thigh and hooted with laugh
ter. Wiping his eyes, he said, “Ye escaped from the tower, did ye? Wel , yer as brave as ye are bonny, my pet.”
Ali smiled to see the twinkle of amusement in his eyes, glad to take away at least some of the sadness she’d put there earlier.
“And what did the young fool do then?”
“He believed me and brought me back to Dunvegan.”
She flushed under his scrutiny as though he knew exactly what happened next. He stroked his mustache, his voice subdued. “Are ye in love with the mon?”
She hesitated. Rory had been his daughter’s husband and Ali didn’t know how he’d react, but she felt a need to be honest with him and figured she’d already given herself away. “Aye . . . yes, I am.”
He shook his head slowly. “’Twas the same with my Brianna. I didna’ want the match, ye ken, but she wanted no other. No matter how many lads I paraded before her, she always went back to him.”
Ali tried to ignore the pinch in her heart. It never got any easier to hear about the love Rory and Brianna had shared. Although she knew he loved her, too, no one wanted to be second best, and for her, Rory would always be her one true love.
LORD OF THE ISLES
257
She cleared her throat. “Why didn’t you want her to marry him?”
“The MacLeods and the MacDonalds were always feudin’ over one thing or another. Ye must ken that, lass.”
“But the feud ended with their marriage. Surely you must have come to like Rory?”
The man looked beyond the fire and his answer came slowly. “Fer the most part. He wears the mantle of respon sibility wel fer al that it was forced upon him at a young age. Mayhap ’tis why he puts his clan above al else. Bri anna thought it was so. She never felt she truly came first in his heart. The day my daughter died the truce between our clans ended.”
Ali’s heart slammed into her throat. Brianna had suf
fered the same doubts she did. Her hope that one day Rory would be able to put her ahead of his clan diminished with each word the man at her side uttered. But she felt a need to defend Rory, and thought maybe she could ease some of Brianna’s father’s sorrow at the same time. “You mustn’t doubt he loved your daughter, Lord MacDonald. I know he did—very much.”
His jaw hardened. “If no’ fer him my daughter would be alive.”
“What are you saying? Rory would never have hurt his wife, not intentional y. He tried to do whatever he could to save her.” She touched his big hand. “Her death and the baby’s stil affect him. I saw it not long ago when I helped a woman with her delivery. He hasn’t gotten over it, Lord MacDonald. He stil feels guilty.”
“Aye, and so he should. My daughter was no’ strong from birth. ’Twas her sister who was the strong one.” A gentle smile curved his lips, fading when he continued.
“He shouldna’ have forced her to have a bairn. Him and his godforsaken clan wanted a babe to carry on the MacLeod name. He could’ve left it to his brother.”
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Heat rushed to Ali’s face. She didn’t want to have this conversation with Brianna’s father, but no matter how un comfortable it made her, she would. If there was even the slightest chance she could change the course of the feud, she’d take it. “Have you ever stopped to consider that your daughter knew her time was short and wanted to give Rory something to remember her by?”
He turned away from her, his voice gruff when he asked, “Why would ye think that?”
“I’m a healer, Lord MacDonald, and it’s been my expe
rience that sometimes people have a sense of their impend
ing death. I don’t know al there is to know about your daughter’s medical history, but if this was a condition she had since birth, then you were blessed to have her as long as you did. You must have taken wonderful care of her.”
He swiped at his eyes. “When I lost her mother and her wee sister she was al I had left.”
“She was very lucky to have you. I envy her that.” She gave him a watery smile.
“We’re a pair, aren’t we?” He squeezed her hand. “Ye bed down in my tent and we’l talk on the morrow.”
“Lord MacDonald, would you send a message to Rory and tel him I’m safe here with you?”
“Aye, at first light. Ye ken I’l no use ye in the feud, lass. I’l no’ have ye suffer. But . . .” He hesitated, watching her closely. “Ye’d be welcomed at Armadale by me and my clan if after the battle ye wish to return home with me.”
“Thank you. Is it because I remind you of your daugh
ter?” she asked quietly. It was ridiculous, but she hoped not. Ever since coming to Dunvegan she’d been compared to Brianna, and grew weary of being wanted only because she so closely resembled someone they had al once loved.
“Aye, ye do remind me of her. Although I ken yer no’
