Page 141 of Claimed Highland Brides

Aileen could not help but laugh. “Wha’? All of it?”

He gave her a wry smile. “As much as ye can remember.”

Aileen stepped to the balustrade, embarrassment forgotten. “Alright, then. We’ve had quite a few adventures in the last few years.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Tell me.”

Aileen smiled. “Ye remember our uncle Donnchadh, of Dunavar Castle?”

“Aye. Yer faither spoke highly o’ him, I remember.”

“Weel, when he died, Uncle Donnchadh contracted a marriage for Fiona.”

“With Campbell ye mean?”

“Ach, no. Daividh was one of Uncle Donnchadh’s soldiers. He was sent to fetch Fiona and bring her to Dunavar.”

Barclay’s face brightened. “Is that so? How interesting. And so? They fell in love and eloped? They were star-crossed lovers?”

Aileen laughed. “Not quite. Daividh delivered her faithfully.”

He leaned forward, eyes alight with interest. “And then wha’ happened? Did he kill his rival and claim Fiona for himself?”

Shaking her head, her shoulders shook as she giggled some more. “No. Do ye want me to tell ye the tale or no’?”

He gestured extravagantly. “Please. Go ahead.”

“It turns out that the laird, Hunter, had unsavory intentions towards her and all of us. It was all about the gold mines, ye see.”

He shook his head. “Wha’ gold mines?”

She gestured vaguely to the west. “The family gold mines. Anyway, so Daividh found out aboot his intentions⁠—”

“O’course he did.” Barclay grinned.

“And he tried to get Uncle Donnchadh to intervene. Instead, he got thrown in the dungeons.”

“Och!” Barclay exclaimed in excitement.

“Aye. Laird Hunter then stole him away to kill him…”

Barclay blinked eagerly at her. “Weel? Dinnae stop there!”

“Fiona saved him.”

“Wha’? That’s all ye’re going to say?”

Aileen spread her hands out. “Tha’s all I ken. They wilnae speak on it more than tha’.”

“Hmm. And what of yer second sister, Jamesina? Was she also betrothed to some other?”

“No. But her husband did have unsavory intentions to begin wi’ too.”

He threw back his head and laughed before shaking his head. “What was he after?”

“The mines too. His sister was abducted by Laird Hunter’s men. The price of her release was the deed to the mine.”

“And he thought to get it from Jamesina?”