He turned his back on his son, facing Andrew and Beth as they stood together. “I will take him back to my castle and to the monastery thereafter. I will send a dozen of my laborers here as a gesture toward your forgiveness. Use them to help rebuild your chapel.”
“I thank you for your generosity,” Andrew replied. “Now I must tend to the wounded.”
“Of course. We will talk of our union soon. I have a daughter coming of age that I would have you marry. That will cement the bonds between us.”
Andrew shook his head. “That will not be possible but Gillis is next in line to the lairdship. Perhaps you might introduce him to your lassie.”
Duff nodded, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Beth. “I think I understand. You have given your heart to another. In the usual course of events I would mock such sentimentality in a laird but these are not usual times. The union of our clans will hold despite your rejection of my offer. Farewell, MacIntyre. Until we meet again.”
He walked away, grabbing hold of Derek as he went and shoving him over to their waiting horses. Andrew turned to Beth. “You said you would stay until the chapel was complete. Will you keep that oath?”
“I will,” she nodded. “Now go help them. We can talk later.”
He left her in conversation with the bishop as he began moving through the crowd. James had already taken charge of the walking wounded. They had gathered by the infirmary. Other MacIntyres were tending to the more seriously injured.
He gathered his men to him. “Bring me stretchers of canvas and get as many as you can into the infirmary. We will have need of much water from the well and as many cloths as you can find.”
“Aye,” they said as one, moving away and getting to work at once. Andrew looked around him. Beth was still talking to the bishop. He caught a snippet of their conversation, her explaining the advantages of stone vaulting over wood and the reasons why falsework was so important.
Duff and Derek had ridden away. He found himself thinking about everything that had happened since the fire at Pluscarden. Should he have spotted that Derek was responsible? Would his father have known? He shook his head. It was not the time for introspection. That could take place once the wounded were tended to.
As he headed over to the infirmary to assist, he couldn’t help feeling a great joy. He knew it was selfish in the midst of so much destruction but it was there nonetheless. She had said she would stay until the chapel was completed. He had dreaded the end of the service for he knew that was when she planned to bid him farewell and return to her own time.
The collapse of the vault was awful but it also meant a stay of execution. He could snatch a precious few more weeks with her. It would never be enough. He wanted a lifetime but he could not have it. She had insisted on returning to her mother no matter how much he pleaded that she might change her mind.
If he could not have a lifetime with her, a few weeks would have to do. He would just have to make the most of the time they had left and then survive on the memories afterward.
