“A husband?” Angus looked positively baffled. “Ye want me to find ye a husband?”
Nora could not understand why her request seemed so foreign to Angus. It wasn’t as if she had asked him to pull the moon down from the sky so that she might have a better look at it. For a moment, she began to wonder if she weren’t breaking some Scottish social protocol that frowned upon such a request.
“I am sorry, m’lord, if my request is out of order,” she demurred. She had her hands clasped in front of her and prayed he could not see them tremble.
Angus blinked again and looked at his council. Fergus had a peculiar grin to his face, and the other men looked as though they were fighting to keep from laughing. Nora found the entire ordeal very unsettling. She was about to beg for their forgiveness and run from the room when Angus stood up.
“I see. Ye want a husband. Do ye have a particular man in mind?”
Nora shook her head ever so slightly. Truth be told, she’d rather Wee William were the one to offer his hand. But since he’d not shaved his beard or showed any outward signs that he wished to be anything more than friends, she assumed he had no romantic intentions toward her.
“Nay, m’lord. There is no one in particular.”
She took note of the glances that were cast between the men on the other side of the table. They whispered to each other in Gaelic and a few of them chuckled. Nora wasn’t sure she wished to know what they were saying and decided there was, perhaps, bliss in being ignorant.
“What kind of man do ye seek, lass? What kind of husband do ye wish fer?” Fergus asked.
Nora swallowed hard and gave his question some thought before answering. “Well, m’lord, I’d prefer a man who will not beat me.”
Her statement caused a bit of an uproar. There was much growling and scowling. One of the men stood up and said something to her in Gaelic. Thought she had no idea what he was saying, there was no mistaking his anger.
Angus ordered them all to be still. “Lads!” he boomed. “Remember, the lass is Sassenach. She comes from a land where men beat their wives far more often than they bathe!”
Nora took offense to his statement. “M’lord, I can assure you that not all Englishmen beat their wives! My father never laid an angry finger on my mother.”
Angus looked and sounded sincere in his apology. “Fergive me, lass. But we find beating a woman or a child a most disgusting action. Such a deed is not only frowned upon here, ’tis grounds for expulsion. To suggest there be a man among us that would hit a woman, well, ’tis about as likely as yer king voluntarily givin’ Scotland her freedom.”
Nora regretted the fact that she had insulted the men. However, she did not regret the fact that she wanted to make it abundantly clear that she wanted a kind husband. “I do apologize, m’lord. I meant no disrespect. Please, forgive me. I was married to a very harsh man for more than a year. He thought nothing of beating me, for even the slightest transgression.”
She truly disliked admitting that fact openly to this group of strangers. Nora wanted to leave that part of her life far behind her.
“I can understand yer worry lass,” Angus voice had softened. “Ye can rest assured that no matter what MacDougall man ye might marry, he will no’ lay an angry hand to ye. Ye have me word on that.”
Nora thanked him with a smile before continuing on with her list of requirements. “My other requirement would be that he would allow my younger brother and sister to live with us.” That would be the only deal breaker she could think of, that would keep her from marrying someone. “And I want his promise in writing, before we’re married, that he would allow it.” She would not be tricked into marrying another man who would quickly turn John and Elise away.
Angus nodded his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I do no’ see where that would be a problem. Do ye have any other wishes?”
Aye, I wish for a man who can make the roof of my mouth tickle when he kisses me, she thought to herself. There would be no way she could say those words out loud. “He must be kind and want to have children.”
Angus nodded. Thus far, her demands could easily be met by any number of available men. “Anything else?”
Nora could think of several other things she’d wish to find in a husband, but could not put them to voice. “Nay, m’lord. I have nothing else.”
“Well, then,” Angus said as he rubbed the palms of his hands together. “I shall spread the word that ye be lookin’ fer a husband. Yer a bonny lass. I do no’ think it will take long to find ye one.”
Nora hoped that he was correct and that when the men learned she was seeking a husband, they might begin to treat her differently.
She thanked each of the men and left the room, feeling a bit better than she had when she had first entered.
Fergus was the first man to break out into raucous laughter and was quickly joined by the rest of the men in the room. “How do ye think Wee William will respond to this bit o’ news?” he asked Angus.
Angus was not able to answer the question. He was too busy trying to catch his breath. The lass hadn’t a clue what her request was going to do to Wee William. “I dunnae! But I wish to be there to see the look on his face!”
“I wonder how many men are brave enough to offer fer her!” Thomas Gainer said with tear filled eyes.
Wee William had come to see the clan council a week ago, asking for a bit of land to call his own. He was quite willing to pay for it. The clan had refused his offer of money and instead gave him piece of land not far from Aishlinn and Duncan’s home, as a reward for his many years of fealty and service to the clan.
When they had inquired as to why he wanted the land, Wee William explained that he was not getting any younger and that he would not always be able to fight as a warrior. He was simply making plans for his auld age. And he was absolutely adamant that it had nothing to do with thoughts of marriage.
The laughter finally began to subside and wagers were placed as to just how many days were left before Wee William shaved his beard. Others placed bets on whether or not Wee William would have an apoplexy at the news.
