Page 84 of Christmas at Castle Dunrannoch
“She’s heading for the battlements!” Cameron looked as if he was about to pass out. He staggered and half-fell but urged Rye on. “Go after her, please. Don’t let her do anything stupid.”
Round and round they climbed, Rye ahead and Ursula doing her best to keep up, taking the spiral steps of stone, past each floor until they reached the door leading onto the roof.
Rye gasped as he emerged into the night air. A hard frost was forming, coating every surface in a sheen of ice.
And it was so quiet. Quieter than the dungeon had been.
He couldn’t see Arabella at first—only the stars and the sky.
The sky was huge, and the stars brighter than he’d ever seen them, up here, high above the moor.
Ursula grabbed the back of his shirt. “Where is she?” She was panting hard, having run all the way.
“Look, there.” He saw her now, the wind whisking her long hair, tumbling from its pins. And she’d climbed up onto the ramparts.
“Arabella!” Ursula called. “Come down from there.”
Lady Balmore turned, and there was a madness in her eyes. “Come here then, if you want to help me.” She stretched out her arm, beckoning.
“No, Ursula!” But Rye wasn’t quick enough. Ursula had darted past him, running to Lady Balmore.
“Wait!” Ursula’s voice was whipped by the breeze. She’d almost reached her.
“No time to wait,” answered Lady Balmore. Her fingers touched Ursula’s and pulled her up beside her. “You’ll go with me, then. I won’t be alone.” With that, Lady Balmore leant forward.
There was a flutter of fabric and a shriek.
“Ursula!” Rye grabbed her waist and yanked her back.
He’d nearly lost her.
So very nearly.
From far below came a hollow thud.
Epilogue
Christmas Day
“Mistletoe? In your bridal crown?” Mary pursed her lips, looking over Ursula’s ensemble one last time—even though they were standing just inside the door of the castle chapel and it was really too late to change anything. “Are you quite sure?”
Miss Abernathy might have owned up to being closely related to the Arrington viscountcy but Mary was still a little suspicious. In her eyes, decent women didn’t go galavanting about the Highlands pretending to be something they weren’t.
“She looks lovely!” declared Lady Dunrannoch. “I only worry that you’re warm enough, Ursula dear. Even with your thickest underthings, this place is as cold as the tomb.”
The countess was far more willing to reconcile herself to Ursula’s new status. Clearly, young Rye was smitten—and the girl was nothing if not resourceful. She’d hold her own amongst the Dalreaghs, Lady Dunrannoch was certain.
Iona’s wedding dress, which had been handed down from the old dowager herself, had only needed the tiniest of alterations. The lace, freshly whitened with lemon juice, was studded with tiny pearls across the bodice and down each sleeve, and the wide, square-neck of the gown was most becoming. With silver slippers and a long veil of silk tulle, Ursula’s costume was complete.
With all that had happened, it was only fitting for the wedding to be a quiet affair, but Rye was determined that their joy would push tragedy aside.
They were sharing that joy with the people who really mattered. Both Daphne and Eustace had made the journey, thanks to Campbell riding out to send telegrams, and all the family were gathered.
As Earl Dunrannoch walked Ursula down the aisle to meet her groom, Rye looked round and gave her that lopsided Dalreagh smile. The one that told her she was the person he most wanted to see in the whole wide world, and the one he wanted to kiss. The one he wanted to spend his life with—no matter what life ended up throwing at them.
What had Miss Abernathy’sLady’s Guidesaid? She’d been looking for advice on marriage and husbands, and the book had a lot to say on the subject—some of it bizarre, but most of it rather good. Or, at least, it seemed so.
There had been something about not finding your happiness by running away, and that, when you found the right person, you’d know it was time to stop running all together. That you could stand still, instead, and know you were right where you were supposed to be.
