Despite her repeated demands to walk, Kieran did not let go of her until he placed her on her own bed at Duncarie. He sat beside her, silently stroking her hair until Florette arrived. Still without a word,he leaned forward and kissed her, then left for his own room.
Diantha watched him leave, wishing she knew what his silence meant. She turned on her side and stared at the brocade curtains covering her windows. She had not told him the entire truth the previous evening. Difficult as he was to reach, and as much as she feared what his eventual rejection would do to her heart, she had fallen in love with her husband.
Chapter 13
Although no more untoward events occurred the house party could not end soon enough for Diantha. As she waved good-bye to the last of their guests, she could not repress a sigh of relief.
“It does feel good to have the house to ourselves again.” Kieran took her arm as they returned to the entry hall.
“Indeed, although I’m spoiled by all the recreation we’ve indulged in over the last weeks.” Diantha’s heart turned over as Kieran kissed her cheek.
“If you say so, but I think getting shot is a drastic excuse to change your hairstyle.” He grinned as they climbed up the grand staircase. “I have a lot of work to catch up on, but we could go riding on occasion.”
Archie took a dim view of the idea. The first time she and Kieran rode out together he ordered her husband not to tire her. “You leuk ower her well, you scamp! She’s not been a’horseback that long.” Touched, she realized that for once the ghillie spoke of her safety, not Dancer’s.
The only roads on Duncarie traveled from Ulladale, a village just beyond the estate, to Cariford on the coast; and one from the house to the far side of the valley, where several tenants lived in stone crofts.
Diantha expressed concern over the often primitive houses the first time they visited the far side of the valley. Kieran nodded his agreement as he rode beside her on his black hunter. “I hope to use some of the increased funds at my disposal to improve them.” He sighed. “My forefathers didn’t engage in the wide-scale clearances that so many others did. I’m sure it’s a credit to our family motto, but it means there are a great many crofts to repair.”
“ ‘We guard our own.’ “ Diantha repeated the words carved around every stone fireplace in Duncarie House. “It’s a worthy goal.” She enjoyed meeting the crofters, although the knowledge they seemed to have of her activities astounded her. Kieran explained with a chuckle that several of them had relatives working at the house.
They explored more of Duncarie as her riding improved. A cleft at the far end of the valley opened to a narrow glen on the way to the seashore. On one side of that dark valley, a promontory etched its top against the sky.
Kieran glanced up at the cliff as they passed. “Eventually, several Rossburn tenants rebelled against the attempts of the English to burn them out of their crofts. The local commander ordered every man arrested or captured to be thrown over the edge.”
“Arrested or captured? He didn’t even try them?” Diantha shuddered as he shook his head. “That’s barbaric!”
“And several other innocent families were burned out, marched to Cariford and told to learn fishing or be deported.”
“Is that the origin of the village?”
“There were a few fishermen there before. It’s a natural harbor. There are still descendants of some of those families living there.” He glanced at her. “They regard you in the light of a patroness due to the boats your father is sending.”
Her heart leaped for a moment at the tenderness in her husband’s voice, but she told herself she only fancied hearing it. As she stared blindly ahead, she ruefully reflected that she would rather have the affection of Duncarie’s lord than that of its people.
Another day they rode to one of the hill lochs, small cold lakes teeming with fish. She spent the afternoon on the shore sketching while Kieran fished.
As he cast his line out again and again, a mischievous smile curved her lips. Under her fingers, a rough drawing of her husband’s muscled back came to life. The pencil moved lower, outlining the firm rear end and long legs.
A splash and a tiny fountain of white marked the attempted escape of a trout from his hook. Reeling the line in, he waded into the chilly waters to grab the fish and tuck it into the wicker creel slung over one shoulder.
She closed the pad and set it down on top of her jacket, discarded in the muggy afternoon, contentto watch his strong body wading back to shore. “You look like a kelpie.”
He looked down at himself and roared with laughter. “I’ve never heard of a kelpie with a fishing rod. They take the form of horses.”
Diantha gurgled with merriment at the wet legs of his breeches and muddy feet. “I found a book in the library which says that once a kelpie sought a woman for warmth and companionship.” He gave her a sharp glance.
Leaning back on her elbows but looking straight ahead, she went on with the story. “The girl he courted was clever and consulted a wise man about the handsome stranger who always met her with a string of fish and wet hair. The two of them captured the kelpie and put him to work until he learned the meaning of compassion.”
She tilted her head back. To the northeast, a bank of dull clouds stretched across the sky. “At the end of his servitude, he was given the choice of returning to his loch or drinking a potion that would make him fully human.”
The heavy air seemed to suffocate her. “By then he had fallen in love with the girl, so he chose to stay with her.”
Kieran seated himself nearby, drawing up his legs and resting his hands on his knees. “The version my nurse told me was slightly different. Instead of capturing him, the girl tells him she knows what he is.”
He too stared into the distance as he spoke gently. “Although he craves her human warmth, he is a water spirit. He leaves her rather than break her heart.”
“That certainly proves his gender.” Diantha scrambled to her feet. “Only a male would reach such an idiotic conclusion.” Unable to bear the sight of his beautiful body without touching him, she strolled away, giving him one glance over her shoulder.
