“It would explain why he wanted M’Laird out of his castle,” Sawyer half-agreed. “It wouldn’ae make the Earl look too good if Edith proved M’Laird’s innocence. He likely thought he could capture M’Laird and Edith, to hear what she had to say on the matter. Either way, it wouldn’ae have ended well for M’Laird.”
Edith frowned. “Why would anyone think Laird Dunn was the culprit?”
Taking on the role of mediator, Heather explained everything that had occurred prior to their meeting, with a few interjections from Sawyer and Owen about their time in the encampment. After all, she had not been there for those parts, though it did nothing to shake her faith in Owen.
“Ye were with him when he took his last breath?” Edith looked distraught, as tears came again.
Owen nodded. “I did me best to keep him alive, but… there wasnae anythin’ more I could do. He was too badly hurt.”
“At least he… wasnae alone.” Edith hiccupped, turning her face away from the last man to see her husband alive. “Thank ye for… tryin’ to help him. Thank ye for… bein’ there.”
It astonished Heather that, without a single doubt at all, Edith believed Owen. In a way, it made her feel guilty for ever thinking that Owen could have been responsible. Then again, Edith was not hampered by a learned hatred for a country of people she did not even know.
If I had never met you, Owen, I would still feel that way. How foolish I was, to think such things.Heather realized that, while her brother had been raised with the same, constant diatribe against the Scottish, he had never spoken ill of them. Evidently, he had been wiser than her.
“Where is he buried?” Edith asked, a short while later, as the horses made their descent toward the flat of open fields. In the daylight, Heather might have been able to see Dunn Castle from the lofty height of the mountains.
Brandon sighed. “His body was brought to Gallagher Castle. He is buried in the family tomb.” He paused. “One day, when all of this is over and resolution has been made, I hope we might be able to take you there to pay your last respects.”
“I’d like that,” Edith replied quietly.
An air of disquiet fell across the group, as they drew nearer and nearer to their safe haven. They had rescued Edith from an unknown fate, that much was true, but there was no denying that it was bittersweet. For they had staked their last hope on her, and she had no information to give. What would that mean for the future?
Heather stared off toward the twinkling horizon, nestling into Owen’s embrace. One war had just ended, but she could not help the dreadful feeling that another one was brewing, somewhere out there in the shadowed landscape. It was not a matter ofifit came to their doors, but when.
22
“I’m glad ye convinced me.” Edith sat by the fireplace in freshly prepared guest chambers, eating a hearty bowl of soup and some crusty white bread.
Heather sat opposite, doing the same. “I did not convince you. Sawyer gave you no choice. I am only sorry that we had to take you from your home, for it looked to be a very charming cottage.”
“Aye, nae anymore. It was supposed to be me marital home, where I’d raise me bairns. I suppose that isnae for me, now,” Edith admitted: her voice thick with sorrow that came in waves. At times, she seemed fine. At others, she could not even speak through the sobs that hit her.
Owen, Brandon, and Sawyer had retreated to one of the council chambers, to discuss the situation. The gray guard stood watch over the castle and the soldiers had been informed to watch for any marching Englishmen, but it was not enough to simplywait. As such, they were making plans for their defensive and offensive strategies, while discussing how to find the real culprit. At least, that was what Owen had told Heather they were going to do.
I hope they eat something. They must be famished and bitterly cold.Heather sighed, letting the soup and the heat of the fire thaw the ice that had set into her bones.
“Will you not seek to find love again?” Heather swallowed a mouthful of bread, though it lodged in her throat. How could she ask such a question? If Owen were killed, she knew thatshewould never seek love again.
Edith laughed tightly. “Nay, I daenae think so. I daenae have it in me. Ye see, I was never accepted anywhere until I met yer brother. He didnae pass any judgment on me, even when he found out I’d stolen those chickens. All he did was love me without question or doubt. I’ll never find that again.” She caught Heather’s gaze. “Is there someone ye love?”
Shyly, Heather nodded.
“Is it Laird Dunn?”
“It is,” Heather confirmed.
“Then, let me give ye a word of advice, from sister to sister,” Edith said, brushing a tear from her cheek. “Tell him, love him, cherish him, and daenae ever waste a moment that ye couldshare together. Yer brother was always sayin’ that he hoped ye’d find a man to love, so ye could be as happy as he and I were. If that’s Laird Dunn, then ye shouldn’ae be here, eatin’ with me. Ye should be with him.”
Heather shook her head. “He is elsewhere, discussing matters of safety.”
“He loves ye, Heather. Daenae think that he disnae. I daenae even ken him I can tell he loves ye.” Edith’s tears fell with greater abandon, but they were not the heavy, bitter tears of earlier. They were filled with feeling. “So, finish this soup, leave me to me rest, and go and warm yerself in yer chambers, where he can find ye. If he loves ye, as I think he does, he’ll come to ye. That’s how ye’ll ken, mark me words.”
In truth, the entire ordeal had already made Heather realize that she did not want to waste another moment. Her grief over the loss of her brother would always be a part of her, but if she could find happiness, he would want her to. Why should she not seek solace in a man she adored?
So, this is how I will know the true extent of his feelings.She held that in her mind, anxious to return to her chambers to see if he would come. Yet, she lingered longer in her sister-in-law’s room, for what sort of sister would she be if she abandoned Edith at her lowest ebb?
For over an hour, they spoke of one another’s pasts. Heather told stories of her childhood with William, while Edith told stories of the northernmost Highlands, where she had endured amore troubled existence. Nevertheless, hearing about William in greater depth seemed to soothe Edith, and, as the hour chimed five in the morning, the weary woman was fast asleep in the armchair.
