Magdalene could tell from the woman’s heaved sigh that she still wasn’t convinced, but it was impossible to hear anything else as Gabriel and Grania moved further into the hall.
That left Magdalene to take a deep slow breath to steady herself, her heartbeat so rampant in her breast that she feared Rhona might wake from the thundering against her ear.
Instead, the child snuggled even closer and sighed so contentedly that Magdalene knew she needn’t have worried.
She relaxed as best she could against the pillows, keeping her eyes closed and hugging Rhona…though she sensed for a good while until at last she fell sound asleep, too, that Gabriel stood just outside the door.
Chapter 8
“Dinna you hear me, Gabriel? It’s nearly noon! Will you waste the day away?”
“What?” Still groggy from being awoken from so deep a sleep, Gabriel stared through blurred eyes at Finlay, who leaned over him. “Did you say noon?”
“Aye, the men already training in the mud for much of the morning. The moat’s nearly half full from that fierce rain and all the fresh water barrels filled tae the brim. No excuse now for anyone not tae bathe away the stink of fighting—och, man, you could use a bath yourself! It’s ripe in here! Since when does the baron of the castle sleep in a storage room? That cot’s barely big enough for you—”
“Enough, Finlay!” Groaning from sore muscles, Gabriel sat up and wiped his hands over his face. “I’ve a bride occupying my room across the hall, in case you’ve forgotten I’m wed now.”
“Forgotten?” Finlay swore under his breath and shook his shaggy head. “We’ll have tae craft armor tae protect us from that one’s swift kicks—the lass nearly maimed me! It’s no surprise tae me that you wouldna want tae share a room with her after she did the same tae you. I meant, why didna you find yourself another place tae sleep instead of spending the night in here?”
“It seemed the thing tae do,” Gabriel half muttered to himself, growing somewhat irritated by Finlay’s questions. More awake now, he looked up at his kinsman’s bearded face, Finlay eying him curiously. “What now? You’ve already said I slept too late, I stink, and I’ve taken refuge in a storage room. Is there aught else?”
“Only that it’s a pity she’s touched in the head. You’re taken with her, aye? Kicks tae the groin or no—”
“She’s my wife. It’s my duty tae protect her,” Gabriel cut him off, Finlay’s keen observation not surprising from a man who had known him for his entire life. Aye, it was a pity—all of it a pity!
His bargain with Seoras. The marriage by proxy. The unmistakable stirrings he felt whenever he looked at Magdalene—och, he didn’t have time to think of that now! He held out his hand and Finlay grabbed it, helping Gabriel with a low groan to his feet.
“Your shoulder still plaguing you?”
“Aye. Clovis has deemed me unfit for training if it’s ever tae heal properly—mayhap a week or more.”
“Well, then, you’ll have time tae spend with your bonny bride so you can see if there’s any way tae reach her. She’s not like any lunatic I’ve ever seen before. Have you noticed that, Gabriel? Sometimes she gets a bold look in her eye that would make me swear she has her wits about her the same as you or I…”
As if musing to himself, Finlay fell silent, which wasn’t like his outspoken cousin at all—and which made Gabriel wonder anew if Magdalene might have more possession of her wits than anyone imagined. How could he not question the depth of her madness after what he had seen last night during the thunderstorm?
Rhona’s terrified sobbing had sent him lunging from the cot…his body bristling with alarm as she’d cried out “Mama!” and run straight into Magdalene’s arms.
For tense moments he had feared for the child’s safety, not sure what his new wife would do, but nothing could have prepared him for her lucid inquiry into the whereabouts of Rhona’s nurse and Keira.
Nothing could have prepared him for Magdalene scooping up the child and climbing with her into bed, where she soothed Rhona with rocking and gentle cooing.
And nothing could have amazed him more than Magdalene kissing Rhona so sweetly on the forehead while Gabriel watched mesmerized from the doorway.
A witness to a scene he would never have expected from a woman who had seemed so much a child to him from her wild, erratic behavior, instead comforting another child as would a loving mother—och, why was he tormenting himself with such imaginings?
There was no hope of happiness here! Why wouldn’t Magdalene, with the temperament of a child, not bond with a four-year-old so much like herself? And let him never forget that as his wife, her life was in danger from a deadly curse that had taken the lives of his grandmother, mother, and sister-in-law!
“Go, Finlay. I’ll join you shortly.”
Gabriel knew he had bit off the command, Finlay looking affronted, but then the giant of a man shrugged his broad shoulders and left the storage room without another word.
That left Gabriel to stare at the closed door across the hall from him, no more than six feet away, and wonder what he would find when he stepped inside to check on Magdalene.
It had been just before dawn when Grania had returned to fetch Rhona, for Gabriel had spent the rest of the night sitting in the doorway with his back against the jamb.
Listening to the gentle sound of Magdalene and Rhona sleeping.
Watching a peaceful scene that had once again made him wish for things that would never be.
