Page 103 of The Lyon and the Unicorn
“Ye speak nonsense,” Murdo said.
James’s clear green eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and, for the first time, there was not a glimmer of discomfort or fear in their expression.
“Do ye know how I knew ye’d be here, Murdo? It’s because this was where we used to come as children, somewhere our da never came. A place where we could be free.”
“Yearefree,” Murdo said.
“And so are ye, but ye’re too much of a fool to realize it. So ye hide here rather than tend to yer wife.”
Murdo’s heart lifted with hope. “Have ye found her?”
James shook his head. “No, but she’s a clever lass. She’ll come to no harm, at least, not to her body. As to her heart…”
Murdo’s conscience pierced his soul.
“James, do you know what Da said to her when he died—what he said to me?”
“Aye, Joan told me. Are ye foolish enough to let herself be ruled by the final words of a bitter old man determined to hate that lovely lass?”
“I thought ye hated her, brother.”
“I never hated her, Murdo,” James said. “I feared her.”
“What could you have to fear from her?”
“Her honesty. She sees beyond that which we want the world to see. And when she saw me, she knew me.”
“How so? Ye’d never met her before I brought her here.”
“She saw my soul,” James said. “What more is there to fear?” He took Murdo’s hand. “Are ye really going to deny yerself the love of that fine woman merely because of what our da said? Ye should look at what she’s done. She’s worked hard here, weathered my insults, yet cared enough about me to defy our father. And she looked into my heart and didn’t condemn what she saw. She weathered Da’s fury and the condemnation of the entire clan to further my happiness. She was even…”
His voice wavered, and he wiped his eyes.
“She was even willing to let ye believe she’d broken faith with ye to protect me from yer condemnation.”
“I’d never condemn ye, James.”
“Wouldn’t ye?” James blinked, and the moisture in his eyes glimmered in the sunlight. “Only Clara understood whom I truly love—and why I could never have married the McCallum lass.”
Murdo stared at him.
“Ye know, don’t ye, brother?” James said. “Inside yer heart, ye know whom I love, whom I’ve always loved. If Clara had the courage to defy our da to protect that love, thenIshould have the courage to admit it to ye now.”
Murdo recalled the moments he’d pushed to the back of his mind—the tender touches, the lingering glances, and thecrushing fear in James’s eyes when Murdo came upon them in Duncan’s cottage, moments before Clara placed herself between them to protect James from his anger.
“Aye, brother,” he whispered, reaching for James’s hand. “I know whom ye love.”
James looked out across the loch, the breeze lifting the ends of his hair, which shone golden in the sunlight. The ripples at the far end seemed to be moving closer. Perhaps the fish were dancing in the water.
He sighed. “He’s the granite beneath my feet, the air in my lungs, and the strength in my bones. Without him, I am nothing.”
Murdo’s heart tightened at the sorrow in his brother’s voice. “I only wanted ye to marry Shona McCallum because I believed she might make ye happy.”
“I ken that,” James replied. “But yer wife knew otherwise. She wasn’t afraid to act. Of all the souls here, hers is the most open—the most honest. Yet she was willing to act false to protect me. Oh, brother, imagine what it’s like to have such a lass willing to sacrifice herself for yer happiness?”
“Yerhappiness, brother, not mine,” Murdo said.
“Och, ye’re a fool if ye think she doesn’t care about ye! Perhaps she’s unwilling to risk her heart for a man beholden to his da. But we’re free of him now. I’m free to love the one who owns my heart. And so are ye.” James grinned. “Besides, ye need to furnish the clan with heirs, fill Strathburn Castle with children—lads and lasses with their da’s iron will and their ma’s fiery temperament.”
