Chapter 10
Unaccountably worried about where Edan had disappeared to, Olivia hurriedly paid for the fabric and waited for it to be packaged. But by the time she turned around to go and find him, he was back at her side.
“Where did ye disappear to?” she asked curiously.
“I have somethin’ for ye,” he said. “Close yer eyes and hold out yer hand.”
Surprised, somewhat apprehensively, she did as he asked, and felt a small object gently touch her palm.
“Ye can open yer eyes now.”
She opened them and saw a silver pendant bearing the tiny likeness of a dragonfly in her hand.
“Och, ’tis beautiful!” she exclaimed, overcome by delight as she examined the lovely object. “Look at the detail on the wings! It looks quite real.”
“Ye like it?” he asked, a rare hint of uncertainty in his voice.
“I do not like it,” she said, straight-faced.
“Ach, I kenned it!” His relaxed look faded, and his frown returned.
She took pity on him.
“Nay, I dinnae like it. I absolutely love it, Edan. ’Tis perfect. Thank ye.”
In a burst of affection, she rose on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
His smile was like the sun coming out and was tinged with relief. “Ye really love it?”
“Aye, of course. ’Tis beautiful, the best present I’ve ever had. I shall wear it always,” she assured him, deeply moved by the gift. “Would ye put it on for me?”
She handed it to him as she turned around and lifted her hair, smiling beatifically at the other shoppers, some of whom were watching with approving looks.
Edan placed the packages on the ground by his feet and lifted the thin chain over her head. When his fingers brushed the nape of her neck as he fastened it, tingles raced up and down her spine, making her breath hitch.
“It is so very pretty,” she gushed, holding the dragonfly gently as she turned to face him.
“Aye, it suits ye,” he replied a little stiffly.
Without another word, he picked up the packages, offered her his arm once more, and they made their way out of the market.
Olivia could not stop smiling and felt strangely proud to walk at his side, especially when she saw how differently the villagers were looking at their Laird now in comparison to when they had arrived.
The fearful glances had vanished and were replaced by respectful nods and smiles as they strolled back down the street.
As they walked along, Olivia thought of asking something she had been putting off, for fear it would anger him. But his gift had emboldened her, so she decided to strike while the iron was hot.
Gathering her courage, she asked, “Edan, would ye have any objection if I invite me sister Eileen to the St. Patrick’s Day feast?”
“Nay, why would I object? Invite yer sister and anybody else ye fancy. Ye dinnae have to ask for me permission—ye can do as ye please,” he told her easily, giving her a sideways smile that made her heart beat a little faster.
A few moments later, the large package of fabric slipped out from beneath Edan’s arm, and when he bent to retrieve it, Olivia was stunned when something suddenly cannoned into her.
She let out a shriek of surprise, as she was almost knocked off her feet.
When she righted herself and looked around, she saw a street urchin running pell-mell in the opposite direction, with her coin purse dangling from his fist!
“Are ye all right?” Edan was instantly at her side, his face full of concern.
“Aye, I’m fine, but…” She pointed at the urchin, but the gesture was unnecessary.
Edan was already hot on his heels. With his long legs pumping at a full sprint, it did not take long before he had the ragged lad by the collar and tackled him to the ground.
Olivia picked up her skirts and ran after them, half afraid Edan was going to murder the little thief.
He was struggling in Edan’s iron grip to no avail.
“I’m sorry, mister. Please dinnae hurt me.
I never meant any harm. I was just hungry.
Here, take the money back,” the lad was pleading in a thin, reedy voice, his large eyes full of fear in a milky-white face as he stared at Edan.
He thrust the coin purse at him, but Edan ignored it along with his desperate pleas.
“Why, ’tis naught but a young lad,” he said to Olivia, dragging the small, ragged child up by the scruff of his neck.
Olivia was shocked to see how thin and ill-dressed for the cold weather the boy was.
Realizing that his captor was not going to let him go, the boy started to cry. “I only did it to feed me family, mister. A man paid me a half crown to steal it from yer lady,” he sobbed, tears carving tracks through the grime on his face.
“What? Ye mean to say someone bribed ye?” Edan demanded, exchanging a glance with a stunned Olivia. “Who was it? Tell me!”
“I dinnae ken who he was,” the boy replied, his voice shaking. “He had on a big cloak with a hood. I couldnae see his face.”
“Are ye sure about that?” Edan demanded, giving the lad a shake.
