“Sleep, my love. We leave in the morn for home.”
“Home?” she echoed, elation sweeping her. “I feared you might leave tae fight alongside King Robert—”
“Aye, that day will come—but not yet. I’ll be staying in Argyll tae ensure the MacDougalls dinna rally, though Cameron will help tae keep things in hand with the Campbells supporting him. One moment my captain and now a baron with title and castle—poor bastard. Soon his clan will demand he take a wife when no woman thus far has cured him—”
“Cured him, Gabriel?” she queried, confused. “Is he ill?”
“Aye, with shyness for as long as I’ve known him when it comes tae the fairer sex.” Gabriel gave a small chuckle. “He and Conall couldna be more different when it comes tae women. One a glutton and the other, starving—och, Maggie, will you deny me a few hours’ sleep with your questions?”
His voice was low and teasing, but she sensed his great fatigue when his arm loosened around her and she felt his head drop against the pillow—aye, she was keeping him awake while he desperately needed rest!
She grew very still and surely enough, within moments his arm was a leaden weight, his body heavy against her.
His breathing so deep and quiet that she closed her eyes, too, though one word kept ringing in her mind.
Home. She and Gabriel would be returning together to MacLachlan Castle where they could truly start their life together as husband and wife.
No more pretending to anyone that she was a lunatic.
No more Seoras plaguing Gabriel with his summonses and demands.
Keira and Rhona waiting for them, aye, their little family—and mayhap a bairn already on the way, Magdalene pressing her hand to her abdomen as fresh elation swept her.
Yet a cold chill soon followed, gnawing at the edges of her happiness as Cora’s words came back to her…his poor grandmother fell down the stairs and broke her neck, his mother went for a swim and drowned in the lough, and Malcolm’s wife died from burns after her gown caught fire in the kitchen.
How could such tragedies have come to pass? A horrendous coincidence, surely!
In quiet defiance, Magdalene nestled her hand in Gabriel’s and laced her fingers with his, which made him stir against her.
Yet only for a moment, his low snore telling her that he slept still, which made her close her eyes again.
“Nothing will wrench us apart…not curses or war or fear,” she whispered fiercely to herself, even as she sensed that sleep, for the rest of the night, would elude her.
“Maggie!”
As Rhona ran on chubby legs, her arms outstretched, Magdalene felt almost guilty that the little girl made a beeline for her and ignored Gabriel altogether.
Keira, too, who beat her little sister by two lengths and flung herself against Magdalene and encircled her legs in a tight embrace.
“You’re home, you’re home!”
Magdalene sank to her knees in her dark green traveling gown to embrace both girls, not caring at all about the dirt. They hugged her back and giggled, their faces alight with joy that lifted her heart…made heavy by Gabriel’s strange silence during much of their journey back to MacLachlan Castle.
She had tried to talk with him as they had ridden side by side, for this time she’d had her own mount, a beautiful gray mare presented to her by King Robert. She had pointed out this or that along the way, but he had spoken little and she had finally left him alone to his brooding thoughts—och, mayhap it was simply that Cameron and Conall hadn’t accompanied them that had lowered his spirits.
Their goodbyes that morning had been heartfelt with manly hugs and claps on the back between what looked more like brothers, Magdalene knowing how close they were to each other. She was glad when Keira and Rhona left her to run to Gabriel and hug him, too, which brought the first smile to his face since they had left the fortress.
Stung a little that she hadn’t been able to coax such a response from him, Magdalene glanced around the bailey that bustled with commotion upon their return: Stable hands leading the horses away, Gabriel’s warriors released by his command and dispersing to their barracks, and Finlay’s booming voice rising above the din.
“Cameron made a baron of Argyll?”
“Aye, and Conall promised a reward as well,” Gabriel answered as Magdalene held out her hands to the girls, “though King Robert said he had tae think upon it for a while about what tae grant him. They saved his life after all when the fighting began—”
“And you did not?” Magdalene couldn’t help interjecting. “You cut his chains and freed him, husband. If you hadna heeded my plea, King Robert would be dead—”
“Who’s King Robert?” piped up Rhona, tugging on Magdalene’s hand and glancing from her to Gabriel.
