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Because Cicilia was not Jeanie, and Alexander was not Nathair. The Laird of Gallagher could not simply abandon his people because he wished to live out his days on a farm with a beautiful woman. And no more could Cicilia leave the O’Donnel farm to be taken over by those outside of her family.
He was almost sure, now, that she felt the same way that he did. If anything, though, that made him feel worse. This terrifying, beautiful, chaotic, perfect woman had changed everything about him, and soon, too soon, she would slip away from him.
An’ it’s me duty to let her go.
He had meant to talk to her, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it yet. Everyone was so happy, everything so calm outside of the occasional bickering and making up-between them, that he didn’t want to disrupt it.
An’ ye just dinnae want to. Ye cannae lie to yerself, Alexander.
The awkward silence at the table was broken by his sister, who, acting as if she had not heard the last part of what Annys said, turned to Cicilia. “Ye’re goin’ down to the town today, then? Will ye take the bairns?”
Cicilia gave her a grateful look, as did Alexander. “Aye, I’m goin’. An’ I was gonnae take them, but—”
“Nae!” Jamie protested. “That’s nae fair, Alice said she was gonnae teach us to play her special marbles game!”
“Aye, an’ I want to play wi’ Matthew,” Annys insisted.
Alexander looked over at his nephew and was very amused to see the ten-year-old blush. Both children were too young for real flirtation, but it was sweet to see how they seemed to like each other anyway. It was a kind of innocence he missed from his own childhood, and he was glad they could experience it, at least.
Cicilia looked a little helpless. “I ken, but I promised the baker’s wife I’d meet wi’ her an’ her friend today. They wanted to ask me some questions in exchange for information, an’—”
“We dinnae want to!” said Jamie.
“That’s all right, Cicilia,” Catherine said brightly. “I ken Jeanie an’ Nathair are away for the day, but ye can still leave the bairns here. I’m keepin’ an eye on me two, anyway. I may as well watch the twins.”
“I dinnae need to be watched,” Alice protested. “I’m practically a woman grown.”
“Aye, well, ye can help me, then,” Catherine replied smoothly.
Alexander hid his smirk at how deftly his sister handled it before it became a strop.
“If ye’re sure?” Cicilia asked.
“An’ Sandy will help me, too, won’t ye?” Catherine added.
Probably not. Alexander had his own worries to deal with today. The rumors of an uprising were getting louder. Nathair and Jeanie were purportedly out on a couple’s day, but the Man-at-arms and his bride-to-be were actually gathering information to prepare for the inevitable upcoming attack. He would not tell either his sister or Cicilia this, though. He would not worry them.
“Aye, o’ course,” he replied as the children cheered. “After I do some work in me study.”
Cicilia smiled that heartwrenching smile of hers once more, then said, “All right, then. If ye insist, I’ll leave when we’re done here.”
Aye. An’ maybe when ye get back, I’ll have prevented a war.
Susan was waiting at the town square when Cicilia arrived. She had not just one friend with her, but several—two Marys, an Annabel, and an Anne. To Cicilia’s relief, the women all jokingly assured her that they didn’t ex
pect her to remember which of them was which or call them by name.
The six of them sat together, and Cicilia told the women the same stories she had already told the baker’s wife. She told them what Alexander had done behind the scenes all these years, and she told them how kind he was at heart. She even admitted how she had been working against the set laws and running the farm, and emphasized how he supported her.
“A man supportin’ a woman in business?” one of the Marys said, sounding impressed. “Perhaps his Lairdship is really nae as bad as they’re sayin’ after all. I told me husband nae to get mixed up in all the nonsense.”
“Aye, me an’ all,” said either Anne or Annabel. “But ye ken these lads, always spoilin’ for a fight. I’m fairly certain there’s money changin’ hands, as well.”
“Money?” Cicilia asked. “What do ye mean?”
All five of the other women exchanged dark looks, but it was Susan who finally answered. “Well,” she said. “It’s just a rumor, but they tend to be pretty accurate, at least around here. They say that there’s been a man walkin’ around the village, doin’ his level best to turn people against the Laird. Throwin’ aspersions on his character an’ his economic dealin’s both.”
“Aye, an’ wi’ some success!” the other Mary added. “Ye ken how angry people can get, an’ it’s nae hard to fill a man’s head wi’ suggestions when his pride is on the line. A little doubt here, a little confusion there, an’ suddenly ye’ve turned a reclusive Laird into a monster wi’ nae proof to the contrary.”
