“Tell them I want them all here after supper.”
That was all Hugh was getting, and knowing it, he backed up and then turned to do the Lochiel’s bidding.
“I dinna want to keep ye from yer duty, Chief…Constantine,” Ismay corrected herself with a shy smile.
“What duty? Och!” he exclaimed and pointed in thedirection Hugh had taken. “Ye mean that.”
Ismay nodded and gave a poor effort to hide her smile. Had he forgotten the Confederation’s threat already? Did his absent-mindedness have to do with her?
He waved her concern away. “The Confederation willna dissolve if they dinna hear from me immediately. Unfortunately, they will still exist tomorrow.”
Ismay knew enough about them from her father’s involvement with them. Her father, being a MacPherson baron, had defended them on a few occasions when penning missives to Oliver Cromwell, commander of the New Model Army of the English Commonwealth. She knew enough about the Chattan Confederation to know MacPhersons stood on their side.
Well, not this MacPherson.
“Shall we go?” she asked, tightening her arm around his elbow.
He led her out without a look back.
“Does this mean ye will postpone yer visit to yer home?”
“Aye. Fer a wee bit.”
“Do ye plan on finishing the chief in a quick strike then?”
“The quicker, the better.”
He was utterly serious. He had no doubts in his ability to win. She found such confidence attractive and comforting.
“Tell me about yer home,” she said, wanting to end the topic of battle.
“It sits at the foot of Ben Nevis. I didna live there long. I was away fightin’ more than I was home.”
“Still, it holds a deep place in yer heart.”
He stared at her while they walked out of the courtyard. “I built it fer my wife and daughter. But they didna get to live in it either. So that she wouldna be alone, Alison remained at Tor with her parents while she carried Katie.”
Ismay remained silent while he seemed to relive something thatbrought shadows to his eyes. Ismay already knew his wife and child had died. But when he spoke again she was stunned by what he told her.
“I didna make it home to see Alison before she left the earth. I also missed welcomin’ my daughter into the world despite losing her mother. By the time I arrived, four days after wee Katie died, Alison’s kin had her and our babe buried.”
Ismay felt as if an arrow just pierced her heart. “I’m grieved that ye didna return to them in time, Constantine.”
His dark eyes gleamed with unshed tears. He offered her a smile filled with meaning despite its slight visual appearance. Then he turned away and continued walking.
Keeping pace with him, Ismay understood what had snatched away his happiness. All the amusement she brought him, all the humor in his eyes, and the warmth in his smiles, no matter how scarce, suddenly meant so much more. She wanted to bring more days of happiness to him.
Did she truly intend to remain here with him then? Would he ever want something more permanent with her?
“The loch is just aroond that bend,” he told her, pointing straight ahead.
They walked to it together, keeping their conversation lighter, with the somber Lochiel giving up smiles and even a low, almost horrified chuckle when she admitted to things she, Hilary, and Joan talked about in the embroidery room.
“So, ye are all convinced that I favor ye.” It was not a question.
She slanted her smoky gaze to him. “Is it so impossible?”
“Aye,” he answered in a deep, meaningful tone. “’Twas once, no’ too long ago.”
