waters is less than a few miles from here.”
He felt Mary’s quizzical eyes on the side of his neck but trained his eyes away from her. He felt remorseful in ignoring her but what good would it do to tell her that he nearly died? He set his jaw as the horses drove relentlessly forward over Scotland grassy terrain.
The firm ground became a wet and marshy slop soon enough and for good reason. The river nearby was high and probably had just come from a big overflow so they had to pick and choose where to have their horses walk. Who knew if sinkholes were there? They passed large slowly-turning mills running along the marshy riverside. A few people laden with straw passed by them, but Leith was not looking at them, he was looking at her.
Mary’s eyes were flitting from one place to another as they passed through the town and into the countryside. She sat straighter on her saddle this time, looking keenly to all the farms they passed by. She did not examine them completely, just a few looks and then her attention was turned to the other.
She must have been given signs to look out for.
They came to the end of the long row of farmhouses and Mary’s face was pale. She spun to him with distress in her eyes and he directed his horse near to hers.
“What is it?”
“The house,” she said anxiously, “It’s not here. Did I make a mistake coming here? Was Tina wrong in pointing out the place?”
Her tone was ticking up in anguish as she spoke and her eyes were frantic. “If I came to the wrong place, I will never find her.”
Jumping off his horse, Leith came near and lifted her off hers. With his hands framing her face he asked, “Nay worry, lass, I saw where it was meself. Yer friend was nae wrong with where she pointed ye too. Tell me what she told ye to look out for.”
“How did you know that I was told to look out for something?” Mary asked, her fright from before temporarily forgotten.
Amused by the quizzical look in her eyes, Leith said, “Instincts, lass, pure instincts. Now, what is it?”
“I was told to look out for a big farmhouse with a barn to the side and three wooden posts painted white in the front yard,” Mary replied while tugging her head away from his hands. “We’ve passed no less than five lots and none of them have what I’m looking for.”
With her words running through his mind, Leith spun in his place and scanned the land. It was true, they had passed a lot of land and houses but none were what Mary’s maid had specified.
He had a gut feeling where he could find the farm. “There are three inroads between these farms, lass, let’s see where they can take us. I have nay doubt yer friend is right about where this place is. Come on, get back on yer horse.”
A deep frown had settled itself in her forehead but Leith used the tips of two fingers to smooth the grimace out, “Dinnae ye frown, yer face will get stuck that way.”
Her lips twitched, “Old wives’ tale.”
“Perhaps, but it made ye smile, dinnae it?” Leith grinned as he went back to his horse and mounted it. “Let’s get to searching.”
Taking the lead, Leith turned back down the road to the first inroad. Riding alongside her, he scanned the road and the few houses there but none filled the description the maid named Tina had given Mary. At the end of the cul-de-sac, Leith turned around and took them to the middle inroad.
He could see the growing distress in Mary’s face and hated that she was feeling this fear. She was too gentle a creature to be under all this worry. The second lane was long and Leith was fearing to have to turn back when at the very end of the lane was the house Tina had described.
The three posts were slightly tilted in the front yard and their whitewash was faded and chipped, but this was the house. The building was as sprawling as Mary had told him, and though he was happy she finally found her destination, he felt cheerless knowing that t
his was the end of the road for them.
He dismounted the horse just as Mary did. The lass was looking at the house with wide eyes as she twisted the reins over her hand. She then looked at him with the same disbelieving expression. His smile was faint, “Go on then. Go knock and see who’s there.”
She handed the reins to him while she went to the low, broad steps. She twisted to look at him once more before he nodded and she knocked. Patting the horse’s nose, Leith looked on. No one came to the door, so Mary knocked again.
Leith was beginning to get cautious when she knocked a third time and no one came. He was about to call her over when the door was answered and instead of an old woman hobbling to the door, a young man in drab brown trousers and a linen shirt came to her.
“Aye?” the man asked, while shooting wary looks at him. “May I ‘elp ye?”
“Is Missus Linda here?” Mary asked. “I was told this is where she lives.”
“Ah, Linda MacCook left here a long time ago,” the man said, “I was her only help, ye see, an’ she kent ‘tis house was taking too much from her than she had to give. She gave me this house free and clear with just the charge to keep it standing. No one kens where exactly she went as she was wily like that. It’s just me and me wife here with our two bairns. Who are ye?”
“A…an old friend,” Mary replied and Leith could hear a note of defeat in her voice from where he stood, “sorry for bothering you.”
As she hurried back to him, Leith saw the man scratch his head twice, shrug and went back in. Mary’s eyes were set in frustration. She mounted her horse with hurried ease and set the animal to run. Leith had to be quick to follow her and when they came to a clear he called over, “Lass, slow down. The hounds of hell arenae at yer hells!”
His shout seemed to fall on deaf ears until Mary’s began to slow to a canter, then to a walk and ultimately, to stand still. He circled her to see pure devastation on her face and she looked at him with worried eyes.
“What am I going to do now?” she asked hollowly. “I came here on a fool’s errand. Where am I to go now? I cannot…no, won’t…turn back and crawl home like a shamed dog.”
Reaching out, Leith rested his hand on her trembling one, “Ye can come home with me. I’ll take care of ye, Mary, until ye find another option. I swear on me life.”
“But…” she began. “You left home to seek help for your father. What will they think of you when you come home with me? An Englishwoman?”
