Gwendolen faced her. “What doyouwant from the future, Mother?”
She pondered that question. “I want you to be happy. I want my grandchild to have a father, and I want Lachlan and the rest of the MacDonalds to forgive me.” She lowered her gaze. “But it’s not that simple. I don’t want my son to die or suffer.”
“Sometimes we all have to make difficult choices.”
“But how do we choose?” Her eyes filled with anguish.
Gwendolen strode forward. “It’s very simple, Mother. Sometimes we must put aside what we want, and do the right thing instead.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
It had been a long day in the saddle, and another long night traveling through dark glens and silent forests, stopping only briefly to rest and sleep for no more than an hour at a time. Under normal circumstances, it was a two-day ride to Moncrieffe Castle, but Angus had done it in twenty-four hours. A new day was dawning, but with the gray morning light came a chilly wind and heavy rain. By the time he arrived at the gate tower, he was drenched to the bone, shivering and numb, weak from hunger and the lingering effects of the poison still moving through his body.
Teeth chattering, his tartan draped over his head like a hood, he walked his tired horse across the bridge where he was met by a broad-shouldered, ruddy-faced MacLean.
The clansman drew his sword and stepped into his path. “What business do ye have with the earl on this wet mornin’, stranger? He’s not expecting visitors.”
Angus pulled the hood off his head and raised his arms to indicate that he was unarmed. “I am Angus MacDonald, chief of the MacDonalds of Kinloch.”
The guard’s bushy eyebrows pulled together with concern as he looked Angus up and down and observed his battered appearance.
“Come this way.” The guard stalked quickly through the arched gateway, then waved to two other guards who came running across the bailey. “The Laird of Kinloch Castle is here. Get him inside and see to his horse. Quickly now. And inform the earl straightaway.”
The two clansmen looked up at Angus in horror.
He was not surprised. He suspected he looked like a corpse.
***
Angus woke many hours later in a warm, fresh-scented bedchamber, under silk sheets and heavy covers. His eyes fluttered open, but he was too weak to move much else.
A damp cool cloth touched his forehead, and he found himself gazing up at a flame-haired beauty with striking green eyes, leaning over him curiously.
“Lady Moncrieffe…” He could barely speak. His voice was raspy and low.
“My word. A miracle, to be sure. Welcome back to the world of the living.” She gazed down at him with kindness in her eyes, which made no sense to him. He had once threatened to kill this woman. He had terrorized her with malice and violence, and gone on to betray her husband, the famous Butcher of the Highlands. Was he hallucinating?
“How long have I been here?”
“Since early this morning,” she replied. “You slept all day after collapsing in the bridge corridor, but you’re all right now. You just need to rest.”
“I was poisoned,” he tried to explain, wetting his dry, cracked lips.
“Yes, you told us that. The surgeon has already been here. He said you will survive.” She leaned back and regarded him with some concern. “You also said that your brother-in-law tried to murder you—that you were hanged by the neck from the battlements at Kinloch. Is that true?”
“Aye.” He closed his eyes. “I can’t seem to stay out of trouble, can I?”
“No, you were always very good at riding straight into it, just like Duncan.”
Angus lay very still and quiet, contemplating the strangeness of this situation. “God was watching over me for some odd reason this morning,” he said. “I’ll never know why. I hardly deserve His mercy.”
Gwendolen entered his thoughts suddenly, and the loss of her made his chest ache. He took a deep breath and felt a heated rush of urgency rise up inside him.
He tried to sit up. “Where is Duncan? Will he see me? I must speak to him.”
“Please be patient.” Gently, the countess pushed him back down. “He’ll be here soon.” She turned from the bed and rinsed the cloth in a porcelain bowl.
Angus noticed immediately that her belly was round. “You’re expecting a child.”
