The MacGregors cheered at this bold display. And Nessa finally found her voice to shout, “I’ve got feet, you lummox. Put me down!”
Gavin replied with a hearty laugh, “No’ until I’ve got you safely stowed away on my side o’ the loch, Nessa m’darlin’.”
“If you’re thinking marriage gives you the upper hand—” Nessa paused to rethink that, because marriage did in fact do that. But stubbornly she maintained, “Well, we’ll be seeing about that.”
Beside Kimberly, Lachlan said, “Aye, I’ve put her in capable hands, I’m thinking.”
Kimberly gave him a sideways glance. “It sounds as if she disagrees with that.”
Lachlan grinned at her. “Nay, she’d be swearing tae cut out his heart if she bore any malice toward him. I give it a month and she’ll be thanking me.”
“Or swearing to cut out your heart.”
He laughed, and in front of the whole assemblage, kissed her soundly. The cheers went up again. And even though she was embarrassed by the display, she was warmed by those cheers. At least the rest of the MacGregors accepted her. And Nessa—well, Nessa was a Kern now.
As eventful as the day was, and emotional for Kimberly, she retired early that night. Lachlan made his excuses to the guests so he could join her, but he didn’t try to make love to her as she thought he would. He just held her in his arms and whispered soothing bits of nonsense when she started crying again. And most of those tears weren’t for her mother’s things. They were because she didn’t think she could get back to being blasé about Lachlan’s not loving her, now that she knew for certain that her heart wasn’t her own anymore, that it now belonged completely to him.
50
It was about a week later that the riders showed up, some thirty or forty of them—they were hard to count, all wearing the same red and green tartan baldrics across their heavy coats. They rode across the drawbridge as if they owned the castle, and lined up in the inner court before the greater tower shouting for the MacGregor to come out.
Lachlan witnessed their arrival from the parlor with a good deal of dread mixed with annoyance, and figured he had Nessa to thank for their appearance. She’d probably sent off a message to them in a fit of pique and even if she’d regretted it after, it would have been too late. And now they were here. There was nothing for it but to go out and deal with them, and harshly if necessary.
But when he threw open the front doors, it was to see Kimberly just reaching them. She’d been leaving the stable when they arrived, and warily worked her way around the riders to get back to the hall, not knowing who they were. Lachlan would as soon keep it that way for now.
So he grabbed her about the waist and ushered her into the hall, closing the doors on her with the admonishment to “Stay inside.”
Phrased like that, as an order and without explanation, it was little wonder she didn’t obey, curious lass that she was. The doors opened again just as he shouted, “I’m Lachlan MacGregor. What is it you’re wanting?”
A dark-haired young man in the center of the line had apparently been elected their spokesman. “We’ve been tald ye’ve got our sister here. We’ve come tae have a look at her.”
“You’re all o’ you her brothers?” Lachlan asked incredulously
“Nay,” the spokesman said and raised an arm.
At that signal, one horse moved forward out of the line, then another, then another. By the time they finished, it was damned near half of them and just as bad.
And then Kimberly whispered at Lachlan’s back, “Who are they talking about?”
“You, darlin’,” Lachlan said with a sigh. “They’re MacFearsons, the lot o’ them.” Then to the speaker, “You can see her, but dinna be thinking you can take her wi’ you. She belongs to Kregora now and tae me.”
The young man nodded curtly and dismounted. Kimberly had stepped out from behind Lachlan by then, her eyes wide, staring out at that long line of horsemen. Those that had moved forward and were also dismounting were all young men, at least half near her in age, the rest of them younger still, the youngest around seven years.
Her brothers? She counted them, too awed for words. There were sixteen of them, sixteen replicas—well, they did all bear a marked resemblance. Most also had the same dark gold hair as her own, the same dark green eyes.
And Kimberly saw now where she’d gotten her height from, not her mother’s family as she’d always supposed. The one who’d spoken appeared to be the oldest among them, and he was almost as tall as Lachlan. Four others were as tall as him, five more almost as tall, and the younger ones, well, they weren’t done growing.
This was too incredible. She’d grown up with no siblings at all, and now she had—too many to count on two hands. That was one of the tales, and if that one was true, how many of the other things about the legend known as Ian MacFearson were also true?
“We’re no’ known for our patience, MacGregor,” one of the younger boys said as they all gathered there at the entrance. “Will you be fetching her?”
Another boy elbowed that one in the ribs and jerked his head toward Kimberly, giving her an impish smile as he did. There were a few chuckles. And then they were all smiling at her, and talking near all at once.
“Faith, she’s older’n you, Ian One. You’ll no’ be lording that o’er us anymore, I’m thinking.”
“Ye’ll still be licking my boots, Johnny, if I’ve a mind tae have them cleaned,” Ian One replied, giving the younger Johnny a look that promised his boots would soon require some cleaning.
Johnny glared back at him, but before he could retaliate, another brother was saying, “You dinna think she’s tae small tae be a MacFearson?”
“She’s a lass, you twerp,” still another brother replied. “She’s supposed tae be a wee size.”
“I always wanted a sister,” a red-haired brother said bashfully.
