Page 80 of The Laird’s Lost Wife

Eventually, she ran out of things to say, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, shoulder to shoulder.

“What made ye come back, Daffie?” Ceana whispered.

Daphne bit her lower lip, considering her answer.

Ceana didn’t know about Willow’s parentage. She knew about the baby, of course. She’d always known. Daphne wouldn’t keep a secret like that from her own sister. But that was all Ceana knew. There was no way that she hadn’t wondered, of course, but such questions didn’t sit well in letters. She’d probably been waiting for them to meet face to face, and as the years flew by, the questions probably just faded into the background.

“I didnae mean to come back,” Daphne murmured. “I cannae stay. It’s too dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

“I offended Laird Gilmore. He’ll take his revenge on me, and maybe on me family.”

Ceana was quiet for a while.

“Laird Gilmore is married,” she said. “Happily. Daenae take offence, but I doubt that he’s thought of ye in a long while.”

Daphne bit her lower lip until it stung. “Really? There’s nay danger? No threat?”

“Nae from him. I keep forgetting that ye have missed out what happened. I’ll have to catch ye up soon. Ye will be surprised, I can tell ye that.”

“The Wolf…”

Ceana sat up. “What about the Wolf?”

“Daenae ye remember Ma’s tears? How she told us that he comes for eldest daughters? That’s me.”

“I didnae forget the stories she told us, and I daenae doubt that the Wolf was real. But he’s nae struck in decades. There was a worry a little while ago, when two women went missing from the latest Leanan Festival.”

Daphne blinked. “I heard of that. There was talk that it was the Wolf.”

“I ken. But now it turns out that the women werenae kidnapped at all. They ran away. Together,” Ceana added pointedly. “They were always close, apparently. There was nay hint that they planned to run away, nae until their families arranged marriages for them. The women didnae want to marry, it seems. They’ve gone to the Lowlands, last I heard, or perhaps even to England and beyond. I doubt they’ll come back, and I’m sure that they’re happy enough. No Wolf in sight.”

Daphne bit the inside of her cheek, mulling that over.

Laird Gilmore isnae resentful. There’s nay grudge. Nay vengeance to fear. Nay Wolf hovering on the horizon. Does that mean I am safe now?

“Daphne?” Ceana prompted, a crease of worry between her eyebrows. “Ye arenae saying anything.”

“I… I daenae ken what to say,” Daphne confessed. “I suppose I daenae have to go back to England. I didnae think that I would stay after Lady Pilbury died, but I… I daenae ken what life I’ll have here, either.”

“Ye could get married. Oscar has some decent friends that ye might like.”

She shook her head. “I daenae think so. I never imagined marriage in me future. And now that I have Willow… well, few men would marry a woman who is raising another man’s child.”

I’m nae sure that Hunter would let me, either.

She wasn’t sure where that thought came from. It made her jolt and frown, a little angry at herself, but it persisted. She imagined trying to tell Hunter that she was marrying somebody else. How would he take it?

It is none of his business. If he willnae tell me why he made that vow, I willnae marry him.

Of course, the idea of marrying someone else turned her stomach. She had no intention of marrying. She and Willow had gotten on fine before, and they’d manage now. Everything would be fine.

She glanced over to find Ceana looking at her, her expression thoughtful.

“Yer wee lass, Willow, was with Lady Helena and Laird MacCrimmon when we got here,” she noted. “She’d just left yer room. I daenae think she kent who I was. Well, how could she? She seemed to want to play with Laird MacCrimmon. It’s surprising that a man like him takes time out of his day to attend to a wee lassie.”

Daphne swallowed, glancing sharply at her. “What do ye mean?”