Angus gave it four days before Wee William shaved his beard, where Fergus gave him a week. “He’s too damned stubborn fer his own good, I tell ye. He’ll be able to hold out fer a week, but no’ a day longer.”
Angus called for a messenger to let the men in the clan know that a certain young woman was actively seeking a husband.
“She did what?” Wee William’s angry voice thundered across the training fields. Everything came to an abrupt halt. Men began heading toward Wee William and Rowan to learn the source of his anger.
Rowan fought hard to take on a serious demeanor, but he found the look of terror blended with fury on Wee William’s face, comical.
“Aye, Wee William. She went to Angus and in front of the whole council, she asked him to help her find a husband.” Rowan had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing. “And they agreed to help her.”
Wee William glowered at no one in particular. He was furious with…well, with the entire world. He would have sworn, not more than a few moments ago, that he had his feelings for the lass completely under control. Apparently, he had misjudged his heart.
Nay, he could not blame his heart. ’Twas Nora’s fault. Somehow, she had managed to cast a spell upon him, had bewitched him in some manner, to make him feel this way. He swallowed hard and considered it.
“What about her mournin’ period?” The thought had come to him so quickly, the words spilled out of his mouth before he could rein them back in.
Rowan raised both eyebrows. “Angus says there be no reason for the lass to be in mournin’ if she has to lie about her feelings. He said it would be an affront to the good Lord to make her pretend to mourn a loss she welcomed. And ye ken how Angus is about lyin’.”
A year. Was it really too much to ask for? He believed that after a year of Nora in mourning, he’d have his feelings for the woman so under control that when or if this
day had come, he’d be better able to deal with it. He also knew that the men would have to stay away from her, what with her being a widow and all.
His plans for the next year flittered away like autumn leaves in the wind.
“Don’t ye think it’s a bit soon fer her to be lookin’ fer a husband?” Wee William asked.
Rowan feigned incredulity quite well. “Nay! The lass needs a husband. She needs a home fer brother and sister. She wants bairns of her own, Wee William. She canna live in the castle fer all her days!” He clicked his tongue and shook his head for added emphasis.
If she wanted bairns of her very own, that meant she’d have to join with a man. It was too much to hope for another immaculate conception. His stomach roiled at the thought of someone other than himself giving her that which he could not admit to wanting to give her.
The image of a naked Nora, lying in the arms of any other man, brought forth a rage he had never quite experienced before. Before he realized what had happened, he flipped the trestle table onto its side, the contents spilling to the ground, crushing the casks of ale and tankards in its wake.
The crowd that had formed began to cautiously walk away. Wee William’s face was twisted into an ugly scowl. His chest heaved as sweat trickled off his brow.
“If one man so much as blinks at Nora, I will tear him apart, piece by bloody piece and feed the bits to the scavengers!”
There wasn’t a man present, or another who would hear of it later, that did not believe every word he said.
Nora could not make sense of it. The men were behaving worse than before she had asked Angus to find her a suitable husband. There was simply no denying it.
Earlier that morning when Mary asked her to help take bread and meat to the men on the training fields, she had happily agreed. On her way to the fields however, two men actually jumped behind the bushes that lined the walkway. One of the stable boys crossed himself, mumbled something in Gaelic, and then raced back into the stable, slamming the door behind him.
By the time she reached the fields she was on the verge of tears. She was not a vain woman, by any stretch of the imagination. However, she did have some pride. She knew she was not an ugly woman. Oh, she might not be as stunning as Isobel, Bree, or Aishlinn. But the way the men were all behaving, one would think she had warts growing on the end of her nose and was missing most of her teeth! It was positively disheartening.
She had, of course, no idea of what had taken place when Wee William learned of her visit with Angus and the clan council. He had let loose with a slew of curses that made even the most hardened men blush. Not only had he tossed the drink table that sat next to the training fields again, he had torn it to shreds. Once he was done making sure the table was in fact dead, he began cursing again. He warned any man within ear shot that if they so much as thought about offering their hand to Nora, they would suffer a fate worse than the drink table.
The men refused to train with him.
Father Michael tried to speak with him after hearing how he responded to the news. It took more time walking from the kirk to find Wee William than it took to realize he’d made a grave error in judgment. Were he not a man of the cloth, Wee William could have throttled his neck. He told the priest just that.
And still, he had not shaved his beard. He was a complete besotted mess. He had not seen Nora since she had asked for Angus’ help. He was too busy trying to kill tables and build his cottage. A cottage he had sworn and be-damned was not in preparation for marriage, but for his auld age. And by God, any man who said otherwise was as good as dead. He also reminded them when necessary, of his threat that any man who so much as walked the same path as Nora was as good as dead.
Nora approached the drink table not knowing it was in fact the third such table to be placed in that spot in the past four days. She looked out at the fields and called out to the men. “I’ve brought you bread and meat!”
Every man, save for Rowan, Black Richard, Daniel, David, and Wee William, turned their backs to her and walked in the opposite direction.
She wished them all to go straight to the devil.
Rowan and Black Richard approached the table first. Were it not for their kind smiles, Nora would have thought she was completely alone in the world. “We thank ye, lass!” Rowan said as he poured ale into tankards.