“Robert the Bruce,” Keira cut in with a knowing nod. “Our enemy—is that not right, Uncle?”
“No, he’s our friend now and our rightful king. Soon we’ll visit the castle he gave me—”
“A castle?” both girls chimed in at once, their bright blue eyes grown round.
“Aye, right by the sea. I told him this one was fine enough for me, but he insisted upon it—given that he named me earl of the MacLachlans.”
“Earl?” blurted Magdalene, never yet having heard this news.
“Earl is it now?” echoed Finlay while Alun nodded solemnly beside Gabriel.
If she had felt stung before, now Magdalene truly felt hurt that Alun already knew—his loyal captain, aye, but she was his wife! Gabriel had been exhausted last night, true, but couldn’t he have mentioned this great honor to her during their ride home?
“You see, Maggie?” came his voice, which sounded as serious as he had looked all the way back to MacLachlan Castle. “Rewards all around and something for you, too. Forgive me if I waited tae tell you until the girls were with us. As an earl, you’re now my countess—though King Robert didna think a proxy wedding was proper enough for so high a rank. He made me promise tae wed you again when we arrived home.”
Magdalene stared dumbstruck as Gabriel bent down on one knee in front of her, a ruby ring that sparkled in the mid-afternoon sun held between his thumb and forefinger.
“Cora gave me the ring as her gift tae you. You didna have a choice before, but I’m asking you now. Will you marry me, Magdalene?”
Her heart in her throat, she could but nod as Rhona and Keira jumped up and down with excitement beside her.
“Say aye, Maggie—say aye!”
Still stunned, she stared into Gabriel’s dark eyes, his face so handsome, so dear.
“Aye, Gabriel, I will marry you—oh!”
He’d risen to pull her into his arms so suddenly that she lost her footing, but it didn’t matter because he swept her into the air.
Her arms flying around his neck, her feet dangling even as the girls gasped and then giggled, their eyes alight as Gabriel kissed her right there in the bailey for everyone to see.
Fiercely. Possessively…yet with a hint of something she couldn’t name as he hugged her like he would never let her go.
He wasn’t smiling when he deposited her once more upon the ground, though Rhona and Keira were grinning from ear to ear—and only then did Magdalene realize it had been a niggling of fear.
From Gabriel. Her great, towering warrior of a husband looking at her as if agonized inside that somehow he might fail her.
The curse.
Aye, at that moment, what else could it be that tormented him? Mayhap had tormented him all the way back from the fortress—och, why hadn’t she recognized it and done her best to soothe his mind?
She had seen Cora talking with Gabriel right before they left, so surely he must know that Cora had told her what had happened to his grandmother, mother, and poor Anna. Yet they couldn’t speak of it here with the girls so close and so happy, Keira taking Gabriel by the hand and Rhona grabbing Magdalene’s to pull them toward the entrance to the keep.
“The chapel, Uncle!” Keira said breathlessly,
then she cried out to a figure standing by the door. “Grania, fetch the priest! Uncle Gabriel and Maggie are getting married—again!”
Magdalene saw the strangest look cross the old nursemaid’s face, though she bowed her head and hastened inside.
A moment later and their little group had entered, too. The girls clambering ahead while Gabriel laced his fingers with Magdalene’s. Together, they climbed the steps to the second floor of the tower opposite the one where they slept, and made their way to the chapel.
“Gabriel, I—”
“Oh, Maggie, Uncle, hurry!” broke in Keira, who had pushed open the door. “The priest will surely be here soon!”
Anything Magdalene had hoped to say to reassure Gabriel—all of the tragedy striking three generations of MacLachlan wives must surely have been a quirk of fate!—would have to wait as the girls led the way into the cramped room.
The chapel no more than a small, white-clothed altar and two carved benches on both sides of the narrow aisle, a narrow, glazed window admitting soft light.
