They sat in silence for a long time, and then Agnes got up and went to the window. It was one of the few glass ones they had in the house and commanded a magnificent view over the valley, but today the light was grim and sullen, as befitted their mood.
“I have a plan,” she said at last. “But it needs a great sacrifice from you, Emmy. Before I tell you about it, I want to assure you that I do not ask this lightly. You are my only daughter and I love you more than my life, so if you feel you cannot, or do not want to do this thing, then tell me now and I will not ask you again.”
“You are scaring me, Mammy,” Emilia was fearful. “What is your plan?”
“You are a beautiful young woman,” her mother said. “I want you to make him fall in love with you. You do not have to lie with him or seduce him, just use your feminine charms...but you can refuse if you want to.”
Emilia, shocked, looked at her mother open-mouthed for a moment. Her mother was asking her to pretend to love someone she despised! However, when she thought of the alternative, the defenseless village being wiped out by the evil Laird McElwee’s men, she knew that she had to do it.
“I will not refuse,” Emilia replied at last. “How can I, when all these people are depending on me? I would not do it for any other reason, Mammy, or if anyone else but you asked me, but for the sake of our people I will do anything.”
Agnes jumped up and hugged her daughter. “Believe me, darling, if there were any other way I would take it, but there is no other girl in the village as lovely as you, or as clever, and if he has already met you he knows that. It breaks my heart to have to ask you, but we can think of no other way. Are you sure about this?” She cupped her daughter’s face in her hands and looked into her eyes fearfully. Agnes sounded as though she wanted Emilia to refuse, but her daughter nodded firmly.
“Absolutely, Mammy,” she replied. “It is my duty.”
“It is a noble thing to do,” Father Gordon agreed.
“Is it not a sin, though, Father?” Emilia asked anxiously.
“You are doing it for the right reasons, and God will understand. If you do not try, our people will be in danger. I hate the idea but I really cannot find another plan,” Father Gordon replied.
He looked at Emilia like a father would look at his daughter. Emilia knew that he cared for her. “I do not think you will be in any danger. He seems like a gentleman and I do not think he is cruel.”
Emilia was not so sure. If God could look into her heart He could see that a big part of the reason why she had agreed to their plan was because Adam was so attractive. What kind of shallow woman did that make her?
Father Gordon left a few minutes later. “God bless you, Emilia,” he said fervently, making the sign of the cross over her. “I am sorry that you have to lift this burden. I will pray for you.”
“Thank you Father.” Emilia knew that the right thing to do was to focus on the reason she was doing it. And that reason was her people. That was all she should think about. Adam being attractive or not was irrelevant.
7
Adam ventured out that morning full of hope. He knew that he had no chance of making the villagers understand him, but perhaps he could communicate by smiling and being friendly. Unfortunately, they seemed to be blind and deaf to his overtures, so he contented himself by looking around, familiarizing himself with the local landmarks and ignoring the dirty looks and waves of hostility coming his way. He did not realize how much attention he was attracting, with his expensive well-bred horse and beautifully tailored clothes.
Most of the villagers turned away from him, and when he tried to talk to their children, they scowled at him before their mothers pulled them away. He stopped just outside the church and dismounted, then tied up his horse and went in.
The church smelled of beeswax candles and incense, and a feeling of peace settled over him as he knelt down. However, when he looked around him, he saw what a plain, poor little place it was. Although the villagers themselves were not rich, they had given every little bit they had to make their church as lovely as possible, and it had all been for nothing.
The gold candlesticks had gone and had been replaced by plain wooden ones. Where there had been golden ornaments, there were now empty spaces, and Adam had no doubt that the monstrance and chalices had also been replaced by earthenware and wood. It broke his heart to see this once lovely little church reduced to penury by the weather and by his countrymen.
He felt deeply ashamed, and for the first time understood why the villagers hated him so much. He prayed for forgiveness and guidance for a while, and then stood up with a new determination. He might or might not ever be Laird of Inverinch, but he would do whatever he could to make things right.
However, when he walked outside, he found that a little crowd had gathered, and they were all waiting for him to come out of the church. For the first time since he had come to Inverinch Adam felt afraid. The hatred in the air was almost palpable, and as he plunged into the crowd to mount up and ride away, one of the women spat at him. The spittle landed on his shirt, and he looked at it for a moment, then at the woman who had done it. She glared back at him with blazing hatred in her eyes and said something in Gaelic that was, of course, incomprehensible to him, except for the word ‘Sassenach.’ He knew by the tone of voice that the words were spiteful and insulting, however.
Just then he heard father Gordon’s voice behind him. He spoke in a clear, authoritative tone and the little crowd moved away, still grumbling.
Adam turned to the priest gratefully. “Thank you Father,” he said, slightly breathless with relief. “I thought they were going to attack me.”
“All you had to do was go into the church. Everyone is safe there.”
“What did they say?” Adam asked, frowning.
“Are you sure you want to know?” the priest asked doubtfully.
Adam nodded firmly. “Yes. I definitely do,” he replied.
Father Gordon sighed. “They say you are an English braggart who knows nothing of their struggles and cares even less, and that you will never make a good Laird.”
“I see,” Adam sighed. “I will have to work hard to change their minds if I am staying.”
