Page 26 of A Virgin for the Icy Highlander
“You enjoy the rest of your dinner,” Grace said, offering her friends a reassuring smile. “I’ll speak with you soon.”
Lilian gave a small wink, and though no more words were exchanged between the friends, Grace knew that the two women would seek her out later that evening. After all, there was much to discuss. But, right now, she needed a distraction from Hunter, from talking about him, until she could get her thoughts in order.
“Is this your first time meeting Ellie?” Grace asked, quietly closing the door to the little girl’s bedchamber. With any luck, the child would stay in bed this time.
Ailis lifted her hand to the green stone pendant at her throat, rubbing it absently. “Aye, the first time. I’d hoped to be the one to help bring her into this world, but it didnae come to pass.”
“How so?”
Ailis shrugged, moving away from the door. “It happens, sometimes, that a lass wants to be in her own home when she gives birth. And aye, ye can say that her marital home ought to be considered her home, but we all ken that home is home—where we’ve spent most of our lives.”
“She went to her father’s castle, then?” Grace asked, following Ailis back up the hall.
“Aye, she did,” the healer replied. “I dinnae ken what happened there, as I wasnae there and I willnae be the one to ask, but… I think things would’ve been different if the lass’s maither had stayed here.”
Grace sensed that she was pulling on a string, and that if she tugged it hard enough, she might unravel some of Ellie and Hunter’s past—the story she’d been forbidden from asking about. Yet, Ailis didn’t seem like the sort of woman who cared about what she should and shouldn’t say, but rather chose to do as she pleased.
“What happened to her—Ellie’s mother, I mean? I know you said you don’t know, but you must know something of what occurred.” Grace fidgeted with the cuffs of her sleeves, her nerves rising.
Ailis stopped. “She died, lass.”
“In childbirth?” Grace prompted, her throat tight, remembering what Maddie had said—the question that Maddie had wanted her to ask Hunter.
With a weary sigh, Ailis smiled sadly. “In a manner of speaking, aye.”
“In a manner of speaking?” Grace’s brow creased. “Surely, she either died in childbirth or she didn’t.”
Ailis shook her head. “She died after birthin’ the bairn. A terrible thing. That’s all ye need to ken about it, lass. It was a tragedy that has caused more harm than anyone could’ve anticipated.” She hesitated before rubbing her pendant once more. “But me nephew loves the wee lassie.Thatis what matters, and that is somethin’ ye must never doubt. He’d have burned the whole country to ashes to keep her safe.”
The string of the story had gotten stuck on something, knotted in the same place as before, leaving Grace with exactly the same amount of information she’d gleaned from Hunter.
Indeed, the only one who seemed willing to untie that knot was Ellie, but with Hunter’s warning in her head, Grace didn’t want to disobey and risk him rescinding his offer.
“I shall bear that in mind,” she promised.
What sort of tragedy? What happened?
The questions scorched a hole in her skull and would continue to smolder unless a day came when she was given answers. If that day never came, she knew it would drive her mad.
Still, it was only her first day at Castle MacLogan. Six more remained until she had to decide whether to marry Hunter or not. There was time enough to give that knot another hard tug or two, to see if she couldn’t unravel it before she bound her life to his forever.
At the door to her bedchamber, she bid Ailis a goodnight and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Listening to the retreating footsteps of the older woman, she closed her eyes and made a promise.
That will be my final task, the last part of the dare…I will find out what happened to Ellie’s mother, to make certain that the same thing doesn’t happen to me.
12
“Ididnae ken ye could dance like that,” Thomas said in a voice that wasn’t quite teasing, yet wasn’t wholly sincere.
Hunter glanced at him. “I dinnae ken what that was about.”
The brothers were alone in the Lesser Hall, the last two ladies having abandoned them not long after Grace left.
To gossip, nay doubt.
Hunter could almost feel his ears burning, several floors below where the three women probably were, dissecting the evening in private.
“A test, do ye think?” Thomas asked, sipping from his cup of spiced wine. “They say ye cannae make love well if ye cannaedance well. Perhaps she was seein’ what might be awaitin’ her on yer weddin’ n?—”