“Donald has a sister,” one of the younger boys pointed out with some confusion.
“But Donald’s sister isna a MacFearson, Charles, and no’ yer sister or mine. This one’s a MacFearson and belonging tae all o’ us, ye ken.”
“She looks like Ian Six. D’you see it?”
Ian Six was apparently the youngest lad, because he blushed and mumbled, “Does not.”
Kimberly smiled at Ian Six. The numbers added to the names was amusing, making her recall that these brothers of hers all had different mothers, or most did. She imagined those mothers had proudly wanted to name their sons after the father and had done so, despite the confusion it would cause. The numbers were to lessen the confusion, she supposed.
She wondered how she would ever remember all their names, once she learned them. Would they be here long enough for her to make the effort to figure out who was who? Right now she wanted to hug this youngest lad among them. Actually, she wanted to hug them all. But they were a fearsome lot, with their shaggy manes and dirks strapped to their legs, their great size for all that they were each younger than her, and their sheer numbers. There were just so many of them, and brothers or not, they were still strangers to her.
“Och, she’s all o’er hisself wi’ that smile,” a black-haired lad said in surprise. “He’ll no’ be doubting she’s his now.”
“Aye, and mayhap we’ll be seeing the end o’ his black mood now.”
“After he has Ian One’s head for keeping him waiting,” Johnny smirked.
Ian One flushed with color to have forgotten his orders, and abruptly turned to nod at one of the men still mounted. Kimberly felt a frisson of trepidation, having forgotten that there were other MacFearsons there, cousins, second cousins, even third she was to learn later. But quickly scanning the line of men who were still mounted, she didn’t see a one that was old enough to be her father.
She started to relax, until one of those men turned his horse about and rode back through the portcullis. If Ian MacFearson was out there beyond the walls…but what did she really have to fear? That he wouldn’t like her? That she wouldn’t lik
e him? According to Cecil, this man had seduced her mother—for revenge. How could she like him, knowing that? And yet, her mother had loved him. Cecil had admitted that, too. There must have been something decent about him for the gentle Melissa to love him.
And then the man who had left returned, and behind him came a very large man, made even bigger by the bulky sheepskin coat he wore. It gave him a wild look, added to by his dark gold hair worn very long, and lightly streaked with grey. His features were craggy, harshly chiseled, yet there was a handsomeness underneath that might at one time have turned a young woman’s heart.
His eyes had gone directly to Kimberly as soon as he came through the portcullis, and they remained on her as he slowly approached, sharply piercing, disturbing, as dark green as her own, but with a coldness to them, a deadness, as if the man had no joy of living.
A path was quickly cleared for him when he was close enough to dismount. Kimberly had unconsciously moved closer to Lachlan, whose arm came around her shoulders protectively. She wasn’t ready for this, she really wasn’t.
And then he was standing there in front of her, Ian MacFearson, the legend, the nightmare of little children—her father—and she released her suspended breath when she finally noticed the guarded wariness in his own expression. He was as nervous as she was, as uncertain, and that knowledge won her over.
She smiled. “Hello, Father.”
51
Kimberly handed Ian a glass of warmed, spiced wine before she joined him on the sofa in her sitting room. She was probably going to have bruises along her sides from the bearlike hug he’d given her outside, before she’d managed to get them all in out of the cold.
Ian had cried. She was still amazed about that, wouldn’t even have known it, smothered in his arms as she had been, if one of her brothers hadn’t remarked on it.
Lachlan had taken on the duty of seeing to the sleeping arrangements for so many guests, so that she could have some time alone with her father. She wasn’t sure that was such a good idea, this soon, when they weren’t comfortable with each other yet. But she had so many questions for him, her curiosity wasn’t going to let her wait.
“How did you know I was here?” she began carefully.
“I had a letter from Cecil Richards this week. I thought it was a bad joke at first. He told me his wife had died.” His eyes closed, still stricken with that thought, but he continued, “He said he saw no reason to claim Melissa’s bastard as his own any longer.”
“That isn’t exactly true, at least, it was not a decision that he actually made voluntarily, I don’t think. My mother died more’n a year ago, but he only told me a few weeks ago that you were my father, not him. And he didn’t mean to tell me, it slipped out. But since it did, I suppose he thought I might try to find you, and he wanted to be the one to tell you first.”
“I still can’t bear the thought that she’s gone,” he said quietly. “I gave up all hope of having her for my own years ago, or of ever seeing her again, but I never stopped loving her. That was forever. And I never imagined her dying—” He choked up and it was a moment before he added, “I’m sorry, lass. ’Tis as if she only just died for me, and I havena fully accepted it yet.”
“I understand, but I’m confused too. Cecil said it was Ellie you loved, that you only seduced my mother as a means to have revenge on him.”
He flushed with anger, hearing that. “The bastard. He’s become a liar, has he, tae hide his own faults? If anyone was wanting revenge, ’twas him.”
“What really happened then?”
“He loved Eleanor, loved her dearly. He couldna see what a greedy opportunist she was. She could do no wrong as far as he was concerned. And she agreed tae marry him. She wanted his wealth and the position of being an earl’s wife—or she thought she did. The truth was, she couldna stand him, and just ’afore the wedding, she decided the money wasna worth it, that she couldna bear to live wi’ him.”
