“Sheis back at Tulloch, back withhim.Do you have a plan to fix this, Father? I won’t stand by and see him steal everything that you promised would be mine!”
Lord Ross looked up at his son, “Aye, I have a plan. Of course I have a plan.” He rubbed his hand over his chin, and leaned back slightly in the chair. “He has much pride, our Ceann does.He keeps his own counsel and holds honor above all else. We will use that honor against him. He will never keep the lass if he thinks for an instant she has betrayed him. He will send her away, and then it will be a simple matter to hunt her down and be done with it all.”
He selected a parchment from the pile on his desk, and handed it to Hugh with a snug look. “Find someone to deliver this missive to the Lady Ella.Be sure that Tulloch intercepts it,andthat he is suspicious enough to read it.Be absolutely certain he doesn’t suspect it came from Rossmoor.”
Understanding dawned in Hugh’s eyes, and the coldness of his smile rivaled that of his father.
***
Ceann took a break from reviewing the accounts scattered on his desk and stood to stretch. Looking towards the window, he happened to see a lone messenger enter the gates, escorted by one of his guardsmen. Glad for any excuse to put off his work, he went to the hall to see what it was about.The messenger was a lad of no more than sixteen years, and he looked rather nervous.
“A message for Lady Ella, sir.”
Ceann held out his hand. “I will see that she gets it.”
The boy snatched the parchment back, looking even more uneasy than before.“No!I mean… I am to deliver it to the hands of the lady only, Sir.”
Ceann narrowed his eyes dangerously. “The lady is not here at present,” he lied. She was in fact late coming down from her chamber again this morning to share a meal with him. “Who sends her a letter?I wasn’t aware anyone knew she was here.”Other than all of the people Icontacted in searching for her identity… could someone finally have answered?
The boy squirmed. “I don’t know; I was only to deliver the message…”
“Then where have you come from? Speak up, boy!” Ceann was roaring now.
With a small squeak like a frightened animal, the boy dropped the missive and ran for the gate. Ceann had half a mind to chase him down, but instead his attention was transfixed by the parchment at his feet. He bent to pick it up, then turned to find some privacy in which to read it. For read it he would, private message for Ella or no. He went into the study, closing the door behind him. His hands trembled as he broke the seal and opened it, and read upon it not the words he most feared, that she belonged to another, but even worse. Written in scrawling letters was the evidence of her betrayal…
Dearest Ella,
I take a risk in contacting you, but time is short, and I must know if you have had success. I have trusted you to this task. Do not fail me. I await your report.
There was no signature. Had he been thinking straight, Ceann might have realized no one in their right mind would have sent such a message for him to so easily intercept. But he wasn’t thinking. He couldn’t even breathe. The pain that stabbed through his heart was so great that he sank to his knees, crumpling the parchment as he went. She had played him false. Everything he thought they had together, it was all an illusion. He had trusted her and let her into his heart, into his world, and all along she worked with an enemy to bring him low, just as he had first suspected.Rising clumsily to his feet, his breath coming in sobs, he grabbed the nearest chair and flung it at the hearth with a feral growl, where it shattered into splinters. A table met a similar fate before Ceann stopped, and running shaking hands through his hair,turned and left for the stables. He needed to calm down and to think, but all he could feel was white hot pain.
***
Ella woke feeling tired and queasy yet again. She lay still, waiting for the feeling to subside.The nausea was always gone before noon, yet strong smells turned her stomach. Her breasts were tender. Every sign was there.It couldn’t be... but as she searched her heart she knew… it was.There was no more denying it, Ceann was wrong. Very wrong.He could father a child, and had. She didn’t know how to feel; her mind was overwhelmed and reeling with confused emotions.Part of her was elated. To have a child with the man she wanted above all others; and she had always wanted children one day.But her future at Tulloch was not clear. Ceann had not said he intended to wed her, nor did she know what was… she caught her breath. Was the child the treasure she would give Ceann? It must be. It had to be. Her heart beat faster. She had thought maybe it was her love she would give to him, or maybe happiness, but now she suddenly understood it was so much more than that.Everything would be alright after all.She sat up quickly in her excitement, and just as quickly clutched her stomach and moaned. At that very moment Maggie bustled in and went to throw open the shutters.The stout woman stopped short when her gaze landed on Ella, her expression immediately changing to one of concern.
“Och, child, you look awful. What is it?Are you ailing?”
Ella sighed and shook her head. She had to confide in someone, and Maggie would know what to do. And, she reasoned, she would not be able to hide it forever anyway, if she remained at Tulloch much longer.
Maggie had moved to her side and placed a hand over her forehead. “You don’t have a fever, lass.”
Ella took a deep breath and bravely met her eyes. “No, but I think I am with child.”
The older woman’s eyes went absolutely round, and her mouth fell open in astonishment. When she regained her composure, she came closer and looked her over with an appraising eye. She nodded once. “Aye, I should have seen the signs before now, but I must say I wasn’t watching for them. I thought you were still a maid...”
“I was!”Ella blurted, then blushed, biting her lower lip. “That is until recently... I… “
Maggie nodded as if she understood. “Ah, you went out on Beltane, did you? That’s alright then, a blessing in fact. Do you know who…”
Ella shook her head. She had been at home on Beltane, not long before she left to come here, and Malcolm would never have let her go off with someone… because… because he must have known that she was meant for the Laird of Tulloch.God, it was all coming together now.
“No, there was no one at Beltane. It was… at the gathering, I went into the wood to look for Fiona’s bairn, and Ceann followed after me, and… well…”
Maggie’s hands flew to her face with a sudden gasp.“Ceann?Are you saying the laird is the father of your bairn? Are you certain?”
“Of course I’m certain!” Ella replied indignantly. “There’s been no one else but Ceann!Not ever.It isn’t as if I’ve been scouring the highlands forothermen who claim they are cursed and can’t get me with child.”
Maggie raised an eyebrow.“You lay with the man because he said he couldn’t get you with child?”
