Page 19 of A Forbidden Night with a Scot
Ever since his wife, Thomasina, and their son Nyall, had perished at sea after their birlinn had been attacked, a part of Samuel had died along with them. And despite being unableto prove it to anyone, he had thought the one responsible for their demise had been Laird Colm MacLaine—the man who was supposed to wed Thomasina before she chose Samuel. With no tangible proof, though, there was nothing Samuel could do about it.
“I’m certain she’ll understand,” Gavin assured him. “Dinnae fash. Besides, she has other things on her mind now. I’ve never seen her as upset as she has been about this marriage.”
“I cannae blame her,” said Samuel. If anything, he thought she was taking it quite well, all things considered. Other girls in her position would have screamed and cried, begging their fathers to refuse. “Who would want tae wed Laird MacTavish? Especially a lass her age.”
“Nay one, I suppose,” Gavin agreed. Once again, he looked exhausted, so much that Samuel had half a mind to tell him to go back to bed—if he had been to bed at all, that was. For all Samuel knew, Gavin had spent the whole night awake, agonizing over this decision. “I dinnae ken how tae help her. I dinnae ken what tae dae tae stop this weddin’.”
“Perhaps we can find someone else tae wed her,” Samuel suggested, but even as he spoke those words, a part of him regretted them. He knew it would be the wisest choice, finding someone more suitable for Alicia and pretending they had been betrothed for far longer than they would be, but the suggestion left a bitter taste at the back on his throat. He could imagine her before the priest with another man, someone handsome,perhaps closer to her age, someone she could even love one day, and the mere thought pained him.
“In such a short time?” Gavin asked. “Laird MacTavish will demand an answer soon. Or the king will. We dinnae have time an’ even if we did, dae ye think they would allow it?”
Samuel shrugged a shoulder. “Thomasina chose me over MacLaine,” he reminded Gavin. “An’ MacLaine could dae naething about it.”
He had, of course, taken both his wife and his son away from him, but he doubted Laird MacTavish would do such a thing. Even if Alicia chose someone else, Samuel wanted to think she would be safe from that man.
Gavin hummed noncommittally and Samuel couldn’t blame him for his lack of response. On the one hand, Gavin surely wanted someone else to marry his daughter, but on the other, he couldn’t see how that could happen.
For a while, the two of them fell silent, until Gavin said, “What about ye? Dae ye plan tae marry again?”
“Me?” Samuel asked, unable to hold back a chuckle. “Nay. I have nae plans tae wed.”
“But Thomasina… ye didnae marry her fer love, me friend.”
“She was dear tae me,” said Samuel with a sigh. “She still is. Even if I wasnae in love with her, I did love her. She was me wife, the maither o’ me son. She gave me a few happy years, even if she wasnae in love with me, either.”
Theirs had been a marriage of convenience, as most marriages among nobles were. Their station didn’t allow them to marry for love. Few were lucky enough to fall in love with their spouses throughout the course of their marriage and fewer still those who found their perfect match and married them. And yet he and Thomasina had had a mutual understanding and they had been fond of each other. They had understood they didn’t need to be in love to have a marriage that was happier than most.
Thomasina had been kind to him. She had been an amazing mother. It was the most Samuel could have asked of her.
“So ye’ll never give that necklace ye wear tae anyone?” Gavin asked. “Ye’ll simply keep it around yer neck fer the rest o’ yer life?”
“Even if I wed again, it doesnae mean I will be in love,” Samuel pointed out. He was too old for such things. If he did marry another woman, it would be another marriage of convenience, and he doubted there would be feelings involved. Perhaps, if he was lucky enough, he would find someone like Thomasina, who would respect him and whom he would respect. “I was instructed tae give this tae the woman I love the most, nae tae me wife.”
“Did ye ever tell Thomasina about it?”
“Dae ye take me fer a fool?” asked Samuel. “O’ course I didnae. I would never dae that tae a woman.”
“Good lad,” said Gavin. “Ye should keep that tae yerself.”
Once again, silence stretched between them, and this time, Samuel could see that what Gavin needed the most was some rest. Pushing himself off the chair, he rounded the desk and patted his friend’s shoulder, forcing him to stand.
“Go tae sleep,” he said. “Ye need it. We will talk later.”
“There are things I must dae,” Gavin protested, but Samuel wouldn’t hear any of it.
“Ye cannae dae those things if ye’re so tired,” he said. “Come. Go tae bed. Ye need it.”
Still grumbling under his breath, Gavin stood and followed Samuel out of the room, heading to his chambers. Without him to keep him company, Samuel decided to head to the bathing rooms before continuing with his day, and so he grabbed a change of clothes from his chambers before he headed down to the baths.
Once there, he heard there was someone else, though he assumed it was perhaps one of the men from Samuel’s council or one of the high-ranking soldiers. Who else would be using the baths, after all, especially at that time of the day? As he walked farther inside, though, he saw a figure through the steam of a hotbath that was decidedly not male in nature and he was about to excuse himself, embarrassed to have intruded like that, before that figure turned around, alarmed by the sound of his footsteps.
It was none other than Alicia, standing there in shock. Drops of water travelled down her silky skin, following the swell of her breasts, the dip of her waist, some disappearing between her legs where Samuel’s gaze was drawn?—
They both screamed at the same time, Alicia grabbing a drying cloth just as she jumped back in the tub in a desperate attempt to hide her nudity and Samuel throwing his clothes at her as if that could somehow help either of them.
Swiftly turning around, Samuel shouted, “Forgive me! I didnae ken ye would be here!”
“What areyedoin’ here?” Alicia demanded. “Nay one ever comes here so early in the mornin’!”
