Page 62 of A Highland Bride Taken
“Ye are holding on too strongly to the past, Campbell.” Darragh frowned. “Ye didnae even invite me to yer wedding, and I have forgiven yer mistake. Surely ye can see I only want what is best for ye and yer clan.”
“I have chosen someone suitable, and ye will stay away from her,” Campbell warned. “Ye have lived yer life as though I werenae yer blood. Ye should continue to do so. Me life and clan are of nay consequence to ye.”
“Ye are me blood, Campbell,” Darragh insisted. “I am yer grandfaither. Yer life is me concern. I cannae allow ye to dishonor me by living with an unsuitable woman and having shameful heirs.”
“Darragh,” Campbell gritted out, “ye will keep away from me wife and nephews. Ye have nay place in our lives.”
The conversation had put him in a blacker mood than he had been all evening, and all he wanted was to put the stubborn man in his place. But his grandfather refused to accept that he was no longer the little boy who had been powerless to watch his family separated by the selfishness of one man.
Campbell was a laird now and a better man than his father had been, and he would not let Darragh’s selfishness taint the peace he had fought hard to maintain in his home. He was no weaklingcraving approval from a man who hated everything not done his way.
“Yernephewsare nothing more than a stain on our bloodline,” Darragh said with a sour face, as though the words irritated him to speak out loud. “Yer braither was a fool to mix our blood with someone of low birth, and they have been raised by that lowly woman, so I expect nothing better from them. Since they are under yer care, I expect ye will educate them properly so they will be of some use, but ye cannae think to raise them as yer own. They?—”
Campbell could not help the laugh that escaped him at the man’s audacity.
Eyes turned to them at his humourless tone, causing his grandfather to stiffen. They knew that whenever he gave such a laugh, blood was bound to flow. But he had no such intentions on such a day.
He had decided to host a cèilidh to bring joy to his clan, and he intended to do so. Even if his grandfather’s dark cloud threatened to ruin the day, he would be the strong wind that blew him away.
“Ye had a chance to prove yerself to be a capable guardian with me maither and Aidan, but ye failed, so ye will understand when I tell ye that I need nay help from ye. Ye willnae get another chance at it.”
His grandfather claimed to know best how to raiseworthychildren, yet his only daughter had run off to marry a man of her own choosing, whom he had deemed unworthy. He had tried again with Aidan, but he also had run off to marry the woman he loved. Those were not testaments to his self-proclaimed skill at raising worthy children or sound judgment. The man had failed spectacularly to produceorraise an heir.
It was a blow that was intended to pierce his grandfather’s judgmental armor without leaving any room for doubt.
Campbell had never been one for subtle warfare. If there was anything he had found useful in his and his father’s teachings, it was to fight with everything he had. Brute force would serve him well every time.
Darragh fixed him with a scathing glare that indicated Campbell’s words had hit their mark.
But Campbell only gave a grin, which made his grandfather’s face harden.
“Ye are acting much like a child, nae a man,” Darragh spat. “I am the only family ye have left and the only one able to counsel ye?—”
“I will allow ye a moment to leave of yer own accord. But if ye choose nae to, ye will see just how disgracefully I can behave,” Campbell cut him off. “I havenae needed yer counsel, and I willnae need it in the coming days. Leave now, Darragh.”
He walked away feeling satisfied, his mind immediately flashing to his wife. But before he could interrupt her conversation with her sisters, he turned to Magnus, who had appeared at his side.
“Get him out of here,” he ordered. “I need ye to make sure that he leaves. I dinnae want him here any longer.”
“Aye, Me Laird.”
“And post more men on the battlements tonight,” he added. “I need to ensure that he hasnae left any spies behind. I willnae have me wife or the boys hurt.”
“Ye have me word, Me Laird.”
“I am counting on ye.”
“I will order Timon and James to watch the bairns and Her Ladyship,” Magnus told him. “No one will get past them.”
Indeed, they were wise choices, but Campbell would not need anyone to watch his wife. He would do it himself.
“Tell them to watch the boys instead,” he ordered. “I will watch me wife meself.”
Magnus gave him a knowing grin, which faded at a dark look from him. “Aye, Me Laird.”
Campbell walked off and headed to his wife, who smiled hesitantly upon seeing him.
She really was beautiful, and seeing her chased away the dark cloud that had been hovering over his head since he saw Darragh.