“Ahhh,” Leith began to smile slyly, as plans began to build in his head like blocks mounting upon another, “About that…how do ye feel about holding onto a few stipulations…”
9
It was in a deep daze that Mary followed Leith as they backtracked to the Robasdan Clan. The Scotsman had generously offered her another way to stay in Scotland that was, to stay with him at Castle Lenichton, all the way in the Highlands.
She was stunned, utterly stunned. It was one thing for the man to rescue her…and she would be in debt to him for the rest of her life…and then to carry her to see Missus Linda’s home, but now, to offer to take her in? That was unheard of. Were people really so generous?
The horses were slowed to a walk as the rush to find Linda was gone. And, even more, Mary was musing about what Leith had told her to do when they did get to his home.
“Play mute, lass,” he said. “I ken me people are nay averse to strangers but then again, we are so high in the mountains that we rarely get outsiders. However, until I find out what they do ken or how they will act about ye being an outsider, its best for ye to stay mute.”
“What will you tell them about me?” she had asked. “Surely they will think something about a strange woman coming back with you?”
“Leave that to me, lass,” Leith had grinned.
“I can hear the gears in yer head turning over, lass,” his smooth lyrical voice cut through her thoughts. “It’s naything to be too concerned about. I promise ye.”
His words were assuring but she was not as settled. Could she have the control to keep quiet at all times?
Looking over to him, she attempted to smile but she fell short. “I trust you to know what is best.”
The forest trails were earthy with the smell of pine and flower blossoms, dark moss, and the ever-present smell of water. Birds chattered above and swift critters darted through the underbrush. Scotland was a deeply beautiful place. The trees were thick, and limbs were sprawling enough to make a canopy over their head, but the laden boughs were not thick enough to stop the sunlight from flitting down to warm her.
“It’s the safest way for ye to live in the castle, until ye figure out what to do after this,” Leith replied. “Nayone will question me authority, well, nae to me face anyway.”
“And Laird Robasdan,” Mary added, “he’ll just take us in again?”
“These things happen, lass,” Leith shrugged. “I cannae tell ye how many missions Tarrant and I were in that went awry, and we had to go back and re-plan how to approach the situation. Naythin’ is set in life, lass.”
“I have one,” Mary said dourly while guiding her horse to jump over a fallen log. “My ideas of a husband were dismissed the moment they were given. My parents scoffed at the idea of marrying for love but rather marrying for security. The man was three times my age and as big as a carriage.”
“God’s blood,” Leith swore, “I’d have run too.”
They were crossing from Ettrick Water’s lands into the Robasdan forests as Leith announced briefly but then went on, “If ye did marry, what kind of man would ye prefer?”
“There was only one kind of man back home that was suitable enough for me to marry,” Mary replied, “a man of means.”
“Just means?” Leith asked, while he looked over to her, “Naything else, tall, sturdy, dark-haired? Green-eyed? Short and blond? Lanky and redheaded? A man of education? A poet with many verses? A warrior with shield and sword? What?”
His words stirred something inside her but it was not a happy stirring. Instead, it was troubling. She had not been around men, so this line of questioning was deeply disturbing. What qualities did she want in her husband?
“I cannot tell you about his physical appearance,” she replied cautiously. “What I can tell you is how I want him to be. I need loyalty from him, yes educated, but not to the point where he will use it as a battering ram over those who are not as educated as he is.”
She pressed her lips together to think. “I want him to care for those around him. I suppose…what really matters to me is his heart.”
Leith was silent near her, guiding his horse with a single hand. His profile was striking with his chin lifted high, his angular jaw and eyes resting under a hooded brow. Curling around his ears and brushing the neck of his collar were strands of his thick brown hair that glinted mahogany in the light.
“The heart is what does matter, aye,” Leith finally spoke. “As is the body it comes in.”
“That will have to be decided,” Mary said. “Unless, you are planning to decide it for me.”
The last words were said in jest and the grin Leith shot over to her told her that he had picked up on it. “Nay, lass, I’d never do such a thing. Then ye’d blame me for fastening ye to a louse for the rest of yer life. Nay, lass, those matters of the heart are for ye and ye alone to decide.”
Why is my heart suddenly pounding this way?
Leith’s tone and his words had her heart beating an unsteady rhythm that she heard pounding in her ears. His head twisted toward her, and she found it hard to hold his gaze, so she ducked her head and pretended to guide her horse around a bush.
“That’s right,” Mary cringed at her words. Couldn’t I have spoken something more profound?
They broke through the cover of trees and she realized that they were back at the Robasdan Clan’s grounds. There still had a long way to go to the citadel, so she decided to turn the question back on Leith, “And you, what do you want in a lady…a wife?”
&nb
sp; “Me?” His voice was heavy with shock. “Me wife…ach, lass, ye couldnae have asked me a harder question. I’ve changed me mind so many times, I feel like the tide of Loch Ness, ebbing and flowing. I do ken that she must be kind and loyal to me, lovely in spirit and in body, with a mind to serve me people when I do become the Laird. Other than that ...” he shrugged, “like ye said, that has to be decided. I have a few years to go before that, though.”
Pleased that she was able to get him to confide in her about who he wanted to be with, Mary nodded. I may not lose the chance to know him after all.
“Will you tell me when you do?” Mary asked. “I imagine I’d be away from you by that time.”
“Nay ye worry, lass,” Leith intoned, “I’ll find ye wherever ye are.”
Mesmerized by a Roguish Highlander: A Steamy Scottish Historical Romance Novel Page 7
