3
“What areyou going to do with the gifts?”Leila asked quietly when they were on the stairs.Several boys had already scampered ahead of them with small trunks of purchases intended for Isobel and there were many more following them.“It would be a shame to waste such fine goods.”
“True.You should choose what you like from them,” Fergus suggested.“I would like to send one item to Isobel as a wedding gift, but not any one item in particular.”He glanced down at her.“There must be a length of cloth that will not suit your coloring.”
She slanted a glance at him but said nothing.He found her mysterious when she was silent, for it was difficult to guess her thoughts.That intrigued him.
“Tell me,” he urged.
“In private, perhaps,” she agreed softly, then entered the busy solar.“You will have to send word that your marriage is not to be celebrated, after all,” she continued mildly.“I think Lord Gaston will be relieved to remain at home with Lady Ysmaine so close to her time.Though, of course, they will be disappointed to hear your news.”
Fergus wondered whether they would be so disappointed as that.He knew they both liked Leila.
“I will send a missive to Bartholomew,” he said, glad that Leila thought so sensibly.“I believe he intended to write to Gaston with some regularity.”He halted to admire the chamber, trying to see it through Leila’s eyes.
The solar filled the top floor of the tower of Killairic, and the windows offered views in all directions.The solar was of goodly size, with a large pillared bed in its very midst.Thick curtains hung around the bed and the mattress was plump with goose down.There were wolf pelts cast across the bed as well as woven wool blankets and a large brazier on the south side of the bed.On the eastern wall was a small altar with a beeswax candle upon it, and there was a crucifix hung on the wall above it.Leila’s gaze lingered on it for only a moment, but she did not seem to be troubled by it, to his relief.Fergus was not ardent at his prayers but he had fond memories of his mother praying there.The shutters on the north and west windows were closed against the wind, but Fergus opened them to show Leila the view.
“Beautiful,” she said, coming to stand beside him and taking a deep breath.“And such a crisp wind.”
“You will not find it so admirable in winter,” he noted and Leila laughed.
She slanted a glance at him.“I shall have you to keep me warm, will I not?”
Their gazes locked for a heady moment and Fergus could not summon a word to his lips.He thought of Leila’s kisses and could not wait to hold her against him, to explore her delicate figure, to couple with her.She held his gaze unflinchingly, her lips curved in a welcoming smile that made him anticipate the night ahead.
“Hold this safe for me, if you please, Lady Leila,” Duncan said from beside them, startling them both.He offered Leila his saddlebag and she put the strap over her shoulder.
“Of course,” she agreed easily, then touched a fingertip to the braid of Radegunde’s hair tied around his wrist.“How long will you stay?”she asked.
“I will ride north in the morning, lass, now that you are cared for.”
“Then you will not ride with me?”Fergus asked in surprise.
Duncan spared him a glance.“You have my opinion already on that scheme.”
Leila turned a questioning glance on Fergus and he felt his neck heat.Duncan granted her a gruff smile, then turned to direct the boys.Even when they were alone again, Fergus could not bring himself to explain his desire to see Isobel to Leila.He thought it obvious and felt awkward to even consider expressing his intent to visit his former betrothed to the woman he would wed this night.
“The floor is cold even in this season,” Leila noted after a long silence.
“I brought some rugs,” Fergus said, seizing upon the change of topic.“Perhaps we should put them on either side of the bed, so that floor is not a shock in the morning.”
Leila laughed so easily that he was relieved.“That is a good notion.”She surveyed the chamber with a critical eye.“I am put in mind of Radegunde’s scouring of the chamber at Châmont-sur-Maine.”
“It is a bit dusty,” Fergus agreed, seeing the cobwebs in the corners.“I wonder if it has had a thorough cleaning since my mother’s death.”
Leila arched a brow.
“Eight years ago,” Fergus supplied.
A gleam of purpose lit in her dark eyes.“If that is the case, it shall have one this day.Is there a maid or two who might assist me?”
“You do not have to do the labor yourself!”
“I do,” Leila insisted.“They must know that I do not put myself above them and that I am prepared to do my share.”When he might have protested, she placed her fingertips on his arm.“I am from afar, Fergus, and they know it well.They must learn that we have more commonalities than differences, and I must begin immediately to build alliances in your home.”
Fergus could scarce argue with such good sense.
Iain came into the solar then, doubtless checking on all activities in what he saw as his domain.
