“And what of my son?”she cried.“What of our son?”
Fergus turned to look at her in confusion.
Isobel smiled.“Oh, aye, Gavin is our son, Fergus.He isyourson.”
“We laid together but once...”
“And it was sufficient, to be sure.The proof accompanied me this day!”
“Gavin is Stewart’s son.I see his father in him.”
“You are deceived!”Isobel retorted.“We were intimate.I conceived.You were gone!What was I to do, a woman with a rounding belly but no husband?My father would have been outraged.I seduced Stewart and ensured that we were discovered, then my father insisted upon the match.I told Stewart that I bore his son, and he believed me.”She was triumphant, which said much of her nature.Fergus could not believe that any person of merit would take such pride in a deception of such magnitude.
She was also lying.
“But you wed Stewart three months after my departure.Surely he noted that the boy was born three months too soon?”he asked quietly, knowing this was not the least of the issue with her tale.
The boy watched with wide eyes, clearly uncertain what to think.Fergus hoped he did not understand it all.
“I lied, for the safety of both of us,” Isobel said.“I went to my cousin on the isles and gave birth to the boy there.He was born at the Yule.I lingered for the winter, then returned to Dunnisbrae, and told Stewart the boy was younger than he was.”She sneered.“He knew naught of babes and their size, and he trusted me.”
Fergus thought that said more good of Stewart than of Isobel.“Whether this tale is true or yet another lie, it matters little.Gavin cannot be my son.”
“I say he is!”
“And you lie, Isobel,” Fergus said, his recurring dream at the forefront of his thoughts.“All children in my family are born with red hair.”He glanced back at the yawning boy, even as Isobel’s lips parted in dismay.“Stewart is your father, Gavin.Never doubt it.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Fergus!Even if that is true, you cannot compel me to return to Dunnisbrae...”
“I can and I will.Farewell, Isobel.”Fergus left the hut then, ignoring the way she shouted after him, and strode back to the keep with purpose.He told Stephen to have Isobel’s palfrey saddled at first light.He spoke to Xavier about the morning, ensuring that it was understood that Isobel and Gavin could break their fast in the kitchens.
Enguerrand and Yvan were bent over their chess board and his father was reminiscing with Murdoch.Fergus wished them all a good night and climbed the stairs to the solar, to Leila, and to a misunderstanding that had to be put right.
