"I don't believe we had two hours of sleep together after Paisley left," the Duchess spoke up. Her voice had the raspy, tremulous quality of somebody who had been crying too hard for too long. "We had no idea where she'd gone, once we realized that she was not at her aunt's. Even then, we worried. If I'd known that Eliza and Alex were helping her, I might have felt a little better. Of course, I understand why they chose not to tell us the full story. We didn't exactly prove ourselves trustworthy."
Paisley's father moved his hand over to where his wife's hand lay on the arm of her chair and gave it a squeeze.
"You shouldn't trouble yourself, my love," he said quietly. "The blame is mine. I was the one who was taken in by Lord Ainsley. I am the one who tried to push Paisley into a marriage she did not want. I should bear the blame."
Dominic pursed his lips, glancing between the two of them.
"But ye know now that Lord Ainsley was a vile man, a murderer, even?" he said slowly. "Ye regret what ye did?"
The Duke frowned. "Of course. What parent could think otherwise, after learning such a thing about the person they hoped their child would marry? I'm heartily ashamed of myself.I can't tell you how glad I was to receive Paisley's letter. Shocked, certainly, but relieved."
"We never expected an invite to her wedding after all of this," Paisley's mother butted in, "and I think Society in general did not expect us to accept. You were very kind to offer us a place to say, Laird MacLennan."
"Please, call me Dominic. Look, I have me opinions on what happened between ye and Paisley, of course I do. But ye areherparents, andshedecided to forgive ye. Ye will be naything but welcome at me home."
The Duke and Duchess shot each other surprised glances.
"Really?" he said, blinking. "I... I assumed you were horrified at what we'd done. And rightly so. I've been braced the whole journey for a tongue-lashing."
"Why did you want to speak to us in private, then?" his wife asked, confused.
Dominic chuckled. "I wanted to ask for yer blessing, of course."
"Our blessing?" the couple repeated in unison.
"Aye, yer blessing to marry yer daughter. Of course," Dominic added thoughtfully, "it will be a wee bit awkward if ye say nay. The wedding is tomorrow, after all."
"What dae ye think?" Ava asked, leaning down to meet Paisley's eye in the mirror. "Ye wanted a simple style for tomorrow, after all."
Paisley turned her head this way and that, taking in the hairstyle Ava had made for her. It was a simple braid, pulling back across the crown of her head and wound into a knot at the base of her neck, decorated with fresh wildflowers. A few artful strands had been pulled out to frame her face, and she had to admit that the end result looked very becoming.
"I love it," Paisley said, beaming. "The wildflowers are a lovely touch."
"I thought they'd match your dress. Dae ye nae want anything fancier?" Ava asked, pursing her lips and glancing over at Paisley's dress. It was pretty enough, a simple white gown with a cloak of MacLennan tartan.
Paisley smiled. "That'll do for me, thank you. Besides, it's too late for..."
She broke off abruptly at the sound of footsteps racing towards the door.
"What the..." Ava began, turning to face the closed door, tense as if she expected something terrible.
The door burst open, and Paisley froze.
Eliza, her dark hair disheveled and her clothes rumpled from travel, stood in the doorway, out of breath. As usual, Alex was not far behind.
"Paisley!" they cried in unison, flinging themselves towards her.
Paisley barely had time to stifle a cry of joy before her younger siblings were on top of her, arms wrapped tight around her, pulling her close in a vaguely suffocating hug.
"I was starting to think that you wouldn't get here in time," Paisley said, her voice muffled. "I couldn't bear the thought of getting married without you."
The twins pulled back, eyeing her closely.
"You look good," Eliza announced at last. "Doesn't she, Alex?"
"Very good indeed. I'm so glad to see you, Paisley."
Paisley flashed her little brother an affectionate smile and patted his cheek.
