“Theyhavenae had the good reasons I do to be that strict. The Hays arenae going tobe connected by blood and marriage to the Kerrs.”
“Noteven if such a connection is what your own sister, aunt, and cousin all want,more than anything they have ever wanted before?”
“Nay.Ye are all still verra young. Ye will soon cure yourselves of this love yeclaim to feel. Ruari Kerr has humiliated the Hays. I cannae act as if thatmeans nothing to us.”
Shetook a deep breath and decided to try one of the best arguments they had, onethey had not yet been able to use to its fullest potential, for Dougal hadrefused to listen. It was clear that talking about the love she had for Ruariwas not going to move him. Dougal had never been in love. He simply could notunderstand what it felt like as was indicated by his foolish talk of curingoneself of it as if it was some irritating sore one could spread a little salveon.
“Therewill never be a better opportunity for the Hays to gain through a marriage. Weare poor and dowerless as well as landless. Tying our clan to the Kerrs willgain us a lot of what our forefathers lost. Through the Kerrs the Hays couldgain a better position at court, and certainly we could improve our fortunes.Do ye really want Dunweare to keep filling up with women who cannae findhusbands because they lack any dowry or with widows left too poor to live ontheir own?” She could tell by the sudden upward twitch of one of his eyebrowsthat that had caught his interest. “If naught else, a connection to the Kerrswill offer all these females cluttering up Dunweare a wider field of men topluck a husband out of.”
“Oh,ye are good, Sister, I will grant ye that,” he murmured as he shoved his emptytrencher aside. “Ye ken exactly what to say to catch my interest. Weel, itdoesnae matter. Do ye think me too stupid to ken that in lands, power, and cointhe Kerrs would make a perfect match for any of the women in my household? Ihave thought of that, and the gains dinnae outweigh what is lost by bowing to amon who has made a fool of me and given the Hays of Dunweare a grave insultwhen he brazenly took ye from the fair.”
“Weel,ye are a fool,” she snapped, unable to constrain her temper. “Ye didnae needRuari Kerr to show anyone that.”
“Yesorely try my temper, woman,” he yelled as he leapt to his feet. “I will hearno more of the Kerrs in this household. The next person to even whisper thatname will pay dearly for it.”
Shecursed as he strode out of the room. He had listened to her, but, as she hadsuspected, he had no intention of letting anything she said change his mind. Ithad been a complete waste of time as well as emotionally draining. She did notreally like to be at such odds with her brother. In the past, for all hisweaknesses, they had been close. Now she felt as if a great wall had beenerected between them. They could not even share a meal without rancor. Despitethat, she knew she would do her best to get back to Ruari. She could only praythat the reunion with the man she loved would not cost her the love of herbrother.
“Iam not one who likes to say I told ye so,” began Sorcha when she met with Neilin her bedchamber a few hours later.
“Butye will anyway,” said Neil as she sat down on Sorcha’s bed, Margaret sittingbeside her. “I wasnae verra hopeful myself, but I felt it our duty to give thelad one more chance. Now I can go against his wishes without much guilt, for hehas shown that he will not bend even enough to consider the feelings of threewomen in his family. Did the fool really say we can cure ourselves of thislove?”
Sorchagrimaced and nodded. “I cannae really fault him too much for that idiocy, forhe has never been in love. How can he realize or even begin to understand whatit means or how we feel?”
“Aye,and he is a mon. They arenae the wisest creatures when it comes to matters ofthe heart. Weel, he will soon learn just how serious we are, although I amsurprised that the melancholy and copious tears havenae made him see sense.”
“Heprobably thinks it is just some female malady,” muttered Margaret.
“Wehavenae raised that laddie right,” said Neil and exchanged a quick grin withSorcha.
“Didye gather a few men to go with us?” Sorcha asked, eager to get on with enactingher plan, for the more she considered it, the more she felt sure it was theperfect solution to their problems.
“Iainand a few of the younger men. They see it as an adventure and are young enoughto still be a little romantic. We really only need them for added protection onthe journey to Gartmhor and mayhap to help us subdue whatever Kerr we may beable to grab. Iain feels it is a mad plan with more holes than a beggar’sshirt, but oddly enough, I think he found that made it all the more tempting.”
“Andthey are fairly sure that they dinnae face any real danger.”
“Aye,that too. ‘Tis a game, and they are eager enough to play it. Curious to seewhat results, too.”
“So,when do we ride for Gartmhor?”
“Wewill try to slip out tonight. Iain and three of the lads will claim they aregoing on a short hunt later this afternoon. Then ye, Margaret, I, and the otherthree lads will ride out about an hour later.”
“Andwhat are we supposed to be doing?” asked Margaret.
“Searchingfor herbs to replenish the medicinal supplies,” replied Neil. “There are a fewwhich are best collected in the afternoon, and few of the men will ken what toask or if we tell the truth.”
“Andonce we are away from Dunweare we meet with the others and ride for Gartmhor,”finished Sorcha.
“Whenit grows dark and we dinnae return, they will worry about us,” said Margaret. “Thatseems unkind.”
“WhatDougal is doing to us is unkind.”
“AndDougal has the wit to guess what we are up to,” Neil said, interrupting whatcould easily become an argument between the soft-hearted Margaret and theinfuriated Sorcha. “As soon as he realizes exactly who is missing he will kenthat we are trying to get to Gartmhor. If he doesnae, Robert will. I wouldnaebe surprised if that mon already kens what we are planning.”
“Iainwouldnae tell him,” said Sorcha.
“Nay,”agreed Neil. “He doesnae have to.”
“True.Robert has always had a keen nose for whatever trouble a Hay is getting into.He wouldnae stop us, though, would he?”
