“Una told me ye rescued Alex,” she said. No matter his own ambition, Finn would not leave his cousin in danger. But that did not mean he did not want to become an earl in Alex’s place.
Finn told her the tale of Alex’s rescue then, though she suspected he left out the dangerous parts.
“Alex should be on his way to Huntly now,” Finn said.
“You’re a good man to save his life,” she said.
“I gave my word I’d look out for him.”
Finn would have rescued Alex even if he had not given his oath, just as he had rescued her.
“I have something to confess,” she said. “I overheard Gilbert tell ye that Robin Sutherland was your real father.”
A sudden wariness came into Finn’s eyes.
“What will ye do?” she asked. “Will ye claim your rightful place?”
Fear tightened her belly as she waited to hear her future.
“I’m sorry,mo rùin, but I can’t claim the earldom,” Finn said. “That would cause a war between the Sutherlands and the Gordons, when we must fight together to push the Sinclairs out of our lands.”
Relief flooded through her, until she noticed how wretched Finn looked.
“Besides, I couldn’t take it from Alex,” he said. “I can’t do it, even for you.”
“I should have known ye wouldn’t sacrifice Alex, even though ye have the right to,” she said, tears running down her face. “If I didn’t already love ye, I would love ye for this.”
“What?” Finn’s eyes went wide. “Ye don’t want me to claim it?”
“If I’d wanted to marry an earl,” she said, “I would have stayed with my brothers.”
Finn did not look persuaded.
“If you were an earl, ye couldn’t avoid being drawn into the dangerous games and changing alliances of Scotland’s most powerful nobles,” she said. “You’d be expected to attend court and participate on the council, and we’d have other important nobles coming to visit. I don’t want my brothers to find me and try to use us both, as they would be sure to do.”
“I wouldn’t let them,” he said.
Finn had not lived in those circles as she had. No matter how he tried, he would be forced to choose sides. There was no neutral ground, just shifting sands among the most powerful nobles.
“Garty is a small property with a modest tower house.” He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You were meant to be a countess and live in a great castle with a hundred servants and dozens of jewels and fine gowns.”
“I don’t need any of those things,” she said. “What makes a home is love, and that’s all I ever wanted.”
Beneath his charm, Finn carried wounds from never feeling that he truly belonged. Though he had hidden it from himself for years, he longed for family and home as much as she did. He still did not believe he was worthy of love, but she would show him he was.
They would build a life together for themselves and their children and make a home that would be a sanctuary for them all.
“Marry me,” she said, and kissed him. “Marry me, Finn.”
###
Finn could not believe his good fortune and smiled at Margaret while they ate a late breakfast. When he caught Ella feeding the dog—whom she and Una namedCù-sìthe, fairy dog—under the table, he winked at her. His heart felt so full. He never expected to be this happy.
He looked up as a man in priest’s robes burst into the hall.
“The Sinclairs have set fire to the town of Dornoch,” the priest said. “The godless heathens even burned the cathedral.”
The priest was shaking, and his face was charred with smoke.
