‘You have my gratitude for protecting when I could not or was too stupid to realise the need for it.’
He turned and walked away then, knowing that only Brodie could tell him where she was. He knew The Mackintosh well enough to ken that Skye and any convent on it would be the last place to which he’d send her. And the chieftain had learned much since that time years ago when Alan had found his camp in the mountains. He kenned how to cover his trail better than anyone Alan could think of.
Without his help, Alan would spend weeks and possibly months going in circles and getting nowhere. And no one in this area, save for his uncle, would dare to help him if Brodie had not given permission to do so. Again, something Alan should have noticed.
* * *
It took some persuading for the guards to allow him entrance after the gates had been closed. If this was a usual night, Alan would spend it somewhere in the village and wait until morning. But there was nothing usual about this night or his quest to find and claim the woman he loved. Now that he’d made up his mind to do that, he would brook no more delays.
If Brodie was surprised by his arrival at his chamber door, he did not show it. He stepped out into the corridor there and pulled the door closed behind him.
‘Bella needs her rest,’ he said softly in explanation. ‘She is not carrying easily this time.’ His cousin Bella had been blessed with three children, but she’d lost several others. So this time in her pregnancy was always a concern to Brodie, who cared not who might ken it.
Alan walked with him down to the lower floor and to that small chamber off the kitchens where he conducted his business. Once the door was closed, he waited for Brodie to speak first. The infuriating man met his gaze without flinching or speaking. Alan chose a different topic.
‘Is she well?’ he asked. There had been similar signs in the pregnancies that ended sadly for them.
‘She said it feels different to her this time,’ Brodie said, thrusting his hands into his hair and shrugging. ‘Sick, but not that way. I pray God...’ His words drifted off.
‘So do I, my friend. So do I,’ Alan added.
Nothing was more dangerous for a woman than carrying and giving birth and Bella had braved it many times to give her husband his heir and other bairns. Alan walked to a side table where a jug sat and poured some of the ale in the cups there. Handing one to Brodie, he asked the question that bothered him the most.
‘When did you figure it all out?’ he asked.
‘Before you did, but not much sooner,’ Brodie admitted.
‘So, where is she? Jamie said your men took her away two days ago.’ Brodie snorted then and drank some ale before answering.
‘The lady asked for my help and I gave it,’ he said. ‘My men escorted her, they did not take her.’
‘Where, Brodie? Just tell me where she is.’
Brodie did not answer right away and Alan was not certain if he was making Alan wait or deciding whether or not to tell him at all. The laird drank the rest of his ale and put the cup on the table. Crossing his arms over his chest, Brodie glared at Alan.
‘The lady is intent on entering the convent,’ he began. ‘But Bella convinced her that she should speak to you first. That leaving the world behind when so many lies and half-truths lie between you is not the right state of mind or grace to enter such a place.’ Alan would be grateful to Bella for yet another thing now, but he begrudged her not. ‘You may thank my wife for her soft heart later.’
* * *
Within an hour, Alan was on his way to the secluded cottage at the edge of Glenlui village where Sorcha waited.
Chapter Eighteen
Sorcha grew restless. With a thick, woollen blanket wrapped around her shoulders to keep out the chill of the night air, she wandered around the perimeter of the chamber. Every sound outside the cottage seemed to startle her, but then shewaswaiting and listening for his approach.
She’d agreed to remain here until Alan returned and to speak to him at Arabella’s behest and against her own judgement. After leaving Clara’s, she’d been brought here to this cottage on the far side of the village, near the drovers’ road. Away from everyone, it gave her the chance to calm her thoughts and prepare for the journey and life ahead.
Though her first stay would be in a village much further north, in the heart of the lands controlled by the Chattan Confederation outside the royal burgh of Inbhir Nis,she hoped that Alan would not follow her once they’d had a chance to speak. If he relented, then she could travel to Skye as she’d planned much sooner than the time needed to wait him out. Sorcha needed to convince him, if her dishonesty had not already, that there was no way they could be together.
The cleaner and sooner she broke from this life and moved on, the better she would feel. This way, agreeing to meet with him, was certain to lead to more tears and heartache but she owed him that much.
How could she bear the look of disappointment when he looked at her knowing how deceitful she’d been? When he discovered how she’d lied and run away rather than facing her duty as the daughter of a nobleman. When he’d professed his love and she’d let him, nay pushed him to, walk away.
It was for the best, but what man wanted to hear that from a woman? Especially from a woman who’d lied with every breath she took and word she spoke? He’d always seemed reasonable, slow to anger yet capable of fighting his own battles. She prayed the reasonable man was the one who came to her door.
With little to do while waiting, she’d spent her time walking in the area around the cottage and reading the books that Arabella had allowed her to borrow. It was a joy to meet a woman so well educated and well read as Lady Mackintosh. And, though the lady was quite strong-minded, she did not overstep, even when Sorcha made a decision different from the one Arabella wished her to make.
Two days she’d waited for him. Two days was the length of time she’d told the laird and lady she’d wait before setting off north. Now, as night had fallen and she’d prepared for bed, Sorcha found herself unable to sleep. Why had he not come? Brodie was quite exact in his estimate of Alan’s return, as though this was something he had experienced many times.
