Page 110 of The Knight's Pledge
After the well-wishes were all spent, Tavish continued. “Da, I’m assuming you’ll be joining us at Roscraig?”
“I’d be nowhere else.” Tommy smiled. “If your mam willstill have me.”
Gorman turned to Kit Katey. “What say you, Qi QiangTing? Will you journey east with me?” Her shy smile and nod made Effie’s heart surprisingly light.
“It’s settled then,” Effie said, and turned back to Lucan. “We’ll spend our time between Roscraig and the Warren.”
“The Warren?”Lucan repeated.
Effie nodded. “Right afteryou marry me.”
“Look out, Sir Lucan,” Gorman interjected in a jolly voice. “She’s been harping on that for years. Relentless.”
Everyone laughed, even Lucan, while he leaned forward and kissed her lips gently. “Blasted Effie Annesley, I’ll marry you tomorrow, on the green, before the king.”
“I’ll say yes,” she answered in a whisper. “I love you, Lucan.”
“I’m to have two fathers?” George Thomas exclaimed suddenly.
The countess Elpis laughed. “Isn’t it grand, young man?”
George Thomas’s eyes were round. “Ever so grand!”
Tommy handed Effie’s son gently over to Gorman where he was snuggled at once between his father and Kit Katey, and her heart ached now with the fullness of her joy.
Her father stood from his chair and slowly raised his cup.
“To Cordelia,” Thomas Annesley said, his voice catching on the emotion in his words. “And to Scotland.”
Themen all stood.
“To Cordelia, and to Scotland,” echoed the room, and the words werelike a prayer.
