Twenty-One
“Laurel,” Monty said as he stepped beside his sister, who held the reins to Teine. The siblings hadn’t spoken in two days, largely in part because Laurel and Brodie didn’t leave their chamber during that time, and Monty didn’t dare show his face again. “At least say goodbye to Donnan,” Monty whispered.
Laurel looked at her brother for a long moment, then nodded. She handed the reins back to a groom and made her way to where her brother’s partner stood watching the Campbells prepare to depart. She didn’t hesitate to return her friend’s embrace.
“Lass, I’m pleased for you. I couldn’t have guessed it, but you and Brodie appear in love,” Donnan whispered.
“I don’t know that it’s love, Donnan,” Laurel said cautiously. Neither the bride nor the groom had articulated their feelings, and Laurel was wary to believe Brodie’s ran deeper than lust and affection. She’d promised herself that she could live with that, even though she prayed one day he would reciprocate her feelings. She was certain she both loved and was in love with her husband. They’d spent long hours talking during their two days in seclusion, sharing their ideas for their clan’s future and what they hoped their life would be together. He’d recounted his days of tracking the Lamonts and MacDougalls, the skirmishes they fought, and how things were still unresolved.
“I pray that one day it is. For all your brother’s faults, and you and I know there are plenty, I couldn’t imagine my life without him,” Donnan confessed. “I hope you find the love we have.”
“I hope so, too. Monty’s words have hurt me, but I’m not angry.”
“Will you tell him that?”
“I don’t know how,” Laurel admitted.
“Och, just say to him what you said to me. It doesn’t need to be harder than that.”
Laurel looked at her friend and smiled sadly. She wasn’t sure if Donnan was right, but she supposed she faced her last opportunity to find out. She embraced Donnan once more before she pulled away, but Donnan caught her hand.
“Send word, and we will come for you,” Donnan promised. Laurel heard the sincerity in his voice and knew that for once someone other than Brodie was offering their protection. It came from Donnan’s free will, not duty. Laurel glanced at Monty and found him watching the pair. She smiled and waved him over. Laurel looked back at Donnan before she wrapped her arms around Monty’s waist. Her brother hesitated for a heartbeat, then hugged her so tightly she had to tap on his back lest he suffocate her.
“Monty, I’m hurt, but I’m not angry. Mayhap you were angry with me or with Brodie when you couldn’t find me, or mayhap you were worried. Mayhap it was discovering I’d married without telling you, including you. I didn’t give you a chance to explain. I was embarrassed, so I lashed out. Your words only made me feel worse. But I don’t want to be angry all the time. Bitterness has made me an ugly person, but I have a chance to start fresh. I don’t want to begin my new life with the trappings of my auld one. I’m sorry I’ve been difficult to tolerate.”
“Laurel, it’s never been aboot tolerating you. You’ve not been easy to like since you left Balnagown, but I was the one who refused to consider how unhappy you’ve been. You’ve tried to tell me each time I’ve seen you. But I refused to listen, telling myself that you were just being awkward. It was easier than admitting that I can’t help you. And each time I can’t, I lash out just as you do when you don’t get the love you deserve. I’m sorry, Laurel. I don’t want you to ride away hating me.”
“I don’t hate you, Monty. That’s why it hurts.” Laurel rested her head against her brother’s chest, finding comfort there but wishing Brodie was closer. She felt the tears threatening, and it was Brodie who she wished to turn to.
“Laurel, send word if ever you need me,” Monty murmured beside her ear. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I will never leave you to fend for yourself again. Ask, and I will come.”
Laurel looked up at the older brother she’d adored as a child. She watched the breeze rustle hair that was so like hers before she gazed into eyes a reflection of her own. She nodded and strained to kiss his cheek. She knew when Brodie came to stand behind her, sensing his presence. With a nod to Monty and a smile to Donnan and him, she turned to accept Brodie’s proffered hand. Her husband drew her into his embrace, and Laurel felt like she could once more face the world.