As Keira and Rhona scurried to the front row, Keira helping her younger sister onto the seat, Magdalene thought of tiny Sister Therese standing next to Gabriel. He had never spoken to her of their proxy wedding but she imagined his strapping captains had acted as witnesses, which made her marvel that they had all fit into such a small space.
She trembled now, though Gabriel still clasped her hand and gave no indication that he intended to release her—and she didn’t want him to.
She moved closer at the same moment he drew her against him, which made her laugh softly and meet his eyes. He stared at her so intently that she felt as if her insides were melting just like two nights past—aye, she was no virgin standing in front of the altar!
That carnal thought made her blush deeply and drop her gaze, which made Gabriel laugh, too, a low husky sound as if he had read her mind.
Warmed that the wedding had lifted his spirits from the disquiet she had sensed for much of the day, she glanced at the girls, who kept looking over their shoulders for the priest.
“There he is!” Keira had jumped up from the bench and helped her sister, whose legs were shorter, while Gabriel wound his arm around Magdalene’s waist and led her closer to the altar.
She had seen the priest before in the great hall, and she bobbed her head at the smooth-faced young man with some embarrassment that she hadn’t met him formally before this day.
“Father Timothy,” Gabriel said as the priest nodded back and hastened to take his place behind the altar. “He officiated at our proxy wedding.”
“Aye, Laird, and I must admit a second wedding is highly unusual—”
“Yet requested by our king, Robert the Bruce,” Gabriel interrupted him, his arm tightening around Magdalene’s waist. She could sense impatience building in him, which only made her blush again as Tam, his steward, rushed into the chapel, huffing and puffing.
“Laird—ah, Earl Gabriel, I only heard the news! Another wedding—but no feast prepared, the great hall not even fully cleaned and swept from the midday meal—”
“We’ll not be joining everyone in the hall, Tam, but going directly tae our bedchamber. See that a hot bath is made ready and bring some food and wine. Magdalene and I have known so little time together—”
“Och, Gabriel, the girls,” she hissed, but already the stout steward was hustling out the door while Grania squeezed past him and made her way to join Rhona and Keira.
For the first time, the older woman smiled at Magdalene though it didn’t seem to reach her eyes, but she was at least grateful they had made a start. Mayhap the two of them would warm to each other once she had a child for Grania to tend to—
“Earl Gabriel…Countess Magdalene,” the priest began, her thoughts of bairns and what was surely to transpire when they were alone in their bedchamber, making the ceremony rush by in a blur.
Yet nothing could have brought everything back into sharper focus than when Gabriel turned her gently to face him.
“Aye, I take thee, Magdalene, as my wedded wife.”
She couldn’t breathe, her heart pounding so hard that she was certain he could hear it as the priest asked the same question of her.
“Aye, I take thee, Gabriel, as my wedded husband.”
She had spoken so softly, but it seemed enough for him, such tenderness shining in his eyes that held a hint of something else, too…not unlike sadness. Yet the priest pronouncing the blessing distracted her, and Keira and Rhona clapping their hands—though Grania quickly shushed them.
Her censure didn’t dissuade the girls from running over for hugs and kisses, Magdalene’s heart warmed by their unbridled affection—but within another few moments the nursemaid had shepherded the girls toward the door. Both of them looked so crestfallen that Magdalene was glad when Gabriel assured them that they would see them in the morning, which brought smiles again.
Their exit with Grania left the two of them alone except for the priest, who busied himself with straightening the altar cloth as Gabriel lifted Magdalene’s hand and pressed a tender kiss into her palm.
“Shall we retire, my love?”
Chapter 25
Magdalene could but nod, shivers coursing through her as he swept her into his arms, no hint at all of pain from the bruises he had mentioned the night before.
If she had thought the ceremony had passed in a blur, Gabriel carrying her from the chapel and down the steps past a startled Grania and his wide-eyed nieces, and then up the opposite tower, seemed a dizzying whirl.
She could not remember him more handsome or his arms stronger or his stride more powerful, his darkened gaze scarcely leaving hers as her heart pounded with his every footfall.
