Page 53 of Savage Kilted Highlander

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“Constance, I havenae had the chance yet tae welcome ye tae yer new home properly,” her father said warmly as he greeted her when she and Agnes entered the spacious, comfortably furnished parlour. “I thought that since this is such a great occasion, the first time we’ll all be dinin’ together as a family, we should make it special. I believe dinner is about tae be served. Shall we all take out seats?”

“Thank you, Father. I am truly touched that you have gone to so much trouble to make me feel welcome, considering the rather unexpected manner of my arrival,” Constance said truthfully as he steered them both over to the dining table.

“I dinnae care how ye came here, Constance,” he replied, helping her into her chair. “Only that ye’re here and in one piece. Whatever happened in the past tae keep us apart, ye’re me daughter, me flesh and blood. I’m yer faither, and Agnes is yer sister. Ye’re a part of our family that we’ve had tae dae without fer too long.” He went over and helped Agnes to her seat before sitting at the head of the table, one twin to either side of him. “Ye belong here with us.”

“Aye, ye dae, Constance. And now ye’re here, we’re nae letting ye out of our sight, eh, Faither?” Agnes put in, her eyes dancing with laughter as she looked across at Constance, who had to hold back the tears of happiness pressing at her back of her eyes.

Dinner was brought in, and, to her surprise, their father dismissed the servants and served them himself, without any of the tiresome pomp and ceremony she had been used to at Ashbourne. For Constance, his informality increased the novel sense of an intimate family dinner.

Despite her lingering concern over Bane’s banishment to the stables, over the course of dinner, Constance found herself talking and smiling with her father easily, as if they had always been together. It struck her that though she had been far away, he had loved her from a distance, simply because she was his daughter. It gave her an enormous sense of well-being.

“I can hardly tell you how much it means to me to be sitting here with you both like this,” she told them both. “I have imagined it many times, but even in my wildest dreams it was never as wonderful as this. It is so kind of you both to accept me so readily without even knowing anything about me.”

“Wheesht!” Agnes replied with a smile. “Faither just told ye, ye’re part of the family. This is yer home now, Constance.”

“Aye, and that will never change as long as ye wish it, Constance. I’m truly honoured that ye came so far and took so many risks tae be with us. Now, let that be an end of it,” her father said sternly.

Agnes made a face at Constance that had them both stifling giggles.

“’Tis a pleasure tae hear ye laughin’ at me together,” he said matter-of-factly. “I suppose there’ll be a lot of that from now on.”

“Ye can be sure of it, Faither,” Agnes quipped cheekily.

“We’ll see about that. Now, tell me, have ye girls been gettin’ tae ken each other a bit?” he asked.

“Aye, we’ve done a lot of talkin’ already,” Agnes replied. “I cannae get enough of lookin’ at Constance. ’Tis hard tae explain, Faither, how strange it is tae see me own face lookin’ back at me, but I’m so happy. I feel like we’ve kent each other our whole live, yet we have a lifetime tae catch up on. Now we’re sharin’ a chamber, I’m lookin’ forward tae learnin’ everythin’ there is tae ken about me sister.”

“I feel exactly the same. There is so much to tell each other, and I think there will be many nights spent just talking for a long while. We have already found out that we have the same taste in dresses. It is very exciting to think how much there is for us to discover about each other,” Constance said with equal excitement. “A whole twenty years’ worth!”

“’Tis quite a remarkable experience fer me, as yer faither, tae see ye both sittin’ at the table either side of me like this. I admit, I never thought it would ever happen.” He looked from one to the other of his daughters with wonder.

“Why was that, Faither? I confess, I dinnae understand why ye kept Constance’s existence from me. I would be more upset with ye, but I’m too happy tae have discovered I have a twin sister. I’ll probably be more upset with ye later though,” Agnes told him, finishing her dinner and placing her silverware neatly across the plate, just a few seconds before Constance did the same.

“I had me reasons, Agnes. While yer maither was alive, I had tae protect her reputation, ye see. I couldnae tell ye nor anyone the truth fer her sake.”

“But our maither died years ago, according to what Constance has told me,” Agnes pointed out. “And ye still said naethin’. Ye let me believe I was an only child.”

Constance felt rather sorry for their father as he put aside his plate and took a long drink of wine. Then, he leaned his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. The hidden sadness Constance had glimpsed in him at their first meeting now came to the fore in the lines which gathered between his dark brows and around his mouth.

“I wasnae sure this day would ever come. But now it has, ’tis time ye learned from me the truth about what happened between me and yer maither back then and how ye came tae be separated at birth.”

Constance and Agnes exchanged a meaningful glance, and Constance saw that her twin was preparing to listen attentively as their father began his tale, as was she.

“Twenty years ago, I was appointed by a council of the lairds of the Lowland clans as their representative at a series of talks held in the Borderlands. The talks were between the Lowland lairds, like mesel’ and the representatives of the English Crown. Their purpose was tae discuss peace between us and the English and negotiate trade agreements tae seal that peace by financially benefittin’ both sides of the border.

“I was unwed, as I still am, but many of the men who attended the talks brought their wives with them. One of them was yer stepfaither, Constance, Lord Richard Ashbourne. He came with his wife, Lady Eleanor. The talks went ahead, but it was nae all business. There was plenty of time tae socialize between the talks, and in the evenin’s we all dined together and then relaxed. It was at supper that first evenin’ when I was introduced tae yer maither.”

He paused and shifted in his seat uncomfortably, as though finding it hard to find the right words to continue. “Ye havetae understand, I was a young man of twenty-eight, unmarried, a laird from an early age, hardened by battle, and used tae gettin’ what I wanted. There’d been women in me life, aye, of course, but I’d never been in love.

“On that first evenin’, when I was introduced tae Eleanor, I’d never seen a woman so fine. I was mesmerized by her beauty and grace. The moment I laid eyes on her, it was like bein’ struck by lightenin’. Even now, I can still recall that first moment when our eyes met. And when I kissed her hand, somethin’ passed between us, a spark. And I could tell from the way she blushed and looked away that she felt it too.”

His voice had turned almost wistful, and Agnes glanced over at Constance as if to say, “I’ve never heard him talk like this before.” But they soon turned their attention back to the story as their father continued.

“I told mesel’ she was a married woman, and that her husband was an important man. I couldnae dae anythin’ foolish. She was off limits. I had tae be polite but stay away. I tried, I really did, but things just kept happenin’ that drew me back tae her. It was like I was powerless tae resist the attraction. It was confusin’. Naethin’ like that had ever happened tae me before. I didnae ken how tae handle it. Later, I found out it was the same for her.

“I willnae go intae details about how the affair started fer ’tis private. Suffice tae say, I fell in love fer the first time in me life, and Eleanor did too. She explained that her marriage had been arranged, and she didnae love her husband. Anyway, it was a brief but passionate affair, and after the talks ended, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.