Morven looked from man to man to man, afore she dropped into a brief curtsy and disappeared inside the cottage without saying a word.
Torquil breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad Morven was here tosupport Eilidh. He kenned they were close and she would offer her strength and compassion for the situation.
Fergus spoke. “I havenae spoken a word to either Laird Hart or Laird MacGregor. That alone will be enough to get me thrown into either dungeon. I only told Laird Hart that his daughter took shelter in a friend’s cottage, and she was safe and would return home in a few days’ time.” He focused his stare on Torquil. “’Twill be up to ye both to make both of yer lairds aware of what ye have done and what ye have done to make it right.” With that, he spun on his heel, his cloak arcing behind him. “I will be back in the morn with the clergy to perform the ceremony,” he called over his shoulder afore disappearing into the woods.
“The next few days will prove to be interesting indeed,” Callum quipped.
All Torquil could do was scrub his palms over his face and wonder how Eilidh was going to fare through it all.
Chapter Fifteen
Eilidh looked upfrom the spot near the hearth where she was sitting when she heard the door open. She didn’t ken who she was expecting, Torquil or Fergus, but she for certs had not expected to see Morven walk in the door. She pushed up from the floor and ran to her sister, wrapping her arms around her.
“How are ye here?” Eilidh asked when she finally let go of Morven and stepped back.
“Fergus.”
Eilidh sucked in a breath and began to wring her hands, fear overcoming her. “What did Ma and Da say?”
Morven looked around the small cottage, taking everything in from the small table that still held Eilidh and Torquil’s cups from the night afore, to the sparsely furnished living area. “’Tis cozy here,” she said, ignoring Eilidh’s question. “So, this is where ye have been sneaking off to all these past days.”
“No’ quite.”
Her sister raised a brow in question and waited for her to continue.
Clasping her hands in front of her, Eilidh began to pace the small space. “There is a glen nearby. ’Tis where I first met up with Torquil. I had left Hartsmoor with the intention of finding him and I did. I didnae find his home until sometime later and I had no intention of staying the night,” she added quickly.
She waited for her sister’s response, her stomach churning like the waters tumbling over the falls. Why had she not spoken of their parents?
“But ye did.”
Eilidh was confused. “Did what?”
“Stayed the night.” Morven rolled her eyes as if she were daft and could not understand the simplest questions.
She nodded. “Aye. I was on my way home, after meeting with Torquil, I will admit. Howe’er the storm came upon me fierce and strong, and I was much closer to here than home, so I turned around and sought shelter.”
Morven smirked. “Considering the circumstances in which ye find yerself, ’tis no’ all ye sought.”
Eilidh poked her sister’s arm. “Dinnae say such things. ’Tis no like that in the verra least.”
With a shrug, Morven said, “So ye say. Tell me exactly what happened then.”
“No’ until ye tell me what Ma and Da have said.” She began to wring her hands again, worrying her lower lip so fiercely she tasted blood.
“They dinnae ken.”
Eilidh’s eyes blew wide in shock. How did her parents not ken? How did Morven come without raising any suspicion?
“How?” Was the only question Eilidh could muster.
“For whate’er reason, Fergus decided that he wouldnae divulge yer secrets. He pulled me to the side, and told me to meet ye here, and provided directions. I had nay idea I would be venturing into MacGregor lands. Really, Eilidh, what were ye thinking?”
She laughed in answer. She could not help it. The reason she was in the situation she found herself in wasbecauseshe had not been thinking—at least not with her brain. Her heart, her body. Aye. Both had completely taken over her movements and actions when it cameto Torquil.
Morven pulled her over to the chairs in front of the hearth, and they both sat down. “Now, tell me what has happened.” Her face had grown serious and Eilidh wondered if her younger sister was going to be more like their brothers and harder to get to understand where she was coming from.
With a sigh, she told Morven about the first time their gazes had clashed at the gathering those weeks ago, and how, since then, she had been unable to get Torquil out of her mind. How she had used the excuse that she was practicing to find him, and after she had done so, to meet with him in secret where they shared searing kisses, which, soon turned into something more.
