The Campbell Trilogy (138 page)

His pulse fired as he considered what he would say to the man who held his life in his hands. Coming here had been a risk—no doubt a rash one—but one he had to take. He had to trust that the truth—justice—would win. Though, he had to admit, he did wish he had more to go on than his word and a loosely worded note.

He stiffened when the door opened and turned. His heart caught, stunned. “Jeannie?”

She bit her lip and took a few cautious steps into the room. She seemed to be waiting for him to make a move. He did, closing the gap between them in two long strides and pulling her into his arms.

She sagged against him, her relief palpable. He pressed a kiss atop her head and inhaled the soft floral fragrance in her hair, savoring the feel of her in his arms.

Holding her back, he looked at her, needing to make sure that she was real. “How did you get here—”

He stopped himself. Leif. His face darkened. The Norseman’s damned never-ending pride could have killed her. Leif thought he could sail through anything—a storm, a gale, no matter how treacherous the seas.

Reading his mind, she said, “Don’t blame Leif. We had to come.” She gave him a pained look. “If it wasn’t for him, I might still be swimming.”

He winced, remembering his cruel words. “You heard that, did you?”

She nodded.

“I didn’t mean it,” he said. “I was trying to steer Colin away from you.”

“I know.” She smiled tentatively. “Or at least I hoped. But after what I told you, I wasn’t sure you wanted to see me at all.”

The wounded look in her eyes struck him to the core. His chest tightened and he drew her into his arms again, holding her, cherishing her, knowing that if it were up to him he would never let her go. “I’m sorry. God, I’m sorry. I should never have walked out on you like that. I was angrier at myself than at you.” He cupped her chin and stared deep into her eyes. “I know what you did to protect our son and I’ll never do anything to change that.”

Her eyes scanned his face. “What are you saying?”

He took a deep breath. The words were not easy to say. “I lost the right to claim my son when I left you ten years ago.”

Her eyes widened. “You would do that for me … for us?”

“Aye.”

The radiant smile that lit her face was one of pure happiness. She threw herself into his arms. Unable to resist a moment longer, he covered her mouth with his.
Kissing her tenderly. Lovingly. Knowing that the memory of his kiss might have to last him a very long time.

Her lips were so soft and sweet under his.

His chest tugged. God, he loved her.

He wanted nothing more than to sink into her and loose himself in her sweetness. But now was not the time. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and met her gaze. “I love you, Jeannie.”

“And I love you,” she replied. “But you don’t need to sacrifice your son. Hiding the truth will only lead to more pain. Dougall deserves to know his father.”

It was his turn to be surprised. “Are you sure?” Then he sobered. “We need not decide anything right now. You may think differently if my cousin is not persuaded of my innocence.”

An even bigger smile broke out on her face. “But he is—”

She didn’t finish because as if on queue the door opened and his cousin, Archibald “the grim,” the seventh Earl of Argyll strode into the room.

Instinctively, Duncan spun Jeannie around behind him, blocking her with his body from his cousin’s view.

As happy as he’d been to see her, he hadn’t realized what her presence could mean. If Archie thought he’d take his anger out on her, he better damn well think again.

He met his cousin’s cold stare, noting how his dark, angular features had sharpened with age. Though they were close in years, Archie looked far older. His face was lined, his hair thinned and receding at the temples, and patches of gray dotted his dark pointy beard. The stress of the intervening years had taken their toll. Duncan took in the elaborate court costume, observing that his cousin’s penchant for extravagance extended to his clothing as well. At least the silk was black, he supposed, and not peacock blue.

Argyll shifted his gaze to Jeannie. “I though I gave you enough time,” he said.

Jeannie blushed. “I was just starting to explain.”

“She has nothing to do with this,” Duncan said.

Argyll’s eyes narrowed. “It’s thanks to Lady Gordon that you are not sitting in a dungeon right now.” All of a sudden, his expression changed. Duncan could see the weariness come over him. “Is it true about Colin?”

Duncan nodded. “Aye.”

Jeannie hadn’t heard. “What happened?”

Duncan quickly recounted the details of his journey from Islay, including Colin’s attempt to kill him and Niall Lamont’s timely arrival.

