Page 12 of Love’s Charity

An eerie tingling rippled through the hairs on the back of her neck, standing each of them on end. Marianna lowered herself to the bench beside the table. “Marry us?”

Beulah gave her a quizzical glance as she set a platter of carrots on the table and started scraping them. “Aye. Marry ye. Is that fine-looking gentleman not yer betrothed?”

Marianna opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again. At a complete loss for a proper response. Finally, she gave a smiling nod and rose, unbuttoned her cloak, and hung it on a peg beside the door. “Aye. Evander is his name. I am Marianna.”

“Aye, we know that.” Beulah chuckled and set the scraped carrots aside. She rose and gathered the parsnips piled on the counter under the window. With a glance back, she tipped her head toward the door. “Father Henry’s paper gave yer names to us.”

The children poured back inside but immediately quietened down after a warning glance from their mother. “Yer treats are on the sideboard there. One each and then up to the loft with ye ’til yer called for supper, aye?”

“They already had treats?” Marianna watched the little ones file by the shelf beside the hearth, select a small cloth-wrapped bundle, then scramble up the wooden ladder to the loft.

“Aye, Father Henry brought them little cakes all the way from Fort William. Told the lads they could have them soon as the bride and groom arrived.” Beulah laughed and shook her head. “They’ve been a watching for ye night and day. Didna think ye would ever get here so they could have their wee fairy treats, as he called them.”

“The storm delayed us,” Marianna said, more confused by the minute.

“What storm?” Beulah rose and added the vegetables to a pot simmering over the fire beside the goose. “It’s been fair as could be here.”

“A snowstorm. Ye ken how it can sometimes storm up higher. On the mountain. Ben Nevis. Higher up.” Heaven help her, she sounded like a babbling eedjit. And where was Evander? Outside, with the men testing their brew, no doubt. He should be in here answering some of these questions.

Beulah came over and gave her a quick hug. “Dinna be nervous, lass.” She glanced toward the loft, then leaned in close again. “After the first time,” she whispered, “it can be verra nice indeed.” With a smug look, she rested a hand on her barely rounded stomach. “Trust me. I’ve had a bairn on the way for the past eight years because of that man of mine and the way he makes me feel.” She laughed, handed the little one in the cradle a carved wooden horse, then straightened and rubbed her back. “Soon as I birth one, he gets me with another.”

The woman had no idea that childbearing or the act that caused it was not the source of Marianna’s confusion. It was about her and Evander marrying. And the priest expecting them. Came to meet them, in fact.

The door burst open again, and the men tromped inside, each of them backing up to wipe their feet on a board after a hard look from Beulah.

The heavier man, his round cheeks red as apples, gave a polite bow. “I be Thomas MacGougan, Mistress Kennedy. Welcome to our home.”

The lanky man who had done his part in fetching jugs from the still house removed his cloak, revealing the somber dark robes of a priest. A simple wooden cross on a leather cord hung around his neck. From one of his pockets, he pulled a worn book, a folded bit of frayed parchment, and a pair of spectacles which he immediately perched on the end of his long nose. He bobbed his head like a great waterbird dipping its beak as he smiled. “I am Father Henry Duffigan, Mistress Kennedy. ’Tis a pleasure to meet ye.”

She had no time for polite conversation. For her sanity’s sake, she needed to sort out this strange turn of events. Evander seemed ill at ease, as well. Even after what she felt certain was several swigs from one of those jugs. This time of year, a trip from Fort William to the MacGougans would take several days. Maybe even a week or longer, depending on the horse and the weather. She and Evander hadn’t been assigned the penance of this trip until late Christmas Eve—a mere four days ago. “Mistress MacGougan said ye traveled all the way from Fort William?”

Father Henry acted a bit taken aback at her abrupt question. “Aye. ’Twas there I received the letter about ye coming here and wishing to marry all official-like, with yer vows properly said in front of a priest.”

“Ye received a letter?” She didn’t wish to seem rude but needed to know who sent this letter.

With a confused shrug, he unfolded the frayed parchment he had pulled from his pocket. “Aye, this letter right here. Said ye wished to be married here at the fine home of the MacGougans since ye didna ken if foul weather might hit and delay ye afore ye returned toTor Ruadh.” With a judgmental look at Evander, then back at her, he cleared his throat. “After all, the two of ye traveling alone might appear unseemly, even if ye are promised to one another.” His long face drew inward with a sudden scowl. “Unless, of course, ye’ve already handfasted or claimed yerselves wed in front of witnesses? Even in that case, proper vows in front of a priest would still be better to—”

“I think she would like to know who sent the letter,” Evander interrupted, stepping forward to take his place at her side.

“Well, see, that there’s the thing.” The priest’s scowl drew in tighter, nearly dislodging his spectacles. He paused and firmly settled them back in place, then tapped on the page. “The ink smeared something fierce on the signature, and when they stamped the seal on the wax, it slid. Couldna make out either of them other than maybe anM?” He squinted at the paper, flipped it over, then rubbed his thumb over what was left of the seal. “The commander at Fort William assured me Clan MacCoinnich still heldTor Ruadh.” He beamed with a proud smile as he tapped the page. “And it mentionedTor Ruadhright here, so I knew it to be valid.”

Knees suddenly gone weak, Marianna lowered herself back to the bench. What force, whatstrangeness,was so determined to see her joined with Evander? And why?

Evander settled down beside her and leaned close, covering her clasped hands with his. “Please dinna let this sway ye, Mejjy. Please trust in our love and be my wife.”

“I am afeared,” she whispered.

“I am not.” He squeezed her hands. “I know in my heart we are meant to be.”

“All things happen for a reason,” Beulah said with a wise nod. “Everything on this earth is planned, lass. Whether or not we understand the planning.”

“Aye.” Father Henry continued with the odd bobbing of his head as he circled the table. “Mistress Beulah is right.”

Marianna frowned at the fidgety man, wondering what kept his brains from rattling out of his ears.

“Please, Mejjy,” Evander whispered for her alone. The heat of his will surrounded her. All that Evander had been and wanted to be reached out and embraced her, comforted her in the knowledge that this was right and true. “Be my wife this day.”

She looked into his eyes, those rich, warm, trusting eyes that had always looked at her with love, even when she didn’t deserve it. “Aye, m’love, I will be yer wife. This day and for all the days until time is no more.”

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