Page 21 of Sinbound to the Highlander
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Worriedly, Evan watched closely for Miss Milleson’s reaction. He had a feeling that she would not take well to Freya’s arrival. Aside from Freya’s freckles, and though they were identical in body, the two were like night and day.
Miss Milleson's lips began to curl with scorn, but then she must have realized that five pairs of eyes were on her, and her sneer transformed into a smile.
Evan’s jaw tightened in anger. How could she still be filled with disdain, knowing that her sister, once thought dead, was back alive, because of the spots on her face?
“That’s wonderful, I…I can hardly believe it. Maither and Faither told me ye had died,” Miss Milleson said.
“I wasnae sure I had other parents, another family…a sister,” Freya replied, her cheeks warming with a light pink shade.
The color made her cheeks brighter, but her speckled face was charming to him. When he had first seen them, her body pinned under his, he had felt utterly captivated…and attracted. The splatter of reddish dots had given her wide green eyes a flair he doubted she knew they carried. He knew that many would feel different, Miss Milleson, most likely, who might see such things as an imperfection.
Miss Milleson turned to her parents, “Maither, Faither, are we going to let her stay? Can we keep her here?”
Why did she have to say that as if she had found a stray cat and wanted to keep it?
“That’s to be decided,” Laird Lobhdain said, thickly. “But I think we should have a celebration. Laird Ruthven, may I speak to ye for a moment.”
He shot an apprehensive look at Freya, Miss Milleson, and her parents but nodded and followed the Laird out of the room, to another at the end. It was the first room Evan had been in when Laird Lobhdain had accepted his marriage proposal.
The Laird spoke to a footman, directing him to have the kitchen staff make a feast then when he was gone, turned to Evan with tears glistening in his eyes. His throat worked, and his voice broke at parts when he spoke.
“When ye brought Miss Crushom—Freya—into my sunroom, I kent ye had played a horrible jest on me wife and me. When Grace lost our bairn so long ago, she was broken, Laird Ruthven, I mean shattered to her soul. She had gone through so much pain to deliver the two bairns only to be told one of them had died. She was weak and cried every day. I felt hopeless, Laird Ruthven, utterly hopeless. I tried to comfort her, but it fell short. She could not even go to the poor bairn’s burial. It was just the bairn wrapped in a tiny shroud and me.”
His eyes clenched tight, just before his right hand covered them, “She turned all her attentions to Elspeth, indeed doubled them, as she was the only one who had lived. Now…now that ye’ve carried her back to us, alive, I would pay ye half of me wealth for her. Thank ye, Laird Ruthven, Ye’ve healed an old wound me and me wife have never been able to suture for two decades.”
Evan felt humbled that his actions had almost reduced the dignified man to tears. He swallowed thickly. If this was the pain one felt with losing a child, and he prayed he would never suffer it.
Offering his hand, Evan clasped Laird Lobhdain’s hand tight, “I couldnae have seen such an obvious thing and ignored it. I wasnae sure how deep this thing went, but seein’ as it was a bairn ye lost, I am happy I gave her back to ye.”
Nodding, Laird Lobhdain, pulled away, only to give Evan a searching look. “Ye skipped over how ye truly met Miss Crushom. As we are alone, will ye tell me how?”
“On me last visit, I began worryin’ about various things, the war included. I found meself wanderin’ around the countryside and found a stream near Cillock to water me horse. I fell asleep there only to find Miss Crushom, touchin’ my forehead to see if I was alive,” Evan replied.
The Laird’s face showed his surprise, while a gentle smile turned Evan’s lips up at the corners. He recounted the story about mistaking Freya for Miss Milleson, noting that the freckles on her face had given him the first inkling that he was not speaking to Elspeth.
“Elspeth had those too,” Laird Lobhdain admitted. “One summer, we were at the coast and were in the sun almost every day. When they came up, she cried, beggin’ us to find a way to get them off. A healer gave us a solution of Sundew plant and milk, to take them off.”
“Have ye decided what to do with Miss Crushom?” Evan asked.
The Laird trained a glance down the corridor, “I would like to keep her here, but I cannae. It wouldnae be right to tear her away from the life she’s kent and loved for so long, but I hope to come to a compromise with her parents for how she might transition to us over time.”
“That would be wise,” Evan nodded in relief that Freya was not going to be torn from her home and thrown into a situation that she was not ready for yet. “But Laird Lobhdain, ye should ken that Miss Crushom nearly collapsed in the carriage when we came here. Would ye do her a kindness in nay making too much of a celebration? She’s already anxious as it is, and I kent with more eyes on her, she will break down completely.”
Rubbing his chin, the Laird nodded, “Aye, I’ll fix that. We should get back to them. But Laird Ruthven, please ken that I now owe ye more than I could ever offer. Whatever ye ask of me, I will give.”
Taken aback by his broad promise, Evan regrouped and swiftly memorized the man’s vow. He was not sure when or why he might take that man upon his word, but he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Just doin’ me Christian duty, Laird Lobhdain,” Evan said, dipping his head.
They went back to the room with the Laird pausing to direct a servant into clearing the Great Hall from onlookers when they entered the room to see Lady Lobhdain, speaking quietly with Freya, while, Elspeth sat calmly beside their mother.
Taking a seat beside the Crushoms, while the Laird went to another chair, Evan listened to the conversation. Freya was telling them about her life.
“When I was a child, me parents had to work long days, so I stayed with our neighbor Missus Beathag; she is the healer I was gatherin’ herbs for when I met Laird Ruthven. I’ve helped her brew all sorts of medicines to cure ailments from poisonin’ to relivin’ the ache in people’s bones.”
“I’ve never learned such arts, but I suppose we can teach each other,” Lady Lobhdain said kindly. “But that comes after we arrange how to have ye here.”
