Chapter Eleven
Maddie learns of her daughter’s true love.
She left, easing the door closed, but it was caught by their father, who stepped right inside, Connor directly behind him.
While her brother took a seat in the chair beside her, their father sat behind the desk and leaned back in his chair to assess her, something he always did before he spoke to anyone.
“You were upset yesterday. Do you have more to tell me?”
Elizabeth sighed, fighting the misting of tears in her eyes. “Papa, I’ll tell you all, but I’d like Mama to come in. I’d like her to hear this from me.”
Her father nodded to Connor, who bolted out of his seat and headed out the door. “Would you like to say anything to me before your mother joins us? Sometimes I soften things for her.”
She thought briefly, then decided it was time to tell all. “I’m in love with someone.”
“Who?”
“Must I say?”
“I think you must. I need a good reason to continue to refuse MacTear and your other suitors.”
Her father’s gaze never wavered from hers.
“’Tis also an important piece of judging whether or not this could be a permanent match for you. While my mother believed in allowing people to choose their own spouse, she also believed the family should approve of the choice.”
“I’m in love with Gil. ’Tis one of the reasons I visit Castle Curanta as often as I do.” She heard a gasp from behind her, only then realizing her mother had opened the door. She turned to look at her, the shock in her eyes making Elizabeth wish to take her words back.
Her father bolted out of his chair and went to her mother, guiding her toward a chair on the other side of Elizabeth. “Who? Who is it you love?” her mother whispered.
She reached for her mother’s hand, clasping it between both of hers. Her mother’s hands were always cold. “Mama, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me for hiding the truth from you.”
“Who?” her mother repeated, her expression one that Elizabeth and her siblings were more than familiar with—one that said don’t lie.
“Gil. I love Gil, Mama.” Her gaze locked on her mother, waiting to see how she would take this news. The guilt shooting through her hurt like a physical wound, but she had to see Gil.
Her mother leaned forward and glared at her sire. “You knew?”
“Nay, I didn’t know until a moment ago, Maddie,” he said, lifting his hands. “She does not confide in me.” Then he looked to her and said, “I think we deserve more of an explanation, particularly about why you kept this from us, lass.”
Elizabeth’s eyes misted because she’d known all along this would be difficult, yet it was proving more difficult than she’d expected.
She feared they would never accept Gil. Now that she thought on it, perhaps that had been the main reason she’d remained silent all along.
Because no was not an answer she could accept.
“Mama, it just happened. I watched Gil with the wee ones on my visits to Castle Curanta, and I fell in love. He’s so kind, and his gentle manner with the youngest bairns reminded me of Papa.”
“Why did you not tell us?”
“I don’t know, I was afraid…” Her mind, suddenly muddled, betrayed her, not giving her the coherence she desperately needed.
Her mother finally met her gaze. “All this time, I thought there was someone, yet I clung to the hope that you would find Laird MacTear suitable, just because I am selfish. I don’t wish for you to move far away. I couldn’t handle you moving to London or Edinburgh.”
“Don’t you see? ’Tis exactly how I’ve always felt.” She gripped her hands so tightly together they turned a ghostly white.
“You should have trusted us,” her father said. “We hold naught against Gil.”
“Trusted you? What about the time you were injured, Papa?” She had to remind them of what life had been like for her. Always the bairn of the family, the forgotten one, the one who was left behind. Her father frowned as if he had no idea of what she spoke.
Her mother shook her head. “What has that to do with this?”
The pounding in her head grew, and she jumped out of her chair.
“What does it have to do with it? Everything. You left me. Papa was hurt, and you climbed into that cart and left me. I don’t think you even thought of me. I cannot live my life like that. I can’t be forgotten in another land. The only way for me to know everyone is safe is to stay here.
The only place I dare go is to Loki’s land because if either of you are hurt, Loki will be one of the first to know.”
Her mother took her hand. “Elizabeth, that only happened once, and it was under unusual circumstances. I asked you to stay up in the parapets because I was afraid for you. I was trying to protect you.”
“Nay, it wasn’t just once. When Kyla was kidnapped, Papa and my brothers attacked Buchan to get her back. They found her in the forest, and you went to be with them. I had to beg to go along with you, Mama.”
Her tears finally erupted in full, her sobs coming out in gasps.
“I’ll not be forgotten again, because I’m not leaving you. If Gil and I married, I’d have to live at Castle Curanta.”
She hung her head, spent from all the crying.
Her father asked, “He would not consider living here?”
“Papa, he says he would—he promised it—but I don’t feel right about taking him away from the bairns at Castle Curanta. He’s so devoted to them, and I am too. But I don’t wish to leave you either.” She paced around her chair, spun in a circle, and then buried her face in her hands.
Her mother stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her. “Elizabeth, we love you dearly. The only reason those things happened the way they did is because you were too young.”
“I want to go to Gil. I need to see how badly he’s hurt. Mayhap I could stop on the way and ask Jennie to join me. She’d help him for sure.”
“But this is far away. Are you going to be able to handle being so far away from us? After all, you just said you could never leave us.”
“I am fully aware of how far away Edinburgh is from here, and I would not be going if it weren’t an urgent situation.”
She stepped away from her mother to glare at her father but didn’t bother arguing.
“I cannot waste any more time. Will you allow me to go? Please? Jamie and Jake said they would, but they want, we all want, your approval.”
Her sire looked to her mother, who gave him a nearly imperceptible nod.
“You may go, but with thirty guards. The baron is looking for you, so you must be aware of your surroundings. Do not wander off on your own. Ever. Understood?”
She threw herself at her sire and said, “My thanks, Papa. I love you both.”