2
“After all?”Fergus echoed, knowing that every gaze was locked upon him.The hair pricked on the back of his neck, and he found it remarkable that no one explained his father’s comment.Indeed, the hall was filled with a fearsome silence.“Surely, Isobel and I will be married at Killairic, Father.”The words were as dust in his mouth, for he was watching Leila.Her interest in the conversation was most clear.
As clear as Murdoch’s interest in her.
His father grimaced.“Surely not,” he said quietly.“I am sorry, Fergus.”
Fergus thought he must have misunderstood.“Has Isobel fallen ill?”
“Nay,” Calum said, his frown deepening.
Iain had paused in the portal to the kitchens and looked back.He was ashen and motionless, as if he had been struck to stone.Hamish frowned in confusion as he looked between them all.Duncan was grim.Murdoch folded his arms across his chest and watched the exchange as if entertained.Leila’s eyes were wide and she clearly strove to follow the conversation.
Fergus asked the inescapable question.“Is she dead?”
His father winced.“Isobel is married, Fergus.”
Married?
Fergus was outraged and he felt betrayed.How could his beloved be wed to another?It could not be true!“But how can this be?Isobel ismybetrothed.”
“No longer,” Murdoch noted in his gravelly voice.
Fergus spun to face that man.“She pledged to wait for me!”
“It seems the lady changed her thinking,” Duncan noted.
“But we love each other,” Fergus protested.
“I would wager that your admiration was not returned in equal measure, lad,” Duncan said quietly.
Fergus realized from Duncan’s tone that he, of all those who had just returned, was not surprised.Duncan shrugged, then dropped his gaze to his boots.Leila inhaled sharply, her eyes flashing in his defense.
Still Fergus could not believe it.
“But we are betrothed!”he protested again.“We arepledgedto each other...”
His father shook his head.“All the same, she exchanged vows with Stewart MacEwan...”
“Stewart MacEwan?”Fergus paced the hall, astonished twice in rapid succession.He knew he had experienced doubt, but he had not broken his vow.Isobel should not have done as much, either.She hadpromised.And Stewart?How could she love Stewart?“But he is twenty years her senior!”
Calum shrugged.“That does not appear to be an issue.She has borne him a son in your absence.She ripened with a second child, but I heard that something went awry.”Calum shook his head and most of the company crossed themselves.
Two pregnancies?So quickly as that?Fergus had been gone almost exactly four years.He felt his eyes narrow as he turned to face his father again.He found Leila’s eyes snapping, her arms folded across her chest, and appreciated that she was insulted on his behalf.
Something in him stirred at the sight of her fury, something he did not wish to consider in this moment.
There had to be an explanation, and he immediately thought of one.
“Did her father compel her choice?”Fergus asked tightly.
His father shook his head.“Not as I heard it.”
Fergus exhaled.He paced.He was livid that a sworn word would mean so little to Isobel, that his trust had been so badly misplaced, that her love for him had been so fleeting.He was devastated that his loyalty had been so rewarded.How could she have done this?What would his life be without Isobel by his side?Fergus shoved a hand through his hair and did not wish to consider it.
“When did they wed?”he asked, disliking that his father winced and dropped his gaze to his hands.
“Three months after you left,” Murdoch supplied.
