Mary shook her head, her body numb, her mind whirling with all she must do.
“Thank ye, Father,” Cameron said, never taking his gaze from her.
“We'll do as ye suggest,” Mary added, nodding.
“Come on, Mary, my love.” Cameron took her upstairs and set her to gathering their things while tears streamed down her face. “I dinna expect packing our belongings to do much to distract ye, but it might help,” he told her, his expression full of sympathy, his voice quiet.
“I canna believe he’s gone,” Mary said as she stuffed a leine in a bag, then a kirtle, punching them down to make room for more.
“Easy, lass. Yer maid will be cross with ye if ye ruin all yer garments.”
Mary straightened and wiped her eyes. “If I’d known when we left I’d never see him again, I might have said something…”
“He kenned ye loved him and his people, lass,” Cameron said. “Ye showed him yer devotion every day by the way ye cared for him and for them, for his keep and his lands.”
“I didna tell him, or even say goodbye,” Mary cried, clenching a shift in her hands and twisting it. “I was angry with him when we left.”
Cameron took her tear-streaked face in his hands andgazed into her eyes. “Then promise me ye’ll never leave me without saying goodbye and telling me how much ye love me and how ye canna live without me.” He cocked an eyebrow.
She pursed her lips. “Ye are trying to cheer me up.”
“Aye.” He pursed his lips.
She studied him for a moment, then ran a fingertip down his cheek. His skin was damp, too. “Ye can do better than that.”
Cameron pushed his fingers into her hair, framing her face. “I can, and I shall. Have ye finished packing?”
“All save what we’ll need in the morning.”
“Then,” he said and leaned in to kiss her, “’tis time for me to do as I promised—and domuch, muchbetter.”
Her arms went around his neck as Cameron deepened the kiss, then shifted to kiss the salt of her tears from her cheeks. “Ye ken I love ye, lass.”
“Aye,” she sniffed, then laid her head on his shoulder.
He stroked her hair, then picked her up, carried her to a chair and sat with her in his lap. “I could kiss ye for the rest of the night, but ye need to rest. So cry lass, if ye still need to. I’m no’ going anywhere and I willna melt. Do yer worst.”
Mary’s response was part laugh, part sob, then she let go, and the tears flowed. Cameron held her close. She knew then she need never doubt how much she meant to him.
Though her heartbroke that her father would no longer be there, Mary was glad to see the walls of theRose keep standing high and proud on its bluff over the Moray firth. People in the bailey hailed them as they rode through the gates. Several came up to embrace Mary and offer their condolences. Cameron’s frown told her he could see she’d gotten teary. “Let’s go in and get settled,” he suggested. “Ye can talk to the healer and find out what happened.”
Mary nodded and let him escort her inside the keep. “I should speak to Seona right away,” she said when they reached the great hall. But Seona was nowhere in sight. The healer came out and patted Mary’s hand. “’Twas fast,” she told her. “I dinna think yer da ever kenned.”
Mary took a breath, willing herself to calmness. “Tell me.”
The healer shook her head. “That…wife…of his. He finally confronted her, though I dinna ken what started the argument. The entire keep rang with the shouting. Finally she stormed off, back to her chamber, I’d guess. Several people had gathered outside the door to ensure no one got hurt. I was told yer da stood by his desk for a few moments, then collapsed. They rushed in to him and called for me. By the time I got there, he was gone. As I said, it was over before he kenned what happened. I’m certain of that.”
“Thank ye,” Mary told her. “Ye did everything ye could to help him. Where is Seona?”
“In the laird’s chamber, most likely, with her lover. She had all four Grants released as soon as she heard she was widowed, and moved in there. And lass, ye need to ken she sent two of the men back to Grant with the news. Her favorite doesna willingly leave her side and has stayed with her since yer da collapsed.”
Outraged, Mary objected. “My da is hardly cold yet.”
“Aye. They snuck around before yer da had the last attack that was so hard on him. Since then, they’ve made no pretense of no’ being lovers. I ken her poor bairn was his, no’ yer da’s. She was dark like the Grant, no’ blonde like a Rose.”
“I thought so as well,” Mary agreed. “Though I didna want to say so at the time.”
“Do ye want to confront her now?” Cameron asked.
