Page 64 of At the Highlander's Mercy
‘I was wrong all those years ago,’ he said.
‘Something you do not usually admit,’ Jocelyn said.
‘Something he never admits,’ Duncan added, holding up his cup in a mock salute.
‘The night is late and we should seek our beds,’ Rurik said, beginning to rise from his seat.
‘Not so quickly, Rurik,’ Margriet said. ‘We need to discuss the wager.’
Connor was suspiciously silent, as was Jocelyn.
‘I understand why Connor is not boasting of our victory in this match, the women always thought they would make a good match,’ Duncan explained.
‘Her marriage to Iain was a good one. They seemed happy,’ Connor added, trying not to lose completely.
‘Jocelyn,’ Rurik said, ‘you are strangely quiet about this.’
Duncan watched as the woman he’d brought for his laird long ago blushed. ‘What have you done?’
‘I...cheated!’ she said with a laugh and a guilty glance thrown in her husband’s direction.
The mother of the bride was not supposed to interfere, but apparently Jocelyn had broken that rule and was unrepentant about her violation.
‘What did you do?’ Marian asked. His wife had tried to influence their daughter’s marriage choice, as well. Women, Duncan had discovered long ago, meddled where they were wont to.
‘I sent Rob a note about Connor’s plans,’ she said, looking around the table at them. ‘The boy needed a push.’
‘Tell them,’ Connor growled at her.
‘Twice. I sent two notes. Once before the match withIain and another when I discovered that Lilidh was...’ She stopped before announcing it officially.
‘Just so,’ Duncan said.
Margriet met their eyes and smiled. ‘So this would appear to be a draw, then—her first marriage was the men’s choice, this second one ours.’
‘I wonder who will be next?’ Connor asked as he rose and took Jocelyn by the hand. Duncan could see that the strain between his laird and his wife seemed to be easing. A good thing, for the bond between them affected everyone and everything in Lairig Dubh and the strife between them was too obvious to ignore these last weeks.
‘Well, since my daughter and yours are married now, it would seem only fair if Rurik and Margriet’s was next,’ Duncan said, taking his own wife’s hand and kissing it. Standing, they looked down on Rurik and Margriet, who now looked as though they had both eaten something spoiled.
‘I can only pray not,’ Margriet, the woman raised in a convent, said with panic in her eyes.
‘Isobel is too young yet to be thinking of this,’ Rurik declared as he crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture that warned them not to contradict him. None dared argue with him.
But they all knew she was not. And some of them knew that a certain man was already showing an interest in the lovely Isobel Ruriksdotter, though none was brave enough to say so to Rurik’s face.
‘Be well, friends,’ Duncan called out as he andMarian walked hand in hand to their bedchamber. ‘The morning will come far too soon.’
And that night, like so many nights, happiness filled the halls of Lairig Dubh.
Epilogue
Keppoch Keep
Three Years Later
‘My father does not look happy,’ Lilidh whispered to him as they watched the Earl of Douran enter their gates.
Rob turned to glance at Gavin MacKenzie and noticed the same expression on his face. ‘Neither is Gavin,’ Rob pointed out to his wife.