“Yer a bonny site this morn,” Black Richard offered.
Perhaps she was severely lacking in beauty, grace, and intelligence. Mayhap Rowan and his friends were only being kind to her because they pitied her. She tried to smile but was unsuccessful. Daniel and David’s smiles as they approached the table, were quickly replaced with looks of genuine concern.
“What be the matter, lass?” David asked.
Nora swallowed hard and waved their concern away. “It is nothing of import, David. But I do thank you for asking.”
“Come now, lassie,” Black Richard said. “We can see there be something the matter. Ye do no’ carry yer usual bonny smile.”
“Oh what does it matter?” she blurted out. “I could be as beautiful as Isobel or Aishlinn and it would not matter in the least! The men here, they all find me atrocious!”
A silent exchange took place between the men, and Nora couldn’t help but notice. She was right! They did find her severely lacking. She would never find a husband.
“Lass, the men here do find ye quite bonny. Its just they be a bit afraid.” Daniel tried explaining.
“Afraid? Of me?” She thought his statement absurd.
“Mayhap not of ye, but,” David’s sentence was cut short by a large hand grabbing his shoulder.
“Good day to ye, Nora.” Wee William said as he held a death-grip on David’s shoulder. It was his way of warning the young man to not utter another word, lest he wanted to lose his arm from the shoulder down. David grimaced and tried to shrug the massive hand from his shoulder. It was immovable.
“Good day, William,” Nora replied. She noticed how red David’s face had become. “David, are you well?”
He swallowed hard and nodded his head. “Aye,” he said through gritted teeth. “Pulled a muscle while sparring with Rowan.”
“Mayhap you should have Isobel take a look at it.”
“Nay, lass. I’ll be well soon enough.” He cast a look over his shoulder at Wee William. “I’ll just be off to rest it now.”
Wee William let David go, giving him a firm slap on the back. “’Tis a verra good idea, lad.”
“Thank ye, lass, fer bringing the food. Looks like rain. Mayhap ye should get back to the keep,” Wee William said as he filled a tankard with ale. Rowan and Black Richard looked at him as though he’d lost his mind before quickly concealing their concern.
Nora looked up. It was a beautiful spring day, filled with bright sunshine. The brilliant blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds. There was not a rain cloud to be seen.
Either Wee William had gone daft or there was a hidden meaning to his message. Nora glanced at the men and realized they all had rather peculiar expressions. She supposed they were merely being kind, not wanting her exposed to more embarrassment such as men jumping into bushes and locking themselves behind doors. Pity, that is what she saw in their eyes.
She couldn’t take another moment of it. She spun on her heals and raced back toward the keep. Mayhap she had made a terrible mistake in coming here. Mayhap she should leave and try to find a home amongst another clan, or work at Scottish manor. Something, anything, but to remain here another day.
“Yer a damned fool, Wee William,” Rowan said when Nora was finally out of earshot. “A complete and utter fool and I be no’ afraid to say it to yer face.”
He placed himself in front of Wee William and crossed his arms over his chest. Black Richard and Daniel took up rank beside him. Death might be moments away but it mattered not to any of them. Wee William was causing Nora unnecessary pain and anguish, and all because he was too foolish to admit how he felt.
“I’d advise ye no’ to say a
nother word, Rowan,” Wee William said through gritted teeth.
“I tell no lies, Wee William and ye ken it! Ye canna let that poor girl continue to think the men here find her appearance appalling! ’Tisn’t right and ’tisn’t fair.”
“What the bloody hell are ye talkin’ about?” Wee William growled.
Rowan slapped his hand to his head in exasperation. “The men be so terrified ye’ll tear them limb from limb that they go out of their way to avoid her. They will no’ even bid her good day!”
“And what be yer point?” He wanted them afraid. He wanted them to understand without any doubt that he would tear them limb from limb if they took the slightest step out of line. He puffed out his chest, proud that his threats of slow, agonizing and painful deaths to any man who got near Nora were in fact working.
Rowan was quite tempted to pick up the table and beat his friend senseless with it. “Because of that, the lass thinks all the men here find her unappealing. Ugly. Unworthy of even a how do ye do.”
Regret filled Wee William’s heart. He hadn’t intended to hurt her feelings. There was nothing that wasn’t beautiful about her.
“So ye can see how I come to the conclusion that ye be a fool. The lass is broken hearted and all because ye be a fool and a coward.”
Wee William growled. “A coward?” He was furious. “How dare ye call me that!”
“Yer a coward because ye will no’ tell the lass how ye feel. Ye want her fer yerself, but are too afraid to say it. And ye will no’ let anyone else have her.” He took a step toward his foolish friend. “That is why I say yer a coward.”
Nora had decided to go to Aishlinn’s home instead of back to the keep. She and Aishlinn had become fast friends and a friend was exactly what she needed at the moment. She also did not want to have to explain her tears to anyone in the castle.
She sat now at Aishlinn’s table, her sobs finally subsiding. “So you see, Aishlinn, I must leave.”
Wee William's Woman, Book Three of the Clan MacDougall Series Page 20