Another song began, slower this time. Couples formed naturally, hands linking, movements gentler.
Without asking, Kayden drew Lilliana closer. Her body fit against his as if it had always known the shape.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“For dancing?”
“For believing me.”
He brushed his thumb lightly along her waist. “Ye were right.”
Her smile grew.
Moira approached then, wiping flour from her hands, eyes shining. “The hothouse frame arrives next week,” she said proudly.
Lilliana’s face lit up like sunrise. “Truly?”
“Aye. And three girls have volunteered to tend the winter herbs.”
Kayden watched her absorb the news, watched how she began planning aloud, speaking of drying racks, of tinctures, of a small permanent apothecary near the lower village.
No one dismissed her. They leaned in. They listened. That, more than anything, settled something inside him.
Jacob drifted close once more. “She has done more in a fortnight than most lairds manage in a year,” he observed.
“Aye,” Kayden said.
“And she did it without fear.”
Kayden’s gaze did not waver from her. “She is the bravest among us.”
The dancing continued long into the night. Children fell asleep on benches. The fiddler’s pace slowed. Tankards emptied.
Lilliana lifted a tankard to toast him. “Slàinte,” she said quietly, before letting out a yawn.
Kayden lifted his own tankard. “To ye, me wife,” he replied in a deep voice. Then leaned down to her ear. “Come,” he murmured. “Let us go home.”
She nodded, cheeks flushed, eyes soft.
They got back to the castle late and exhausted. As they walked up the stairs hand in hand, Kayden could not help but smile at his wife.
“Ye seemed to enjoy yerself immensely tonight.”
She looked up at him with a smile. “I did. A cèilidh is much different from your run-of-the-mill English party. For one thing, it’s much less formal and a lot more enjoyable.”
He chuckled. “Are ye saying it’s better than London balls?”
“Much,” she said with feeling. “I never liked those. And I assure you that they did not likeme.”
“Well then, their loss is our gain.”
She blushed, and she dipped her head, hiding from him. He let go of her hand and tucked her close to him as they walked down the hall to their chambers.
At his invitation, Lilliana had been sleeping in his bed for the last few days. He found it to be a very satisfactory arrangement.
Long may it continue.
They came to a stop at his door and paused. She turned to him. “You must be tired. Do you want me to…” She pointed to her door.
