Page 71 of The Lyon and the Unicorn
“Beautiful boy,” Clara whispered, stroking the animal’s fur. “I’ll protect you from him. Perhaps you can be my friend also—then I’ll have two friends here.”
She glanced up at the ghillie, who watched her, a smile on his lips.
“Ye’re good for the clan,” he said. “It’s high time we had a lively lass in the family, to fill the castle with bairns to rule the clan as it ought to be ruled.”
“My children won’t rule the clan,” Clara said. “James is the heir.”
The ghillie frowned. “Perhaps. But it would be good for the clan if ye and Master Murdo had children. It’d bring life and laughter to Strathburn. And love—especially love. A love that can be celebrated and valued, rather than…”
He let out another sigh.
“What are you saying?” Clara asked.
“I’m saying, lass, that I know what it’s like to love but wish ye didn’t. I can’t understand all yer pain, but I can understandthat, at least.” He nodded toward the castle building. “Be careful of Master Angus. As laird he commands loyalty among the clan, the tenants, the servants. And his sons. But if ye’re lonely, ye can speak to me. I know what it’s like to be an outsider.”
“But you were born here, like everyone else.”
He smiled, though the expression in his eyes remained sad. “A man can be an outsider for many reasons.”
“A woman also,” she said, scratching the dog behind his ears. He thumped his tail on the ground. “Two whole friends,” she said. “What shall I do with such an abundance of riches?”
“Ye make the most of it, lass.”
On impulse, she kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Duncan.”
“We’d best get ye inside, lass, and see Joan about yer bath—but before ye go, take a look. There’s no more beautiful sight to see on a morning.” He gestured toward the castle, and Clara caught her breath. The outline of the building was bathed in light, the gray stone glowing pink and orange, as if it were on fire.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.
“That it is,” he said. “The only thing finer is the view of Beinn Urraim in the evening light. The name means Mountain of Honor. And Murdo is an honorable man, for all that he’s his father’s son.”
“Ben Oram,” she said.
“Och, lass, ye need to speak our language better than that,” he said, chuckling. “Beinn Urraim,” he repeated, his voice taking on a musical note.
“Beinn Urraim.”
“There!” he said. “We’ll make a Highlander of ye yet.”
Arm in arm they returned to the castle. Clara spotted movement at one of the windows, and froze.
Murdo was staring out of the window, his face clear in the sunlight, his brow furrowed into a frown.
He was staring at her.
Chapter Fifteen
“Ye should leavethat to the steward.”
Murdo glanced up from the ledgers to see his father in the doorway.
“I can manage,” he said, gesturing to the numbers on the page. “It’s how I won…”
My bride.
He suppressed a smile at the memory of that night at the Lyon’s Den. Clearly the proprietress had expected most of the competitors to lack the wit to add two numbers together when she’d devised the Strength and Honor challenge. It was by virtue of his being able to complete the calculation that he’d won the right to compete in the final challenge—to don the mask of a mythical beast and climb a rope to claim the prize.
Clara.
