Chapter 12
Erik stood on the cliff edge and watched the birlinn carrying Fiona and the men with her sailing back to Ross. He could make out some of the men, but did not see her. His belly hollowed. Where was Fiona? Had she stayed behind?
As the ship drew closer and slipped between the rocks guarding the Ross cove, he finally spotted her, sitting aft and staring out at the firth they’d just traversed, not forward at Ross and her homecoming.
Her position gave him even more cause to regret letting her leave three days ago without a farewell from him.
He’d been angry and, yes, hurt after their argument, embarrassed that she intended to use her own possessions to buy for the clan more than he believed they could afford.
Was that even true? She’d never shown him any jewelry or claimed to have any wealth of any sort.
But would Cook have gone along with deceiving him like that?
He doubted it now, but at the time, he had gone down to the beach and slept in one of the fishing boats the clan kept there.
And today, he would have to face the consequences of his actions. As he descended the cliff path, he wondered if Fiona would come to him? Would she accept his help alighting from the birlinn? Would she even look at him, much less take his hand or speak to him?
Suddenly, cold chills ran down his back. Nerves he usually felt only before a battle began assailed him now. Was he going to have to fight for his bride? His body anticipated a battle. What about his mind? And his heart?
He held his ground, though in truth, he was tempted to climb back into the boat he slept in two nights ago and pull a blanket over him. Let her pass by, and confront her in the privacy of their cot. What was he doing here, facing her down in public?
Would she destroy him by confirming as true the rumors swirling in the clan that she’d wanted a liaison with one of the guards who accompanied her? That the trip gave them the perfect opportunity? Would she lie and deny cuckolding him?
And who had spread the rumors that eventually reached him?
Were they lies started by Donas’ remaining supporters?
No one admitted to knowing where the tale came from.
He should doubt it, but he dared not. He needed heirs that were his blood, not some random Ross guard’s.
Fiona objected to his violent streak, but if he found out the rumors were true, he swore he’d kill the man with his bare hands.
He realized he’d worked himself into a rage again. He was in no frame of mind to greet his possibly straying wife. Before the birlinn landed, he whirled and climbed the cliff path, then marched into their cottage. Let her find him here and deal with him in private.
Though in truth, he’d just made a fool of both of them, storming away as she approached.
Everyone who knew the rumor would assume he believed it and could not bear to face her.
Their effectiveness as laird and lady was ruined.
If he’d stayed and put a brave face on the situation, he might have saved both of them the humiliation, but his temper had damaged him yet again.
And this time, if she’d seen him standing on the beach, he had hurt Fiona, too.
And of course she had. Or seen him climbing up the cliff path.
She’d wonder why he’d abandoned her. Unless she already knew.
A knife to the gut would have hurt less. And she hadn’t even confirmed the rumor. Yet.
She arrived a little while later, opened the door and came in, throwing a shaft of late afternoon sunlight across the room, and calling his name. “Erik? Are ye here? Why did ye leave the beach so suddenly. I saw ye and in the next moment, ye were gone.”
She sounded innocent. And concerned about him. Was she that good of a liar?
He stood from where he waited in the shadows. “Welcome home, Fiona. How was yer journey?”
She came to him, but stopped just shy of touching him. “What is wrong, husband? Why did ye no’ say goodbye when we left, or meet me on the beach just now?”
He didn’t want to say the words, but he had no other way to find the truth. “I was angry about our argument and needed to be alone to think. And rumors reached me while ye were gone that this trip was an opportunity for ye and one of the guards with ye to begin an affair. Is that true?”
She took a step back and stared up at him, eyes wide under a furrowed brow.
He thought she might be fighting not to laugh at the absurdity of the claim, but she was too pale, then too red in the face.
“I canna believe what I’m hearing,” she finally said.
She held her ground. He had to give her that.
“If ye think I could betray ye that way, ye are a fool. But if that is what ye believe about me, I will get out of yer way. I can go back to Inverness—” She choked off there.
Erik was too shocked to speak. How convenient.
She could live there with the guard. Or was the rumor wrong?
Had she met with another man? Did she have a lover there?
