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Regret serves no purpose.

You held no real malice toward me.

Perhaps he should not so easily discount a woman who had saved many lives.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

Niall opened it, an awareness filling him. Lina. He wished to pull her toward him, hold her for all eternity. Instead, he let his wife inside.

“I’ve the herbs,” she said, “and an apology from Glenhaven’s healer who attends a birth at present. She will be here when the babe is born.” Lina rushed to the healer’s side.

“I’ve no need for her. These will work, or they will not. But we shall know Angus’s fate soon enough.

He exchanged a glance with his wife as the healer went to work, grinding the herbs together.

Somehow, she knew why he was here. Her smile told him she approved, and Niall decided he could not wait a moment longer.

Taking Lina by the arm, he ushered her into the corridor. Cupping her face with both hands, he thought of the moment they met. And of how quickly his hate for her had turned to love, even if he’d not realized at the time.

Niall had much to tell her as they waited to learn Angus’s fate, but he would not waste another moment of life without uttering the words he should have done so long ago.

“I love you, my lady wife,” he said. “I’ve loved you for some time but did not know it, or knew it and was afraid to say as much lest you did not feel the same. I love your fire, your heart, your kindness, and most especially. . .” He could tell she thought he would say something about their lovemaking. Instead, he kissed her on the lips and pulled back. “Your aim.”

She laughed. “That was not what I expected you to say.”

“What do you expect then?” he asked.

His hands dropped down to her neck, gently caressing there, and then to the top of her shoulders where they remained, Niall wishing to feel the soft touch of his wife’s skin.

“Something else,” she said, still too shy to say the words.

No matter. He would teach her to say them, to tell him anything she wished. But for now, there was just one thing he wanted to know. And was about to ask when Lina blurted, “And I love you, Niall, as well you know.”

“I did suspect,” he teased, “but am glad to hear it.”

He wanted to ask about the conversation she had with his father. Tell him of theirs. Talk of Angus and ask about the herbs. Tell her his thoughts on Kieran being his father’s second. So much he wanted to tell his wife, but instead, he simply kissed her again.

They had a lifetime to discuss such things.

And would. ‘Twould be he and Lina making a life together at Glenhaven Manor.

Together.

Epilogue

“You asked for a private meal so we could talk,” Lina said as the serving girls left. They’d brought their suppers, as he requested, and the table in he and his wife’s bedchamber was now laden with food.

“I did,” he said, “and have matters I’d like to discuss. But that gown. . .”

Of all the ones she wore, it was that simple cream one with gold thread along the neckline and sleeves Niall loved most. She looked like an angel come from heaven even though he knew his wife had a very devilish side too. One he wished to explore this very moment.

Pulling her toward him, Niall spun her around and began to untie her gown. He was, in fact, quite proficient at it and removed the garment in quick order. She stepped out of it.

“The meal,” he said, “will grow cold if you do not aid me. Your boots, my lady?”

Kneeling, he removed those as well. And her hose and garter. When Niall began to remove his own boots, Lina now in nothing but a shift, she offered a weak protest.

“Angus had that duck prepared especially for you, and now it will grow cold.”