Page 57 of Unforgotten
A shiver passed through Ella at the abbess’s words. She was right. This way at least only MacKinnon was after her.
“I’ll never be able to return to Kilbride, will I?” she asked softly.
“No, lass … not while MacKinnon still lives.” The abbess released her hands and reached up to cup Ella’s face. “But don’t ye worry about that … it’s time for ye to begin a new life, Lady Ella MacNichol. Seize it with both hands and don’t look back.”
25
Where is she?
MOTHER SHONA, ABBESS of Kilbride, arrived back at the abbey just in time for Vespers. She quickly saw to her pony and strode to the kirk, where the nuns were already gathering for the service.
Reaching the altar, the abbess smoothed sweaty palms upon her habit. She’d been dreading this moment. All the way back from Torrin, she’d gone over the words she would say to the sisters. None of them were adequate.
She couldn’t speak the truth. The only way they would accept that Sister Ella had left them was to cast the woman in a dark light, to speak lies about her.
Of course, Sisters Leanna and Coira both knew the truth. Ella had told her that she’d confided in them both. However, she’d sworn them to secrecy.
Reaching up, the abbess’s fingers clasped around the heavy iron crucifix that hung about her neck.
Forgive me Lord … I do this for the greater good. I do this to protect these women.
When the last of the sisters had filed into the kirk and knelt ready to begin Vespers, Mother Shona cleared her throat.
“Before we begin the service, I have ill-tidings to share with ye.” The abbess’s voice echoed through the quiet kirk. “Sister Annella has left the order.”
As expected, a gasp followed this news. Some of the sisters—the younger ones especially—merely gaped at her, while many of the older nuns—those who had been here before Ella’s arrival and knew of her sad story—developed hard, pinched expressions.
A few of them, Sister Elspeth for one, had been vocal in their disapproval of Ella when it had been discovered that their new postulant was with child. The fact that the young woman remained tight-lipped as to the identity of the father of the bairn only made the older nuns suspect her further.
Ella had weathered their displeasure and eventually blossomed at Kilbride. Yet the abbess saw vindication flare in Sister Elspeth’s eyes now.
“She has broken her vow of chastity,” the abbess continued. It was a falsehood, and one that galled her to speak, yet it was a necessary one. “Not only that, but she does not repent … she has wed MacNichol and is now his wife.”
Even Sister Elspeth looked shocked. Mother Shona deliberately avoided looking at Sisters Leanna and Coira as she spoke. They alone knew the truth. She’d explained to them why it had to be this way, yet she didn’t want to see the disappointment in their faces.
She hoped they understood why she had to do this.
But even if they didn’t, it still had to be done. She’d bent many rules since becoming Abbess of Kilbride, had shaped the life here so that the sisters could live to their fullest potential while serving God. But she’d not risk the future unity of this order for one woman.
“It’s forbidden to wed!” Sister Magda burst out. The old woman’s dark eyes burned as she lurched to her feet, Vespers forgotten. “No priest will agree to it.”
“No priestknowinglywould, Sister Magda,” the abbess replied, her voice deliberately calm. “But Sister Ella sinned again by not revealing who she was.”
“But the union isn’t valid!” Sister Elspeth exploded. She too rose to her feet, hands clenched by her sides. “The woman is a harlot, a fornicator, a—”
“Enough, Sister Elspeth!” Mother Shona’s voice, harsh now, cut through the kirk, silencing the nun. This was exactly what she’d hoped to avoid. She’d not have the likes of Sister Elspeth stirring up ill-feeling inside the abbey. “Sister Ella has chosen her path, and I have made my decision. I have cast her from the order.”
Silence settled after this proclamation.
It was unheard of, for the abbess to do such a thing. Usually, if a nun broke any of her vows, she was brought back into the fold and taught the error of her ways. Once a nun took her final vows, it was a lifetime’s promise. It was a harsh choice indeed, for the abbess to cast her out.
Many of the nuns were watching her now with wary, frightened gazes. Would she do the same thing to them if they ever erred?
Something twisted deep within Mother Shona’s chest. Again, she’d hoped to avoid this. All she could believe was that she had committed the lesser of two evils.
“There is something else ye should all know,” she said, breaking the heavy silence. “Sister Annella has managed to fall foul of Duncan MacKinnon. I don’t know the details, but he tried to force himself upon her … and she fought back and stabbed him. He will come here, looking for her. None of ye are to speak a word about Sister Annella to him.”
A beat of shocked silence passed.
