“Aye, I’m well, but puzzled. Who would deliberately harm that horse, and why?”
One of themaids told Cameron Mary had gone to the laundry not long before he came downstairs. He decided to find her and interrupt her chores. In a most innocent way, he’d cared for her last night, then spent the rest of the night hard and aching, remembering the feel of her soft skin in his hands and the allure of her moans of pleasure. He wanted more. And he wanted it now.
On his way through the great hall, he heard the healer’s voice echo angrily out of the laird’s solar. “Ye canna wallow in yer grief, Jamie.”
Cameron didn’t like the sound of that. He changed direction and headed for the solar. In all the time the healer had cared for him, she’d never raised her voice
“Ye must walk, and move, if ye hope to regain what ye once had,” she snapped.
Cameron could not mistake the anguished frustration in her voice. He paused at the doorway, unsure whether to interrupt. Rose sat slumped at his desk, head resting on his good hand, elbow on the flat surface. “’Twill no’ help,” he grumbled. “’Tis just yer way of torturing me, now ye have an excuse to.”
Cameron stepped into the room. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I overheard what the healer said she wants ye to do. She is right. I have seen it work atSutherland.” He lied, but the grateful smile the healer gave him made the lie worth the stain on his soul. Besides, if it helped James Rose, it would only be a small stain.
“See?” she challenged. “I’m trying to help ye.”
“Ye canna.”
“Iwill.” The words were out before Cameron realized he’d said them. James Rose needed someone to push him, someone who could help him—physically as well as emotionally. He’d leave the man’s emotions to the healer and his daughters. “I will walk with ye and help ye strengthen yer weak side,” he offered. “I understand ye dinna wish to involve those of yer clan. I’m an outsider. I’m strong enough for ye to lean on when ye must. And I owe Rose my life for what the healer and Mary did for me. I would appreciate if ye would let me do this, to help pay my debt to ye.”
The healer nodded. In a moment, so did Rose. “Very well. I’ll take ye up on yer offer and we will see whether what she demands will make any difference.” He gestured toward the healer.
“It will,” Cameron promised. “Ye will get tired of my company, but it will.” He glanced at the healer, who nodded again. “Most of the clan are at their chores, and there’s nay a soul in the great hall. Come with me now and we’ll walk around it. When ye are stronger, we’ll walk outside. ’Twill appear as though we are deep in conversation about weighty matters of great importance to Sutherland and Rose.”
With her lips pressed together, the healer gave him a grateful, wide-eyed smile, then turned to her laird. “Walk until ye tire,” she said, “then use the weak arm to shovesome chairs around. Cameron will make sure ye dinna fall. And none of the clan will be any the wiser.”
“Hmmmph,” Rose snorted, but he got to his feet with a lurching motion that hurt Cameron to see. “Very well. Let’s go.”
“On his weak side,” the healer directed as Cameron approached him. “Only steady him if he needs it. He must do the work.”
Cameron nodded and went with Rose toward the hall. Their pace was painfully slow and Cameron knew he’d regret his offer from sheer boredom, but his aggravation would be worth it if he managed to make inroads with the Rose laird. If he found out more about the reason Rose allied with Grant, the information would explain much for Sutherland, but mostly, he hoped to discover something that might help Mary. Such as whether her father knew his bride was unfaithful, and carrying another man’s child. It was not his place to tell Rose. Mary would want to break that news. In the meantime, Cameron would support the man the best way he could, and thereby support Mary. He might suffer Rose’s ire, but perhaps gain his trust and respect. Mary would approve. He hoped James Rose would soften toward him and the idea of him as a suitable husband for Mary.
Mary stoodat the top of the stairs as Cameron kept pace with her father’s halting steps away from her. The empty hall told her everything. He’d accepted Cameron’s help, rather than from someone in the clan, because he didn’t want anyone to see the condition he was in.Something twisted in her chest. Pity for her father? Or even more affection for Cameron. He did not have to do this. Yet there he was, offering a steadying arm when her father wobbled, but leaving him to make his own way as much as he could. Her heart swelled and her eyes moistened with proud tears. She couldn’t deny how she felt about Cameron any longer. She wanted him. And by his devotion to her and her father, he showed he wanted her, as well. To prove it, he was willing to do whatever she needed. Unlike Dougal, who still thought poetry and flowers and reminders of what she’d once felt for him were enough.
They weren’t. Not even close. Not when she could see the effort Cameron Sutherland made to help her difficult father get better.
“Damn it!” Her father’s sudden oath as he tilted toward the side almost made her laugh aloud and she covered her mouth to keep from uttering a sound.
Despite his poor balance, he sounded more energetic uttering those two words than he’d managed in weeks. Whether the walking helped, or having Cameron beside him in silent support, she didn’t know, but something was bringing out some of his old fire. She was thrilled to see it. She only hoped it would continue. As they made the turn onto the far wall, Mary stepped back out of sight. If her father knew he was being observed, it would undo all the good Cameron was trying to do for him. Mary would talk to Cameron later and find out how the rest of their walk had gone. And thank him.
The one person who should be helping Mary’s father had kept her distance since he fell ill. Even though she now knew why, Seona’s actions made Mary’s blood boil.Her father had loved Mary’smamanso much, he’d stayed faithful to her and avoided remarrying all these years. It broke Mary’s heart that the lass he’d finally taken to wife cared so little for him or his clan. Cameron was right. She must stop treating her father like a child and tell him the truth about his lady wife. Then he could deal with her however he saw fit.
Chapter 15
Mary waited until her father had a chance to rest, then went to his solar and closed the door behind her. “Da? Can we talk?”
“Of course, daughter.” He set aside the document he was reading and regarded her across his desk. A cheerful fire danced in the hearth behind him.
He looked tired, but despite his physical challenges, he seemed more content than she’d seen him appear in months. Mary couldn’t help but think the time he’d spent with Cameron today had done him a lot of good. She hoped Cameron’s patience would last long enough for her father to make real progress.
Assuming the errand that brought her here didn’t make him worse.
She sank into one of the chairs nearest his desk and clasped her hands. “I dinna ken where to start.”
“The beginning is usually best,” he offered.
“In this case, I must go straight to the conclusion.” She took a breath, reluctant, yet determined to accord herfather the dignity of the truth. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell ye this, but Seona has admitted to me that she and one of her guardsmen are lovers. The child she carries is probably his, no’ yers.”
Her father nodded and grimaced. “I ken it.”
