Quest of the Highlander (Crowns & Kilts #5) - Cynthia Wright Page 0,71
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Nora took a painful breath. “An important Englishman came to court—”
“Indeed? What was his name?”
A sixth sense stopped her from revealing those details. After all, how well did she really know Cicely? “I would rather not reveal his identity. But everyone was very impressed with this man’s reputation, and he was quite handsome. One night, he insisted on helping me to my rooms after I became ill in the banqueting hall.” She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling Slater on top of her, pushing into her. “I’m not quite certain how it happened. I was suffering from vertigo, and then he was with me in my bed, and now I am going to have a baby.”
“That is a shocking tale,” Cicely pronounced. “Is it possible that he misunderstood somehow and thought you were willing?”
Nora shrugged in despair. “Perhaps. I felt so ill I can’t remember anything clearly.”
“But what about Lennox? How did you two come to be wed?”
She drew a painful sigh. “After that, I knew I couldn’t stay with my father, especially once my condition became obvious. Lennox was leaving Stirling, setting off to look for the man in the painting, and he agreed to take me with him.”
“How noble! He is like a hero from a fairy tale.”
“Indeed.” Nora felt worse by the moment.
“He didn’t ask why you had to go?” Cicely pressed.
Guilt stabbed Nora as she realized how many times she had kept important truths from Lennox. “I begged him to trust me. I said only that I was in a desperate situation, which was quite true. It would have been impossible for me to stay there, working alongside my father, growing larger by the month.”
“Perhaps Lennox was already falling in love with you.”
“There was a spark between us from the first,” she admitted. Remembering the night at Stirling Castle when she had gone to Lennox’s bed, pleading for his help, Nora’s face grew warm. Those kisses had ignited a flame in her that would not be extinguished. “My father discovered us as we were about to leave before dawn. He was furious, but Lennox insisted he loved me and intended to marry me. Father, in turn, demanded that we take handfasting vows there so that he might witness them.” Nora sighed. “It almost felt real. And, as we traveled together and time passed…” She broke off, uncertain what to say next.
“You needn’t say more. I can see it in your faces when you are together.” Cicely rose and began to pace to and fro. “But now what do you mean to do?”
“Lennox is looking for the man in the painting,” Nora replied. “He believes that he will not be whole until he finds him. I fear that, once he fulfills his quest, my condition might become an impediment in his new life. His dream must come first.” She found it hard to speak the words. “I have deep aspirations of my own, as I have told you, so I understand.”
Cicely slowly shook her head. “I don’t know if you are a saint or a fool.”
“Certainly not a saint,” Nora replied with a touch of irony. “Now, my lady, I would have your word that you will not repeat anything I have told you. I don’t want the duke and duchess to know that Lennox and I are wed, after a fashion, in case his future should take a dramatic turn.”
“I promise, but you cannot simply wish away your wedded state,” Cicely protested.
“It seems I can.” Nora turned her face away, gazing out toward the gardens, and added softly, “When Lennox and I spoke the handfasting vows, I was stunned that he would take such a drastic step simply to set my father’s mind at ease.”
Her friend was watching her. “No doubt you were secretly thrilled to find yourself wed to such a splendid man.”
“In all honesty, I suppose I was.” Nora’s smile was bittersweet. “But Lennox lost little time in disabusing me of such illusions. When I asked him why he would bind himself to me simply to ensure my escape from Stirling, he revealed that Scottish tradition decrees that handfasting can be easily undone with just a few words by either party.” She paused. “That fact is never far from my mind.”
* * *
When Lennox received a message inviting him to join the Duke of Aylesbury in the library, his heart quickened. Perhaps the moment of reckoning was truly at hand.
The servants had taken away all his travel-stained clothing, but there was one more