Cameron thought he was sad until she uttered those last words. Then his heart sank even farther. How much misery could one man cause? And to those who loved him the most? “No’ cursed, Mary. Never that. Ye and yer sisters are the greatest blessing the man has. I believe he kens that, even if he canna admit it.”
“He did admit it,” Mary said, her voice choked. “To me, after ye and the healer left the solar. He said we were his greatest gifts.”
Cameron took her in his arms and held her until her breathing told him she had regained some calm. He went with her to deliver the news. Mary spoke softly, then turned and left the room.
Cameron wanted to be angry at the man for the grief he caused Mary and his other daughters, but at the moment, he looked so miserable, Cameron couldn’t find any ire within him. The birth of this small, weak lasswould soon turn from a much anticipated event to a tragedy, and even James Rose appeared affected by the impending loss.
“Do ye want to visit the bairn and yer wife?” Cameron asked once Mary was gone. “I will help ye, if ye wish it.”
Rose shook his head. “I dinna need to see another daughter. Certainly no’ one that will soon be gone. My hopes for a son are doomed. I’ve taken a useless woman to wife.”
Cameron left the solar. As his sympathy for the man faded and his anger resurfaced, he clenched his fists. He could feel sorry for Rose except for the way he treated his grown daughters. And it seemed Seona would fare no better. If her clan didn’t represent such a threat to Mary, he might pity her, too.
But now, he needed to find his own wife. Mary would need him, and he meant to help her every way he could.
The next day,the new bairn breathed her last. Seona seemed numb, surprising Mary by neither crying out, nor shedding tears when it happened. She simply nodded and turned away. Mary watched in disbelief as she walked from the small chamber they’d used as a nursery.
“Let me get this wee one away from here,” the healer said, scowling at the doorway Seona had disappeared beyond. “I’ll prepare her for burial. Are ye certain yer da doesna wish to see her?”
“I’ll ask him again and send him to ye if he has changed his mind, but he was quite clear with Cameron yesterday. He had nay interest in another daughter,especially one who would no’ be here for long.” Mary touched the tiny cheek with the tip of her finger. “How sad. She was so little wanted, she doesna even have a name.”
“Say yer goodbyes, lass, and I’ll take her away.”
Mary bent and lightly kissed the tiny forehead, then left before her own tears could return. She found her father where she expected, in his solar. “She’s gone, Da. The wee one. Do ye want to see her before the healer prepares her for…”
“Nay. I told yer husband nay yesterday, and I tell ye again now. I dinna.”
“Can ye at least give her a name?”
“Why?” In a voice gruffer than usual, he added, “She was barely here and is best soon forgotten.”
Mary finally saw a sheen of tears in his eyes and realized he hid his grief behind gruffness. She rushed to his side. “I’m so sorry, Da,” she told him, bending down to wrap her arms around his shoulders. “I wish it could have gone as ye hoped.”
He straightened and shrugged her off, but she noticed he wiped one eye with the back of his hand. “It doesna matter. We’ll try again.”
Saddened even more by the hope he revealed, Mary left him to grieve. If he wanted to be certain any child of Seona’s bore his blood, he’d best send the Grant guardsmen away. Though, even that might not matter. The healer had told her early on she feared he’d lost his ability to sire children due to the paralysis still affecting him. If that were true, he would never have the son he craved. Why had he waited so long to remarry?
That evening, he called her and Cameron into hissolar. Seona was already there, wrapped in a warm robe, eyes downcast, expression grim. Mary went to her. “Ye shouldna be out of bed.”
Seona shook her head and looked at Mary’s father. He looked wan, but strangely determined.
“Sit,” Rose ordered and gestured with his good hand at the round table. Mary glanced at Cameron, who nodded and pulled out a chair for her.
“Aye, Da? What do ye need?”
“An heir. An official heir. And since my wife has failed in her duty to provide me a son…”
“Da! How can ye say such a thing? Especially so soon…”
“Silence, daughter. Since I have nay son to inherit from me, it falls to ye, as my eldest, and yer husband.” He frowned at Cameron. “If ye were no’ a Sutherland, I would be left to choose that Brodie husband of Catherine’s instead, but an alliance with Sutherland will be to Rose’s best advantage in years to come.”
“And Grant?” Seona’s voice, though pitched low, penetrated.
Rose waved a hand. “As long as ye are here, Grant will no’ interfere.”
He turned back to Cameron, effectively silencing his wife, and picked up the document before him on the desk. “So, I am naming ye two as my heir,” he announced with a glance at Mary before his gaze settled on Cameron. “As long as ye remain here and Mary continues to instruct my wife in her duties. She is more interested in jewels and fancy dresses than caring for the clan, solving disputes among the servants—or giving her laird a son.” He frowned at Seona, who dropped her gaze to her hands. “She is a long way from providing the kind of care clan Rose is accustomed to from Mary.”
Mary started counting how many years she’d been acting as chatelaine without ever hearing from her father a single compliment on the hard work she did every day—until now. Seona had no idea what she’d married into. Even when Da was well, much less now that he was ill and angry, he rarely praised anyone.
