The Highlander’s Rescued Maiden by Anna Campbell

Chapter 19

Will and Ellen were very late heading downstairs. When a man received a loving commitment from the woman he adored, one kiss wasn’t nearly enough to seal the deal. Only when Ellen reminded him, with a reluctance he rejoiced to hear, that they owed a duty to their hosts, did he recall that this wasn’t his house and that bedding his beloved right now would shame her.

Even that reminder of society’s rules couldn’t stop him from kissing her again and again.

“Why are ye smiling?” Ellen asked, as they paused outside the drawing room door.

“Because I’m happy.” He glanced across at her. “And because I hope we dinnae run into Betsy. She’ll want my guts for garters.”

Ellen raised a nervous hand to her hair, now more an untidy tumble than a coiffure. His eyes caught on the heavy signet ring that gleamed on her left hand. Somewhere amongst all the kissing, he’d found time to slide his ring onto her finger.

“Do ye think the Drummonds will notice?”

“No.”

“Fibber,” she said affectionately, hooking her fingers around his crooked elbow.

In truth, given what he knew about his cousins’ marriage, Will would wager half his inheritance that the physical attraction raging between Will and Ellen was no news to them. “You speak such sweet endearments to me, beloved. I’m quite overcome.”

She snorted, as he pushed the door open to catch Kirsty and Dougal kissing in front of the unlit hearth.

“Will… Miss Cameron…” a flushed Kirsty stammered, although she didn’t move far from her big, brawny husband. “Ye were so long coming downstairs that we…”

“Decided to take up your favorite pastime?” Will asked in a dry tone.

“A laddie needs something to keep his mind off his empty stomach,” Dougal retorted.

“I had to talk to Ellen.”

“It must have been a braw long discussion.” With a knowing tilt of one russet eyebrow, Dougal surveyed the two of them. Will was more certain than ever that his cousin had guessed that he was head over heels in love with the beautiful girl who held his arm.

He didn’t mind. He and Dougal were the same age, and his cousin was as much a brother to him as any of his actual brothers.

“It was.” Will drew Ellen further into the room. A quick glance at her face told him she looked proud and happy. He’d noticed that her limp worsened when she thought people were staring at her. But tonight she moved more smoothly than usual. A heaviness in her eyes hinted that her mind lingered on their passionate kisses upstairs. “I’m delighted to tell ye that Miss Cameron has agreed to become my wife.”

He hadn’t been sure how the announcement would go down. After all, Ellen was a stranger, although he was sure Dougal and Kirsty would love her once they got to know her. But if anyone should understand love at first sight, it was his cousin.

Nothing would change Will’s mind about Ellen being the woman of his heart, but after years of isolation, she was shy. She was also worried about how his family would greet his betrothal to a woman who was lame. So much depended on this first encounter between Ellen and his kin.

To his relief, Kirsty and Dougal didn’t let him down. Dougal gave a pleased laugh and strode across to clap him on the back. “Well done, old son. No’ that I’m at all surprised. I could see ye were besotted, the moment you came through the door.”

“Thanks, cuz.” Will didn’t argue. He was besotted. “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

“Ye are indeed.” Dougal turned to Ellen. “Let me welcome you into the family, Miss Cameron.”

“Thank you,” she said, as Dougal bent to kiss her cheek.

Kirsty approached the happy trio. “Will, I’m so glad for ye and Miss Cameron.”

When she hugged him, he had to release Ellen, who he saw was taken aback at this exuberant response to their engagement. “Thank you.”

“Congratulations.” Kirsty turned to Ellen with a beaming smile. “I hope you’ll be as happy as Dougal and I are.”

“I’m sure we will be,” Ellen said, as Kirsty embraced her, too.

Will felt a pleasant surprise to hear her sounding so optimistic. He realized in that moment that Ellen had dedicated herself heart and soul to their future. Warmth flooded him. It was a brave act from a brave woman. What a treasure he’d unearthed on Bortha’s forbidding shore.

“Miss Cameron, you’ll have to tell us all about how ye and Will met. We had no idea he was contemplating matrimony.”

When Will heard Ellen’s dry chuckle, he knew that she was fine. She didn’t need his help to find her place at Tigh na Mara. “I doubt very much if he was.”

