Page 50 of Claimed Highland Brides

5

IDEAS

“F orgive me for lurking. I didnae want ye to be alone,” Aileen whispered, shamefacedly as she stepped onto the balcony.

He turned to her with a smile. “Dinnae be shamed. I’m glad ye’re here. Perhaps ye can help me. The thinking’s no’ going so well.”

Aileen smiled tentatively. “Aye, weel, ye should go to bed and sleep on it.”

Barclay lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “It’ll be better in the morning?”

Aileen cocked her head, feeling that there might be a weight to those words she wasn’t getting. “Maybe not, but if yer mind is fresh, ye might be able to think o’ something. I heard my sister and Daividh talking. They said ye have to wait until ye’re five and twenty to get yer land.”

Barclay sighed. “Or I have to be marrit.”

“Aye. Do ye no’ have…?” She stopped uncertainly, watching his face.

He raised an eyebrow. “Do I no’ have…what? Are ye asking if I am promised?”

Aileen nodded, eyes flickering from side to side with embarrassment.

“Nay. I am not. How could I? I dinnae even have a home to take a bride to.”

Aileen’s heart broke for him. “Maybe not yet, but ye soon will.”

Barclay huffed cynically. “We will see, will we no’?”

“Ye have the will, and we will back yer claim. Perhaps ye can go to yer uncle and show him that ye’re no’ alone and that there are people who will stand wi’ ye.”

Barclay gave her a smile and a shrug. “I suppose it is worth trying if yer brother-in-law will agree to accompany me.”

“O’ course he will.”

“Ye seem very certain.”

“We havenae seen each other for many a year, Barclay, but ye’re still a dear friend o’ the family. Of course we’ll help ye. Our faither would expect no less from us.”

“Is that the only reason then? That ye would help me?”

Suddenly she felt breathless despite the bracing night air. Folding her hands, she had to struggle to keep her gaze on his.

“O’ course not. We would do it because we want to as well.”

He continued to consider her unblinkingly, the tension between them ratcheting upward as the silence grew between them. The air was so thick with it that Aileen found it difficult to draw a breath. She could feel every rise and fall of her chest, arms folded between her diminutive breasts as she stared back at Barclay, unable to break eye contact.

Why are ye looking at me like that?

Her hand wanted to fly to her hair to check that it was still neatly knotted and not escaping in unruly wisps as it was wont to do.

She cleared her throat, searching frantically for any words to say to break the strange silence. Before she could speak, Barclay moved, taking a step towards her. He was close enough that she could feel his breath fan her face as he opened his mouth. “Ye got really tall. Ye used to be such a wee thing.”

Her eyes were at level with his nose, and she hardly had to tip her head up to meet his own. She hunched into herself immediately, feeling mortified. Her height was a continuing source of embarrassment to her, towering as she did over most people. It was unseemly for a lassie to be so huge, and it was one reason she was convinced that no man could ever want her for a wife.

The look in Barclay’s eyes, though, was confusing. He did not look at all disgusted. In fact, if she were not convinced she was mistaken, she might have said he was admiring.

“No, no, dinnae bend yourself over like that.” Barclay stretched his hand out and touched her arm briefly. “I’m sorry. I dinnae mean to discomfit ye.”

Aileen dipped her head, feeling still more out of countenance that he had noticed her discomfiture. “’Tis alright,” she whispered, trying to think of how she could withdraw from the balcony with some grace.

Barclay gave a loud sigh. “I’ve spoiled it, have I no’?” He looked around helplessly. “Let us change the subject. Tell me about home. Tell me everything that has happened since I left.”

Aileen could not help but laugh. “Wha’? All of it?”

He gave her a wry smile. “As much as ye can remember.”

Aileen stepped to the balustrade, embarrassment forgotten. “Alright, then. We’ve had quite a few adventures in the last few years.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Tell me.”

Aileen smiled. “Ye remember our uncle Donnchadh, of Dunavar Castle?”

“Aye. Yer faither spoke highly o’ him, I remember.”

“Weel, when he died, Uncle Donnchadh contracted a marriage for Fiona.”

“With Campbell ye mean?”

“Ach, no. Daividh was one of Uncle Donnchadh’s soldiers. He was sent to fetch Fiona and bring her to Dunavar.”

Barclay’s face brightened. “Is that so? How interesting. And so? They fell in love and eloped? They were star-crossed lovers?”

Aileen laughed. “Not quite. Daividh delivered her faithfully.”

He leaned forward, eyes alight with interest. “And then wha’ happened? Did he kill his rival and claim Fiona for himself?”

Shaking her head, her shoulders shook as she giggled some more. “No. Do ye want me to tell ye the tale or no’?”

He gestured extravagantly. “Please. Go ahead.”

“It turns out that the laird, Hunter, had unsavory intentions towards her and all of us. It was all about the gold mines, ye see.”

He shook his head. “Wha’ gold mines?”

She gestured vaguely to the west. “The family gold mines. Anyway, so Daividh found out aboot his intentions?—”

“O’course he did.” Barclay grinned.

“And he tried to get Uncle Donnchadh to intervene. Instead, he got thrown in the dungeons.”

