“You’ve never done that before, I didn’t know where you went, or what to do”, Mary said as she reached up to touch my cheek.
“Ah Mary, ye are married to an idiot, but an idiot that loves ye”, and I bent my head to kiss her gently, before showing her how much I loved her. Our lovemaking was gentle and slow, and I looked into Mary’s eyes as we climaxed together
Mary.
The next morning as I entered the hall for the morning meal, Donald approached me and picked me up in a great big bear hug. When he set me down I could see that he had not had much sleep, and I smelled wine on him. This was very unusual for Donald. Although he enjoyed his drink as much as any of the men, I had never known him to stay up late, or all night, drinking before. His next words told me that he had seen Liam the night before after Liam had left our room.
“Congratulations, Mary. I am so happy for ye. Have ye told Ma yet?”
“What has Mary told me?” said Patrice, coming up behind Donald with a confused look on her face. I slapped Donald on the arm, angry with him for giving away our secret so soon. Liam took pity on me then, pulling me from Donald’s embrace and tucking me close under his arm.
“We would have liked to wait a bit longer before telling anyone, but it appears that Donald has made that impossible. Mary may be with child-“
Liam did not get to finish as with a great squeal, Patrice pulled me into her arms.
“My first grandchild, this is so exciting, when will it be?” and Patrice then pulled me away from the men, chattering excitedly.
The day passed in a blur of congratulations, with several people regarding me critically, obviously wondering when I would show. Even Eleanor came up to me quietly to congratulate me. I was very interested to note that Donald could not seem to take his eyes off Eleanor, wherever she went, his eyes followed, and I realised then the reason for his appearance that morning. I also noticed that Eleanor did not seem indifferent to Donald, and I wondered if there was any way that I could arrange for them to be together, but unfortunately it was not to be.
Liam’s father wanted Eleanor returned to her family as soon as possible, as he did not want trouble to recur, having just settled with the McDonnells after the last round of trouble. So he arranged for Eleanor to leave the next day, arranging for several of the men to be her guard, and for two maids to travel with the party to ensure that her family could not fault our treatment of her. Obviously Liam’s parents had also noted Donald’s interest in Eleanor, for they sent Liam and Ian as representatives of our family, and asked Donald to stay at home as part of the home guard. I bid Liam goodbye as the party left, they only expected to be away for four or five days, but it was still difficult to part from him, while remembering what had happened last time he had ventured onto McDonnell lands. Eleanor seemed happy to be going home, she had finally realised that she was not a prisoner, but was still angry to have to leave her horse behind, but on this, Liam’s father would not change his mind.
Three days after the party left, I was working in the herb garden when I heard a commotion outside, so rushed to see what it was all about. As I walked to the front of the keep, I noticed that men were running for the armoury and the guard on the battlements was yelling excitedly to people below. I stepped up to Patrice.
“What is it?” I asked as I wiped my hands on a cloth.
“The watch has sent word that a party of warriors approaches. They have an unfamiliar banner, so we do not know who they are, but we are preparing to defend ourselves. It is such bad timing, for them to come now, when we have a party of warriors away from the keep. I just hope that Liam’s party do not return early and stumble across these men unawares”.
As I clutched my stomach in fear, I saw Donald riding out to speak with the unknown party. I raced up the steps of the battlement, fearing for his safety, especially when I saw the mounted group that had stopped, waiting for him. I could see a large number of warriors, with several of the men in front wearing armour. As the leaders had face plates, I could not see what they looked like, but I stared at the banner that was being held aloft by one of the men, something tugging at my memory. All of a sudden, I realised what appeared to be familiar, and my hand went to my mouth in horror. No, it could not be, not now.
I raced back down the steps, and past Patrice into the house. I knew that Liam kept a small sword under the bed, one that I could handle, and he had shown me how to use it. I pulled the sword out and withdrew it from the scabbard, before leaving the room and creeping down the stairs again. As I approached the hall, I saw Donald walking through the door, accompanied by a knight in mail. I stood there with the sword held out in front of me, wondering why Donald had let these men into the keep, and tried to project confidence in my voice.
“Donald, step to the side, don’t you know who these men are? Why have you let them in?”
As the knight started to remove his helmet, I widened my stance. Fortunately he was the only one in the hall, but I knew the others would not be far. When the knight removed his helmet fully from his face, I let the sword fall to the floor with a clatter before launching myself at him.
“D’arcy!” his arms went around me and he hugged me so tight that I could no longer breathe. As I stood back from him, looking into his face and laughing, I heard Donald behind me grumbling about my disrespect for Liam’s sword. I quickly glanced at Donald as he was inspecting the weapon, then turned back to D’arcy.
“Why are you here? Dressed like that? I am so happy to see you D’arcy, but I have so many questions”.
D’arcy laughed as he put his hands on my arms and held me a little apart from himself.
“So many questions Mary! Aren’t you happy to see me? I told you I would be back. Is Liam around?”
“No, he is away, he should be back in a day or two, can you stay?”
Donald spoke up then.
