Bella took her place beside Gunn, and Frances and Hesther stood beside Lorna. “Go ahead, father,” Bella sang out. “I dinna want Da to change his mind.”
Laughter bubbled through the room again. Even Father Thomas smiled. “Verra well, then. I shall start by hearing the bride’s words.” He nodded Lorna’s way. “Yer full name, child?”
“Lorna Merriweather.”
He stared at her, then blinked and frowned. “That is yerfullname?”
“Aye. ’Tis the only name I have ever had.”
“Verra well, then.” The holy man cleared his throat again. “Do ye, Lorna Merriweather, pledge yerself as wife to this man? Swear to love and honor him whether the two of ye live in plenty or in want? Through sickness or health? In fair times or foul? Do ye pledge to be faithful to him all of yer days, forsaking all others till death shall part ye?”
“I do,” Lorna whispered.
“Say again, child? I ken well enough that the Almighty heard ye, but I be a mite deaf.” Father Thomas turned an ear her way.
“I do,” she repeated loud and clear.
The priest nodded. “Good enough, then.” He pointed his prayer book at Gunn as though it were a weapon. “The Almighty Lord kens well enough that ye have not had an easy way of it, my son. ’Tis why he chose to bless ye with this woman and two more bairns. Do ye pledge yerself to be her husband and honor her all the rest of yer days? During times of plenty or days of want? In sickness or health? In fair times or foul? Will ye forsake all others till death shall part the two of ye?”
“I will.” Gunn smiled down at her and hugged her even closer.
“Then let no man dare to put asunder what God Almighty Himself hath joined this day. These two are now one in His eyes.” Father Thomas lifted both hands to bless them. “By the grace of the Almighty, the blessings of the church, and the sacred land of our bonnie Scotland, I now pronounce ye man and wife.” He grinned. “Go on and kiss her, my son.”
Gunn swept Lorna up into his arms and covered her mouth with his. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back with a fierce, sweet hunger that rivaled his own.
The hall exploded with clapping, stomping, and cheers.
“Light the Yule fires!” Jasper roared over the noise. “What better way to mark our chieftain’s long-overdue happiness?”
“Cook!” Mrs. Thistlewick called out.
“Aye?” the laughing woman answered.
“We’ll be needing that boar after all!” The housekeeper clapped. “Stations, my lovelies. We have a celebration to prepare.”
Gunn pressed his mouth close to Lorna’s ear and whispered, “Are ye up to this revelry, m’love?”
“Aye, husband.” She eyed her attire, then gave him a look that flooded him with even more heat. “Although a wee lie-down before I dress would not go amiss.”
“Say no more.” He swept her up into his arms and headed for the stairs.
Chapter Sixteen
She was married.To Gunn. Lorna stood in the middle of his large bedchamber, hugging herself, suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of indescribable emotions. Mostly good, but a few insecure ones too. The realization that she was now a permanent resident of the seventeenth century and all that entailed hit harder now. Why it hadn’t before, she had no idea. All she knew was that even though she loved this man and his people with a fury that consumed her, a tiny part of her feared this era and the events yet to come.
“Lorna?” Gunn edged closer. “What is it, dear one?”
“A month ago I never wouldha believed I could ever be this happy.” She reached out to touch him, then noticed the griminess of her hands and arms, and drew them back. “I am covered in filth.” For the first time since emerging from the tunnels, she saw he was too. “We must have made quite a sight while saying our vows.”
He moved to the pitcher and basin on the cabinet beside the hearth, then cast a smoldering glance back at her. “What better way to start our union than by giving each other a bit of a wash, aye?”
“Indeed.” She moved to his side. Crocks of soaps and oils, almost identical to the ones in her privy closet, waited beside the basin.
As he poured the water, she noticed the raw, bloody knuckles on his right hand. She snatched up a soft linen cloth, dampened it, and gently cleaned his wounds.
“I am so sorry,” she said as she wiped the dirt from his arms, then his face.
He halted her ministrations and slid a hand along her jaw line, then laced his fingers in her hair. “’Tis a small price to pay for the joy filling my heart at this verra moment.” After brushing a tender kiss across her mouth, he angled her face to one side and frowned. “Ye have scrapes too, precious mouse. Rest easy while I clean them.”
