Page 32 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Bride

EPILOGUE

One Year Later…

“Me, m’laird?” Marcus was looking at James as though he were utterly mad.

“Aye. That’s what I said, is it nae?”

Marcus and Nathaniel exchanged concerned looks, and James glanced irritably at Harris, who was smirking at the side of the room, watching him.

“What exactly is the problem?”

“It is just—” Nathaniel attempted, “ye have never asked a member of the council to arrange the archery tournament, m’. Ye have always done it yerself.”

“In detail,” Marcus added, “ye never want our help.”

James scowled as he handed the papers about the tournament arrangements to Marcus. He tried to tamp down the irritation he was feeling at himself.

Have I really kept so much of the lairdship to meself? I dinnae ken how I managed to do it all.

Well, he had a fair idea—he hadn’t had a wife before, and now all the time he spent away from her was torture.

“I am givin’ ye the honor of organisin’ the tournament, Marcus. Dinnae let me down.”

James saw the man’s eyes widen. It was a big task and a testament to how much they had both learned to trust one another after the incidents the year before.

It had taken a long while for James to truly believe Marcus had no knowledge of what Lillian and Bram had been up to.

James knew privately that Mrs. Guthrie had been the most shocked of them all. The poor woman had had no clue what Bram had been doing to her niece behind her back.

He had been conducting an affair with her for years, quietly teaching her how to become the perfect lady of the house in order to eventually get rid of James and lead the clan as head of the council.

In the intervening months, it was Maisie who had taught James a great deal about forgiveness. Maisie was adamant that Lillian was a victim in all of it. She had told him in no uncertain terms that he should not look upon her as complicit.

“Such a young girl could ne’er have understood what Bram was truly tryin’ to dae. She was manipulated by him, just as we all were, and ye would dae well to remember that.”

“Have ye heard from yer niece, Marcus,” he asked, deliberately doing it in front of the council, hoping that by keeping her in their thoughts, she would one day be able to return.

Marcus smiled at him gratefully. “She is doing well, m’laird, the convent is beautiful, and she has found her place there in the solitude to reflect on the past few months. Mrs. Guthrie will visit her soon, and I will tell ye how she does. In her last letter, she sounded peaceful.”

“I am glad,” James said softly, not going so far as to wish her well but showing the council there was no animosity between them.

Without Maisie, I would never have found it in me heart to forgive the lass.

“Is there anythin’ else for us to discuss? Because I have to meet with me man-at-arms.”

Harris raised his eyebrows, but James gave nothing away as the council shook their heads and slowly shuffled out.

“Ye wish to meet with me, m’laird?”

“Aye, come with me,” he ordered, and Harris pushed from the wall, looking worried now, as he followed him through the passageways of the castle and up to Maisie’s room.

Harris looked even more confused when James knocked, and there was a hurried scuffling from inside. James just hoped Maisie had gone through with her plan; otherwise, he would look extremely foolish.

“Come in!” he heard from inside, and he pushed the door open but did not yet enter.

“Me laird?” Harris asked, looking bewildered.

“Her Ladyship has asked for an audience, dinnae keep her waitin’,” he said with a smile, and then when Harris continued to hesitate, he pushed him forcefully through the door, following as he hid his grin.

Maisie was nervous, but she was determined to see this through. She held one hand on her swollen belly as the baby kicked, perhaps feeling his mother’s excitement. She smiled at the feeling.

She watched James enter after Harris, his dark eyes finding hers and running down over her figure, with a look so potent she felt her heart beat violently in her chest. It had been almost five hours since she had last kissed him, that was entirely too long.

“Hello, Harris,” she said seriously, and Harris glanced back at James with a look of fear.

“Is all well, m’lady?”

“Certainly not,” she replied, adding a touch of anger to her voice, and Harris shifted his weight.

“However I have offended ye I deeply apologize, m’lady, but I am at a loss as to what I have done,” Harris said with concern.

“Ye shouldnae be apologizin’ to me.”

“I shouldnae, m’lady?”

“Nae.”

“Maisie, dinnae be cruel to the poor man.”

Harris looked back at James and held out his hands warily.

“What has happened?”

“I want ye to answer a question for me, Harris,” Maisie said sternly, “and I want it to be the truth.”

Harris scratched at his magnificent beard and nodded.

“Dae ye have feelings for Jean?”

He froze. His mouth opening and closing helplessly as he searched for words.

