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Gillian’s expression fell, her shoulders shaking ever so slightly. Tears welled in her eyes. Unable to stop himself, he leapt out of the chair and went to her.

“There was no plan,” she sobbed out. “She was prepared to marry him.”

Graeme took her in his arms, holding her as the tears began to flow. When she wrapped her arms around him too, he tightened his hold.

“She did it for me. For Father. And Mother too. She loves us all so much. But she knew—”

Gillian never did finish her thought. Instead, she sniffled against his chest. He pulled back and wiped her cheeks with the back of his hand.

Perhaps he was getting better at being a husband. For instead of saying, “She knew coming here would be too dangerous,” he once again held his tongue.

She pulled back, no longer crying, and looked at him oddly. “Why are you smiling?”

Why indeed?

“I was just thinking that your sister is a remarkable woman. You realized she attempted to sacrifice herself for you. For us.”

Gillian nodded.

“You like her then?” she asked, hope in her eyes.

“Very much. Though I know little of her.”

And for the first time since he had entered the chamber, Gillian smiled.

“Good,” she responded. Appearing satisfied, she blurted, “Because she will be living with us.”

* * *

Gillian sat between Graeme and Allie, waiting for the final course to be served. After her grand announcement, she hadn’t given her husband a chance to respond. But he did not appear to mind. Indeed, he’d accepted her sister so readily, Gillian wanted to reach out and touch him now, just as she’d wanted to do these past few days. Embrace him. Kiss him. Make love to him.

Graeme had accepted her preposterous proposal, and in a way, it had accomplished its intention. But couldn’t they get to know each other and be intimate as well? Of course they could. She had just been too afraid to admit it. Afraid they’d married too quickly. Afraid she would fall in love with him, only to find out he was more like her father than she’d thought. She would tell him as much that night.

Everything felt so clear to her, so right, now that Allie was here. Gillian was only sorry Aidan had left that morning to meet with Toren Kerr at Brockberg Castle to discuss Douglas’s recent visit. She had no doubt the two would get on splendidly. If it were not for her parents and Lyndwood’s fate, she would have been extremely happy.

“Gill, look.”

Forced out of her reverie, Gillian followed her sister’s glance. “Do we not have a similar tapestry at Lyndwood?”

Both she and Graeme studied the tapestry in question.

“Aye,” she said. “’Tis very similar.” She’d noticed the same thing soon after her move to Highgate.

Graeme grinned as he looked at the finely-woven piece. “Do you know the story behind the scene?” he asked her sister.

“Nay,” she said. “Do you?”

“Aye,” he said, taking a drink of ale as a servant placed a tray of nut tarts on the table.

“The unicorn represents the tamed beloved. Though he’s tethered to a tree and constrained by a fence, the chain is not secure and the fence is low enough to leap over. The unicorn could escape if he wished. His confinement is a happy one. And do you see the seed-laden pomegranates in the tree?”

“Aye,” Allie replied.

“They are a symbol of fertility and marriage, as are the wild orchid, bistort, and thistle.”

When Graeme looked at her, Gillian was prepared to smile. When she had spied the tapestry on that first day, her interpretation had been very different. Gillian had assumed the unicorn was trapped. But it was not so.

Was it an omen, perhaps? A symbol of a marriage that had begun out of necessity but grown into so much more.