“I went to Blackadder Castle and asked to speak with Lady Alison. After I showed her my ring with the wee stone ye gave me,” he said, holding out his hand so she could see the silver ring with the tiny black chip on his little finger, “she told me where ye were.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Margaret said. “I hoped and prayed every single day that you would come to us.”
Brian’s cheeks colored, and she saw confusion in his eyes before he shifted them to the side.
“I almost forgot,” Brian said, and leaned down to pull a folded, water-stained parchment from his bag. “Lady Alison wrote ye a letter.”
Brian was quiet during the meal, his gaze flicking uneasily around the table as everyone else talked.
“Stop feeding the dog under the table,” Margaret chided Robbie, as she tried to think of what else she could do to make Brian feel at home.
“Brian,” Finn said, when they’d finished eating, “I could use your help with something behind the house.”
Brian did not look as if he wanted to go anywhere with Finn, but he followed him out. While Una took the children outside to play, Margaret went upstairs to straighten the bedchambers. When she heard Finn’s voice through the window, she looked out and saw Finn and Brian talking below her.
“Ye don’t have to worry,” Brian said. “I’ll be gone in the morning. There’s a boat waiting for me at Durness.”
“You’re Ella’s brother,” Finn said. “That makes ye part of this family.”
Brian mumbled something she couldn’t hear, so she leaned closer.
“You’re a young man with a taste for adventure,” Finn said. “Go on your travels, but know that ye have a home and a family here to come back to.”
Brain sniffed and wiped his eye with the back of his sleeve. When Finn patted him on the back this time, Brian did not flinch.
“Come home as often as ye can,” Finn said. “We’ll always be here.”
Finn turned away to give Brian a moment to gather himself, then they walked together toward the front of the house. By the time Margaret ran down the stairs to meet them outside, Ella and Robbie had taken Brian’s hands and were pulling him toward the beach to see a castle they had made in the sand.
“You’re a good man, Finn.” Margaret put her arms around her husband and kissed him.
“I should have known ye were listening,” Finn said, smiling down at her.
“Let’s take a walk out on the headland,” she said, taking Finn’s arm. “Brian and Una can mind the children, and I’d like to read Alison’s letter out there.”
“You understand that Brian has to leave?” Finn said as they started out.
“Now that he knows we’re here, he’ll come home again,” she said. “He’ll always come home.”
They walked the two miles through grassy hills and the occasional sandy dune until they reached the end, where they were surrounded on three sides by the sea. After taking in the glorious view of the stunning coastline on either side, they sat down in the tall grass, and Margaret pulled out the letter.
“Alison and David have hadanotherbabe—this time it’s a girl,” Margaret told Finn as she began reading it. “Our youngest sister, the one married to Lord Glamis, is widowed and having an affair.”
“Ye don’t mention that sister much,” Finn said.
“She was just a bairn when I left home, so we were never close,” Margaret said. “And her husband would not let her have anything to do with us after Archie was banished.”
She turned back to her letter and read aloud.
“Wretched William has died of a painful and disfiguring disease. Though he got his heir and one to spare before he died, everyone says both boys are the spitting image of the castle steward.”
“He deserved worse,” Finn said.
“Good heavens, the king escaped to Stirling Castle!” Margaret exclaimed as her eyes raced down the page, then she read the next lines to Finn.
“The king had cannon brought from Edinburgh and bombarded Tantallon, where our brothers and uncle retreated. The walls held, however. In order to end his embarrassing, failed siege and be rid of the Douglas men, the king was forced to allow them to escape to France. All this has only made the king more furious.”
If only Archie had mentored the king as Finn had done with Alex, instead of using him, Archie could have earned the king’s favor and kept his powerful position and vast lands. But her brother always wanted more.