Will smiled at her, so proud he was ready to burst. He was well aware that he asked a great deal of her and that after her captivity on Bortha, finding her place in the outside world would be a challenge. Especially when her infirmity had made her an outcast from her family. But he could already see that the qualities he loved – her intelligence and courage and ardent heart – would earn her a place of honor wherever she went.

Kirsty caught Ellen’s hands and stood back to survey her with approval. “I’m glad ye changed his mind for him, Miss Cameron.”

“One look at Ellen, and I was ready to call the banns,” Will said, earning him a roll of the eyes from his beloved for his trouble.

“Was that while I threatened to shoot ye?” she asked sweetly.

Will saw Kirsty and Dougal observe Ellen with growing respect. “Good for ye, Miss Cameron,” Dougal said. “There have been plenty of moments, when for two pins, I’d have shot this rogue, too.”

“Tell us more,” Kirsty said. “Will always has the lassies begging for his attention. He’s the one who needs a gun to fight them off.”

“Now, Kirsty, that’s an exaggeration,” he said in discomfort.

“No, it’s no’.”

No, it wasn’t. But he wasn’t sure he wanted his bride to know what a devil he’d been with the ladies.

“I’m sure it’s no’,” Ellen said. “He was revoltingly sure that he could charm his way out of trouble.” She paused. “The problem is that he can. From the day we met, I was as lost as he was.”

Will couldn’t resist responding to that confession with a quick kiss that left her rosy-cheeked and flustered. When she struggled out of his arms, Ellen’s smile was close to natural.

She turned to Dougal and Kirsty. “I think ye should both call me Ellen, given I’m going to be part of the family.”

Dougal looked thoughtful. “I’ve always had a soft spot for girls called Ellen.”

It was Kirsty’s turn to roll her eyes. “No’ this again.” She spoke to Ellen. “When I met this great galoot, he was madly in love with a mythical creature he’d never laid eyes on called Fair Ellen of the Isles. You wouldnae believe the trouble it took me to make him realize that she was a fairy tale and he belonged here with me.”

“Och, Kirsty love, ye should be kinder to Fair Ellen. Without her, I’d never have washed up on the shores of Askaval to become your lord and master.”

Kirsty snorted at that. As well she might. Dougal and Kirsty’s was a marriage of equals, where his romantic imagination lent wings to her more practical nature.

“You know, I wouldnae altogether say she’s a myth,” Ellen said slowly.

Dougal and Kirsty both regarded her with sudden rapt attention. “Just where did ye two meet?” Kirsty asked.

Will decided to come to Ellen’s rescue. “On Bortha.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Dougal said.

“No, it’s well to the west and away from the shipping lanes, and there’s no’ much there. Until the storm blew me off course, I had nae idea it even existed.”

He watched as the incredible truth dawned on his hosts. Their astonishment had him hiding a smile. “And I suppose Ellen was living in her father’s house and they offered ye shelter?” Dougal asked. That was what had happened to him four years ago, when he met Kirsty.

“In a manner of speaking,” Ellen said.

“But she said she tried to shoot him,” Kirsty pointed out.

“It was my father’s house – even if he doesnae live there,” Ellen said. Will could see that she started to enjoy teasing Dougal and Kirsty.

“It wouldnae be a tower with a braw strong lock?” Kirsty asked.

“It’s as if ye were there,” Will said with mock admiration.

Dougal gave a startled laugh and slung one powerful arm across his wife’s slender shoulders. “Are ye saying, cuz, that you won the prize after all? Ye rescued Fair Ellen of the Isles from captivity?”

A smug smile curved Will’s lips. “I’ve always been the most heroic member of the family.”

Dougal ignored that. “Yet ye ragged me without mercy about what a pea brain I was to imagine she was real.”

Will realized he didn’t have too much cause for gloating – apart from the fact that he’d won the bride of his heart. “Aye, well, I might owe ye a small apology for that.”

As if he was hard of hearing, Dougal placed one hand up to his ear. “What was that ye said?”

Will laughed. “I said I’m sorry I called ye a cork-witted ass. You were right, and I was wrong.”

