Page 89 of A Rogue in Twilight

“Aye then, go,” Donal said. “Take the stone. I will wait here.” He sat on a boulder, leaned his back against the cliffside, and tugged his flat bonnet low as if to sleep.

Elspeth could not bear to leave him, but knew he would not come inside. “Go back down, Grandda,” she said. “Do not wait here alone. We will be fine. We will meet you at the ferryman’s house.”

“True, theDaoine Síthmight find me here. But you could be in danger too.”

“I am safe with James. Go on.” She hugged him and stepped back.

“Eilidh,” Donal said. “You must guard yourself.”

Surprised, she turned. Her grandfather rarely used her Gaelic name. “How so?”

“You should have married the man already. He is a good man, and love will protect you and lessen their hold. If only you had married him before this.”

“That will come soon enough,” she replied quietly.

Donal stood, took up his walking stick. “Marry him now, lass,” he said. “Take his hands in yours and wed him now, here, in the old way, before you enter that cave. With or without a witness, you can make a marriage here and now. It is a custom in Scotland that is old and respected.”

She stared at James, then at her grandfather. “We would want a wedding where all can celebrate with us.”

“Do that later. Give him your forever pledge and forge your bond before you go in that place.”

The wind whipped hard and cold at her back. “That is not necessary. But thank you. Go down the slope, Grandda. I am more concerned about you than me. We will meet you at the inn by the loch.”

Donal looked at James. “You take care of her. You marry her. See to it.”

“I will,” James said quietly.

Elspeth hugged her grandfather and turned to go with James as they proceeded up the slope toward the cave entrance in the cliff. Her grandfather’s odd insistence seemed to haunt her, and she glanced back to see the old man descending carefully.

Thunder grumbled overhead as they approached the cave opening, which loomed and looked foreboding. She stood listening to growls of thunder, seized with quick fear.

“James,” she said. He knelt to examine some rocks and waved, unbothered.

She paused to wait, thoughts racing. When James came back, he pointed.

“Much of this is limestone with excellent patches of granite,” he said. “There are traces of chalcedony and obsidian, with micaand quartz as well. Granite is a composite rock,” he went on, “and the mix here indicates there could be agate here too.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said. Her heart was beating strangely fast.

“There could be real geological significance in that cave. The limestone layer over a layer of granite hints at a marine era a long time ago. Well, I will not bore you, my lass. I am glad your grandfather agreed to go back down. It is better for him.”

“Aye, there is no need for him to wait alone where he feels uneasy. He said that you and I would only be safe if—” She hesitated, watching him.

About to use his magnifying lens on a rock, he looked at her. “If we marry before we go inside there? I heard him.”

“What do you think?”

“I think it is your decision, my dear lass. Whatever you want, I will do.”

Chapter Twenty-One

“If we marry,”she said, “we should do it now. Here. Grandda thought it best.”

James set down the loupe and the hammer, nodding, frowning. He took her hand to pull her up to stand on a rock with him. “Marry now? Would you?”

She nodded. “I think so. Grandda said that bond will protect us inside the cave.”

“I see.” He nodded.