Page 41 of A Highland Bride Taken
“I came to see ye and inquire about her relationship with the bairns,” Magnus answered. “I hear ye have been doing verra well. Ye went on a picnic.”
“I have me wife to thank,” Campbell said. “She has made things comfortable.”
“I am glad for it. Ye were a miserable lout before.” Magnus laughed. “Marriage becomes ye.”
Campbell rolled his eyes in response.
“Have ye written to Laird Crawford?” Magnus asked suddenly.
Much to his chagrin, Campbell realized that he hadn’t informed his friend of his marriage.
“Nay,” he answered. “I shall send a letter when I see reason to. He has just gotten married; I can imagine he is traipsing about Scotland for his whiskey pursuits.”
“He makes a good brew.”
“Indeed.”
“How was the training this morning?” Magnus asked.
They fell into a long discussion about the clan. Magnus was more a friend than a man-at-arms, for which Campbell was grateful. There were nights when he was lonely and needed someone who wasn’t frightened by him, and Magnus had always been there for him.
“I must bid ye good night, Me Laird,” Magnus said, rising. “Elspeth will have me head if I am late again.”
“Alright. I shall see ye on the morrow, then.”
“Aye, Me Laird,” he greeted. “Have a good night. Perhaps ye should spend it with yer wife.”
Campbell glared hard at the man, whose booming laughter echoed off the walls.
The teasing he got for his frequent trips to the loch was not sufficient to push him to forget himself in his tempting wife.
He had acted because of sheer worry when he had seen her struggling underwater, but when he had pulled her to him and seen her shapely form under the simple garments she wore, he knew he would have a hard time resisting her.
Her desire for him was another thing that astounded him. He had felt it when she had realized she was safe from danger and was in his arms.
He had never really sought to show off in front of a woman, but he was tempted to stand straighter just so she could see all of him, just to see her blush in embarrassment for appreciating his form.
He was starting to venture beyond the terms of their marriage, and he feared he would give her the wrong idea. But she seemedmore honorable than him, and she fulfilled her duties to the boys exceptionally.
Their love for her was obvious, and she had helped him bond with them quicker than he had anticipated.
While he had thought himself incapable of fatherly affection, he had found himself thinking more of the boys during the day than he would have imagined, wanting to make their days easier and full of joyous moments.
Perhaps Magnus was right.
Opening himself up may not be as painful as he feared.
17
It has been several weeks since Mabel tied the knot with Campbell, and in that time, she had not received any correspondence from her family. She had not expected them to ask about her welfare; after all, she was used to being invisible. It would not be out of place if her mother wanted to give them time to adjust to married life, but she still wished to hear from her sisters.
She had little time to contemplate their apparent neglect, seeing how preoccupied she was with adapting to her new role as lady of the castle and taking care of the twins. So it was quite shocking when one evening she received a letter from Scarlett.
If she was shocked by the presence of the letter, she was even more astonished by its content.
Apparently, Scarlett had been traveling with Skylar and had stopped by an inn in the neighboring village. They wanted to see her, but she was not to tell her husband where she was going or come with him.
Something did not seem right about the letter, but she could not put her finger on it. Perhaps it was the urgent tone. Scarlett barely wrote to her, and the fact that she did now, requesting that she come visit her without her husband, was strange.