“She told him, called off the wedding?”
“Nay, he’d given her tae many fancy, expensive presents that she wanted tae keep, you see. She knew he’d be wanting them back and rightly so, if she didna marry him. But I only realized that afterward. At the time, she cried and begged me tae take her away and hide her in Scotland. She claimed they’d had a terrible fight, and he was going tae beat her if he found her. I knew Cecil had an unpredictable temper. ’Twas possible she was telling the truth, or so I thought. But I was a damned fool for believing her.”
“There’d been no fight?”
“Nay, ’twas just her excuse tae get me tae help her. She even admitted it after we’d crossed the border, and laughed because I was so gullible. I should have just let her go and told Cecil the truth, letting him search for her if he was fool enough tae still want her. But I was angry enough tae take her back tae face him. And that was my second mistake.”
“Why?”
“Because she refused tae go back, and when I insisted, she laughed and raced off into the night. I hadna even enough time tae decide whether tae chase her down, when I heard her scream. She was dead when I reached her, her horse crippled. And I’m ashamed tae say I felt more grief for having tae put her horse out o’ its misery than I did for her death, conniving manipulator that she was.”
“But Cecil thought you loved her too, and had been trying to steal her away from him? At least, that’s what he told me. Why would he think that?”
“Because I didna have the heart tae tell him she was running away from him. It would have crushed him totally, and I wanted tae spare him that. So I told him I loved her too, and was drunk enough tae think I could make off with her and she’d actually stay wi’ me. I thought ’twould be better for him tae hate me, if he couldna forgive me, than for him tae know how she really felt about him.”
“I think that was your third mistake. He’s hated all Scotsmen since then, and he’s been a bitter, cold man all the years I’ve known him.”
“’Tis glad I am tae hear it.”
That surprised her. “You’ve hated him as much as he does you? Then why did you try to protect him from Eleanor’s perfidy?”
“Because that was ’afore he had his revenge on me, when I was still his friend and feeling sae guilty for the whole damn mess.”
Kimberly frowned. “This is where I am confused. Cecil claims it was you who took revenge on him. Did you seduce my mother?”
“Nay, hinny, I loved your mother. I’d always loved Mellie, but I didna think I’d ever be having a chance wi’ her. She was rich, you ken, and I knew her parents wanted her tae marry a title. My family wasna poor, but we werena in their social class by any means. But then I found out she felt the same way about me, and I was the happiest man alive.”
“This was before she married Cecil?”
“Aye, and ’afore he’d asked for her. We were going tae elope. We kept our feelings secret, because her parents wouldna have approved. But Cecil figured out that I was interested in her. I was tae happy for him no’ tae notice.”
“So he tried to steal her from you?”
“He didna just try, he succeeded. And I was tae blind tae see what he was up tae,” Ian answered bitterly.
“But how?”
“He came tae me one day, told me he understood what I’d done wi’ Eleanor, that no mon could help but love her, and he forgave me for it.”
Kimberly’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Cecil said he forgave you?”
“It was a lie, hinny, but I didna know it then. He said my presence was reminding him tae much o’ what happened, and he asked me if I’d go away for a while, tae give him, a chance tae get over it wi’out the constant reminder. I could hardly refuse, as guilty as I felt for lying tae him about loving her, just tae spare him that pain. I should’ve confessed the truth that day, yet another mistake on my part, though I doubt he would have believed it by then. Yet it might have changed his mind about what he was planning tae do.”
“So you left?”
“Aye, I agreed tae go
for a short time.”
“Why didn’t you just take my mother with you then? You were already planning to elope with her.”
“She was in London at the time. Her mother was having a grand birthday party there. But ’twas tae London that I went tae find her. Yet every time I called on her there, she was out, or indisposed, and even then, I didna suspect anything was wrong. I just kept coming by their town house each day, and kept getting turned away.”
“You’re saying she didn’t want to see you?”
“Nay, she didna know I was there. She wasna told. What she was told was that her da had found out about us, and he’d paid me off. Wi’ her da doing the telling, she believed it, thought I’d forsaken her for money, and she was devastated. I dinna know what Cecil told the mon, but he got him tae lie about me, and tae agree that Cecil should marry Mellie immediately. And she was tae brokenhearted tae care.”
“My God, her own father—”
“Dinna blame him, hinny. The mon probably thought he was protecting her from me. God knows what Cecil told the mon, but he instigated and manipulated us all wi’ his lies, so he could have the woman he knew I loved. He didna even want her for himself. He just wanted tae make sure that I’d be denied having her.”
Kimberly shook her head sadly. “So they were married in London, before you could even speak to her to tell her the truth?”
“Nay, they were married as soon as she returned tae the country, but it was more’n a week more ’afore I realized she wasna even in London anymore. And by then I was tae desperate tae see her tae stay away any longer for Cecil’s sake, so I returned tae Northumberland as well. And was told by a neighbor that she’d been married just days ’afore I got there.”
“Why didn’t you take her away anyway?” Kimberly asked him almost angrily. “Why did you leave her there to be miserable with him?”