“Da! Catherine is with child. She no longer needs yer approval.”
“Wheesht, lass. I have spoken.”
Mary abandoned one argument in favor of another that might be more successful. “Ye may no’ be up to the trip, but surely Cameron and I can go to represent ye.”
“Surely ye may no’. I dinna approve the wedding.”
Mary lifted her chin and signaled with a glance for the messenger to leave the room. “I’ll speak to ye in a moment,” she mouthed. Then she turned to her father. “This is too much, Da. Catherine and Kenneth love each other and now they have a child on the way. They will marry in the Brodie kirk whether ye are there or nay.Whether ye approve or nay. But Da,” she added, softening her tone, “she wants ye there. Dinna ye wish for yer youngest child to be happy?”
“No’ my youngest child. A lad is on the way.” He fell to muttering to himself.
Mary shook her head. He was hopeless when faced with a situation he didn’t like and couldn’t control. His illness had only worsened that tendency. She stood and quit the room, heartsick over her father’s mental state. The messenger waited in the hallway. “I’m sorry for my father’s rudeness,” she said, drawing the man away from the door to the laird’s solar and leading him into the great hall. “Please tell Catherine our father will no’ attend. Cameron and I hope to, perhaps with others, as well. I just have to convince my stubborn father.”
The man bowed. “I will carry the word to Lady Catherine.”
“Thank ye. Do rest and have something to eat before ye go.”
“I’d appreciate that,” the man said, so Mary signaled for a serving lass to take care of him.
She turned, hands on hips, and frowned back down the hall toward the laird’s solar. Should she confront her father again? Nay, she’d be wasting her breath. A better course would be to tell Cameron. He’d help her.
Chapter 18
Cameron was in the great hall when he saw Mary bolt out of her father’s solar and speak to a messenger. Once she sent him off with a serving lass, she turned back to glare toward her father’s solar, then headed across the great hall. She hadn’t seen him yet—her gaze was on her feet and she muttered under her breath. He intercepted her, concerned about the scowl marring her normally serene face. Mary had complained about her father many times, but when she told him her father’s latest edict, cold fury tightened his belly. The man had gone too far. Her sister’s happiness was too important to Mary to keep her from the wedding—for nothing more than spite. Cameron resolved to get them out of the keep and on the way to Brodie. The sooner, the better.
“Pack yer things,” Cameron told her, fuming. “We’ll leave as soon as ye are ready.”
“Leave? And go to Sutherland?”
She misunderstood his anger. “To Brodie, of course. Yewant to stand with yer sister, aye? Yer father’s wishes in this dinna matter. I am yer husband, and I say we will go. I will see ye happy—with yer sisters in Brodie.”
Mary threw herself into Cameron’s arms. “I kenned there was a reason I married ye.”
He grinned. “Besides my irresistible good looks and my sense of humor?”
“Aye, well, those, too,” she teased, lifting one shoulder.
“My touch?” He trailed his fingertips from her shoulder up her throat and along her jaw.
Mary shivered. “Aye.”
His gaze bored into her. “My kiss?”
Cameron didn't let her answer. He covered her mouth with his lips and made love to her in the only way anyone could while standing up and fully clothed. And in the middle of the great hall, with people passing by. People who applauded and cheered.
Later, when Cameron saw what Mary intended to take with her, he gave up any pretense of leaving the Rose keep quietly. Instead, he carried her belongings to the stable and had the lads there secure them over the back of an even-tempered horse. It would enable them to travel faster than a using a cart. Then he set the lad to saddling his and Mary’s mounts and went to secure an escort to accompany them. Finally, he returned to the keep to collect his few belongings—and his wife.
Mary stood in the center of her chamber, looking about and wringing her hands. Then she propped them on her hips, sighed and muttered, “That must be everything. There’s little enough left in here.”
Cameron chuckled, startling her into whirling to face him.
“Ye big oaf. How do ye move so silently?”
“Years of experience,” he answered with a grin and a kiss. “And the horse carrying yer things would like me to inform ye she’s full up. Ye canna bring one thing more. If ye need aught else, chances are one of yer sisters can supply ye.”
Mary nodded. “Of course.” She hesitated. “I should inform Da…”
“Ye shouldna. If anyone asks, yer maid and the stable lad ken where ye have gone. The healer is here should yer father need her care. Ye can go for a fortnight—or more—without the Rose keep falling into ruin.”
