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“Och, I don’t know, Yer Grace…”
“But I do,” Delilah said firmly. “Christmas isn’t just for children—it’s for everyone. Go and sit beside the fire with young Hamish, and I’ll send my Flora over with a glass of spiced wine and a slice of Mrs. McLeish’s fruitcake.”
Before the woman could protest further, Delilah scooped the baby into her arms.
“Come and sit beside us, Ma,” Hamish said. The woman took the seat next to Devon. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at his face, but she didn’t avert her gaze.
“I wanted to thank ye, sir,” she said, “for what ye did for my Hamish.”
“I did nothing,” Devon said, “other than ask my sister to find you some help.”
“I know,” she replied. “I’d always refused it, then I realized that I needed to care for my family. But I must return the book you gave us. I cannot accept charity.
“A book isn’t charity, Mrs. MacGregor,” Devon said. “Hamish is an intelligent boy, and a book will help him learn and make a future for himself—and his family. And, with your permission, I’d like to help Hamish read it. I’ll be staying here while my brother-in-law recovers from his accident, helping to run the estate, so I’ll need someone to show me around. What do you say, Hamish? Are you up to the task?”
“Oh, yes!” Hamish’s eyes lit up with joy.
His mother took Devon’s hand and smiled. “Forgive me, sir,” she said.
“What for?”
“For calling ye a devil—a beast,” she said. “Ye’re a kind man—a good man. There’s much Hamish can learn from ye—and much I can learn from my Hamish. He told me ye were a hero, and he’s right.”
She lifted her gaze. “Is that yer wife over there?”
Devon looked across the room to where Attie stood, holding Francine in her arms.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s her.”
“She’s a lucky lass to have ye. I hope she knows it.”
At that moment, Attie lifted her head and smiled, and the darkness in his heart lifted. Twin souls gazing across the chasm, as they had the first day they’d set eyes on each other—knowing then, as they knew now, that they were soulmates.
“Aye,” he whispered. “But she’s not as lucky as I am.”
