Read Online Bride of the Isle by Margo Maguire - Free Book Online Page A

and every man who saw her overboard.
    He crossed to her and gripped her arm more fiercely than he intended. “The seas are rough, Lady Cristiane,” he said. “’Tis best if you take a seat.”
    “Ach, but—”
    “’Tis true, m’lady,” the master shouted from his post at the bow. “Can’t have no accidents on m’ ship, now!”
    Cristiane complied with both men’s wishes, finding a seat away from the oarsmen. Adam sat down beside her, oddly disturbed by her ease in the circumstances. He should have been relieved that she was not puking over the side, yet her exhilaration in the face of the wind and high seas was confusing. Never had he known a woman so comfortable with the elements.
    “’Tis wonderful, is it na, my lord?”
    “What? The storm?”
    “Aye! And the bonniest great skuas I’ve ever seen.” Cristiane laughed again. “They’re like the ruddy kings of the sky—diving for food, but stealing the prey from smaller birds!”
    Adam had tosmile at her likening the big gulls to a king. She was more accurate than she knew.
    “I’m glad ’tis so…so alive for the crossing,” she said, spreading her arms wide. “Aught else, and ’twould have been a dull ride!”
    Something inside Adam made him want to shake some sense into her. Didn’t the foolish girl understand there was danger here? That the weather could turn frightful in an instant, with dangerous lightning and torrents of rain?
    ’Twas clear he’d have to look out for her while she remained on Bitterlee. She didn’t have the sense God gave a…a skua.

Chapter Six
    T he town lay atthe southernmost point of the isle, slightly east, at the mouth of the harbor.
    Adam’s family had long been popular with the people, for Bitterlee was a prosperous holding, and well administered. Bitterlee’s sympathies became even more fully engaged when Adam returned from Scotland nearly two years before, a grievously wounded hero, only to discover that his young wife had died.
    Little Lady Margaret became one of their own. Prayers and indulgences doubled on behalf of Lord Bitterlee and his poor, motherless child. Adam was revered as their tragic young lord, and their hearts went out to him.
    And they blamed the Scots for all the troubles that had befallen them.
    Cristiane fell in love with the isle the moment the ship pulled into harbor. It called St. Oln to her mind, but Bitterlee was so much more. The town that nestled ’round the harbor was pretty, with neat cottages near the water and on the hillsides, along well-tended lanes. A multitude of fishing boats lined the harbor, all tied securely against the growing gale.
    The lush aromasof freshly tilled earth and salty air filled her nose, but ’twas the high ridges and cliffs that drew Cristiane’s attention. As the wind battered the trees high above them, she could see rough peaks in the distance, black, rocky crags enshrouded in a heavy mist. The castle wall was white against the gray haze, and behind the wall rose gleaming turrets and towers. Cristiane’s breath caught in her throat at the sight. She had never seen so magnificent a place.
    Townspeople came out in spite of the weather and welcomed Lord Bitterlee and his men back to the island. Children, along with barking dogs, ran up and down the planks of the dock as the men and women gathered, creating a festive atmosphere.
    Uncomfortable with the thought of joining this mass of people, Cristiane remained onboard the galley with Raynauld and Elwin until they were ready to disembark. There was no doubt that the people on the mainland had realized she was Scottish, mayhap because of her red hair, and had shunned her. She did not doubt that she’d be greeted with suspicion and hostility here as well.
    She crossed her arms over her chest, then rubbed her hands over her upper arms to warm herself against the sudden chill. She’d faced a number of difficulties since the death of her father, the very least of which had been the unkindness of the people