“Aye, aye, I just took the money,” the little thief cried. “I needed it to buy food for me braithers and sisters.”
“Och, the poor lad,” Olivia murmured, feeling sorry for the boy. “He’s awfully young!”
“All right, lad,” Edan said, letting go of the boy’s collar.
“Here, missus. I’m sorry I stole from ye. Here’s the money back,” the child sniveled, thrusting the coin purse at Olivia.
She stepped back, refusing to take it.
Edan folded his large hand over the ragamuffin’s small one. “Keep it, lad,” he told him, pushing it gently towards him. “Go and buy some food for yer family.”
The boy’s eyes widened with surprise, not to say shock. He stared between Edan and Olivia in disbelief. “Do ye mean it, mister?”
“Aye, go on. But dinnae steal again,” Edan warned.
“Thanks, mister, missus,” the lad said, his grimy little face splitting into a wide grin, tucking the coin purse into the folds of his rags.
Olivia, thinking quickly, put her hand on Edan’s arm and pulled him down so she could whisper in his ear. “That money will only last so long. Why do ye nae find him a job at the castle? That way, he’ll be earnin’ money to support his family and stay out of trouble.”
The boy must have heard, because he looked up at them hopefully.
Edan thought for a moment, then he ruffled the lad’s hair. “Would ye like a job?” he asked.
“Och, aye, mister! That would be grand. And like the lady said, I wouldnae have to steal at all. Me maither would be so happy!” The boy looked genuinely delighted and amazed.
“All right. Come and see me at the castle tomorrow mornin’. I’ll see what I can do,” Edan told him. “What’s ye name, and how old are ye?”
“Me name’s Bobby Minto, and I’m eleven. Thanks, mister! Who shall I ask for?” the little ragamuffin asked, his face alight with excitement.
Olivia smiled at his joy.
“Just ask for the Laird,” Edan told him. Then, hoisting the packages and taking Olivia’s arm, he walked off.
Olivia hurried along, her heart glowing with pride at her husband’s generosity. She glanced back over her shoulder at Bobby and chuckled to see him gaping after them.
“Ye’ve made his year,” she said, beaming up at her husband, deeply touched and impressed by his actions. “And his family’s as well. That was so kind of ye, Edan.”
“I cannae take all the credit. It was yer idea to give the lad a job,” he told her.
“But ye agreed, and ye have the power to do it.”
She could not help being pleased that he had acted on her suggestion. It seemed their second outing was going far better than she could have hoped for.
Every time his wife smiled at him, Edan felt the walls around his heart crumbling bit by bit, and it frightened him.
He knew what she had done for him back in the marketplace, deliberately showing his people that his scars did not make him an ogre but a man a rare woman like her held in high affection.
It had been as extraordinary to witness as it was unexpected. She was not at all intimidated by his scars, which was unfortunate. He had imagined they would keep her at bay.
He was totally unused to the elation that filled him by just having her walk alongside him, hanging onto his arm, beaming up at him with affection and admiration in her eyes—a proper, loving wife.
He kept glancing at her covertly as she tripped along, powerless to stop marveling at how fresh-faced and lovely she was.
Her sweet face rose out of her fur collar like a flower in the sunshine, with the cold putting roses in her cheeks and painting the tip of her nose scarlet.
It shook him to realize that although theirs was an arranged marriage, he had somehow gotten a wife who was not only strikingly beautiful but also clever and compassionate. She was a perfect wife for a laird. But for him, she spelled disaster.
Her loveliness made her both vulnerable and dangerous because she had no idea of the monster she had married.
Vulnerable because he could not protect her, just as he had failed to protect his father on the battlefield.
In his eyes, that meant she would always be in danger.
And she was dangerous to him as well, since to love was to lose, which inevitably meant heartbreak.
He had decided a long time ago that he had no right to either give love or receive it.
So, Olivia was proving to be a big problem for him. She was so alluring, so beguiling, so artless and unaffected by her beauty, that it was a constant struggle not to lower his defenses in her company.
And I’ve let her do it! And now I’m actin’ like some lovesick fool buyin’ her presents? I must get a hold of meself before things go too far!
Nevertheless, he was deeply worried after learning from young Bobby that someone had bribed him to steal Olivia’s purse.
The thought of her being harmed in any way drove him mad because he knew he could not protect her.
Which was partly why, when they reached the mile marker on the outskirts of the village and no one else was within sight, he drew to a halt.