Nineteen #2
“You would let her do something so foolish?” Charlotte demanded.
In the golden light of the room’s many lamps, Miranda’s face softened.
“Yes…because that is what should have been done when I first announced I loved Alex. Instead, because of his Shawnee heritage, Father did everything he could to keep us apart.” She rested her hand on her growing belly.
“I won’t ever come between two people who love each other, over fear of the future. ”
Charlotte began ticking off on her fingers all her concerns. “He doesn’t know where he is going. He has a price on his head…” And looking at Gordon, she asked him directly, “Do you have any means to even support a wife?”
“I have nothing save for the clothes on my back,” he said proudly. “And a good education in law.”
“He has nothing,” Charlotte affirmed, ignoring his education.
“He has me,” Constance said. “And our baby.”
If she’d landed a punch in Gordon’s face, she couldn’t have surprised him more. He picked her up. “Constance? Truly?”
She nodded. His laughter rang to the room’s high ceiling. She placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him. She had to. Seeing him this joyful over her news was a blessing. Her heart brimmed with love for him.
But then he sobered and set her down. “Your sister is right. You need to stay here. I’ll not have any danger come to you.”
He would have turned and walked out of the room save for her grabbing his arm at the elbow and turning him around.
“You have no right to make that decision,” she told him.
“This baby and I belong with you. And the baby will thrive. Look at my sisters and me. Our parents had nothing but we survived and we are stronger for it.”
“You deserve better,” Gordon told her. “Let me go and make a home for us and then I’ll send for you.”
“Wherever you are is my home,” Constance answered, refusing to concede.
Gordon started to shake his head when help came from a surprising corner.
“She’s right,” Charlotte said. The tension had eased from her face.
In its place was sad resignation. “I misspoke myself. I worry for my sister…but Miranda is right. Constance doesn’t remember our mother.
I do. She was always singing. She radiated happiness.
And Father was a very different man back then. A kind one.”
She came over to Constance. “I want you safe. But I know I would follow Phillip anywhere. For a moment I forgot the example of our parents. I’ve been so focused on wanting the very best for you, I may have overstepped myself. I hope you forgive me,” she said. “I raised those objections—”
“Because you are my oldest sister,” Constance finished for her.
She offered a hand to bring Miranda closer.
Taking Charlotte’s hand, she said, “The three of us have always formed an unbreakable chain because of our love for each other. It saved our lives that one night. And we’ve helped each other over the years, especially when Father would be so angry.
I’m going with Gordon…but that doesn’t mean the bond between us can ever be broken.
It’s just grown stronger because we’ve included more people to love. ”
At her words, Miranda and Charlotte turned to their respective husbands, taking their hands. The chain grew as Justin and Francesca, Grace and Fiona, were included.
“I’m going to miss you,” Charlotte told Constance. It was a simple, heartfelt statement.
“And I you, but this is what I must do.”
Alex spoke. Addressing Gordon, he said, “Where do you want to go? I have ships. I will have you out of London on the morning tide.”
Gordon looked at Constance a moment before saying, “I want to go to America. I want to see this valley of Constance’s. She tells me it is the land of milk and honey.”
“And Indians,” Charlotte added.
“But we will find peace there,” Gordon predicted. “And a future.”
With those words, he drew the Sword of the MacKenna from its scabbard. “Here,” he said to Justin. “Take it. Protect and keep it from ever being used again in war.”
Justin took the sword. “I shall see the matter done.” Picking up a letter opener on a the side desk, he began working at the rubies in the sword’s hilt. Prying one loose, he handed it to Gordon. “Take this. You’ve earned it. Let it be the beginning of your stake in America.”
“I won’t take it,” Gordon said. “Give this to my clansmen who now claim you as chieftain.”
“Constance has a dowry,” Phillip reminded them. “A generous one. Do you other gentlemen wish it to go to Lachlan?”
“Yes,” Alex said.
“I have always thought of Gordon as a brother in the clan,” Justin responded.
“Then we are agreed,” Phillip said, turning to Gordon. “I shall settle the funds in an account for you to draw on when you are ready.”
“Thank you,” Gordon answered.
Prying out the seven other bloodred stones, Justin said, “And what of the rubies? What shall be done with them?”
Fiona spoke up. “They belong to the clan.”
Gordon nodded, and Justin said, “I shall see that the stones go to the others.” He held the sword up.
“It loses some of its power when they are missing, doesn’t it?
It becomes nothing more than metal.” He walked over to the hearth and stuck the sword’s blade in the fire.
The smell of heating steel filled the air.
Gordon turned to Constance. “Let me have your left hand, the one that runs to your heart.” Taking it, he said, “There will be no time for banns or parsons, but I handfast myself, Gordon Edward Lachlan, to you, Constance Cameron. I pledge my heart and my troth. And as soon as our ship docks, I shall speak these words in a house of God.”
“And I pledge my heart to you,” Constance said. “You will be the father of my children and I shall be the best of wives.”
“Will you love me, Constance? Honor me? Obey?” Gordon asked.
For a second Constance almost said yes…but then smiled. “We’ll have an ocean voyage over which to discuss the details. But, yes, I shall always love you, and with that love comes honor, my noble man.”
“That’s enough for me,” he said, and kissed her. They took their time about it. When she’d thought she’d lost him, Constance had dreamed of his kisses. She would not deny herself now. It took Phillip clearing his voice to make them reluctantly pull away.
“We’re handfasted,” Gordon whispered. “Our hearts are joined.”
“Yes,” Constance agreed, her smile widening. No one and no cause would ever part them again.
Justin pulled the now hot blade from the fire. “Here is the Sword of the MacKenna,” he said, his voice somber, respectful. “This sword was once used to encourage me to murder my brother. No longer.” He swung the sword and struck it against the stone fireplace. The metal bent.
He turned and offered it to his twin Phillip. “Here’s to peace,” Phillip said, and brought the bent blade on the stone, crumpling it further. Phillip offered the sword to Gordon.
“Yes, to peace,” Gordon agreed. He swung the blade so hard it bent at an angle, rendering it unusable, then said to Alex, “Would you like a turn?”
“I would.” Alex held the sword out and said some soft words in Shawnee.
“What is he saying?” Constance asked Miranda, who shook her head.
Alex swung back the sword and brought it back against the stone, smashing the sharp edge of the blade. He faced them with the mangled remains of what had been a warrior’s weapon. “This blade will claim no more lives,” he said, and threw the sword into the fire.
For a long moment they watched the flames lick and lay waste to the sword’s leather and gold trimmings.
Then Alex said to Gordon and Constance, “We should leave.”