22
" Albert,”she said before taking a drink of cider. “Do ye think we could ride this day? I would verra much like to see more of this land I shall be callin’home.”
’Twas all he could do to keep his heart inside his chest as hope soared. Doing his best to keep his excitement contained, he said, “Aye, we can. I shall see if Bruce or Traigh would like to join us,”he said as he stood.
Before he could walk away to search for someone, anyone who would be willing to ride with them, Laurin stopped him. “Albert, if ye can no’find anyone, I’ll still ride with ye.”
Before he could do something foolish, such as offer for her hand that very moment, he gave her a nod and left quickly.
’Tis just a ride, he admonished his excited heart. ’Tis just a ride. "
― Suzan Tisdale , Isle of the Blessed
25
" She says ye never left me side?”she asked.
He felt his cheeks grow warm. Clearing his throat once, he finally answered. “Aye.”
“Why?”she asked.
Why? For the past four days, he’d imagined everything he would say to her as soon as he found her. Her illness delayed the heartfelt words he had wanted to have with her. Now, when the moment finally arrived, his mind turned blank. All the sweet words he’d planned to tell her fled on the wings of a frantically beating heart.
“Ye came fer me,”she whispered. “Ye came fer me and ye killed Helmert. And ye never left me side.”Her voice was filled with disbelief. “Why?”
He stammered for a moment, tripping over his own tongue. “I,”he paused, searching for the right words, the words he hoped would not terrify her. “Ye be a fine woman, Laurin. I’ve grown quite fond of ye these past weeks.”
She studied him closely for a moment. “So fond of me that ye were willin’to risk yer life to save mine?”Her tone said his answer made little sense.
“Aye,”he whispered. Suddenly his mouth felt dry, his tongue thick. “Fond enough to risk my own life for yours.”
“Fond, like ye’d be fond of a dear friend, or somethin’more?”
He could not understand why she asked that particular question. Refusing to read anything into her question, he replied. “Somethin’more, lass. Far more than friendship.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at him. It made his gut wrench, thinking he’d brought her a moment of discomfort or sorrow.
Leaning over, he took her hand in his. “Laurin, I ken ye do no’have the same feelin’s for me as I do for ye. I ken ye may never have them, but it matters no’to me. I would be willin’to wait an entire lifetime on nothin’more than a wish and a prayer, in case, just in case some day ye might be able to return those feelins.”
He’d not pressure her into anything, would not beg her for her hand or her heart.
“How can ye say that?”she asked, swiping away an errant tear. “How could ye wait a lifetime for me?”
With a slow shake of his head, he smiled. “Och! Lass, ye’d be well worth the wait. "
― Suzan Tisdale , Isle of the Blessed
28
" Albert, apparently sensing that Traigh was, at that moment, plotting the different ways in which he’d kill their youngest brother, spoke up. “So will it be a hangin’in store fer Graeme, or do ye just plan on beatin’him half to death?”
Traigh glanced at Albert. “I have no’decided just yet.”
Albert was the most serious of the six MacAulay brothers. He rarely spoke without thinking first, and he was not one to go about chasing lasses like their brothers, Bruce and Albert. Neither was he one to jest frequently. ’Twas also said that Albert was as tightfisted with his money as a bairn is to his mother’s teat. Trying to get money from him was akin to trying to squeeze water from a stone.
“I say we hang him,”Albert said, and not in jest.
Traigh, though sorely tempted, knew ’twas impossible.
“Our mother would have our heads if we hang him.”
Albert thought on it for a moment. “Mayhap one day he will be out ridin’and have a mishap, whereby he falls off a cliff.”
Traigh stared at him for a long while, uncertain if he was jesting or serious. Part of him was afraid to ask. Albert was just as vexed over Graeme’s behavior as Traigh was.
“Remind me never to make ye angry,”he said.
Albert raised a blonde brow. “Ye? Nay, I doubt ye’d ever anger me to the point of murder. Graeme, however, is another matter. I fear he has been so busy with book learnin’that he has fergotten everythin’a MacAulay stands for.”
“Honor above self,”Traigh said.
’Twas the creed all MacAulays lived by.
“Aye,”Albert said. “And right now, I believe he’s puttin’his own feelin’s ahead of everythin’. How anyone can remain angry for so long is beyond me. But then, I have no’had all the book learnin’that Graeme has had. Mayhap he can explain it to us.”Though his voice was laced with sarcasm, there was much truth to what he was saying.
Traigh had to chuckle. “Shall we allow him to explain it before or after we beat him senseless?”
Albert took a moment before answering. “Mayhap before, fer ’twill be difficult to understand him once I knock out a few of his teeth.”
“Again, remind me ne’er to make ye angry, brother.”
Albert shrugged his shoulders before urging his horse to move faster, leaving Traigh to wonder if he should mayhap begin to pray that Albert did not get his hands on Graeme first. "
― Suzan Tisdale , Isle of the Blessed
29
" Josephine, please wait,” he said. Even he could hear his voice catch in his throat.
She turned to face him and wiped away a tear with the sleeve of her cloak.
When he had been searching frantically for her, he had thought of what he’d say, of how he would apologize and beg for her forgiveness. But now his mind was blank and he was beginning to feel quite foolish, the one feeling above all others he detested . He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “Ye’re beautiful.”
Josephine looked as though she either did not believe him or those were not the words she wanted to hear.
He cleared his throat once, then again. “I did no’ want to think that about ye. I did no’ want to find ye beautiful.”
“You mean you did not want to find me at all,” she told him. “I know you are against this marriage, Graeme. For what reasons, I do not know. I can only assume that you find me beneath you.”
This was the most they had spoken to one another in years. She certainly did not mince words. Her words stung, but they were nothing but truth. No vehemence, no anger, just simply put.
“That be true,” he said before quickly adding, “I mean, that was true.” He took a step toward her. “By now, I am certain me family has told ye that I can be a stubborn, hard-headed fool.”
“I was able to glean that on my own,” she told him. "
― Suzan Tisdale , Isle of the Blessed
31
" When my father first wrote to inform me of our betrothal, I was horrified. I had assumed that, because I was the youngest son, I would be able to take a wife of my choosing. I was certain that, had I been given the chance, I would have chosen a smart, witty, worldly, intelligent woman whom I could impress with my boundless knowledge of the world. I assumed you were not that woman. I assumed that you were not educated, that you could not even read or write your own name. I assumed that I was doomed to a boring life with a boring woman who could never appreciate just how highly intelligent I was.
In short, I was an utter idiot.
It is you who impresses me, sweet Josephine. You leave me in awe. Not just for your wit and keen mind, but for your heart as well. I can only pray now that you will someday find it in your heart to forgive this dimwitted man you have been promised to.
If you wish to break our betrothal, while it would certainly cleave my heart in twain, I would never hold it against you, for it is nothing less than what I deserve.
With a hopeful heart,
Graeme "
― Suzan Tisdale , Isle of the Blessed
