AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Aye, well, he wasnae a man many people enjoyed bein’ around. But suppose that is why the Lairdship passed to me. After all, he was a great man and the Murphy clan believes I’ll uphold his ideals.”
“Will ye?” Elena asked as she found herself drawn to him. She wasn’t sure if it was the sad news, or if he lured her to him through his stunning green eyes.
“Daenae ken yet,” he answered. Placing the pillow on the back of the divan, he leaned into it. “Suppose I might follow a few of them. But there are several that I ken will do me nay good.”
“Like?” Elena asked, feeling her chest tighten.
“Perhaps I’ll tell ye some other time. It’s late and I’d like to sleep. If we are headed out in the mornin’ it’ll be a long journey.”
Elena nodded her head as she stood and pulled back the blanket. Dropping her robe, she slipped into the bed. The idea of keeping her dignity and virtue seemed so pointless now that she was married.
“Ye ken ye daenae have to sleep over there,” she said, staring at the ceiling. Her body tensed the moment the words left her mouth. She knew he had spent last night with her, she felt a bit more confident he would honor his oath and keep his distance.
“It was nay more than four hours ago ye told me I smelled like a horse, or was it a dog?”
“I believe it was a pig,” Elena said giggling.
“Aye, that’s right,” Gabriel answered as he shifted his head to look at her. Elena could sense his eyes on her as she kept hers locked to the grains in the ceiling. “A hog. A boar, a wild beast.”
“Are ye?” she asked, swallowing hard.
“A beast? Do ye think of me as one?”
“To be truthful, I daenae ken what to think of ye. I ken ye make me laugh at times. But then...” She paused as her childhood flashed before her eyes. Pictures of her youth raced through like rain falling on the pane of a window, so sleek and fast.
“I think I’ll rest here tonight,” Gabriel said. In the corner of her eye, she noticed his head shifting and he too stared up into the dark ceiling.
“May I ask ye a question?”
“Sure,” Gabriel said remaining still.
“Why did ye marry me?”
“It was yer only choice,” he said.
“What if I told ye I dinnae want to be? What if I envisioned my life alone on grand adventures?”
“Well,” Gabriel coughed before laying his head back down on the thin pillow. “Suppose now yer goin’ to have to envision yer life wit’ me.”
“And will ye take me on grand adventures?”
“Adventures are for those who daenae have a plan for their lives so they rush off to death,” he answered.
“Beg yer pardon?”
“Ye speak of frolic in some field ye’ve never seen before. Or maybe dream of scaling a mountain yer feet have never touched. The truth is, yer nae capable of such things.”
Elena shot up from the bed and jerked the blanket to her chest.
“Nae capable ye say? And what kind of life do ye suppose I should have then?”
“Do ye remember when we were young? I wanted to take ye to my father’s field to watch the calf bein’ born. But we got to the edge of the property and ye stopped. Ye cried sayin’ how that was the furthest ye wanted to go. We could hear the cow in the distance carryin’ on in pain, but ye couldn’t take the step. Ye havenae changed. Ye dream up this idea in yer head that somethin’ is a certain way, but ye cannae actually see it for what it is.”
“Are ye talkin’ about the cow or yerself?” Elena asked. She could feel the anger rising in the core of her being.
“I’m talkin’ about ye and yer ideals. The cow was nay more than a three-minute walk, but ye couldnae do it because nay matter how much ye like to think ye would, ye’ll never leave the comfort of yer surroundings. It’s why I think ye hated me for marryin’ ye.”
“I hated it because it was a choice ye and my uncle stole from me.”
