Page 63 of At the Highlander's Mercy
‘And you will have me? For ever?’ he asked, hoping that her answer was the one he hoped it would be.
‘Yes, my love. For ever.’
He would have to wait to show her how happy it made him, for the air around him began to shimmer and sparkle and the ground began to move back up at him. The good thing was that having her at his side slowed his descent and he landed with less of a thud than the first time.
‘Rob!’ she cried out, waking him from his stupor.
‘I am well,’ he answered though his body rebelled at the lie. He did not want to think of the number of broken bones or bruises or cuts on him. He just wanted to think about her.
‘Is this a good time to tell you something else?’ she said, as she brushed the hair back out of his eyes and caressed his cheek.
‘What is it?’
‘I think my parents will want a wedding quickly, Rob.’
‘Do you not want to wait and have one they have time to prepare for? Is that not what every woman wants?’ he asked, feeling the blood whooshing around inside his ears.
‘If we do not marry soon, people will be counting back and calling our bairn a seven-month babe.’
It took a few moments for the news to rattle through his brain and make sense, but when it did, he pulled her close and kissed her breathless.
Well, he tried, but then he began coughing and groaning from the pain. ‘You carry my child now?’ he asked.
She smiled and nodded. ‘Are you pleased?’
For a moment, a vision of her blossoming under his watch, filled with his child, was all he could see.
‘I am very pleased, Lilidh.’
That was the last thing he remembered until he woke in her bed in the keep two days later.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The bride was radiant, or tried to be, everyone agreed, even though her face was a ghastly shade of green as she walked up to meet her husband. The ceremony had already been delayed by her sudden bouts of illness. Though most of the men thought it must be her nerves, all the women recognised it for what it was.
The groom looked worse for the wear, but so did the bride’s father who escorted her forwards and presented her before the priest. The Matheson laird limped and held his chest during some of the ceremony and he had difficulty leaning over to sign the contracts when they were presented to him.
None of his family was present, save one cousin who stood as his witness. That one seemed to be the only one enjoying himself, for he frequently laughed aloud at the groom’s moans and groans.
The vows were spoken, rings and kisses exchanged and the priest declared them married and husband and wife. Before clapping or cheering could begin, the bride bolted for a bucket and several people found it difficultto keep their own food down at the sound of her retching.
‘Bad food, do you think?’ Duncan, the MacLerie negotiator, asked his wife in a joking tone from where they stood in the back of the church.
Marian slapped him and laughed. ‘I think not,’ she answered, as they all remembered her condition on their wedding day.
‘I did not think he would come for her,’ Rurik said.
‘Did you have to be so harsh to him?’ his wife Margriet asked. ‘And then he faced Connor as well? No wonder he is still limping.’
‘I did not damage any of his important bits,’ Rurik said.
‘Rurik, not here,’ his wife chided.
The group followed the procession back over to the keep where a feast had been prepared. If this wedding was last minute or rushed, no one complained. Duncan had little trouble drawing up the marriage contracts and getting both lairds to accept them. Lilidh brought a handsome dowry to her new husband, along with a renewed bond between their families. Too late to mend the rift between Connor and his old friend Angus, but soon enough to allow Lilidh and Rob their happiness.
* * *
Some time later, fulfilling their tradition of being last in their hall, Connor and Jocelyn joined them at table where they raised a cup and sent up a cheer for the newly married couple. After a few cups were shared and the hall grew quiet, Connor finally spoke about the past.
