Page 3 of A Highland Bride Taken
“I remember the rumors, but nae the particulars,” her mother admitted.
“I heard ‘twas a maid from yer clan. Layla, if I’m nae mistaken,” Laird Crawford added.
“Layla?” her mother gasped. “That was Mabel’s maid. We all thought the ungrateful lass ran off and died. She married the braither of a laird? Did ye ken anything about this, Mabel?”
Mabel shook her head, schooling her face into a mask of appropriate surprise.
No one in her family knew that she had helped her maid escape to marry the man she was in love with, or that she had been corresponding with them until a month prior. The last she had heard, they were planning a surprise trip for their twin sons’ birthday.
Layla cannae be dead. What about the children?
Mabel had sneaked out of MacLennan Castle to attend the twins’ baptism and been named their godmother—which had been an honor for her—and she hadn’t seen them since then.
“‘Tis a shame,” Laird Crawford sighed. “Thankfully, their sons survived.”
Mabel’s heart soared with joy at the news that the children were alive. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she blinked them away; they would only draw more attention to her.
“Where are the bairns now?” she ventured. “They must have been through a great ordeal.”
The question earned her a look from her sisters; otherwise, they looked concerned as well.
It was a concern anyone would have.
“Laird Muir took them to his home. He is their uncle,” Laird Crawford answered.
They are with the Beastly Laird?
Mabel felt her skin prickle at that, and dread coiled in her gut.
A man given to bloodshed would know nothing of caring for children, and Layla wouldn’t rest easy if her sons weren’t well cared for. She loved those children more than life itself.
Mabel’s eyes darted to the nearest door, mapping out how she could escape to the privacy of her chambers to plan her next steps.
There was no way she would leave those children in such a terrible man’s care. She would risk everything to see them well situated, and if it meant going to get them, then she very well would.
2
“That will be all,” Campbell told the men who had gathered in his study for their monthly meeting, rising as he did so.
They had just given him reports about the current state of the borders and the crime rate in the villages, as well as the necessary repairs he needed to make so the villagers could survive the winter.
He wished to claim that he had heard every word of what had been said during the meeting, but his mind had been squarely on the newest responsibilities that had been foisted on him without any warning.
A frown creased his brow as he recalled that he was now the sole guardian of his brother’s orphaned sons.
He hadn’t seen his brother in years, and now to be saddled with such a responsibility when he had put off having children irritated him.
“Me Laird?” A feminine voice startled him out of his thoughts. He hadn’t even realized he wasn’t alone anymore.
He looked up to see his housekeeper, Norah, looking down at him with a worried look.
“Have I disturbed ye, Me Laird?” she asked.
He had tasked her temporarily with watching over the boys while he continued his search for a governess to oversee their care. It was necessary that he give them the best care he could, since they were his only link to his brother.
“Nae at all, Norah,” he answered. “How are the bairns?”
She shook her head with a dour look. “Nae verra well, Me Laird,” she answered. “They didnae eat again. I worry for them. I tried offering them sweets, but they didnae even look at me. They will waste away if this continues. It has been days already.”
