Chapter 9 #2
“Never mind that.” Mischief gleamed in Elspeth’s eyes. “Tomorrow, I expect a full account.”
Pleased that she’d gone with her first instinct to come to Elspeth with her problems, Sloane relaxed some. She was making friends and it felt good. Only, one of those friends would be leaving her soon.
A dark cloud fell over her as she remembered her father’s warning. She couldn’t see Freya doing anything to harm the treaty, but she knew that she needed to do her due diligence. At least this was the atmosphere to have such a conversation.
“I thank ye for yer advice and yer friendship,” Sloane said slowly as she tried to figure out the best way to broach the subject.
“I have been afraid that I wouldna fit in. Freya, ye are in the same situation, but ye know the Brisbane Laird, aye? Ye two looked familiar with each other at the wedding celebration.”
“Know each other?” Elspeth snorted. “She is starry-eyed over the man!”
Freya whipped her head around and her long dark hair went flying. “I am starry-eyed over no man,” she snapped quickly. “’Tis true that Gair and I know each other, I wouldna say that it is love between us. Men are all the same.”
Sloane swallowed hard. Men are all the same? Was her father right? Was Freya a light skirt? But she seemed too responsible and loyal to her brother. Surely, he would never allow such a thing!
“You lie,” Elspeth said easily. “But ye are too afraid to admit it. I understand. Love is a terrifying feeling. When I first realized that I loved my husband, I thought that nothing could be worse. Of course, he loves me and Gair loves ye. ’Tis obvious in the look in his eyes when he sees ye.
Even Sloane picked up on it or she wouldna have brought it up. ”
The two women looked at her expectantly and she slowly nodded her head. “It did seem like something was there between the two of ye. Even if it is not love, friendship is good for a marriage, aye?”
“Och. Marriage.” With a heavy sigh, Freya leaned against the wall.
“After the man I thought I loved beat me the night before the wedding, I swore that I wouldna marry. I thought that Lachlan would uphold that, but he believes I am in love with Gair as well. ’Tis most unfair.
That is a feeling that ye should adjust to over time.
Now, I am to wed the man and I doona know how I feel about him. ”
“Well, ye have three months to discover those feelings,” Elspeth said gently. “I suggest that ye use those months wisely.”
At least she had time. Sloane wanted to point out that she’d married a stranger, but she had no complaints about her situation. She knew that it could have been worse.
Sloane’s heart skipped a beat. She hoped that Freya’s search for the truth didn’t lead her to another man like her father feared.
“I should go,” she said regretfully as she snagged her cloak and slipped it on.
“Before my husband’s fury reaches us. Thank ye again for yer counsel, Elspeth.
Ye have no idea how much I appreciate it. ”
The woman winked at her and Sloane chuckled to herself as she slipped out of the cottage.
The sun had warmed the land, but there was still a nip of cold as she hurried across the fields.
Her thoughts were divided. She’d learned much from Elspeth, things that made her breath quicken and her cheeks flush, but she was also dreading the wrath of her husband.
Lachlan would be furious if she didn’t find him and apologize for not meeting him that morning.
Hopefully, he would be busy so she could just wave and assure him that she was fine.
The sooner she expelled this notion that she was fragile and needed constant supervision, the better off they would be.
“Taking a stroll, are we?” a cold voice asked.
Whipping her head around, she saw Father Shaw walking towards her.
His face was drawn in anger as he approached.
Uneasily, Sloane looked around to see if there was anyone else around.
She already knew that the priest didn’t like her although she wasn’t sure why.
She had hoped that it was because he had to preside over a funeral one day and bless a wedding the next, but he couldn’t hold that against her, could he?
“Father Shaw! I was just heading back to the keep after visiting with Elspeth and Freya. The sun is lovely today.” The chill around her only grew as he glared at her. There was something personal in his hatred of her.
“Exploring the MacFarlane lands?” He walked slowly around her. “Ye know, I spent some time on yer father’s lands. I travel when needed and I was reading the last rites. Strange that I didna see the daughter of the Laird there.”
“I kept to myself,” she said carefully as she moved in a circle to keep an eye on him. “My father didna want me in the way.”
“I was there for weeks.” He narrowed his eyes. “I didna even hear word of a daughter. Yer father is not a man of God. I have heard the whispered rumors of the women that he keeps in his land, not to mention yer mother!”
Her mother? What did he know about her mother?
Swallowing hard, she stepped to the side and tried to move, but he blocked her path. “Father Shaw, I cannae speak for my father’s faith, but if ye are doubting my identity…”
“I am,” he said sharply. “And if I have wed a charlatan to the Laird, I will do everything in my power to ruin ye.”
Annoyed, she crossed her arms and glared at him.
“If ye are so sure that I am a fraud then I invite ye to return to Fenton lands and ask around. I assure ye that everyone will know of me and no one will be surprised that ye did not see me. For most of them, I was no more than a ghost. It will not be the same here.”
“The MacFarlanes will never accept ye.”
“My husband has and that is all that I need right now.”
“How long will that last?” Shaw asked as she started to walk away. “How long until Lachlan sees yer true nature.”
Even though he couldn’t possibly know about her father’s plans for Freya, the accusation still stopped her cold. “I am not a fraud,” she said fiercely.
He didn’t answer and she hurried away. He thought that she wasn’t her father’s daughter. It shouldn’t have surprised her. For years, she’d been ignored and hidden away. She hadn’t had a chance to live her life.
Now, she had that chance and she wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from her.