Page 25 of To Wed a Laird
Cormac smiled at his daughter and gave her a tight squeeze. “She is fine,” he assured her. “She has hurt her foot, but it’s the same one she hurt before, so she can hop along!” He mimicked the action, and Elspeth laughed.
“No need to worry.” He planted a soft kiss on the top of her head, then looked at Nell. “I will take care of Elspeth. Please go to Rose and help her to change her clothes, then give her anything else she needs—food, drink—whatever she wants.”
“Can I go and see her?” Elspeth pleaded.
“She needs tae rest for a while,” Nell told her, patting her shoulder. “But she will want tae see ye as soon as she can, Elspeth. She just has tae clean up an’ have a wee sleep.”
Elspeth nodded, but she looked sad. Cormac took her hand and smiled at her, then sai, “I think the cook might have made some clootie dumpling. Shall we go and see?”
The rich, spicy pudding was Elspeth’s, and now Rose’s favourite dessert.
Elspeth’s face lit up. “We can take a bit to Rose,” she cried. “She loves it!”
“Of course,” Cormac agreed.
He looked up to see Nell smiling at him widely. She wiped her hands, which were covered in flour, down her apron, and came forward to pat his cheek gently.
“Rose is good for ye,” she said happily. “She has made ye come alive again, an’ this wee one as well.” She smiled at Elspeth, who frowned.
“I am already alive!” she protested.
Cormac laughed and said, “I will explain later, Elspeth.”
Nell gazed at him fondly, thinking about the man he had been before Rose’s arrival, and the man he was now. It was as though a ray of sunshine had entered into the dark sadness in which he had been submerged and lit him up from within.
Nell could not read Cormac’s mind, of course, but she had known him for many years, and she saw the man he had once been re-emerged, and she was infinitely glad of it.
“I will take her some food,” she said gently, then she looked at Elspeth. “An’ you, Madam, be good for your father!”
“I am always good,” Elspeth said, giggling.
Cormac laughed heartily at that, then realised how unfamiliar the sound was, as well as the sensation of unbridled freedom it gave him. It had been years since he had laughed like this.
It’s Rose,he thought in amazement as he looked down at Elspeth’s happy face.She has done this to me—to both of us.He sighed in pure contentment, and once more he heard Catherine’s voice.She is a good woman.
Yet was he in love with her? That was still a question he could not answer.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The painin her ankle was beginning to subside, and Rose felt a little calmer as she lay on her bed waiting for Nell. She knew that she would become restless in the next few days, since she was by nature an active person, but she was sure that visits from Elspeth would help with that problem.
Presently, Nell appeared, carrying a tray with some food, the smell of which made her mouth water—haggis, turnips and potatoes.
“How are ye, hen?” Nell asked, concerned. “Are ye in pain?”
“I feel much better than I did before, Nell. Thank you for asking,” Rose replied. “But it really is not too serious, just a sprain, the healer said.”
“Aye, well, Flora is a clever girl an’ knows what she is talkin’ about.” Nell set about fluffing up a pillow so that Rose could sit comfortably on the bed. “Eat up first, then ye can bathe an’ change. Oh, by the way, I have somethin’ else for ye.”
She slipped a hand into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a letter, which she handed to Rose.
Rose’s eyes lit up as she saw the writing on the sealed paper, and she cried out, “It’s from my sisters! I have been missing them so much.”
She broke the seal with trembling fingers and began to read. It was a very long letter, since both of them had contributed to it, and neither Claire nor Amanda had seen any reason at all to be brief.
Rose laughed as she read the first words, then began to read aloud.
Dear Rose,
