Page 106 of The MacGregor's Lady
“I will contrive, Balfour. You needn’t fret. I will eat. I will take air on the deck. I will bathe and dress and comb my hair. I will not plague your captain by falling into hysterics. I will be like those mountains of yours, dignified and serene.”
Lies, but they seemed to ease some of the tension about his mouth. “See that you are. And I shall do likewise.”
At least they agreed on what they wouldn’t be doing.
The ship was before them all too soon, and again, the dear, dratted man would not make his good-byes, but must climb onto the deck immediately after Hannah’s own ascent, leading Hannah up onto the poop deck where the captain was cursing in Gaelic.
She recognized the curses and had practiced them for later use.
Asher commenced exhorting the captain, who was to control the very weather lest any harm come to Hannah. She let the sound wash over her, the sound of a man in love, doing what he could to keep her safe. The little maid stood some distance away, neat, round-eyed, and wise enough to wait until Asher was done blathering.
And then, all too soon, Asher turned to Hannah, took her by the elbow, and led her to the railing.
“I love you. I will always love you. Tend to your family in Boston, Hannah, but know that my heart goes with you.”
“Not fair.” She swayed into his embrace, and it had nothing to do with the rise and fall of the waves. “You weren’t supposed to say it in English.”
“I love you. I will always love you. I’m letting you go because I love you, but this is not the end.”
He had to say that too, of course, like telling a patient they’d feel only a little burn at the touch of the knife.
“I love you, too.” And thank a perverse God, Hannah was beyond tears. “I will always love you.”
There was nothing more to say. Nothing more to feel. She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek, which was for once cold from the sea breeze. And because the hardest words always fell to the woman, she said them. “Good-bye, Asher.”
He held her impossibly tight, as if he’d hold her forever if he could just wrap her close enough in his arms, and then he stepped back. “Farewell.”
Rather than watch him disappear over the rail, Hannah turned her back to stare at the sea and the ships bobbing and lifting on the water. She had no thoughts. She was one tired, bitter ache, where a woman in love had stood and was still trying to stand.
“Yer ladyship?”
The maid looked resolute, as if she’d borne one of Asher’s lectures too. The girl’s name was… Ceely, and in her green eyes, Hannah saw some Scottish determination. Probably even MacGregor determination, given the number of second and third cousins in Asher’s employ.
“It’s Miss Cooper, Ceely. Shall we go below?”
“My very thoughts, milady.” The girl marched across the deck, but Hannah didn’t make it that far. She stopped at the opposite rail and caught sight of the little boat with its four oarsmen, moving closer and closer to shore. Asher was on the bench in the middle, facing Hannah’s ship, bare-headed and immobile.
She blew him a kiss. He returned the gesture, and then she couldn’t see him anymore for all the damned tears in her eyes.
***
Ian was waiting when Asher walked up to the inn, sitting outside on a wicker chair facing the harbor, no baby in evidence, no tea and scones, not even a flask.
“You do realize that’s your wife you just put on that ship?”
Asher slid into the seat next to him, so he might torment himself with the sight of Hannah’s ship leaving port. “A consummated engagement is a handfast marriage under Scottish law. Of course I realize it. Hannah probably won’t until she reads the letter I gave the captain.”
“You might have gone with her.”
“We’ve had that discussion. I have no authority over her family, but I can at least give her the protection afforded the Countess of Balfour.”
But what if she forgot to read the letter he’d given the captain, didn’t collect the money, the ring, the deed to Asher’s Boston house? Captain Mills would get them to her… eventually.
Ian scraped his chair back. “Do the Americans recognize handfast marriages? Hannah’s not a Scottish citizen. One does wonder.”
“You’re the bloody lawyer.”
“There’s still time to catch the ship, Asher. The anchor hasn’t been drawn up, the sails aren’t lowered. The tide hasn’t yet turned.”
