Not all the guests could be seated inside the Kirk and a great number had to remain outside.
When she walked slowly up the aisle on the arm of the senior elder, she saw the Duke standing waiting for her and thought no one could be luckier or happier than she.
The Marriage Service was short, but spoken with a deep sincerity by the Minister, who had actually baptised Sheinna after she was born.
When they knelt for the Blessing, she felt sure that God had protected and looked after them both through so many dangers.
It was entirely due to Him that on this special day the Clans were forgetting all the past rancour and bitterness between them. In the future they would be friendly and work together for the good of Scotland.
The Duke had said much the same in the speech he had made at the wedding breakfast.
When they applauded him because, a little to their surprise, he had spoken so eloquently, more than one of his relatives declared,
“You will have to spend some time in the future speaking for Scotland in the House of Lords, Alpin. We are so desperately short of young men like you who really care for Scotland and our future well-being.”
“I will do everything I can,” the Duke promised.
Sheinna knew they were delighted with him and they were quite right in realising he had a way of speaking which made people not only listen but agree with him.
The pipers were still playing when, having changed their wedding clothes, the bride and bridegroom, now the Duke and Duchess of Barenlock, left the Castle by walking through the garden and down to the jetty where the Duke’s yacht was waiting for them.
It was decorated with flags and endless flowers and when she saw it, Sheinna gave a cry of delight.
“I did not think a yacht could look so beautiful,” she sighed.
“Everything has to be beautiful for you,” the Duke said, “because you are the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world!”
They smiled at each other before stepping aboard to receive the congratulations of the Captain and the crew.
When the yacht finally started to move away down the bay, the music of the pipes was heard long after the cheers and cries of ‘good luck and good fortune’ no longer reached them.
When at last they were well out to sea, the Duke suggested,
“Let’s go below. I so want to kiss you, my darling Sheinna, and tell you how much I love you, again and again and again.”
She smiled at him.
“That is what I want too, but there is plenty of time and I think for a few moments we must watch while we move away from Scotland and into a new world which we have made ours today. A world where there is only love and happiness.”
The Duke placed his arm round her and they stood gazing at the moors fading into the distance and had their last glimpse of the Castle.
Then she went below and found as she expected that the Master cabin, which was now hers, was decorated with white flowers and white heather.
“It’s so fantastic!” she exclaimed.
Closing the door behind him, the Duke sighed,
“And you are so fantastic too.”
He took the wreath from her head and then he was kissing her wildly and passionately.
“I love you. I love you,” he cried. “I cannot tell you how much until we have had dinner which the chef has specially prepared for us. Of course we will have to ask the Captain and the other Officers to drink our health.”
“I will join you in the Saloon in two minutes,” Sheinna promised.
Reluctantly he took his arms from around her.
“You are so magnificent that I want to shut you up in a cage so no one can go near you or see you except me!”
“If you do that, Alpin, you will be bored with me in a week!”
“I could never be bored with you, my darling one, in a thousand years.”
Because the dinner was so good and they had to thank the chef for it and then open their wedding presents that very touchingly the Captain and crew had given them, it was dark when they finally went below.
They had already sailed quite a long way South and the yacht stopped in a quiet bay and anchored there for the night.
The only hint to tell Sheinna that she was still at sea was the soft lap of the waves against the side of the yacht.
She was in bed with her fair hair falling over her shoulders when the Duke came into the Master cabin.
He was wearing a long dark rather military-looking robe.
For a moment he just sat down on the side of the bed and gazed at her.
“This is the second time, my darling, I have seen you in bed. Each time you look lovelier than you did before. I was thinking today when we were married that no man had ever had a more beautiful bride.”
“I want to look beautiful for you, Alpin, but you forget how handsome you are yourself in your family kilt and your special ancestral sporran.”
The Duke’s eyes twinkled.
“I can see I have a great deal to tell you about myself and it is something I will definitely enjoy.”
“So will I,” Sheinna enthused.
“And I will want to know everything about you,” he said. “But first I have to tell you how much I love you.”
“He took off his robe, slid into bed and pulled her close to him.
He felt the softness of her body melting into his and knew the love which consumed them both was making her tremble.
He could only thank God for all he had received today by making, if at all possible, others as happy as he and Sheinna were.
Then his arms tightened round her and he drew her closer and still closer to him.
“I just love and adore you,” he sighed. “The most thrilling moment of my life will be when I teach you all about love.”
“If I am ignorant in my mind about love, my heart is beating for you, Alpin, and I have never known such a wonderful feeling as the one which is now moving within my body.”
The Duke knew she was trying to put into words what was almost inexpressible.
Then he kissed her and went on kissing her until finally when he made her his, he knew that they had fought a strange and unusual battle to win each other.
But they had won.
Now their happiness would affect both their Clans, and the men and women in them would all benefit because they themselves were so happy.
“I adore you,” the Duke repeated. “But there are no words for me to tell you how much.”
“I love and worship you, my adorable husband. I love you with my heart, my mind and my body – they are all yours, Alpin.”
As the Duke felt the wonder of his love moving deeply within him, he knew that they touched the stars in Heaven.
They had received the Blessing of God because love comes from God, is part of God, and is always there for those who seek it.
As the waves lapped softly against the sides of the yacht, Sheinna whispered,
“I love you, oh my darling, wonderful Alpin, I love you, I adore you.”
“And I love you, Sheinna. You are mine, not only for now but for all Eternity.
And the yacht sailed on into the glorious Heaven that awaited them over the horizon.
Where to buy other titles in this series
The Barbara Cartland Pink collection is available for download at the following online bookshops :-
www.barnesandnoble.com - epub format for the Nook eReader
www.whsmith.co.uk - epub format for the Smiths/Kobo eReader
www.firstyfish.com - epub format
ebookstore.sony.com - epub format for Sony eReaders
www.amazon.co.uk - For UK Kindle users
www.amazon.com - For international Kindle users
itunes.apple.com - for Apple iOS users
www.barbaracartland.com - Printed paperbacks
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Love and the Clans Page 14