“Of course he will stay, if ye come with me, D’arcy, I will show ye to a chamber ye can use while ye are with us. I think the chamber Eleanor was using should be ready again, it is funny as it was the chamber that Mary herself used to use”.
At this D’arcy, who had started following Donald, stopped and turned to look at me.
“Why are you no longer using the chamber, Mary? I have no wish to turn you from your bed, I will sleep in the barracks with my men if the house is full”.
I moved to reassure D’arcy, realising that of course he didn’t know.
“I no longer use that chamber any more D’arcy. Liam and I are married now”.
Liam.
I began to relax as the keep came into view. It had been an interesting trip, and had left me with a lot to think about, but I was anxious to get home. Eleanor had peppered me with questions about Donald, and I had been hard pressed to keep the smile off my face as I answered them. I sighed as I thought about Donald and Eleanor. Clearly they were attracted to each other, but it was a difficult situation. It was also not my problem. I would tell Donald that I thought Eleanor was attracted to him if he asked, but he would have to work out how to make an approach to her, if that is what he wanted to do. My more pressing concerns were with Mary. By my calculations we had eight months until the babe came, and I wanted to make this time as easy for her as possible, and I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Bridget. My thoughts were interrupted by a rider who was approaching us at great speed from the keep. I drew up my horse, breathing heavily at the thought that something was wrong, but long experience had taught me not to rush into anything without assessing the dangers first, so I would wait to hear what he had to say.
“Liam, D’arcy has returned, and he has brought a host of warriors with him. They arrived the day before yesterday, and we have been watching for ye to return. He wants to speak with ye before he leaves again”. After delivering his news, Stewart started turning his horse around, expecting that I would quicken my speed towards home, and he was not wrong.
My mouth set in a grim line, I urged my horse forward, and on reaching the steps of
the house, I dismounted, throwing the reins to whoever it was who stood nearby and strode inside. As much as I liked D’arcy, if he had thought to return to claim Mary, he was going to have a fight on his hands. As it happened, the house appeared empty, and then it registered that I could hear the sounds of swords clashing. I strode to the lists, and was angered to see Mary among the women watching the practice. Was she ogling D’arcy? Mary turned at my approach, and my temper cooled a little when I saw the happiness on her face as she looked at me.
“Liam, you’re home!” she exclaimed as she threw herself into my arms. I pulled her into the circle of my embrace and buried my nose in her hair, drawing in her scent. She pulled away.
“Did you know that D’arcy is here? Of course you do, someone must have ridden out to tell you. Oh, here he is now”.
I looked up as D’arcy approached and turned Mary to the side, keeping hold of her as I reached out my hand to clasp his. I nodded at him warily.
“D’arcy, it’s good to see ye, but what brings ye here?”
D’arcy regarded me with a small smile on his face.
“I told Mary that I would come back and I did. It took me longer than I had hoped, but it appears she has been happy to be here. I hear congratulations are in order. Not only are the two of you obviously happy together, but I hear you will be welcoming a child of your own soon. I am so pleased that everything is going so well for you both”.
I looked at D’arcy in confusion. His face had nothing but openness, he did appear genuinely happy for Mary and myself. Yet he had come all this way. I shook my head slightly as I tried to understand the strange relationship that D’arcy and Mary had. D’arcy looked at me with a slight smile on his face. D’arcy knew that I was confused and he was enjoying my confusion.
There was no time that day for a private talk with D’arcy. The evening meal was interesting, I had to hide a smile as my mother’s machinations became so plain that they could not be ignored. Not only was Mary seated next to me, but somehow D’arcy was seated in between both my parents, where there was no opportunity for him to speak to Mary. He raised his glass to me as he caught my eye, clearly D’arcy was just as aware as I was as to what my mother was up to. Not wanting to disappoint my mother who was clearly worried that D’arcy was here to try to steal Mary away, and who had thrown out some very broad hints about how tired I must be after my journey, Mary and I retired early to our chamber.
As I helped Mary off with her clothing, something that I knew she was perfectly capable of doing without my assistance, but which I enjoyed attending to anyway, I smiled as Mary sighed.
“Liam, you know I love your mother, but could she have been more obvious tonight? I am not going to run off with D’arcy, but she doesn’t seem to understand that. Can you talk to her tomorrow?”
“Mary, do ye not understand that the last thing I want to do when I am thinking about bedding my beautiful wife is talk about my mother? Can we leave that until tomorrow?”
Mary laughed and tugged at my hose, leading me over to the bed and making me forget whatever it was we had been speaking about.
The next morning, I woke up early, deciding to speak to D’arcy today. I crept out of bed, taking care not to wake Mary, and knocked on D’arcy’s door softly. D’arcy appeared, fully dressed. Apparently he had the same thoughts as I, and we saddled two horses to go riding together, not speaking until we were away from the keep as we did not want to wake up anyone in the family who might then want to accompany us.
I headed towards my favourite spot to think, a smile twisting my face as I remembered how it was at this spot that I had first introduced Mary to the pleasures I could wring from her with my mouth. The ground was much colder now than it was then, but for a few moments I enjoyed reliving those memories.
