“Right ye are. I’ll be in me own room later if ye’d like to dress me wounds,” Conall suggested.
Georgina bristled at the comment but chose to let it go and exit the door anyway. She had no desire to be in Conall’s presence anymore.
“Why do ye have to go and be like that with her every time?” Marcas asked once Georgina was out of ear shot.
“Because she ought to ken her options.”
“She's made a choice.”
“And people often change their choices. Dinnae act like ye’re all innocent and blame it on her. Ye ken I’m in love with her too. It’s no right that I never had a fair shot with her,” Conall said.
“Ye had the same as me. More in fact. She rode with ye from the start. But ye couldnae handle her sensitivity. Ye ken exactly why ye lost out on her. So, stop yer complaining and be a man,” Marcas said.
It was risky to speak so bluntly to a laird, even his own brother. But Marcas had had enough of the victim thinking exhibited by his brother.
“Ach aye, ye ken I’m man enough for the likes of anybody. So here we are then. Time to move forward,” Conall said, as if he thought he could really drop the situation so suddenly.
The brothers went on to talk of other issues, like telling the wives and parents of the fallen soldiers and how Conall didn’t know how their father had managed to do it. They recounted the pains of the battlefield and ultimately, how to strategize in the future.
But Marcas could not help noticing that there remained angry hate in Conall’s eye. It wasn’t merely his hatred for the British — it seemed to be directed at him.
He wondered if they ever might manage to move past this. Would it be like this forever?
No matter how they tried to talk around it, it was clear that Conall could not bring himself to forgive Marcas and Georgina. For Marcas, the fear remained that this might be between the brothers for the rest of their lives.
Instead of thinking more on what he could not change in his brother’s mind, Marcas thought longingly of Georgina. She kept him going whenever things became difficult and lately, they had been extremely difficult.
Between battles and rescuing doomed maidens, Marcas wondered how he had pushed through the injuries and the stress caused by so much drama.
Yes, it was Georgina who had gotten him through. Nothing else seemed to matter in the world. He thought of her lips, her eyes, her pale skin…her legs.
Marcas realized that he had to stop thinking of her body in that moment as he was not in a place to handle any desires that came over him. He could think about her, but he couldn’t think in too much detail.
He would see her soon, however. Surely in the morning he would see her.
Chapter 29
Georgina woke early the next morning, making herself ready so that she might see Marcas the moment he was willing to have her. She practiced in her mind how she would suggest the need to change his bandages, but she knew that what she wanted was just to be with him.
The day before, despite their lack of coupling, had been marvelous. Resting in Marcas’ arms was a beautiful dream. When she had woken beside Conall all those weeks ago, nothing inside her felt as she had yesterday.
She wondered when Marcas might ask her father for her hand in marriage. She still had not written him any reply as she did not yet have the words to do so. Wondering if perhaps it didn’t matter what she said anyway, Georgina decided to try.
Her first attempt sounded petulant and childish, begging her father to give her grace in her relationship to Marcas as if she were asking him for a pony. She also knew that this would only make him furious in wondering whether or not Marcas had touched her.
She could not put her love in such a place.
Grabbing another sheet of paper, Georgina tried again. This attempt came out a little better. She informed her father that there would be no circumstance under which she would be willing to marry Bolton and she hoped that he understood.
She also asked that he consider the fact that she had found love and it was a most advantageous match as the man was the brother of someone with status and a high rank.
No doubt, her father would figure out that by this she meant the Laird’s brother and he would not remotely consider this an advantageous match. But in England, title was everything and laird was at least a title.
Finalizing the letter and signing it with her love, Georgina figured it would have to do. Surely her father would still not approve but it was something.
Just as she finished, a soft knock, so unlike Conall’s, sounded on her door. The person on the other side waited.
“Come in,” she said.
Fiona entered, smiling in pride at her own, newfound manners. She had been trying to show Georgina what the English believed to be common courtesies.
“My goodness, what a lady you are becoming!” Georgina teased, invoking a laugh from Fiona.
“Aye right! A lady and a pretty little English princess!” Fiona said, giving the last two words her mock English accent.
“Forgive me for leaving you yesterday. Once the men came home I suppose everything was a bit of a distraction,” Georgina said.
“Aye, true that is. And ye have nothing to worry about. In fact, I’m quite glad ye did leave me because something happened once ye were gone and I’ve been dying to tell ye ever since,” Fiona said.
“Oh? Please, do tell!” Georgina said with her eyes widening in excitement.
“Hmm…perhaps it wouldn’t be…proper,” Fiona teased, trying to build the suspense. “And we both ken I’m a proper lady now.”