“Och!” Barclay exclaimed in excitement.

“Aye. Laird Hunter then stole him away to kill him…”

Barclay blinked eagerly at her. “Weel? Dinnae stop there!”

“Fiona saved him.”

“Wha’? That’s all ye’re going to say?”

Aileen spread her hands out. “Tha’s all I ken. They wilnae speak on it more than tha’.”

“Hmm. And what of yer second sister, Jamesina? Was she also betrothed to some other?”

“No. But her husband did have unsavory intentions to begin wi’ too.”

He threw back his head and laughed before shaking his head. “What was he after?”

“The mines too. His sister was abducted by Laird Hunter’s men. The price of her release was the deed to the mine.”

“And he thought to get it from Jamesina?”

“Aye.”

“I gather he had a change o’ heart?”

Aileen inclined her head in a so-so gesture.

Barclay shook his head. “It is amazing that ye consent to speak to any prospects at all. Is that why the twins are as yet unmarried?”

“I dinnae ken. I havenae spoken wi’ ‘em aboot it. They seem quite happy to be unmarried for the moment.”

“And ye? Are ye happy?”

Aileen looked away. “We were not speaking o’ me.”

“And why not?”

Aileen looked away, swallowing hard. “Please, dinnae mock me.” She took a step away from him, and he reached out and clasped her arm tightly, stopping her.

“I am not.”

“Who would want to marry me?” Her chest heaving, she tried to pull her arm away from him, but he tightened his hold.

“Wha’ does tha’ mean? Why wouldnae any man be proud to call ye his bride?”

Aileen snorted. “Perhaps when all my sisters are wed, and the greed for our gold outweighs the prospects of an ugly wife, will I be chosen.”

Barclay frowned. “Who told ye this? Who made ye believe that ye’re ugly?”

Aileen threw back her head and screamed in hysterical laughter before subsiding and regarding Barclay solemnly. “I have a looking glass. I ken how I look. When guests came to visit, they would declaim the bonniness of Murdo’s daughters…all but me.”

“I cannot believe that anyone would have the audacity to lay under Murdo’s roof and call one of his daughters ugly.”

“Not directly. O’ course not. It was more in what wasnae said than what was. It was standing in the corner, waiting to be noticed at balls while all my sisters were asked to dance. Even ùna garners more attention than I. Dinnae mistake me. I dinnae blame them. My sisters are truly lovely, and I am not too blind to see it. It was just my luck that I didnae get even a fraction o’ what they have.”

Barclay stared at her and sighed. “If people look only at the surface when they look at ye, that is their loss for ye are the kindest, gentlest, and loving friend anyone could ask for. Ye are quick-witted, amusing, and such good company. Anyone would be fortunate indeed to call ye their wife.”

Aileen looked away. “Ye’re very kind,” she said quietly. “I mun’ go to bed. Ye should do the same. The answers to yer questions can wait until morning.”

She took a step towards the door.

“Wait.” His voice was quiet, yet he sounded excited. She turned, facing him, eyebrow raised.

“What is it?”

He huffed softly. “Here I have been agonizing on what to do, and the answer has been right here, staring us in th’ face.”

Her brow furrowed. “Whatever d’ye mean?”

“Marriage. If I am to get married, I will be eligible for my land, right away.”

“Aye?”

He huffed again, straightening up from the balustrade and striding toward her. Taking her hand in his, he stared into her eyes. “Marry me, dear Eileen.”

She blanched, jerking violently and pulling her hand out of his. “Why would ye say such a thing to me?”

“Forgive me. I didnae mean to startle ye.” Very slowly, he reached out for her hand again as if she were a spooked horse, and he was trying to calm her down. He smiled slowly. “What is wrong? Is the idea of marriage to me so abhorrent?”

She blinked at him as if she might gauge his intentions if she stared for long enough. “I dinnae understand.”

“What do ye no ken, Miss Douglass? That I wish to marry ye?”

She snatched her hand away from his, flailing a bit. “If it is a bride ye want, ye can have anyone?—”

“Aye. So? Does tha’ mean ye’ll have me?”

That simply added to her bewilderment. “Why?”

Barclay laughed. “Because I am in need of a wife, and ye are in need of a husband that wants ye.”

“I am not in need! I am quite happy to die a spinster!”

“Ye dinnae have to. Will ye no’ help me?”

That brought Aileen up short. This was not just about her. Barclay needed a bride. For some strange reason, he had decided to ask her of all people, despite the fact that both Fenella and Maisie were both still available.

“Why not ask one of the twins?”

Barclay grinned. “For one thing, judging from how much they were raving aboot them, I think my cousins might have their eye on them. For another, I dinnae want them. I want ye.”

“But…why me?”

“Because…yer words sustained me for years. Because ye’re kind and loving. Because ye care.”

“Because I’m here?”

“God has put ye in my path at the right time. Who am I to question it?”

Despite her declaration earlier that she was content to be a spinster, Aileen was still disappointed at his words.

It would have been nice to have been more than just a conveniently available body.

Why can no one want me for me?

She gave a wistful sigh, looking away from him.

“Aileen?”

She looked back at him.

“Will ye marry me?”