“The answer is ‘yes’, Harris,” James said helpfully from behind him.

Harris stuttered and then nodded, clearly unable to speak.

“Well, she has been waitin’ for twelve long months for ye to make yer case known, and I have been waitin’ too, refusin’ to get involved, even though I can see the pain it causes her every day. But nae more. If ye love someone ye should be with them, and ye must ken she cares for ye deeply.”

Harris shook his head. “M’lady, she would lose her position. I cannae take her away from ye, she loves this castle, loves her service. I have always wanted to ask her, but it would mean she had to give this up. I willnae be the reason she has to dae so.”

Maisie flicked a glance at James, and he nodded with a kind smile.

“I ken that,” she said. “It took me a while to realize what the reason might be, but I came to it eventually. If ye wish to marry Jean, then I will grant permission for her to remain in me service as a married woman and for ye both to live in the castle together.”

James raised his eyebrows at her.

“And this will enable ye to—whilst quotin’ me husband—get off yer arse and see to it’.”

Harris’s eyes were shining with unshed tears now, and he looked between them as though all of the good news in the world had arrived at once.

“Truly?”

“She has to say yes first,” James interjected.

“Truly,” Maisie said, giving James a grin. “Now I have asked Jean to wait in the courtyard for a delivery that is already late. She has been waitin’ for months, for years, ye see, and it is finally arrivin’ . ”

Maisie picked up the bouquet of flowers she had prepared and handed them to Harris. He now had real tears streaming down his cheeks, and she smiled at him happily.

“Go and secure that woman before someone else does. I am nae gettin’ a new handmaid because ye cannae get yer head on straight.”

“Thank ye, m’lady, m’laird, ye dinnae ken what this means to me.”

Maisie watched with a bright smile as Harris scampered from the room like a schoolboy.

Without discussion, James walked across the room putting one arm around her shoulder, the other stroking her belly absently. They both made their way to the window, looking down into the courtyard at the solitary figure of Jean, patiently waiting.

As they watched, there was a shout that caught her attention, and suddenly she froze. In no time at all, Harris was on his knees before her, flowers in hand, and Maisie could hear Jean’s squeal of excitement as they finally embraced.

“I dinnae ken I had married a matchmaker,” James said tenderly as they both stepped back from the window.

Maisie shook her head. “She sighed so much while she worked it was makin’ me quite melancholy.”

He laughed and pulled her into his arms, his hands wandering as she chuckled and pretended to push him away.

“M’laird, ye have just met with the council, surely ye have hundreds of meetin’s to attend to resolve all the problems they have put to ye.”

“Och, yes,” James said, his voice rough with lust, “hundreds of meetin’s.”

His fingers began to bunch the fabric of her skirts, and she really did push him away, hiding a smile at his look of dismay.

“Dae ye ken, m’laird, that I havenae eaten a meal with ye all week?” she asked.

James balked at that. “Ye have been busy as much as I have, and it is only the second day of the week, woman.”

“Nevertheless,” she said playfully, “I believe we should renew our rules, seein’ as we have been married for one year today.”

James saw her eyes settle on the chess board, and suddenly, all the argument seemed to drain out of him.

“I agree,” he said quickly, taking his seat immediately.

“What are the rules again?” she asked, as though she had forgotten.

“Remove one item of clothin’ for every piece I take.”

“ We take, ye havenae won yet. I kent there was a reason we had made the game more interestin’ for ye.”

James snorted. “I am goin’ to beat ye one day.”

“I’d like to see ye try,” she said, and they got down to business.

Unfortunately for Maisie, James cheated ruthlessly. At her high protests, he decided that removing all of his clothes to save time was a much better conclusion. He claimed loudly that he had never liked chess anyway.

“Come sit astride me, wife, I have been waitin’ too long already.”

He was fully naked now, whereas Maisie was fully clothed, but she went to him all the same. She always did.

She parted her legs about to sit astride him as he had commanded, but before she could do it his hand came up between her legs, and his fingers were thrusting inside her.

Maisie jolted forward as he sent pleasure racing through her body.

“Did I hurt ye?”

“Nae,” she responded quickly.

She straddled his lap as he pulled free and lowered herself down on his hard length, her head falling back as she took him to the root.

“I love ye, Maisie Brown.”

“I love ye, too,” she said as she rose above him, “but we didnae ever finish our game.”

James smiled up at her, his hands flexing against her back as he held her close.

“I think we have, I am seein’ to me queen.”

The End?