Page 92 of Cottage in the Mist
She sighed. “I suppose I do. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I guess you and Iain have a plan?”
“Aye. We’re to ride on Dunbrae on the morrow.”
“I see.” Her voice had gone quiet, barely more than a whisper. “And what about me?”
“You’ll stay here with Alec. And with Robby.”
“And Frazier?” She was back on her elbow, looking down on him. He tried but couldn’t read her expression in the shadows.
“He’ll stay here too. I canna risk his coming with us. Alec has agreed to keep watch o’er him. And you.”
“And if I don’t want to be watched over?”
“Lily, you canna come with me. ’Tis no place for a lady.”
“Maybe I’m not a lady. After all, I wasn’t afraid to take a knife to Frazier earlier today.” She sounded so fierce, he smiled.
“Ach, but you were magnificent indeed. But you also were in grave peril. And I canna risk being distracted with worry o’er you. As much as I’d prefer to have you with me, I need you to stay.”
Her gaze was mutinous. “I’ll not let you ride off into God knows what without me. I’m your wife. My place is with you. I can stay back. Out of the fray. That way I won’t be a bother. But I’ll not stay behind. If you insist on it, I’ll only follow.”
It was his turn to sigh. He’d married a strong-willed woman. And while he’d have it no other way, it meant that she was telling the truth. She wouldn’t stay behind. Not unless he tied her to a bloody tree. And although the idea held some appeal, he was not stupid enough to believe she’d easily forgive something like that.
“All right then, you can come with us, but you’ll not engage in combat and you’ll stay out of sight until I come for you. Agreed?”
She paused, considering his offer. Then with a frown, she nodded in acceptance. “It’s a compromise, I suppose. Do you think your uncle is expecting you?”
“He’s no’ a fool and he has to know that his other attempts have failed. That said, he doesn’t know that I’ve made peace with Alec.”
“And have you?” She was still frowning. “Made peace with him, I mean?”
“Of a sort. I canna get rid of a lifetime of believing him an enemy as easily as that. But I no longer believe he was involved in the attack on my father. Or the attacks on me. Frazier damnedhimself and my uncle when he slipped and mentioned Malcolm’s name.”
“But why would your uncle want to take Dunbrae from your father? I mean, they were brothers.”
“Because it rightly should have gone to him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My grandfather wasna a kind man.” He pulled her back down to his chest again, his arm circling her and holding her close. “He took great pleasure in playing people off against each other. Most particularly his sons. My father was the second son. Born from a second marriage. As was his younger sister, Ealasaid. Malcolm’s mother, Bradana, was my grandfather’s first wife.”
“Ealasaid is Ranald’s mother, right?” Lily queried.
“Aye, that she is,” Bram smiled and then sobered. “Anyway, by all accounts the marriage between Bradana and my grandfather wasna a happy one. It was an arranged marriage, and there was no love lost between the two of them.”
“But that wasn’t the case with your father’s mother?” Again she had cut to the heart of the matter. He stroked her hair, his mind thinking back to the stories his father had told.
“According to my father it was a passionate match. And one that happened well before Bradana died, I’m afraid. My grandmother, Deirdre, was a beautiful woman.”
“She was his lover?”
“Aye, ‘twould seem so.”
“And your father?”
“Born safely on the right side of the blanket, but you can ken how well his father’s infidelity sat with Malcolm. He believed himself to be the heir after all.”
“I’m sorry, you’ve lost me again. As the oldest wouldn’t that be an absolute?”