He cleared his throat. First things first. “I wouldna have given a second thought to the rumor, but ye seemed to be keeping something from me ever since ye came here. Aught to do with Inverness and yer eagerness to go there. So ’tis true.
Ye already have a plan to leave me, and a place to live in the town. ”
“I didna say that. I said I could, no’ that I would. If I meant to do that, why would I be here now?”
“Where would ye live?”
Fiona paled, then squared her shoulders. “I inherited Arabella’s house.”
“Ye have a house in Inverness,” he bit out. For a moment, he let himself be angry that the Rose had kept that information from him when they negotiated the marriage contract. Or had he? “Did the Rose ken ye had been bequeathed a home?”
“Nay. I didna tell him. After the bridge burned, once we got word that the town was safe, I didna intend to stay at Rose, but to return to the house. But ye arrived, and before I kenned what had happened, ye had negotiated for my hand, and we were wed.” She gestured to a chair and sat, waving him to take the one opposite. He did.
“Were ye ever going to tell me?”
“Aye, though I worried how to, and how ye would take the news. I never thought it would be under such suspicion of betraying ye—and our vows.”
“Tell me now.”
She spent the next few minutes telling him what she’d withheld about caring for the old woman who left her the house they lived in.
Her duties there had included managing the lady’s household, keeping accounts, reading to the woman whose eyesight was failing, shopping at the market for food, cloth, and anything else they needed, and a myriad of other tasks.
And she wanted to use that knowledge and expertise to make things better at Ross.
“I didna realize how much I’d missed Inverness until I saw it again,” she admitted. “And I spoke to the merchants I kenned. Saw a few old friends. Aye, I’d been tempted to stay,” she told him. “To be independent. And free of the burdens we carry here.”
“What kind of life is that for a lass?”
“No’ relying on Rose or Ross? No’ subject to the whims of their lairds? Perhaps a very good one.” She cocked an eyebrow and a hint of a smile played around her lips, but vanished when he failed to reciprocate.
“And the rumor?” He held his breath, but he already knew it wasn’t true.
She scrunched up her nose, eyes squeezed to mere slits, as if she smelled something bad.
If they hadn’t been discussing such serious issues, he would have enjoyed how adorable it made her look,
But then, she opened her eyes and said, “Utter…damn…I dinna ken a term filthy enough for the person or persons who spread it. Erik, we havena been together for very long, but I think ye ken me well enough by now to hear when I tell ye the truth.”
“I like to think so,” he replied, then gestured with an open hand for her to continue. As adorable as she had looked only moments ago, now he had to respect her serious side.
“I would never do such an awful thing to ye. If I wasna willing to be yer wife, I would tell ye, and I would return to Inverness, but no’ with any of yer own men. Or any other.”
He reached across the space between them and took her hand. “Thank ye, Fiona. I knew in my bones ’twasna true, but…”
She frowned at the hand holding hers, then met his gaze. “Dinna doubt me. I will always be honest with ye.”
“And I with ye. Ye ken how much I need ye. Ye have a purpose here, no’ in Inverness. Ye have already done so much for Ross, and ye’ve barely begun to work yer way down yer list.”
That quip finally earned him a smile.
She squeezed his hand and leaned back, as if realizing the tough part of their reunion was done and she could move on to other things. “Speaking of lists and such, Husband, I need your assistance.”
That surprised him, because she seemed to be doing everything quite well on her own.
“What can I, a mere mortal, do to assist my lady wife?” He meant it as a jest, not an expression of his earlier concerns about being good enough for her.
“While in Inverness, I spoke to some of my merchant friends about getting someone to be a caretaker for the house while I live here.”
Erik frowned. While she lived here? How long did she intend for that to last? The same evil doubts assailed him yet again, spinning in his gut and making him want to pace. She would still own the damned house, and still have a place to go that she clearly missed. More than she’d missed him?
“They offered to buy it.”
Erik had to pull himself out of his own thoughts to understand what she’d just said. Someone wanted the house?
“Are ye considering it?” He held his breath, afraid of her answer.
“Aye. And I wish to ken what ye think.”