Archie scowled at the mention of the outlaw. “The king won’t be happy to hear about another case of ‘Highland justice.’ ”

Aye, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That was the Highland way.

Argyll smiled deviously. “Though perhaps having your case settled will make up for his disappointment.”

Archie’s tone gave no hint to his thoughts, but Duncan remembered his cousin well enough to know he was up to something. “Did Jamie bring you the documents I found?”

“Aye, your brother and sister descended on me en masse a few days ago with Grant’s missive and the missing map.” Argyll dismissed them with a wave. “The note could be interpreted many ways.”

Duncan flexed his jaw. “Then you are determined to see me hang for a crime I did not commit.”

“Duncan.” Jeannie tried to interrupt, but he brushed her off.

He took a few steps toward his cousin, towering over him by a good half foot. To his credit, Archie didn’t give an inch. “Hell, Archie, how could you even think I would betray you like that?”

Argyll’s mouth twisted. “I don’t.”

“You don’t?” Duncan repeated, confused.

Jeannie stomped up behind him. “If you’d let me finish, I would have told you that you’ve been pardoned.”

“What?”

Shocked would be putting it mildly, Jeannie thought. Incredulous better captured the expression on his face.

The door opened and this time it was Lizzie who came bursting into the room, followed by her husband, Jamie, and Caitrina. Lizzie threw herself into Duncan’s arms. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she gushed.

Jeannie laughed. “I’m afraid he hasn’t heard the whole story yet.”

When she’d asked for five minutes in private first, she hadn’t planned on that kiss. Next time it might be safer to ask for an hour.

She looked at Duncan. “You never asked why I went to the castle.”

He shrugged. “I figured you had a good reason. To be honest, I was just grateful you weren’t at the inn when Colin and his men arrived.”

So was she. She shuddered to think of how differently it could have all happened. She supposed her instincts weren’t always wrong. She explained about the maid’s mentioning of Kathrine MacDonald’s hair.

He frowned. “The old lady was confused?”

“That’s what I thought, but it didn’t make sense. It seemed an odd mistake to make, but it turns out your mother
did
have black hair.” She pulled out the piece of parchment and handed it to him. It was a page from a church registry. “Your mother’s name was Anna. Anna MacDonald.”

Duncan’s eyes narrowed. He took the page uncertainly and scanned it. What he saw there drew the color
from his face. His eyes gazed into hers. “I don’t understand.”

“Your father and mother were married. Your mother was Catholic and they wed secretly in a church on the other side of the island.”

She could see the confusion, the conflicting emotions traverse across his face and hurried to explain. “Your mother was Mary MacDonald’s baby sister, though with nearly twenty years between them she could have been her daughter. She was the youngest daughter of the old chief. She and your father met at court, but the vicious blood feud between the clans prevented them from seeking permission to wed so they did so secretly, with only the nurse and Mary as witnesses.

“Eventually, they hoped to be able to tell their families, but until then they were forced to meet in secret. Your father wanted to run away, but Anna refused. She didn’t want to be forever cut off from her family. But the stress of the situation finally caught up with them and they had a horrible fight. By the time your father returned, intent on claiming his bride, it was too late—your mother had died in childbirth and the family had gotten “rid” of her bastard, sending you off to be raised by the nurse. Your mother had refused to name the father. But your father tracked the nurse down and brought you to live at Castleswene.”

Duncan was remarkably calm given what Jeannie had just told him, but his emotion revealed itself in his voice. “But how could my father do this? How could he lie about something like that?”

It was Jamie who answered. “Because of our grandfather.” Duncan turned to him. “He hated the MacDonalds. Think how he was when he thought you were simply the bastard son of a maidservant. He would never have let a MacDonald be in line to inherit the chieftainship.”

“Your father must have been trying to protect you,” Jeannie said. She could well understand the lengths a parent would go to protect their child. Duncan’s father’s lie had deprived his son of an inheritance while hers had given one.

She could see the anger burning in Duncan’s eyes and her heart went out to him. No matter his father’s reasons, it was a horrible betrayal.

“That might explain why he lied initially,” he said. “But not why he let it continue.”

