CHAPTER 1
“Another dram?”
Leah looked up at Oskar, who was grinning at her and holding up a flagon of whisky. The ceilidh was in full swing, with many members of Clan MacIrvin dancing energetically in the center of the room.
She laughed at him as he poured more whisky into the glass beside her. Her arms were currently occupied with the new heir to the MacIrvin estate. The baby had been born with a thick head of black hair and beautiful blue eyes, just like his mother.
Leah cooed at him softly, lifting her forefinger to his clenched fist and watching in delight as his tiny digits curled around it.
“Ye have a way with the bairns, lass,” Oskar declared as he placed the flagon on a nearby table and stood beside her, watching the dancers.
The main hall of the castle had been commandeered for the celebration of Evander’s birth. It was a high stone room with a long central space and arched windows. The musicians played in the far corner, the lilting Scottish music, which Leah was growing to love, echoing all around them.
“This is the only age at which I can tolerate men,” she said pointedly, and Oskar threw back his head and laughed.
“Och, aye? I shall remember that.”
Leah looked down at the beautiful boy in her arms and squeezed him gently as he looked up at her.
“Not all men, just you,” she said as he pulled her finger to his mouth and started chewing on it with his toothless gums.
Leah looked up and smiled warmly as her best friend, Daphne, came to stand beside her husband. The birth had been a painful one, and it had taken several weeks for her to recover, but some of the color was now returning to her cheeks.
“How are ye feelin’?” Oskar asked, a deep warmth in his voice as he looked at his wife.
“Och, I’ll be fine,” Daphne replied.
Leah suppressed a laugh as she heard the unfamiliar Scottish word from her friend’s mouth. She wagered Daphne would sound like a Highlander before the year was out.
“Everyone is enjoying themselves?” Daphne asked, looking slightly anxious.
Oskar smiled, placing a gentle hand on her back. “Everyone is just fine, lassie.”
“How is my boy?” she asked as Leah stood, passing the baby into her arms.
“He’s very handsome,” Leah replied, “just like his mother.”
Oskar and Daphne both chuckled at that as they fussed over their son.
Leah lifted her glass to her lips, the warm spice flooding her taste buds as she swallowed the whisky. She felt content and settled for the first time in many weeks. Now that Daphne had recovered, she was thoroughly enjoying her time in Scotland, but she knew it could not last forever. She had already outstayed her welcome.
She swallowed convulsively at the thought of facing her father again—of being given the name of her betrothed, a man she may not know.
Daphne would have asked her to live with them in the MacIrvin estate forever if she could. But the Earl had made it clear that Leah had one month before she had to return, and she had already stayed for two.
At some point, she would have to face the consequences—but not tonight. She closed her eyes, listening to the lively chorus and the rhythmic thudding of footsteps over the flagstones, wishing she could somehow hide herself here forever or escape to a foreign land where no one knew her name.
She opened her eyes to find Daphne watching her with an assessing gaze and a frown of concern.
“You look pale. Are you quite well?”
Leah quickly plastered on a smile and drank the rest of the whisky in one fiery swallow. “Of course. It is wonderful to be around those I love most in the world.”
Daphne raised her hand, and Leah took it immediately, smiling as her friend interlaced their fingers.
“You seem troubled,” Daphne murmured, keeping her voice low enough that Oskar could not overhear.
“It is alright. I am just thinking of when I must leave this place. It is not a pleasant thought.”