Within moments they had reached their bedchamber, the door wide open, which told her that they wouldn’t be alone…no, not yet.
As soon as Gabriel carried her inside, she saw Euna stoking the fire and Donella plumping pillows, both women spinning around to stare at them as wide-eyed as Rhona and Keira.
“If you’ve not heard yet, my countess is no lunatic,” Gabriel announced solemnly though Magdalene glimpsed humor in his gaze as he set her down. “Feel free tae spread the news—go on, the two of you, and when you see the other servants on their way, tell them tae make haste. I’ll not wait much longer tae be alone with my bride.”
“Aye, Laird—och, Earl Gabriel,” blurted Euna, who grabbed her sister by the arm and hissed as they flew from the room, “I told you she couldna be a madwoman after I saw those bloodstains on the sheet!”
That comment made Gabriel laugh, a robust sound that made Magdalene smile and yet feel sad, all at the same time. She’d heard his laughter so rarely—dear God, surely that must change!
As if sensing her warring emotions, he sobered, the two of them facing each other in the room as the commotion of servants approaching carried to them from the hall. If there was ever a moment to share her thoughts with him, she seized upon it.
“Gabriel, Cora told me about your family curse…though I knew something of it before from Donella and Euna.”
“Magdalene…”
“No, no, please hear me out! I dinna believe in curses and I’ll not have it ruin our life together. Mayhap that’s what has been on your mind today—”
“Aye, from the moment I agreed tae take you for my wife. God help me, Maggie, if any harm should come tae you—”
“It willna, I’m certain of it! We’re going to live long together and have bairns aplenty and be happy! Those tragedies—a terrible coincidence, but that doesna mean it will happen tae me or any other MacLachlan bride in generations tae come—”
“I want tae believe that, wife, more than I can say,” Gabriel broke in, pulling her into his arms as servants appeared at the door. “We’ll not speak of it anymore…at least not today. Would that please you?”
She nodded, tears springing to her eyes at how tenderly he looked at her, and smoothed a tendril from her cheek. The touch of his fingers made
her press closer, the two of them holding each other as the room became a whirlwind of activity.
The large copper tub set before the warming fire and filled with steaming water.
An embroidered cloth spread upon a table that was soon laden with food infusing the air with savory aromas, while another servant poured scarlet wine into two fine glass goblets.
Then it was done, the servants retreating as quickly as they had come and shutting the door behind them, leaving Magdalene and Gabriel finally….blessedly, alone.
He stared into her eyes and she stared into his, the wonder of their wedding ceremony settling over her even as the ruby ring on her finger glittered in the firelight.
“My wife,” he murmured, cupping her cheek.
“My husband,” she whispered, nestling her face against his hand even as she saw the fatigue around his eyes from the frenetic pace of the last few days.
Was it just over two weeks since he had come to fetch her from the convent? So much had happened and even more lay ahead of them…sharing their lives, and a beloved family already with little Rhona and Keira. Yet battles for freedom loomed ahead, too, that might separate them for months—och, she wouldn’t think of that tonight, either!
All she wanted to think about was Gabriel and this precious time with him—aye, in her mind their true wedding night. She turned her head to tenderly kiss his hand and then slipped out of his embrace, though he groaned in protest, and drew him with her toward the fireplace.
“A bath, Gabriel, let me help you.”
His eyes burned into hers as she stood on tiptoe to pull the breacan from his shoulder, though when she fumbled with the same garment tied around his waist, he chuckled and set her away from him. Right before her eyes, he stripped so quickly…his breacan followed by his sword belt and then his tunic. Magdalene drew in her breath at the muscular magnificence of his body when he stood naked in front of her except for his boots.
“Mayhap those, too?” she said in a whisper as heat flared her cheeks, Gabriel smiling as he bent down to pull the boots off his feet. Yet she gasped at the sight of purple bruises on his back where someone must have lunged into him violently—thank God, not with the sharp edge of a sword!
My Highland Warrior (Warriors of the Highlands Book 1) Page 19