“Oh, do come on. You cannot leave me in the dark forever. Tell me, what is it that has you beaming so?”
“Well, once ye and me brother left to…do whatever it was ye did…I walked with Alpin for a wee ways. We crossed through the field and finally decided tae sit for a bit in the meadow. He wanted tae rest but said he had tae be away from the castle.
“Well there we were, just sitting and no' speaking much of anything, when finally, he looks at me and he says, ‘Ye ken, I’ve had a pretty shocking realization about ye,’ and I turned back to him. I waited for the longest time for him to say something more.”
“And did he?” Georgina asked, hoping desperately to hear the desired end of the story.
“Nothing. Not a word. Instead, he put a hand on me face, leaned in and planted a gorgeous kiss right on me lips. I tell ye, I’ve never felt anything like it before. Then he stood, and I followed and we returned tae the castle in silence,” Fiona said, finishing the story.
“Truly? Nothing more?” Georgina asked with slight disappointment.
Fiona’s face momentarily sparked a frown. “Nothing more.”
“Perhaps that is because Alpin has realized that you are not like other girls in his eyes. For you, he wishes to take care with his actions, to make the right move at the right time. He has far more in his heart for you than he has ever had for another,” Georgina reasoned.
“Maybe. I dinnae ken, lass. It was magical. I can only hope that it will nae be the last of it, ye ken?”
“I know, Fiona. Trust me. I had hoped for more yesterday as well, but it didn't happen. In fact, I’m quite certain that after I bandaged his wounds, Marcas and I only had one kiss as well. Not that it’s a counting game, but I do understand the disappointment when a man only partially opens himself to you,” Georgina said.
“I’m quite certain he has already opened a bit more than that to ye though,” Fiona replied.
“Yes, just the once. Anyway, it is a good sign with Alpin. It is a sign that he is finally recognizing how he feels about you and he finally sees you as more than the sister of his friends. I suspect he has felt this way for quite some time and is only just discovering for himself that he desired this all along. Be patient with him,” Georgina urged.
“If ye really believe that then I suppose I ought to try to believe it as well!” Fiona said.
“In the meantime, we ought to think of ways to e
ase their burdens now that they're back from war. I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that none of them are quite the same,” Georgina said.
“Dinnae worry yerself. They are always like this for the first couple days. They are grieving the loss of their friends, an' they are grieving that they have women coming up to them day in and out asking for confirmation that their husbands were brave before taking that sword in the chest. It’s a burden and it’s always like this.”
“How do they recover?” Georgina asked.
“Ale, typically. After a day or two, they come together with the whole of the clan and we honor those who were lost. The men drink more drams than ye’ve ever seen in yer life, and the next day, they are ready tae do battle all over again,” Fiona answered.
“Well then, I suppose we shall just wait it out?”
“That is what I’ve always found tae be the best. Me faither was the same. He was always burdened after the battles and it was all over his face but once they drank to the memory of the fallen, all became well.”
“The English really have caused a lot of trouble, have we not?” Georgina asked in concern.
“Dinnae count yerself among them, but aye, they really have. Perhaps one day there will be some semblance of peace, but Scotsmen typically dinnae ferget and our enemies have tae work rather hard to get back in our good graces. So, I dinnae think there’s all that much hope fer them,” Fiona said.
“That leaves me rather sad, indeed. Marcas told me he wishes to ask my father’s permission to marry me. Now that your brother have burned the bridges the clan had built with the Earl of Aylesford, I cannot help but wonder if it would ever be accepted,” Georgina said.
“Likely it will nae. But that doesnae mean ye shouldnae try. And Marcus loves ye enough to fight the rejection and make ye his anyway. Conall certainly wishes tae give it a go also but I think he’s seen now that he’s lost his chance with ye for good,” Fiona said.
“Really?” Georgina asked. She was hopeful that she might be able to move on with Marcas now but there were still so many complex feelings she had with Conall.
He was the laird and that left her with a twinge of fear. He was also the man who had rescued her from her marriage to Bolton and again from the asylum. She owed him a great debt. But his constant suggestions and his pride continued to eat away at her.
“Really. He came tae see me last evening after he finished his rounds with the families of the dead, and we chatted fer a bit. He loves ye, truly. But he doesnae show it the same as Marcas and I dinnae think he’s the type of man that ye desire.
“He's me brother and I love him, but he’s different than Marcas and ye’ve seen that. It’s going tae be a different woman who wants tae be with him and he’s got tae just be patient with that,” Fiona said.
“Yes. He is a great man, but he is not the one I wish to be with. Marcas is unlike any other man I have ever met. Do not misunderstand me, we English really are a prudish lot and I haven’t exactly had a lot of experience with eligible men. But I have never seen or interacted with anyone close to Marcas,” Georgina explained.
