He could hardly believe it.
“I dunna even know what tae say,” he said. “I’m astonished tae hear such a thing.”
Clova waved him off. “The world is small, Lion, and Lindsay lands are even smaller. When I was a lass, I met Nikolaus one morning while I was foraging. After that, I would escape tae theGathan Gadainn, the Vale of Morning, and wait for him. When my da discovered our meetings, he forbid me tae see him again. He told me he’d kill us both, so being young and afraid, I listened tae him. I have always regretted it.”
Cam could see the sorrow in her face, the same sorrow he’d seen in Nikolaus’ when he’d spoken of her. It nearly broke his heart to realize that.
“I never knew about the Keith lass my grandfather was fond of until recently,” he said. “I never knew her name, but he spoke of her, briefly. It was ye?”
Clova grinned, displaying yellowed teeth. “It was,” she said. “I’m surprised he would tell ye. Why did he?”
Cam didn’t want to tell her that it was because his grandfather was trying to prevent him from having the same heartache that Nikolaus had known.
“I dunna remember,” he lied. “Mayhap it was simply an old man speaking of the days of his youth.”
“Is he gone?”
“Aye. And I miss him greatly.”
Clova’s smile faded. “As do I,” she murmured. Then, she lifted the burning weeds, watching the smoke as it snaked into the air. “This helps me tae forget. My kin think I smell my weeds because I have visions, but that’s not why. I smell it because it makes me… forget. Forget what I have lost, forget the life I have led. I hate this place and everything about it. It cost me Nikolaus.”
There was sincere sadness in her tone and there was much Cam wanted to ask her but sensed that now wasn’t the time. She’d bared her heart enough to a stranger. Moreover, talk of Nikolaus would only make him sad.
“I wish I could bring ye comfort,” he said after a moment. “Does it help if I tell ye he lived a good life?”
Clova’s gray head bobbed faintly. “Was he happy?”
“He was.”
Clova thought on that a moment before taking a deep breath as if to fortify herself. “Then I am content,” she said. “But I’ve never told anyone what I’ve told ye, so let it be our secret. ’Tis simply that I recognized Nikolaus in ye the night ye came. The resemblance is too strong tae be a coincidence, so I had tae tell ye.”
“I willna repeat it, I swear.”
Clova’s eyes twinkled as she inhaled her smoke again. “If I was thirty years younger, I’d give Issie some competition for ye.”
It was a devilish thing to say, lightening the mood, and he fought off a smile. “I dunna know why ye think there’d be anycompetition at all. Isadora is the daughter of the man I am sworn tae and nothing more.”
Clova leaned forward, looking at him closely. “I saw the way she looked at ye,” she said, tapping her head as if to suggest she wasn’t so muddled as everyone thought. “I know what I saw. The last time she looked at a man like that, it was Mitchel. The big dolt broke her heart, Lion. See that ye dunna do the same. All she wants is tae be loved.”
Cam didn’t deny anything this time. Evidently, the lady who smelled the smoking weeds was the sharpest one of all of them. He was coming to like her in the slightest way.
“I hear that the elders want tae see me again this morning,” he said. “Can I escort ye tae the hall?”
If Clova thought he was obviously changing the subject, she didn’t say so. She simply nodded her head.
“Aye,” she said quietly. “Will ye let me hold yer arm? ’Twill be like holding Nikolaus again.”
Cam did smile, then. Standing up, he reached out a hand to her and the old woman took it, strongly. They shared a little secret now, something that would forever link them, and a connection to his beloved grandfather he hadn’t been expecting. Clutching her smoking weeds to her chest, she held on to Cam tightly as he helped her down the mud-slicked hill.
*
They’d kept himfrom her.
That was the conclusion Isadora was coming to.
Rising early under fair skies, she went to Cam’s cottage only to discover he wasn’t there. Further investigation showed that her brothers had taken him to visit Aunt Clova, and after that they’d ended up in the village’s hall for another conference with the village elders.
Clova kept a tight latch on Cam throughout the meeting, which Isadora found rather sweet until the old woman hissed at her when she tried to get near him. Confused, and just the slightest bit perturbed, Isadora backed away as Clova and Niall took Cam out into the village after the meeting, with Isadora trailing behind them like a neglected puppy.