“What are you thinking of Liam? You have such a broad smile on your face, it must be something good”. D’arcy twisted in his saddle to look at me.
I dismounted, using the time to gather my thoughts as I prepared to answer him. Obviously I would not tell him the whole story of why this place was special to me.
“I proposed to Mary here. This place has fond memories. Now, I want to know what yer intentions are. I know ye said ye were going to return, but we did not expect ye to bring a company of men with ye. Ye have my mother in a panic that ye are going to try to take Mary away, and take away her grandchild at the same time”.
D’arcy smiled as he sat on the ground. He turned to look at me standing there before him and indicated that I should sit too. As I hesitated, he shrugged and continued.
“If I asked Mary to leave with me, would she?”
I crossed my arms and stared at D’arcy. He did not seem concerned about the question he had raised, his relaxed posture was at odds with his taunting words.
“Mary loves me. She will stay. But if ye ask her, it will hurt her to have to choose, because she loves ye too, but in a different way. I do not understand what is between ye, but it is not enough to make her leave the husband she loves, yet it would tear her apart to have to make such a choice. But why have ye brought all the men? I don’t think ye were planning to take her by force”.
Sighing as he realised that I was not going to sit, D’arcy stood and brushed himself off.
“Liam, let me start by telling you what happened when I left. I returned to my father’s home, as you know, to find him close to death. He lasted a few weeks, and then after his death and the burial, I assumed my place as Lord Lescelles. I knew when I left that Mary was already half in love with you, and I suspected that you returned her feelings, even if you did not know it then. So I was not surprised when I arrived and Mary told me that you were married. I brought my men with me as we are going to travel across the continent to go to the Holy War. If Mary had decided to come with me, I would have changed my plans, but I did not expect that there would be any need for that, and I was not wrong, so I will shortly take my leave of you and be on my way. I am flattered, by the way, by your mother’s fears. It has been quite amusing to watch her attempts to keep Mary and myself apart since I arrived”.
I reeled back. This was not going as I thought.
“So, after ye took Mary home, would ye then turn to the wars? Would ye just take Mary away, and leave her alone again? How could ye do that? Do ye not understand how passionate a woman she is, how much she loves being a part of a family, of a community? Could ye have left her with people she doesn’t know, and from all that I have heard, in a house where she would have only known fear?”
D’arcy scrubbed the back of his neck, and exhaled hard.
“I know Mary was afraid of my father, but he is gone now. I have already dispensed with the staff who took pleasure in running the estate by fear and by cowing those who were powerless to defend themselves, and have started replacing them with more worthy people. That is why it has taken me so long to return. If Mary had chosen to return to my home, then she would have been able to help me oversee the rebuilding of my estate to something in which we could be proud, instead of ashamed, to run”.
“And what would she have been to ye? A housekeeper, a bedwarmer, or a wife?”
“I would have married Mary, and we would have had a proper marriage. You saw what happened to her when she was left a childless widow, I would not have risked leaving her like that again. If she had borne a son, she would have been able to remain in my home to raise him to adulthood, instead of being at the mercy of relatives as happened to her in the past”.
At the thought of D’arcy bedding Mary, my temper began rising. I thought of him touching her as I liked to touch her, and putting his babe in her belly, where mine was now growing. I began to feel the rage of jealousy, but then somehow my mind held sway over my emotions as I realised that there was something about the whole story that did not ring true.
“So ye would have married her, then? And then what? Ye have known her for ten years, ye seem to be very close friends and yet I know ye were never more than that, and yet ye expect me to
believe the story ye tell me now?”
“Liam, I understand you don’t want to think of another man loving Mary, seeing as she is now your wife but -“
“I know she was a maiden, D’arcy, and I don’t understand how that can be. Whatever passed, or did not pass, between Mary and her husband, it is clear that ye were never attracted enough to her to forget that she was a married woman. Ten years, D’arcy. If ye could keep yer hands off her for ten years, and ye do not seem disappointed that she is married now, how do ye expect me to believe that ye and she could be husband and wife?”
D’arcy’s eyes grew wide as I spoke, and he took a step backwards as if I had struck him. I took a step forwards, thinking that he was somehow hurt, but he waved me away.
“What did Mary tell you? About her husband? Did you ask why she was still chaste?”
“Mary refused to speak to me of it, except to tell me that her husband was an invalid in the last year of their marriage, but that does not explain what happened before that, or what did not happen. I understand that she was very young when they first married, and maybe her husband was wary of her age, but there must have been a time when he realised she was not a child anymore. I just do not understand ye, or maybe I cannot understand ye because I know that if I had been in yer position I would not have been able to see Mary every day and behave as if she meant nothing to me. I would have had to leave, or I would have dishonoured us both. If she does not move you that way, how could you contemplate marrying her? Take it from me that a marriage without any spark is no marriage at all”.
D’arcy’s head had hung low while I spoke of Mary, but he raised his head and stared me in the eyes before taking a deep breath and speaking.
Taken by a Highland Raider Page 17