“Aye, Alyssa Sinclair, the beauty of the Sinclair clan and the hope for its future, along with me uncle, of course.”
“Of course,” Ellie replied, smiling at the fondness in his voice when he said his mother’s name.
“But my Da was only a farmer. Ye see they met at a village festival, and tae hear my Ma tell it, they fell in love instantly. My Grand Da was Laird at th’ time.”
“He did not approve of the match between your mother and father?” Ellie asked.
“Nay, he surely did not. In fact, he forbade it. She loved my Da, but the Laird wanted her to make a match with another clan’s first son. It would bring the two clans together and much prosperity to our two lands.”
“She chose yer father against her own Da’s wishes.”
“Aye, she did at that. My Ma was a woman who kent her own mind and heart. She would not be turned away from what she truly desired.”
A realization dawned on Ellie. Aidam was no stranger to the responsibilities of the nobility of the clans. His father was so far beneath his mother in station. She must have felt, in a lot of ways, similar to how Ellie felt right now. Torn between what her family claimed were her responsibilities and what she wanted in her heart more than anything else. Had she chosen what her father wanted her to do, there would be no Aidam. She looked across the small table at him now. His strong character shining through his usual joyful capriciousness. Right under her nose, he had grown into a fine, braw man. Even though she would never tell him such, and he still could irritate her beyond measure, she could scarcely imagine a world where he did not exist.
* * *
Aidam found it easy to talk to Ellie. He had never confided his parents’ story to any other woman before. It was a part of him he preferred to keep locked away. Yet, with Ellie, it felt natural. It felt as if she deserved to know that part of him, his past.
The cottage held fine memories for him of a time when both of his parents were alive and happy. He had only been a wee bairn, but he loved the cottage and the life they lived in it. There was never a cross word spoken, stories were told, and their lives were filled with work, joy, and laughter.
“So what happened when yer mother’s father found out she loved a farmer?” Ellie asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“Well,” Aidam continued. “Naturally, he was furious. He forbade my mother, his only daughter, from seeing my father. Threatened to take away his family’s farmlands and give them to another family. It would have ruined them, and at first, my Ma agreed. She loved my Da too much to see him or his family suffer at her father’s hands.”
“How horrible,” Ellie said, placing her hand over her mouth. “Didn’t the Laird see your mother was in love?” Aidam was reminded just how sheltered she had been until her own father died.
“I am sure he didn’t think he was being cruel, but aye, he was.” Marriages for love were uncommon, and his grandfather’s cruelty toward his mother would not be seen as such, rather as a Laird trying to protect his legacy. Yet, Aidam agreed with Ellie. To keep two people in love away from each other was cruel and horrible. “My mother tried, for a long time tae stay away from my Da. When his father had business at the castle, he would accompany him, hoping for a glimpse of my mother—wanting more than anything to see her and understand why she would not see him. But she would hide in her chambers until she was sure my Da had gone. She would avoid the village. She wanted to do the right thing, ye ken. She didnae want my father to suffer, but she didnae want to be responsible for his ruin.”
“So what happened? What did she do?” Ellie was sitting up on the edge of her chair. She hung on his every word. He could see the eagerness in her eyes for his mother and father’s happy ending, and he wanted to give that to her more than anything, hoping she would use their story to possibly give up on her charade and do something to pursue her own happy ending. At that moment, he knew he wanted that for Ellie more than he had realized. He wanted her to be happy.
“Well, as I said, she tried tae stay away, but eventually, she became heartsick. She couldnae get out of bed. She wouldnae participate in keep life at all. My Grand Da hardly noticed, but my uncle did. My uncle snuck from the keep one night and found my Da. Who tae hear them tell it was in no better shape than my Ma. Heartsick and lonely, my uncle found him wandering the fields of his father’s farm and brought him back, sneaking him intae th’ keep tae see my Ma.”
“Laird Sinclair helped yer mother?” She asked.
“Aye, he was a different man then.” Aidam immediately realized his mistake. The way he told his parent’s story, Ellie could easily see his uncle as a fan of love. And while that may have been true at the time, Aidam knew Sinclair did not feel that way anymore. He would not have entered into this betrothal if he did.
“We all allow life to change in some ways,” she replied.
Aidam did not know when or why his uncle changed, but he was not the same as he was when he was a lad. He did not love Ellie, and their match was not one born in love or even mutual affection. Something else was behind his uncle’s quick engagement to Ellie, as was there something strange about her ready acceptance. Aidam would not give up until he figured out what it was.
“What happened next?”
“Well, lass, that’s where the story gets interesting,” Aidam continued. “My Ma was so thrilled at seeing my Da, and so distraught at having had to reject him she vowed right then and there tae marry him and nae one else. But she was still verra much afraid of my Grand Da. She was only eighteen and my Da only twenty. They were young, and without the lands Da’s family farmed, how would they survive?
“So, they agreed tae keep their love affair secret, while my Da tried tae figure out how they would live as husband and wife. They went on that way for months, with my uncle helping my Ma and Da see each other whenever they could. At th’ same time, my Da worked out an agreement where his parents were able to move their lands further from the reach of the Laird. It was a hard thing for them tae do, but they believed in their son and wanted him tae be happy. But he kent that my Ma would never be happy far away from her home, so he saved his coin and started to build this small cottage. Nae one kent about it except my Da and my Ma. It was supposed tae be a grand house.”
“Oh,” Ellie said. “But it is lovely as it is. I can’t imagine it being much larger. It seems the perfect place to raise a family.”
“Aye, it ‘tis at that. When she found herself with child, she tried to hide it from her Da. But as these things go, eventually, he found out. As soon as the Laird realized my Ma was with child, and that child was my Da’s, he became enraged. He forced her from the keep. He never spoke tae her again. He felt she betrayed him, the clan, and most of all herself. She tried tae plead with him. Tried tae make him see she loved my Da. But he would nay see reason. My Da was forced to hurry and finish the cottage for them so they would have a place tae live. But my Da was worried my Ma would want something grand. Something that would make it easier for her as she was giving up the life she was used to for him.”
“But that’s just it. Yer Ma loved yer Da. She did not see it as giving anything up. She wanted to be with him. She was heartbroken without him. Surely, he could see she wouldnae have cared as long as they were together.”
“And she didnae care. My Ma loved this cottage,” Aidam replied, warmed by Ellie’s praise of not only his parents and their love for each other but also of his childhood home. He took a deep breath. How long had it been since he thought about his parents and what they fought through to be together? His Ma and Da knew more than most that love was worth any battle.
Ellie placed a gentle hand on his arm, and they locked eyes. When was the last time he had been comforted by anyone? Aidam felt his heart swell as the tears formed in her bright gaze.
He was worried to go on. He knew something Ellie didn’t—the story he was telling did not have a happy ending. He wished he could keep her from the next part, wished he could change the outcome, but perhaps there was a lesson to be learned in his parent's story. The way Ellie looked at him, her openness, her eyes shining, he knew he would have to finish.
