He rolled his brown eyes at her. “I’ve no plans of doing such.” He reached for his dagger and brought it under the latch, turning it so it would release. Once it broke loose, he stepped back and waved his hands toward the chest. “There. I was only assisting ye with the latch. Ye are free to open it yerself and get the first look on what is contained inside.”
She bit her lip, feeling guilty. They had been through a lot together on this trip. Not once had Errol overstepped his boundaries. He’d remained well-mannered, even when he had to deal with her nonsense, which was often. If her sisters were here, they would tell her that she should marry him. According to them, if she ever found a man with enough patience to deal with her antics and not take her over his knee, then he was the one she was to marry.
Moira had laughed when they’d told her, of course.
She refused to dwell on such notions.
Kneeling on the ground beside the chest, Moira lifted the lid and peered inside. Her heartbeat quickened as she took in the contents. It was full of a variety of different items.
“Look at all this.” She couldn’t keep the awe out of her voice. This find was amazing. It was a true treasure.
Her fingers closed around coins, and she withdrew them, stacking them in piles beside her. A jeweled necklace bedecked with a large ruby. Moira was tempted to put it around her neck, but thought twice about it, her mind going to the curse mentioned in the missive they found earlier. Could a necklace be cursed?
She assumed it could be and set it to the side. She didn’t want to take any chances. There was a matching bracelet and ear baubles with smaller rubies that would dangle from her lobes—if her ears werepierced—which they weren’t. A stag figurine carved out of white stone. A lion carving, as well.
A figurine matching the seal they found in the floor was next. Half stag, half lion. It was such an odd combination, but it made perfect sense. It was the blending of their two clans.
Everywhere they looked, the union was alluded to. So, what was it that caused them to part?
At the bottom of the chest there were more coins. She removed them and stacked them near the other ones. When she got to the last few coins, she paused. At the bottom of the chest, laying flat on the red velvet interior was what appeared to be another letter.
“Errol, look.”
He leaned over her and peered into the chest. “Is that another letter?”
“It looks to be. Does it no’?”
“Aye.”
Moira picked it up and clasped it to her chest. “What do ye think it says?”
He shrugged. “Mayhap ’twill tell the rest of the story.”
Her heart felt excited and heavy at the same time. Excited that she found another letter, but sad to ken that she might finally learn the tragedy that had been told in the scenes from earlier. She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear it.
It was funny. She felt a connection to this couple. She didn’t ken them. She didn’t even ken their names, other than their surnames. But, yet she found herself drawn to them. To their story. To their love. To their lives which were cut short way too early. Or at least one of their lives had.
“Are ye going to read it?” Errol asked. Was that impatience she heard in his tone? Mayhap he was just as curious in finding out the rest of the story as she was.
“Aye.” There was no twine wrapped around this letter. It wasneatly folded into a rectangle and appeared to be much sturdier than the other’s she had found. That was more than likely due to it being stored away at the bottom of the chest. The enclosed space and lack of air helped to preserve the integrity of the parchment. It was also much larger than the other letters and consisted of several pages.
She began reading aloud. Beside her, Errol listened intently. The couple had met by chance at a small burn that ran between their two lands. Immediately attracted to each other, they secretly rendezvoused often. Meeting at the burn. At the loch, which was on Hart land, where they would swim together, enjoying the sun and the coolness of the water. Stealing kisses. Touches. Caresses.
Moira sighed. It all sounded so very romantic.
Soon, the woman, whose name was Fiona, was with child. Thomas, the man, insisted they wed. He would not have his bairn be born out of wedlock.
They approached their families and were shunned by both. But when their heads had cleared and open minds prevailed, they thought about what a bairn between a Hart and a MacLeod would mean.
Peace.
Unity.
The couple were given a small parcel of land between the two clans. Their land would act as a bridge of peace bringing the two clans together. By the time the bairn was born, communications amongst the clans had opened up. Whilst they had never been fierce enemies afore, they had never really teamed up together either. This union closed that gap. The two clans joined.
As a united front, they became a formidable force to be reckoned with amongst the other clans in the area.
Moira paused for breath, soaking in the information they’d learned so far.
