Page 50 of A Wife for the Highland Wolf
He was glad Lydia had agreed to accompany him. He wasn’t sure what he would have done had she refused to speak to him or to return to Lochlann Castle with him. Every option he’d thought of to persuade her had ranged from ‘foolhardy’ to ‘embarrassing’ to ‘will only infuriate her’.
He was equally glad that Wilma had decided to stay with Lydia’s sister for the time being. His cousin had taken the news of her father’s treachery and his death about as well as he’d expected.
Like Murdoch and Gordon, she’d been crushed by her father’s duplicity, hurt by his actions, and blamed herself for not realizing the truth before it came down to a fight to the death.
She felt that, as a healer-in-training, a scholar, and someone well versed in the lore of natural and supernatural ailments, she ought to have realized something was wrong with her father. She felt she should have seen and recognized the madness and the malice in him before he reached his breaking point.
Wilma had cried in Murdoch’s arms for several minutes before declaring that she was going to become the best healer the Highlands had ever seen, and make sure that such tragediesneverhappened again.
To that end, she’d elected to stay with Nora and continue learning from her. Murdoch had teased her, saying it wouldn’t make her a witch or a sorceress, but at heart he was relieved. Better that she find a productive way of dealing with her grief and her pain, instead of letting it fester.
At least his teasing had earned him a watery smile of acknowledgment and a bit of laughter from Nora and Lydia, who’d joined them.
Gordon had dealt with his anguish by shouldering his father’s duties and vowing to serve as the best advisor he could be, once he recovered from his wound.
Gordon also spent more time with Finn, watching over the bairn his father had once tried to kill. It seemed to help steady him, and Murdoch could no more begrudge him than he could begrudge the fact that Gordon had spent most of the past few nights with his lover, seeking comfort and a place to mourn in relative privacy.
Murdoch was glad his cousin had that support, and relieved that Gordon had still been under the healer’s orders to remain in bed when the Council had convened over Arthur’s death.
The meeting had been a tense, ugly affair. More than one Elder had seemed perfectly willing to see the sins of the father pass to the son. By the end of it, Murdoch had been on the verge of challenging at least three Councilmen to honor duels. Eventually, however, he’d gotten his way, and had seen to it that Gordon would suffer no shame for his father’s madness.
The sun was low in the sky but not yet setting when they rode through the gates of Lochlann Castle. Murdoch was relieved that the ride was over, and pleasantly surprised to find Gordon waiting, with Finn perched on his uninjured arm.
Lydia swung down from her horse and immediately made her way over to the pair. Finn held out his arms for her and giggled. “Ly-da!”
“Hello Finn.” The smile she gave the bairn as she spoke to him eased some of the tightness in Murdoch’s chest. For all that she’d insisted he couldn’t use Finn as a way to coax her to stay, it was clear that Lydia cared greatly for his son.
“Ly-da!” Finn giggled again, then looked around. “Hec-tor?”
“Hector stayed with yer aunt Wilma. She’ll bring him back soon.”
“Back soon.” Finn nodded. Then he cocked his head and looked up at Lydia with an intent expression that Murdoch thought Wilma would have classified as adorable. “Lyda eat with us? Lyda an’ Da?”
Murdoch swallowed hard at the childish question. He saw Lydia’s smile falter for an instant before she summoned it again, and ruffled Finn’s hair gently. “We’ll see, me bonnie lad.”
Finn smiled, apparently reassured. Gordon looked between the child and Murdoch, then addressed Lydia. “Tis good to see ye back, Miss Knox.”
“Thank ye, Gordon.” Lydia hesitated. “I’m sorry to hear about yer faither.”
“Me faither made his choice. I’ll mourn the man he was, nay the man who died consumed by madness. But I thank ye for your kind words, and ye have me gratitude that ye can still think kindly of us, after everythin'.” Gordon dipped his head in the closest approximation of a bow he could give while holding Finn in his arms.
Murdoch stepped in before it could become too awkward. “Ye have the same rooms as ye were in last time, Lydia. I’m sure ye’d like a chance to freshen up and wash away the dust of the journey.”
She nodded. Murdoch breathed out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t decided to turn around and go home. “Aye.”
“We’ll give ye the privacy to do so. However, I’d greatly appreciate it if ye’d meet me in the corridor outside yer rooms, an hour before supper. There’s something I wish to show ye.”
“I’ll be there.” Lydia nodded, then took up her bag, a single travel pack this time, rather than the carriage full of chests and bags she’d had before, and went inside.
Gordon looked at him. “Ye think she’ll like yer surprise?”
“I hope so.”
“Ye think she’ll stay?”
Murdoch took a deep breath. “I hope so.”
By the time the appointed hour came around, Lydia was burning with curiosity. She couldn’t help it. Despite her best efforts, she’d seen no evidence that would tell her what Murdoch’s surprise was.
