Page 8 of To Wed a Laird
He turned and marched away, leaving Nell to stand watching him until he disappeared from sight. She thought for a moment of the man he had been a few years before, in the days when she would find Catherine and Cormac locked in a passionate embrace when they thought no one was looking.
In those days, Elspeth would ride on her father’s back as though he were a horse, and he would act the part by neighing and stamping his feet. That would reduce Elspeth to helpless giggles, and Nell remembered the dimples in her cheeks and her bright eyes shining with laughter.
Happy days,she thought wistfully. Yet now, for the first time in a long while, she had a feeling of renewed hope because there was something about Rose that made her feel that way.
Of course, she would never be expected to imitate Lady Catherine or take her place, but Nell hoped that Elspeth would respond to her in a way she had not been able to do with the others.
Meanwhile, Rose walked purposefully towards Elspeth’s bedroom, but found the door already closed and locked. She heard Elspeth sobbing inside, and her heart almost broke for the little girl. Rose had been in the same state herself when her own mother died, and hearing her weeping brought back her own sorrow in full force.
However, she had two loving sisters, Claire and Amanda, and they were a source of solace for each other, whereas Elspeth had no one except her father, and he was making a very poor show of things as far as she could see.
She knocked on the door, and the weeping stopped. “It’s Rose, Elspeth,” she said. “Please let me talk to you.”
However, the only reply she received was a bang as something hard hit the door. Rose was not surprised, since she had expected this reaction, but consoled herself with the fact that she had at least tried. She had no idea what would happen to her now, but she fully expected to be in a carriage on the way home the next day.
At that moment, she heard heavy footsteps behind her and turned to see the Laird approaching. He said nothing, but the look on his face was enough to send Rose walking away swiftly in the other direction.
When Cormac went to bed that night, he knew he would struggle to sleep, but he resisted the impulse to help himself to whisky. He had seen too many men taking that path which led to their ruin, and he would rather not become one of them.
Accordingly, he sighed and laid his head on the pillow then tried to think happy thoughts, but his mind kept going back to Rose and those deep, dark eyes of hers. He thought that if he stared into them for too long he might drown in them. With that in mind, he was able to close his eyes and drift off into a fitful doze.
A few moments later he smiled as he saw Catherine and Elspeth coming towards him carrying flowers from the garden. Suddenly Elspeth broke into a run and jumped into his arms,and he scooped her up, laughing, and whirled her around as she threw her head back and screamed with mirth.
Catherine came up to join them, and Cormac put his arms around both of them, thinking what an incredibly fortunate man he was to be surrounded by so much love. The three of them stood joined together for a while, with the fragrance of roses and lavender enveloping them.
It was a fine, clear day and the sun was shining brightly out of a cloudless blue sky. Catherine laughed. “Is this really Scotland?” she asked in disbelief.
Elspeth gave her a playful tap on the shoulder. “Of course it is, silly Mammy!”
Catherine pulled her daughter towards her and kissed her, then turned her face up to Cormac. There was a promise in his wife’s eyes. Promise of years of love and happiness.
He smiled, and they turned to go back to the castle, and Elspeth had seen Nell and was just about to rush in before them, but she never got the chance.
Cormac turned to speak to his wife, but before he could say a word, she screamed and fell down on the stone slabs of the courtyard. For a fleeting second he did not understand what had happened, then he saw an arrow protruding from her back.
Cormac stared at Catherine in disbelief and horror for a moment, then shook her as if he could wake her up, before he realised that she was dead. Stunned, he stared at her, shaking his head.
“No! No! Stand up, Cathy,” he cried.
“Mammy?” Elspeth asked, her face a mask of fear, as blood from Catherine’s wound slowly spread over her back.
That was when the truth finally smote him like a fist to his face.
Cormac suddenly was trapped in the middle, as arrows were shot from both sides. Catherine was motionless on the ground, and he stood there frozen, seeing his wife being lost before his eyes, unable to do anything.
In his dream, he had no idea who his enemy was, but he knew one thing; before the sun set, every single one of them would be nothing but a memory. He felt as though his fury and hatred had given him the strength of ten men, and he was determined that the flagstones of the courtyard would be stained red with their blood.
Then he screamed as he charged into battle.
The sound woke him from his nightmare, and he jerked upright in his bed, looking around him and half-expecting to be attacked by a swordsman hiding in the shadows.
Slowly, he returned to reality and breathed out a long sigh of relief, then passed a hand over his eyes, only to discover that his face was wet with tears. Catherine had been gone for years, but now it seemed that the pain of loss was as sharp as it had been on the dreadful day when she had died.
Will it ever go away?he thought sadly as he saw Elspeth’s angry little face in his mind’s eye.Will we ever be at peace?
CHAPTER FOUR
Cormac was notthe only one suffering from insomnia that night. Rose, too, was lying awake, unable to sleep because of the memory of Elspeth’s face, her expression one of rage, hurt and sheer misery. She knew those feelings, having experienced them herself after her own mother’s death.
