A Very Highland Holiday - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,17
James behind.
“I’m sure someone would have found them and sent them tae ye,” she said. “The Highlands are full of good people, in spite of what the English think.”
James was looking at her closely, as if seeing her through new eyes. “P-Perhaps someone would have,” he said. “B-But it’s equally possible they would have ended up in a hearth somewhere, burned to ashes, and I would have never known what you have been able to give me. It is the greatest kindness anyone has ever bestowed upon me.”
Gaira was trying hard not to weep so she lowered her gaze. “Ye’re welcome,” she said tightly. “As I said, I came tae know ye and yer brother very well. Ye deserve tae have peace between ye.”
“I-It is most thoughtful of you to say so,” he said, eyeing her. “B-But why do you seem so troubled now?”
Gaira couldn’t help it; she broke down in tears. “It’s foolish and it shouldna matter,” she said. “I’m only a serving wench at a place called Balthazar’s where patrons piss on the floor and try tae pinch my backside. I’m no one.”
James could see that she was upset and his focus shifted from his own grief to the woman’s obvious distress. “Y-You are wrong,” he said quietly. “Y-You are the woman who brought my brother back to me. That makes you very special.”
Her head snapped up and she looked at him, wishing with all her heart that his statement was true in a romantic sense. That wish removed any sense of restraint as she spoke. She figured that she’d never see the man again, so whatever she said was of little matter.
But she had to say it.
“I’ve lived my entire life in this dingy little village, with no excitement, no prospects, and no hope,” she said. “But my family wasna always impoverished. My grandfather was the Earl of Forth, a great advisor tae King James until he fell out of favor by taking one of the king’s mistresses as his own. My family was stripped of everything and we came here tae live, far away from king and court. My grandfather and father were learned men, so they eked out a life here, but when they died, it was only me and my mother and we do what we can tae survive.”
James was listening intently. “T-Then you’re the heiress to the Earldom of Forth?”
Tears were falling faster than she could wipe them away. “If it still belonged tae my family, aye,” she said. “I just thought ye should know that, once, our family fortunes were much as yer family’s. We were powerful and wealthy. The earldom had been in our family for centuries and it was taken away in the blink of an eye. I was educated by my grandfather, so I’m not like the other women in this village. I’m different. ’Tis a difficult existence here, much like yer own existence with yer brother. It is… complicated. ’Tis clear by yer letters that ye never felt as if ye fit in, or were worthy, and that’s something I can relate tae. I… I suppose in a sense, that’s why I felt drawn tae ye both through those letters. But I was drawn tae ye most of all.”
His expression softened. “W-Why me?”
She shrugged, unable to look at him. “Because ye’re tender,” she said. “The things ye wrote tae yer brother speak of a tender heart, a dreaming heart, and of a man who wants tae do right in life. So many men are hardened and cruel, but ye… ye have a soul. Ye’ve had challenges, but ye’ve not let them define ye. Do ye want tae know the truth? Yer letters took me out of my hellish existence and, for a moment, I could be by the side of a man who tried tae live the life he was born tae live. I dunna know if that makes sense, but it’s the truth. I fell in love with ye and I dunna even know ye, but now that I’ve met ye, I feel as if I’ve known ye all my life. I wasna going tae give those letters back because they were so important tae me, but I see now that they’re even more important tae ye. I’m sorry I kept them as long as I did and I pray ye can forgive me.”
She was looking down at the straw as she finished, preparing for the response sure to come. He would probably thank her for her