“Let me help ye with the gown.”
He slipped it over her head and she offered her back so that he could see to the ties, which he did. He took his time though, tugging up along her spine, thoroughly appreciating the smoothness of the skin presented him. The shadow beneath the material lent an unexpected darkness to her fair skin.
“I didn’t mean to hurt ye.” She said it in a quiet voice, her face lowered. “I really did not.”
Darragh quickly donned his trews and tunic before responding.
“Was it so repulsive to ye? Our love making?” Darragh tried for a light tone, but he wasn’t sure it was successful. When she didn’t respond, he knew her answer must be yes. Despite her initial reaction, ithadbeen that repulsive to her. Which meant they were in a very unfortunate position.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“They’re here.” His friend called out over the muffled voices of the approaching intruders.
The door was flung open so hard, it slammed against the wall. Thomasina stood there with her hand on her hip and a scowl on her face. If looks could kill, Brighit need never worry about him touching her again.
“Thomasina.” Darragh used his chiding tone. “I would expect better from ye.”
Sean’s head bobbed above the others as he pushed his way past the people crowding around the door. Darragh only hoped it was an attempt to curtail his wife.
“Ye know I wanted a proper bedding ceremony for my daughter,” she said.
“My sweet, Tommy.” Sean wrapped an arm around his petite wife and tucked her close to his side. “Forgiveness, please, Darragh. We didn’t mean to interrupt ye.”
The look of outrage Thomasina turned on her husband was almost comical, but he stared her down.
“Did we, Thomasina?”
She hesitated before turning to Darragh. “Of. Course. Not,” she ground out the words between tight lips.
Sean kissed his wife’s cheek, but the stiffness of her expression didn’t bode well for him.
“I am fine,Mamaídh.” Brighit stood beside Darragh, even taking his hand, though she didn’t look at him. “I have been well bedded. The sheets are yonder.”
She pointed toward the bed, and like a swarm of bees to a flower, the women rushed to retrieve the stained sheet with its telltale proof of her virginity.
“I had no thought of such trivial concerns, Sean. I am pleased with Brighit as my wife.” Darragh turned to the woman at his side, with her upturned nose and fierce appearance. The woman who still refused to even glance his way. “As I hope my wife is with me.”
The silence in the hall seemed to go on and on until Brighit finally spoke. “Of course. I am well pleased.”
Thomasina beamed, then took her daughter into her arms, whispering things Darragh couldn’t hear. Sean clasped hands with Darragh. “Then we shall return below unless ye wish to remain here?”
“Below,” Brighit said with far too much enthusiasm.
She pushed to join the crowd, making her escape from him. Darragh’s sense of having fallen short was far from eased. And with his groin still sore, he knew what a stiff upper lip felt like as he forced a smile and followed them to rejoin the celebration.
The talk in the great hall quieted as soon as the musicians took over and the dancing began. Brighit enjoyed watching the unmarried ladies flirt shamelessly with every one of her brothers, save Lorcánn. He managed to find some pretty lasses his own age, sitting amidst them and dazzling them with his wit and charm. Since his trip north, he seemed to have grown a foot and acquired an attitude to match.
Brighit sighed as she watched the carefree merrymaking all around the head table where she sat silently with her new husband. He’d assured her mother he was pleased to take her to wife, but surely that was not the case. Shading her face with her hand, she relived the shame at what she’d done. He would certainly never forgive her, and she didn’t blame him.
So wrapped up in her own worries, Brighit didn’t notice the rowdy crowd coming toward them until they started to drag her and Darragh from their seats to join in the festivities. At first hesitant, she gave in as gracefully as she could. Darragh did the same, even taking her hand as they joined the revelry. The lads on one side and the ladies on the other, the dancing did not allow for one-on-one discussion with anyone, which was fine with her. Embarrassing though her parents’ intrusion had been, at least it had put an end to his questions. Brighit understood her parents’ wedding had included very little in the way of tradition and ceremony, and it was important to Thomasina that Brighit should have what she had not.
Lachlann picked up a fiddle to join in with the musicians, loudly stomping along to keep the beat from slowing down. The ladies in their best attire created a colorful border while the lads—some in theléinethat came down to their knees, and some in trews and tunics—faced them. Turning, the single-file line of dancers moved up to cast off in opposite directions, only to meet in the middle again. With hands raised, they moved toward each other, stopping short of their palms actually touching.
This dance was followed by a slower version in which the men made their way down the line of ladies, pairing up. Each couple circled around, palms nearly flush. When Darragh came to Brighit, their eyes held as they circled about, the rest of the guests forgotten. Though his face was peaceful enough, she wondered about his thoughts. Was he thinking of a way to set her aside? Did he wish he’d never agreed to take her to wife? Or did he wish they were alone so that he could hold her in his arms and kiss her again?
Brighit stumbled, but Darragh was quick to catch her.
“Is ought amiss?”