“Once ye meet a McGowan, there's nothing else like it, right?” Fiona laughed.
“Oh, you have no idea how true that is!”
“I cannae imagine being such with an English git. No offense. Ye ken what I mean. I dinnae even consider ye English, really. Ye’re way too good for that. Ye’re beyond them. Is that rude?” Fiona asked.
Georgina laughed. “Yes, it is extremely rude, but I know what you mean, and I don't mind it one bit.”
“Right then, thank ye for the grace!” Fiona replied.
“So, what are you doing up this early?” Georgina asked, changing the subject.
Fiona looked at her shyly.
“I’m making myself ready in case a certain gentleman should happen tae wake. And ye?”
“Exactly the same thing…”
“I told ye, we’re not so different after all,” Fiona said.
“Right you are. Both hopelessly devoted to our men and eager to greet them when they wake. I can only hope that Alpin will grow past his newfound shyness with you today,” Georgina said.
“And I can only hope that Conall will get over ye and let ye and Marcas be at peace,” Fiona replied.
“You think he ever will?” she asked.
Fiona hesitated. “Honestly, lass, he's always been great with a grudge.”
The familiar ache of dread passed through Georgina again, wondering if this was likely to pass or if she would remain in fear of the Laird for the days to come.
Chapter 30
Marcas held still as Georgina cleaned and wrapped his injury. It had become strangely enjoyable for him to have her as his personal nurse, aiding him every time he returned from a fight. It was charming and energizing.
He was beginning to feel a little more like himself now that he was back and rested. Georgina’s presence was a comfort to him, although he hadn’t known how to express it to her the day before.
“Petal, thank ye for taking care of me,” he said.
Georgina looked at him with her big eyes and a smiled.
“Thank you for protecting us! What kind of woman would I be if I didn’t take care of you in the midst of your wounds? This is what we are here for. To care for one another,” she reassured him.
Marcas warmed at the fact that she so evidently thought him a great protector. His pride swelled in satisfaction that he was indeed a great hero. And it was all worth it to see her safe.
“Darling,” she began. “Do you think your brother has accepted us? Do you think that he is content with our being together?”
Marcas was quiet.
“Honestly, lass, I dinnae think he ever will be. It’s a bit much for me mind right now. I’ve got a lot happening up here. Do you care if we put off that conversation?” he asked. Yes, he was feeling more himself, but he also didn’t want to think any more about Conall’s affections for Georgina and the divide it had caused.
“Of course, love. There is no need to speak of it now,” she said with resignation.
Once his wounds were wrapped, Georgina leaned back, positioning herself so that her chest stuck out temptingly. She had missed the feel of Marcas and hoped he might understand her desire to be with him again.
“Ye bewitch me,” he said gently, gazing at her form. “An’ there is a part of me…a growing part,” he insinuated, “that would love nothing more than to cast a spell together. But, lass, be patient with me just now.”
Georgina nodded, plastering a smile over her disappointment. Why was he not interested in repeating the experience? Had she not been good for him? Was her lack of knowledge in the ways of men too much for him to handle again so soon?
His eyes gazed at her again in a way that left her confident it was no such thing as that.
“If ye dinnae mind, can ye wait outside while I dunk meself in some cold water and then we can make for tea?” he requested.
Georgina gave a small laugh and exited to the hall while Marcas made for the bathing room. Once inside he readied himself to be seen by the world.
He had spent much of the day resting but he knew he needed his bandages changed and he was missing Georgina fiercely. Once he sent for her, he knew he would have to push aside his wants, at least until after the evening’s feast in honor of the dead.
Perhaps after that, he could bring her back to his room. Of course, no doubt by then he would be completely drunk out of his mind. Would that bother her? To make love to him in such a sloppy state?
He would have to wait and see what the night brought. For now, he put on a clean kilt and dressed himself in his full McGowan uniform.
He opened the door to leave and saw Georgina sitting on the stairs waiting for him. She stood immediately and gazed at him in his full kit.
“You look like a hero,” she said.
“And ye look like me future bride,” he replied, making her smile widen further.
“Shall we make o
ur way to the feast?” she asked.
“Absolutely. I’m famished.”
Marcas took her hand and led her down the stairs and into the hall used for clan feasts. It was magnificent, covered with ornate carvings and all sorts of Celtic knots that Georgina had seen more of, the further into the highlands she went.
Already the hall was filling with hundreds of people, ready to say a proper goodbye to those who had fallen. At the front was a table reserved for the Laird and his family, so Marcas led the way to where he and Georgina would sit just on the other side of Fiona.
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