“To claim you, he would have had to disinherit another son. And there was my mother to consider,” Jamie said.

“He must have changed his mind,” Argyll broke in. “I only realized the significance when Lady Gordon brought me the document, but Auchinbreck had told me the night before the battle that he’d decided to make you his
tanaiste.
”

Jeannie could feel the muscles in Duncan’s arm bunch under her fingertips as he waited for Argyll to continue.

“It wasn’t unheard of to make a bastard an heir, but I told Auchinbreck there would be trouble. He said not to worry about it, that he would explain everything when the time was right.” Argyll shrugged. “After he died and you were accused of treason, I was glad he hadn’t made his intentions known.”

“Do you think he’d told Colin?” Lizzie asked.

Duncan thought for a minute. “He might have—after I went to him about marrying Jeannie. I sensed that he and Colin had argued about something.”

“Colin had to have found out something,” Jeannie said. “He went to Dunyvaig not long after Glenlivet and started asking questions.”

Duncan looked at her, suspicion in his gaze. “Kathrine?”

“I don’t know, but Mary MacDonald thought so. The
church where your parents were married burned down a week before Kathrine disappeared—only days after Colin supposedly left the island. Were it not for the page Mary had ripped out of the registry to prevent your MacDonald grandfather from finding the truth years before, we might never have known.”

“Why didn’t Lady MacDonald tell us that first day?”

“She was scared. Colin didn’t know that anyone other than the nurse knew. Given what had happened, I can’t blame her.”

Duncan looked to his cousin. “And even without Colin’s confession, you are satisfied that I did not take the map and sell it to Grant?”

Argyll winced a little. “I’m satisfied that you were not the only one with motive.”

Duncan cocked his brow, holding his cousin’s gaze. It was Argyll who eventually conceded. “Very well. I wasn’t exactly in the most generous frame of mind at the time, but I shouldn’t have been so quick to find you guilty.”

“Careful, Archie,” Jamie teased. “That almost sounded like an apology.”

Argyll shot him a black frown, murmuring something about insolent henchmen.

“What will happen to Colin?” Lizzie asked.

Jeannie winced. Duncan and Argyll exchanged a look.

Argyll looked at his cousin, and Jeannie was surprised to see how much fondness was in his gaze. “Come, Lizzie, I’ve something to tell you, but I think your brother would like some time alone with Lady Gordon.” He glanced at Duncan. “If I were him, I’d be thinking of ways to thank her.”

Lizzie nodded solemnly, perhaps sensing what her cousin was going to say, and followed him out of the room with the others.

“It’s not like Archie to be so perceptive,” Duncan said wryly. “He’s gone soft in his old age.”

Jeannie snorted. There was nothing soft about Duncan’s powerful cousin. It was Lizzie who had the soft heart. She bit her lip. “Do you think she’ll be all right?”

“Aye. Lizzie’s strong. But it won’t be easy. It’s hard to believe the brother we knew as a child could have changed so much.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, realizing how difficult it must be for him as well.

“It’s a lot to take in.” He shook his head. “Married. God, I can’t believe it.” He gave her a wry smile. “I guess you were right to believe in faerie tales.”

Jeannie smiled. “I’d like to take credit, but I could never have imagined such a story.” She paused. “I feel sorry for them.”

His face hardened for an instant. She knew his feelings for his father must be horribly conflicted. But then some of the tension seemed to dissipate. “Aye. They must have loved each other greatly to risk so much.”

“He loved you, too, Duncan. What he did was wrong, but he was trying to make it right.”

He nodded, then sat down on the chair and pulled her onto his lap, cuddling her in his arms. She laid her cheek on his chest, savoring the warm strength of him.

She couldn’t quite believe it was all over.

“It’s strange how my father’s life mirrored mine.” His eyes met hers. “Except for one thing.”

“What’s that?” Jeannie asked softly.

“I have the chance to make amends that my father did not.” He took her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss on her fingers. “Ten years ago I asked you to marry me. I don’t deserve a second chance, but say you’ll marry me again and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you.”

Jeannie tried to swallow, but the lump in her throat
made it impossible. Her heart swelled with love for him, with long overdue happiness, and with disbelief that all her dreams were finally coming true.