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Authors: Margaret Mallory
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sconce on the wall.
Alex had been on the galley sorting out the supplies he needed to take with him to Edinburgh when a young boy appeared and told him that a lady wanted him to meet her at midnight outside the kitchens. This was not the first time he’d had that sort of request. He was about to send the lad away, but something made him ask the lad to describe the lady first.
“I’m glad ye came,” Glynis said.
“Ye gave me no choice,” he said. “I couldn’t have ye wandering around a castle full of warriors—half of them drunk— looking for me in the dark.”
He took a deep breath. He had wanted to say good-bye to her—and to explain about what she’d seen when she walked in on him and Catherine—but he didn’t have a lot of time. He was meeting Duncan soon, and then they were all leaving.
“Why did ye want to see me?” he asked.
“When I talked with your friend Duncan this afternoon, he told me you’re going to Edinburgh.”
How had she gotten closemouthed Duncan to share their business with her?
“I want ye to take me with ye,” she said.
Alex could not have been more stunned if she’d sprouted fairy wings and flown over the pots and bags of grain in the storeroom. Just what was Glynis suggesting? His heart gave a big lurch as he considered the possibility that she might actually want to run off with him. Apparently, she liked what she saw of him earlier today.
But it seemed so unlikely that he had to ask. “Why?”
“I’ve decided to live with my mother’s family,” she said. “They are Lowlanders and live in Edinburgh.”
Alex waited for the relief he should feel upon learning that her request had nothing to do with him, but it didn’t come. A bad sign.
“Ye know verra well that I can’t just run off with ye across Scotland,” Alex said.
“Ye must,” she said, clenching her fists. “My da wants to marry me to Alain .”
Alex wanted to hit something. He didn’t have time for this, and her father hadn’t listened to him before, but he wanted to help her if he could. “Do ye know where your father is? I’ll speak with him.”
“Does my father strike ye as the sort of man who takes advice well?”
She had a point, but he said, “I can be verra persuasive.”
“So I’ve heard,” Glynis said with more than a touch of sarcasm. “But it will do no good. My father is too stubborn by half.”
As was his daughter. “Have ye considered a compromise? Is there no man ye are willing to wed?”
Glynis gave her head a firm shake and folded her arms. “Ye said ye would be my friend.”
“Stealing a lass away from her father is no being a friend,” he said, though his words felt hollow. Her mother’s family could hardly do worse by her.
“Take me, Alexander Bàn MacDonald,” she said, her gray eyes turning to hard flint. “Or I’ll go tell the Maclean chieftain right now that I saw ye swiving his wife.”
“That wasn’t what it looked like!” Alex was so used to having committed whatever offense he was accused of that he hardly knew how to defend himself. “My clan needs ties to the Campbells, so I couldn’t offend her.”
“Ye sacrificed yourself for the sake of your clan, did ye?”
“I didn’t do what ye think,” Alex protested. “Though it wasn’t easy, mind ye.”
Judging from the grim line of her mouth, Glynis was not impressed with his forbearance.
“Catherine is close to her brothers,” he explained. “If you’ve forgotten, they are the Earl of Argyll and the Thane of Cawdor, so I had to be verra careful about how I told her nay.”
“It looked like ‘aye’ to me—your being naked and all.”
Ach, she was full of sarcasm tonight. Glynis took a step closer and tapped her finger against his chest. Despite the anger in her eyes, the point of her finger sent heat radiating through his body.
“How about I tell Shaggy Maclean what I saw and let him sort it out?” she asked.
God preserve him, she was a determined woman. If she went
Alex had been on the galley sorting out the supplies he needed to take with him to Edinburgh when a young boy appeared and told him that a lady wanted him to meet her at midnight outside the kitchens. This was not the first time he’d had that sort of request. He was about to send the lad away, but something made him ask the lad to describe the lady first.
“I’m glad ye came,” Glynis said.
“Ye gave me no choice,” he said. “I couldn’t have ye wandering around a castle full of warriors—half of them drunk— looking for me in the dark.”
He took a deep breath. He had wanted to say good-bye to her—and to explain about what she’d seen when she walked in on him and Catherine—but he didn’t have a lot of time. He was meeting Duncan soon, and then they were all leaving.
“Why did ye want to see me?” he asked.
“When I talked with your friend Duncan this afternoon, he told me you’re going to Edinburgh.”
How had she gotten closemouthed Duncan to share their business with her?
“I want ye to take me with ye,” she said.
Alex could not have been more stunned if she’d sprouted fairy wings and flown over the pots and bags of grain in the storeroom. Just what was Glynis suggesting? His heart gave a big lurch as he considered the possibility that she might actually want to run off with him. Apparently, she liked what she saw of him earlier today.
But it seemed so unlikely that he had to ask. “Why?”
“I’ve decided to live with my mother’s family,” she said. “They are Lowlanders and live in Edinburgh.”
Alex waited for the relief he should feel upon learning that her request had nothing to do with him, but it didn’t come. A bad sign.
“Ye know verra well that I can’t just run off with ye across Scotland,” Alex said.
“Ye must,” she said, clenching her fists. “My da wants to marry me to Alain .”
Alex wanted to hit something. He didn’t have time for this, and her father hadn’t listened to him before, but he wanted to help her if he could. “Do ye know where your father is? I’ll speak with him.”
“Does my father strike ye as the sort of man who takes advice well?”
She had a point, but he said, “I can be verra persuasive.”
“So I’ve heard,” Glynis said with more than a touch of sarcasm. “But it will do no good. My father is too stubborn by half.”
As was his daughter. “Have ye considered a compromise? Is there no man ye are willing to wed?”
Glynis gave her head a firm shake and folded her arms. “Ye said ye would be my friend.”
“Stealing a lass away from her father is no being a friend,” he said, though his words felt hollow. Her mother’s family could hardly do worse by her.
“Take me, Alexander Bàn MacDonald,” she said, her gray eyes turning to hard flint. “Or I’ll go tell the Maclean chieftain right now that I saw ye swiving his wife.”
“That wasn’t what it looked like!” Alex was so used to having committed whatever offense he was accused of that he hardly knew how to defend himself. “My clan needs ties to the Campbells, so I couldn’t offend her.”
“Ye sacrificed yourself for the sake of your clan, did ye?”
“I didn’t do what ye think,” Alex protested. “Though it wasn’t easy, mind ye.”
Judging from the grim line of her mouth, Glynis was not impressed with his forbearance.
“Catherine is close to her brothers,” he explained. “If you’ve forgotten, they are the Earl of Argyll and the Thane of Cawdor, so I had to be verra careful about how I told her nay.”
“It looked like ‘aye’ to me—your being naked and all.”
Ach, she was full of sarcasm tonight. Glynis took a step closer and tapped her finger against his chest. Despite the anger in her eyes, the point of her finger sent heat radiating through his body.
“How about I tell Shaggy Maclean what I saw and let him sort it out?” she asked.
God preserve him, she was a determined woman. If she went
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