Page 36 of Eloping with the Laird
‘Ewan?’ Moira asked. ‘Did you hear me?’
He laughed loudly, too loudly. ‘I did not think you would truly do it, sister.’ He ruffled his hair with his hand before he turned his gaze on Moira. ‘You marriedhim?’
Moira’s cheeks flushed and she glanced at Rory before clutching her brother roughly by the arm and dragging him off. ‘What is wrong with you?’ she hissed. ‘He ismychoice. Respect that.’
‘You could have had any man there, Moira,’ he countered, his emotion making his voice carry with ease.
‘But I didn’t wantanyman. I wanted Rory. He is my choice, my husband, my future.’
Ewan scoffed. ‘For how long?’
She didn’t reply.
‘I never believed you a fool until now.’
Moira released his arm and recoiled. ‘I never believedyouwould abandon me until now.’
‘Well, I suppose we’re both full of surprises. Have a happy life, sister.’ He turned on his heel and left her.
Rory shook his head as Ewan approached, moving quickly to the main doors to leave. He grasped his brother-in-law by the arm. ‘Do not give up your sister because of your Father’s weakness.’
‘Do not lecture me on matters of time or family, McKenna, when you have neither.’ He yanked his arm out of Rory’s hold and left, slamming the doors behind him.
Despite the foolishness of Ewan’s words, they still stung. Rory clenched his fist by his side and set his jaw. The man wasn’t wrong. Rory had little experience with family and less time left to his name, but he also knew Moira was a rare creature. Ewan would see that in time.
But for now, Rory needed to care for her. He came to her and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. Before he could utter a word of comfort, she crashed into his chest, wrapping her arms around him, and began to sob. Gripping her tightly, he whispered into her hair. ‘All is not lost. They will come back to you, Moira. I swear it.’
And they would. He wasn’t entirely sure how he’d mend what had come to pass between her and her family, but before his own demise he’d figure out a way to sort it through. Even though at the moment he had no idea how.
Chapter Sixteen
Moira hadn’t had such a good cry in a while. Despite being embarrassed by soaking through Rory’s tunic, she had to admit she felt a great deal better. One last hiccup, and she met her husband’s gaze. He was still holding her and rubbing her back in small circles. His comfort without rebuke had been a heady and welcome surprise. Peter had never been comfortable with emotion and had shied away from her tears, often abandoning her or ordering her to stop her foolishness. Rory wiped away a final tear with his thumb and smiled at her. ‘He will realise his error in condemning you. They all will.’
She chuckled. ‘You do not know my father. He is stubborn. The only one who could ever soften him was my mother, and now that she has passed he has become as fixed as the standing stones of Nether Largie in his thinking.’
He frowned and his brow crinkled. ‘Perhaps now is the best time for me to tell you that I received a letter from him. He intercepted my message to the servants who wished to leave and returned it to me enclosed with his own stating that he would not be allowing any of them to depart. Not even your lady’s maid, Enora.’
‘Father will make their lives a misery.’ Moira slipped out of Rory’s arms and walked to the window where rain still fell splattering along the glass. He joined her and slipped the damp cloak she’d forgotten she was even wearing from her shoulders.
‘If you figure a way for us to steal them away, tell me. I am not afraid to try yet another ruse at Glenhaven.’ He smiled down at her. ‘I found the first to be quite successful and worth the risk.’
She chuckled, grateful for his humour as well as his truth. His lovely grey eyes settled on her and another tiny flutter of attraction flitted through her belly. Goodness, he was kind. What in the world would she do with him? She wasn’t used to it. She dropped her gaze and shifted on her feet.
A door slammed from far off. ‘Rory? Rory? Did you leave the hounds out in the storm?’
Moira smiled. ‘It seems your uncle has need of you.’
Rory held a finger to his lips, grabbed her hand and pulled her along as they scurried off quietly along the hallway. Pulling her close to him, he whispered in her ear, ‘I will never hear the end of it for leaving his dogs out in the rain. We must escape while we can. Hurry.’
She smiled and nodded, pressing her lips together to smother a chuckle as they moved like mice scampering down one hall and then another until they had safely sealed themselves within his study and library once more.
Rory sighed as he leaned back against the closed door. ‘Why don’t you peruse all of those neglected volumes while I attempt to gain control over this unwieldy correspondence?’
‘A great plan, I think, my laird.’ She smiled and disappeared down the second row of books.
‘How goes your research? It is nearly nightfall,’ Rory asked, leaning around a row of books.
Moira started.Was it nightfall already?But he spoke the truth. She looked up from the corner she had parked herself in to read upon the floor and noted the afternoon sun had begun its slow descent along the sky. Heavens, the wall sconces would need to be lit soon. Her cheeks heated as he surveyed the smattering of open books displayed across the floor. She’d made a mess of things. ‘I’m sorry,’ she stammered. ‘I should not have been so careless with them. I wasn’t thinking. She shifted to her knees and began to attempt to close and gather the volumes that filled the small aisle.