“Ah, better,” Dougal said. He turned to Ellen, who watched the byplay between the cousins with an arrested expression. Will supposed she wasn’t used to seeing a loving family in action. He vowed then and there that they’d create a loving family of their own.

“Ellen, I can hardly believe that my cousin found you and liberated you – and even better fell in love with ye. It’s a credit to the family.”

Ellen laughed at that. “I’m pleased to be of service.”

Dougal’s smile softened, and he hugged Kirsty closer. “On a personal level, I owe ye a huge debt. If your legend hadnae spread across the Highlands, I’d never have set out in search of you and I’d never have met my darling Kirsty. And that would have left me a beggar at life’s feast.”

Kirsty’s expression melted, and she drew Dougal down for a kiss. “Thank ye for that.”

“Well said,” Will murmured.

Kirsty regarded Ellen with a concerned frown. “These laddies carry on as if this was all a grand adventure, but ye must have suffered if you were locked away.”

Ellen made a sweeping gesture. “Obviously there’s more to the story, but it’s going to take time to tell. As you guessed, it’s no’ an altogether happy tale. Tonight is for celebrations. I’m safe, and Will and I are to wed. Let’s leave the sadder parts of my history until another day.”

Dougal glanced at the clock. “I have so many questions, but let’s talk over dinner. Ruth will be fuming if we put things back again.”

Will raised a hand to gain his cousin’s attention. “Before we go in, can I ask ye to talk to the minister here? I’d like to marry Ellen tomorrow.”

He wanted to make her his as soon as possible, and there was the added incentive of heading off a scandal. The story of Fair Ellen’s rescue would spread across Scotland like wildfire. He wanted to quash any gossip about the maiden and her rescuer anticipating their wedding vows.

“Of course,” Dougal said.

“A wedding on Askaval. How exciting.” Kirsty’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “We havenae had one of those since my father married Ada two years ago.”

Will turned to Ellen. “Does that suit ye, mo chridhe?”

She looked overwhelmed, but unafraid. He loved that she embraced her future with such spirit. “If Dougal and Kirsty dinnae mind.”

Kirsty smiled at Ellen with the warmth so essential to her nature. Will could already see that Ellen had found a friend in his cousin’s wife. “We dinnae mind a bit, but why don’t we put off the nuptials for a day or two? It would give us a chance to plan a party and make you a dress fit for the occasion. It would also give ye time to rest before the ceremony. Even without knowing the full story, I can see you’ve had an eventful time. Why no’ take a little while to catch your breath before ye become a bride?”

Will read disappointment on Ellen’s face, even as he bit back a groan of his own. It seemed he wasn’t the only one seething with lust. He’d been very much looking forward to a wedding night before too long.

On the other hand, so many pleasures had been stolen from Ellen. He could imagine the idea of a real wedding celebration might appeal to her and give her happy memories to cherish. And she was tired after their tumultuous days on Bortha, followed by their voyage today. By God, so was he. Perhaps a quiet interval before he became a bridegroom wasn’t a bad idea at that.

“Ellen, what do ye think?”

She took a moment to consider then nodded her head. “Kirsty and Dougal, you’re both so terribly kind, given I’ve arrived without warning and without any belongings of my own. But, aye, I’d like to look like a bride on my wedding day.”

Kirsty smile broadened. “Och, it’s the least we can do. Will is like a brother to us, and I’m hoping that means I gain a sister when ye become his wife.”

The wholehearted acceptance left Ellen looking overcome. For ten years, she’d been heartbreakingly alone. Soon she’d become a man’s wife, and it seemed she was acquiring a family as well. Perhaps an opportunity to find her place in this new world before her wedding wasn’t too much to ask after all.

“Thank ye.” To Will’s surprise, Ellen hugged Kirsty. He’d always thought she’d be reticent with strangers. Perhaps Kirsty’s unconditional approval lowered her defenses. “A wedding in a couple of days it shall be.”

“Capital.” Dougal gazed on with a beaming smile. “I have a feeling it will take ye more than tonight’s dinner to tell us everything anyway.”

When Ellen shot Will a wry glance that said she had no intention of sharing everything that had happened between them, he burst out laughing.