Page 79 of Taming the Highland Misfits

“Do I have to have a reason?” Freya countered. “Can I not just be joyful?”

Mhairi narrowed her eyes at Freya then sighed. “There is somethin’ you are no’ tellin’ me,” she said, shaking her head. “But I will find out what it is. Where have ye been?”

At that moment, Caitrin came in, and the first thing that she, too, noticed was Freya’s wide smile. “You look happy,” she observed, then she frowned. “Why?”

“Exactly what I was thinkin’,” Mhairi declared. Then she put the iron down, and resting her hands on her hips, said, “Have you been wi’ him again?”

Freya ignored her, but Mhairi was determined to have her say. “How long have we known each other, Mistress?” she demanded, her eyes shadowed by the deep glare she was giving Freya. “Surely you can trust me? I would never dae anythin’ tae hurt ye.” Mhairi moved to stand closer to her, looking into her eyes, and Freya read genuine love there.

“Neither would I,” Caitrin agreed. Freya looked from one to the other of them, and felt a great warmth spread over her. She had lost her mother when she was very small, but she had always had Mhairi. Caitrin, who had come into her life much later, who had taught her everything she needed to know about being a lady, had also come to mean a lot to her. However, she was not yet ready to share her secret with them before her father approved the match.

“I do trust you,” Freya replied, smiling at both of them. She was going to change the subject, but Mhairi interrupted.

“Have we no’ been over an’ over this time an’ time again, Mistress?” she asked. “Alex is a very nice lad, but maybe it would be best if ye let your father be the judge o’ who ye should marry. He is a good man an’ has never pointed ye in the wrong direction, an’ that is why ye have turned out tae be the lovely young lass ye are today.”

“I agree with what Mhairi says,” Caitrin replied. “Your father is a steady and wise man, and he never does anything without giving it a lot of thought. He will not choose a bad match for you.”

Freya gazed at the two women in front of her; both meant a great deal to her but they obviously thought her love for Alex was just an infatuation. Her father had tried to pair her with many young men in the past and she had rejected all of them. Was that not a sign? Her feelings for Alex were deep and had been constant throughout all these years.

After a moment’s hesitation, she sat down, smiling at both of them. “All will be revealed soon,” she told them. “And you can both stop worrying!” She turned to Mhairi. “Now, I would quite like to have a bath, and after that we can open a bottle of that new Madiera that my father has been trying to hide from me.”

The bath was duly drawn, and Freya lay back in the scented water, letting her mind drift into forbidden territory that she would never share with anyone else.

She had seen Alex naked to the waist before, but she had never seen all of him. In fact, she had never seen a naked man before at all, and it scared her to think about it. She had asked Mhairi a long time ago about what went on in the marriage bed, and Mhairi had given her the appropriate information, but it had all sounded absolutely terrifying.

Yet somehow she knew that it would not be like that with Alex. He had never treated her with anything but the greatest of gentleness and courtesy, and she had no reason to believe that he would change when they were married. Then she caught herself up short. Should it not be anif?

No,she thought resolutely.I will marry my love, even if we have to run away. No one is going to come between us.She hoped it would never come to that, but if it did, she was ready.

The secrets of the bedroom had really never been far from her mind ever since she and Alex had first kissed, but now that her father was putting pressure on her to marry, they had been at the forefront of her mind all the time.

If, in some nightmarish scenario, he forced her to marry someone like Frank Gallagher, she would find some way to get out of it. Perhaps she should start to lay out some plans just in case. Then she shook her head vigorously. That was never going to happen; her father was not a cruel man, and it was her own insecurity and lack of confidence that were coming to torture her.

Mhairi noticed her restlessness. “Is somethin’ worryin’ ye, Mistress?” she asked, concerned. “Can I help?”

“Yes, Mhairi,” Freya replied. “Please get me a towel and help me out of the bath.”

“That wasnae what I meant,” Mhairi grumbled.

“I know what you meant, Mhairi.” Freya stood up and Mhairi began to help her to dry herself. “You would do anything for me, as I would for you, but you cannot do the impossible. Please stop fretting now.”

Mhairi nodded and continued what she was doing. She was deeply worried about Freya, and about her impulsive and headstrong nature, because if she married Alex MacNeill against her father’s wishes and the wishes of his uncle, they could end up as outcasts.

Freya had no such concerns. She could not wait for morning!

* * *

As he walked away, Alex thought about the night when he had saved the Laird’s life. His injury might have been “just a scratch”, as he had put it, but it hurt like the very devil. He had had to keep the knowledge of how much pain he was in away from his men, although there had been nothing much he could do about the great circle of blood on his tunic. He had had to quell a minor riot when his men heard about the bandits, and it had been all he could do to stop them rushing out to avenge their fallen comrade right there and then. However, a few months later the murderers were caught and hanged, and the matter was closed.

Ever since then, he thought, grinning, the men regarded him as some sort of hero. That was very amusing, since he could never remember being quite so afraid in his life. However, fear itself did not make him a coward; running away did. Thank God he had not disgraced himself!

Yet now being a hero might have its advantages, particularly in the matter of winning the Laird’s blessing for his marriage to his daughter. Although he was quite prepared to elope with Freya, it would cause a rift between her and her family, and he was not comfortable with that at all. He knew that talking Laird Murdaugh into letting him marry Freya was going to be tough, but he was determined.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost bumped into one of his men, Archie Scott, who was the brother-in-law of Freya’s maid, Mhairi. He was a squat, sturdy man of medium height with a shock of red hair and deep brown eyes, and Alex always had the impression that he could read his mind.

“Sorry, Archie,” he said, but he was unable to stop grinning.

The other man looked at him suspiciously, but with a wicked twinkle in his eyes. “You look happy the day, Cap’n,” he remarked.