Once Laurel mounted, she turned back and waved at the Ross men gathered in the Stirling Castle bailey. She’d prayed for when she could ride away from everything that tied her to the clan of her birth. She thought she’d feel elation. But it was a sense of peace that wrapped around her. She looked at Brodie, who rode beside her as they clattered under the portcullis and onto the road.
“Are you ready for the Highlands, thistle?” Brodie smiled.
“I canna wait, bear,” Laurel grinned. She’d taken to calling Brodie bear, and she thought it fit him as well as his pet name thistle fit her. She enjoyed having a special endearment for him. He’d told her how much it pleased him to hear it, then he’d shown her. They had a three-day ride ahead of them, with nights under the stars instead of in a private chamber. The couple made the most of the early morning hours to tide them over. When they were clear of the town, Brodie encouraged Laurel to race. It was her first day of real freedom, and he wanted her to enjoy every minute of it.
* * *
“If we’re going to do aught, it must before they reach Kilchurn. Once she’s behind the gates, there’ll be no way to reach her.” Nelson looked at Liam and the men who sat with him at The Merry Widow. He’d watched Laurel, Brodie, and the Campbell men ride out that morning with the Ross entourage leaving within an hour of the Campbells. “The eejit doesn’t realize what he’s done. He’s too enamored with what’s under her skirts to realize the mistake he’s made.”
“But he defended her before he bedded her,” Stephen pointed out.
“You really believe he didn’t tup her before they handfasted? You’re just as much an eejit as he. We all heard what Lady Sarah Anne and Lady Margaret saw. Half the ladies-in-waiting watched him pawing her in the passageway. Why else did they ride out every day for hours on end? Even her brother stopped chaperoning them. Campbell’s blind to her ways. He hasn’t known her for years like we have.”
“MacDougall, why do you, of all people, care? Your clan’s been raiding the Campbells,” Stephen pressed.
Nelson sat back and looked at the surrounding men. He’d thought he would have less trouble convincing them to support his plan to end Brodie Campbell’s marriage. He’d thought it a stroke of brilliant luck when Liam offered the wager that Brodie couldn’t tame Laurel. He’d assumed Brodie would fail. Even when Brodie and Monty refused the bet, he still believed Brodie would fail. He’d eagerly awaited his enemy’s humiliation before the entire court. Instead, he’d made Lady Laurel into the image of a doting wife. He wanted to be ill.
“And how many years have I been at court? I may as well be a MacDougall by name only. I don’t dislike Brodie Campbell, even if my clan hates his.” Nelson hoped his shrug and his attempt at nonchalance would convince the others. “Besides, after the wake of unhappiness Lady Laurel left behind, why does she deserve a happy life?”
“Does it matter? She’s gone, and I can get on with courting Lady Catherine,” Edgar stated. “Andrew and I are nearly done with the contracts, and we’ll send them to her father within a sennight. I need her dowry to repair the clan’s accounts after my ne’er-do-well relatives practically ran us into the ground. If anyone were eejits it was my uncles James and Tomas who started trouble with the Sinclairs, then my own bluidy father and brothers who nearly ruined us by taking on the Sutherlands and Gordons. I have much to make up for since Arlan and Beathan’s deaths.”
“Aren’t you sniffing around Lady Margaret’s skirts, MacDougall?” Magnus asked. “Why leave court when you could woo the woman and secure her dowry? I say the lot of us move forward and not look back.”
Nelson clenched his jaw and darted a glance at his brother Matthew, who feigned disinterest. They’d formed a strategy years ago of pretending to dislike one another. It meant they learned twice as much at court. But regardless of their act, both men were loyal to the bone, and they would do anything to advance their clan’s wealth and standing. If that meant making Brodie Campbell’s life miserable, then it was a sweet reward. “And why do you think I wish Lady Laurel ill will? In defense of my Lady Margaret. The hellion made Lady Margaret unhappy. I do it as a wedding gift.”
