Page 52 of Kidnapped by a Rogue
Their steps echoed against the stone walls of the spiral stairwell. None of them spoke as they climbed round and round the wheeled stairs until they reached the top floor, where there was a narrow landing with a door on either side.
When Finn’s aunt opened the door on the left, an old woman inside looked up from her stitching.
“Your daughter will sleep in here withUna,” Finn’s aunt said. “Una can serve as her nursemaid while you’re here.”
“That’s kind of ye, but I cannot leave my daughter with a stranger,” Margaret said in a low voice so as not to offend the elderly woman.
“Una Murray was my son’s nursemaid,” his aunt bristled. “Ye couldn’t ask for better.”
“Una weaves magic with children.” Finn lifted Ella out of Margaret’s arms and carried her into the chamber before Margaret could object, then he leaned down and kissed the elderly woman’s cheek. “You’re as beautiful as ever.”
“Let me show you your chamber,” his aunt said, and gently but firmly pulled Margaret toward the opposite door.
Margaret barely had time to duck her head under the low doorway before she found herself in a tidy chamber with a vase of flowers on a small ledge above the bed and a view of the sea from a window in the thick castle wall.
“What a cozy chamber!” Margaret’s immediate delight with the room faded as she realized she would be sharing it with Finn. Now the small chamber seemed cramped rather than cozy—and it had only one bed. “’Tis lovely. Thank you, Countess.”
“You can call me Helen,” his aunt said, giving her a friendly smile. “I’m glad the chamber pleases ye, Maggie.”
“This is all very kind of you,” Margaret said.
“You’re a lucky lass to catch Finn,” Helen said with a conspiratorial wink as Finn joined them. “Many a lass has tried. I worried this one would never settle down.”
“I never thought I would,” Finn said, and pulled Margaret against his side. “Maggie certainly surprised me.”
She had indeed, and his cheerful countenance did not fool her that he was pleased about it.
“Make the most of these early days of your marriage,” Helen said, then added with a glint in her eyes, “and the nights.”
Margaret avoided looking at Finn.
“Oh, I intend to enjoy my bride quite thoroughly,” Finn said, and nuzzled Margaret’s neck.
“I’ll be off, then,” Helen said, then she looked at Finn and nodded toward the door, indicating she wanted a private word.
Finn followed his aunt into the stairwell, but he did not quite close the door. Margaret could not help that, if she stood close to it, she could hear every word.
“If ye were ready to wed,” Helen said, “ye should have asked me to find ye a bride.”
“Ye think I needed help?” Finn asked in an amused tone.
“She’s a charming lass, and I wish ye well,” Helen said. “But after your foolishness with the Sinclairs, a wife from a solid Gordon—or even a Sutherland—family of unquestioned loyalty would have gone a long way to smooth your path.”
“There wasn’t a Gordon or Sutherland lass I wanted to wed,” Finn said. “And what’s done is done.”
“Ye know I’m verra fond of ye,” his aunt said, “butit will be no easy task to win your place here. The men are suspicious.”
“I know they are,” Finn said. “I’m grateful my uncle seems willing to give me a chance to prove myself.”
“He won’t give ye a second one,” she said. “So there can be no running off again!”
When Margaret heard Helen going down the stairs, she braced herself to face Finn. Before he had a chance to confront her about her tale of being handfasted, however, servants came up the stairs carrying wine, bowls of savory soup, and a platter with cheese, sliced pork, oatcakes, and honeyed nuts.
Finn instructed them to set the food and drink out in Una’s chamber, which was no bigger but had a small table between the two cots. Margaret could barely eat, but Finn and Ella ate as if it was their last meal. When they were finished, Una turned to Ella.
“I’d wager this wee lassie would like to hear a story about trouble Finn got into when he was a bairn,” Una said. “Ach, he got into so much mischief ’tis hard to know which tale to start with.”
Ella crawled into Una’s lap, the deserter.
