16
“Because of yer fantastical faradiddles, Erica,” Laird O’Donnell complained, “yer mither had to give up some of her jewels to ye so that we might support yer excuse for leaving!”
Lady O’Donnell’s jewelry boxes were notoriously overstocked, so Erica was unmoved by her father’s complaint. He would buy his wife more. She was beautiful enough to deserve them and shrewd enough to ask for them in such a way as to make Stuart O’Donnell believe it was his own suggestion.
They were traveling with half a dozen O’Donnell soldiers, and if she had not been so heartbroken because of Finn leaving, Erica would have smiled to see how many average soldiers it took to offer the same amount of protection as one extraordinary warrior had been able to do so. Remembering the way Finn had taken care of the brigands, Erica had enjoyed regaling her father with the story.
“Over that hill yonder—aye, that one close by us on the right, Faither—we were attacked by a well-armed pack o’ brigands on our way to Buchanan Castle. P’raps we should set some scouts to ride ahead of us, and some put some men in a vanguard?”
For all his brave courage when it came to ordering his soldiers and protecting his borders, Laird O’Donnell did not like what his daughter was telling him at all.
“Whyever did ye no’ tell me about this afore we left, Erica? I would have brought more men.”
She laughed. “And yet I only had one man, for I dinnae count Tomas an’ Mattie. And ye sent him away.”
Laird O’Donnell bit his lip before saying, “Aye, well, Finn was no help to me in the end. He should have forced ye to stay put. I never would have thought ye to be the kind o’ girl to be able to wrap a man like Finn around yer finger, Erica, but there’s no accountin’ for taste. We parted on good terms at the end o’ the day, and so I may call upon him again if I have need. I paid him in full.”
Erica said in a soft voice, “Let’s hope our need does nae arise on this trip then, shall we?”
“I paid him in full!” Laird O’Donnell repeated. “I’m no’ ashamed of the way we parted company from the man.”
“If more brigands attack, Faither,” Erica reminded him, “we may end up paying the ultimate price, no’ so?”
It was too much for Laird O’Donnell to bear. “Erica, ye were there… Please tell me how he did it an’ what happened. How many brigands were there? What weapons did they have with them?”
And so father and daughter spent an enjoyable few hours chatting about attack and defense strategies and what weapons might have the biggest impact on the outcome.
As the day drew to an end, Erica’s father sighed. “It seems to me that after hearing yer recounting of the tale that the best weapon any laird could have under such circumstances is Finn himself.”
Erica gave a tiny smile. “Aye. The man certainly knows how to handle himself in battle.”
* * *
When they rosethe next day, Laird O’Donnell decided to take the rest of the journey in easy stages. The castle was only a few leagues in the distance, so Erica made the most of her spare time during one of the breaks, preparing herself for her reentrance into the castle. Her father had told her everything Jamie Buchanan had alleged in his letter to O’Donnell Castle, and Erica had refuted every single one of them. Soon, her father would be able to see how things stood at Buchanan Castle for himself: the sinister suggestions of Uncle Robert, Laird Buchanan’s strange absence and the complete lack of worry of his closest clan about the poor man’s health, and the revolting Jamie himself. Then Laird O’Donnell would be sure to backtrack his agreement to marry into such a poorly behaved clan, and when she got back home, she would move heaven and Earth to locate Finn and find out as much as she could about him.
Erica was not sure what phenomenon was responsible for it, but the longer she was separated from Finn, the more she came to doubt what had happened! Did he really think she was a bonny lass or had she imagined all the compliments he had paid her? Had he honestly been the one to kiss her in the woods, or was that simply a dream? It was infuriating for her mind to doubt her memories, but Erica could not imagine someone like Finn being attracted to a girl like her. It was unfathomable.
The only joy she had left in her life right now was to look good enough for Jamie Buchanan to eat his heart out over losing her when her father demanded the marriage contract be broken! And so it was with some considerable care that Erica began dressing herself.
Behind a bank of tall trees, she stepped out of her woolen kirtle and unlaced the plain brown stomacher and practical stays. Erica allowed the items of clothing to drop to the ground, where they lay like discarded adder skins. She wrinkled her nose when she saw how much horsehair covered the skirt panels.
Next, she withdrew a golden satin overgown embroidered with butterflies and flowers.Soon I will be as free as a flutterby to spread me wings an’ fly away from those poxy Buchanans.She slapped a few creases out of her fresh shift gown before tying the bumroll around her waist.I might not be a tall, Grecian goddess like me mither, but I have a neat figure.
With the roll in place and her stays and stomacher tightly laced over a pale yellow petticoat, Erica shrugged into the overgown and tied the ribbons across the front of her chest. After loosening her soft brown curls and fluffing them out around her shoulders, Erica needed no looking glass to tell her she looked as pretty as a picture.
All I need do is tie a lace fichu around me shoulders for modesty, but I will remove it when we get to the castle. I want that dratted Jamie to rue the day he ever decided to choose wenching and drinking strong spirits over me. Not that I ever wanted him. I was ready to make the best of a bad deal, that was all!
Erica experienced a certain sense of triumph when Stuart O’Donnell told her she looked well enough. “While ye can never hope to hold a candle to yer mither’s beauty, Erica, ye are a prize who any laird would be happy to wed.”
This caused Erica to question her blind trust in everything working out for the best. “Say this, Faither… Say ye find much to disapprove of in Jamie Buchanan. Would it lean ye toward another match?”
Laird O’Donnell gave his daughter’s question all due consideration. “Aye, if the lad is an oaf an’ I find him a disagreeable extension to the clan, then I would step in. There are plenty of other lairds out there for ye to marry, even if it means we must wait a while longer.”
In a small voice, she said, “Must he be a laird, Faither?”
In a very decided voice came the answer. “Aye, of course he must be a laird! Wheesht! What a silly question! It’s as if ye expect me to marry off me biggest asset to a farmer or soldier!”
Erica was quiet for the rest of the journey, so busy with her thoughts that she did not even notice it when the horses clattered over the drawbridge.
