Ian’s gaze was warm on hers as he put his hand over his heart and mouthed,
The feet washing and gift viewing were supposed to take place the eve before the wedding, but they had decided to do it all on the same day so Father Brian could be on his way.
Ian took her hands and helped her to her feet. As they stood together in the tub, he gave her a kiss that made her forget the others were watching—until she heard them shouting their approval.
“I think he could give my Donald a lesson or two,” one of the older women said, causing another round of laughter.
“Out with ye, Ian Aluinn,” another woman said, and Ian let a matron half his size push him out the door.
Before they could close it on him, he blew Sileas a kiss. “I’ll be waiting for ye in the yard,
“You’re a lucky lass,” Dina said, as the women helped her out of the tub and dried her feet. From the way the other women’s eyes had followed Ian, Sileas suspected Dina wasn’t the only woman in the room who would have been more than glad to change places with her.
Sileas wondered where Beitris had gone when she saw her return from the corner of the room with a shimmering silk gown the color of bluebells.
“Ahh, it’s gorgeous,” Sileas breathed, as she fingered the fine material. “When did ye have time to make it?”
Beitris’s smile was so broad she looked as if her face might split. “I started working on it the night Ian came home from France.”
Sileas didn’t bother asking how her mother-in-law had known she would be needing it. She lifted her arms as two of the women pulled her gown over her head, leaving her in her chemise.
“Beitris, this one will give ye many grandchildren,” an old woman with pure white hair said, as she pinched Sileas’s hip.
“She’ll have beautiful babes,” Beitris said, as she dropped the gown over Sileas’s head.
The gown floated over her in a swirl of cool silk. It fit perfectly, clinging to every curve as if it had been stitched by faeries. Sileas met Beitris’s eyes and knew they were both thinking of the awful red gown she had worn to her first wedding.
“Thank ye, Beitris,” she said, as they grinned at each other.
“Ach, such luck you’ll have!” the women exclaimed again and again, for a wedding gown that fit well was a sign of good luck.
The women slid thin stockings up her legs and combed her hair. As a last touch, Ilysa tied a sprig of white heather in her hair, another token of good fortune.
Then all the women cooed and sighed, telling her, as they did all brides, that she was the loveliest bride they’d ever seen. When she stepped out into the bailey yard and Ian looked at her, she felt as if it were true.
He was so handsome that the sight of him made her feel as if something had slammed against her chest. The crystal she had given him had been fashioned into a pin that held his plaid at the shoulder, and he wore a sprig of white heather in his cap like the one she wore one in her hair.
Duncan, Connor, and Alex were next to him, dressed in their best and looking fine. Being young and healthy, they were recovering quickly from their injuries, though their bruises still told the tale.
When Duncan raised his eyebrows at her, she nodded and he began to play. His pipes filled the bailey yard with a song of hope and joy. All eyes were on her as she joined Ian to stand before Father Brian.
“I, Ian Payton MacDonald, take ye, Sileas MacDonald, to be my wife. In the presence of God and before these witnesses, I promise to be a loving and faithful husband to ye until God shall separate us by death.”
Sileas said her vows in turn. When the priest had blessed them, Ian kissed her and the crowd erupted into cheers.
Connor was the first to congratulate them. “May ye be blessed with long life and peace.”
Sileas squeezed Ian’s hand. Between the rebellion brewing and Hugh’s escape, peace seemed unlikely, but she would hope for a long life together.
“May ye grow old with goodness and with riches,” Duncan said, giving them another of the usual blessings.
When it was Alex’s turn, he said to Ian, “Ye saved yourself a lot of trouble by marrying a MacDonald. As they say, ‘Marry a lass and ye marry her whole clan.’ ”
“I’m glad ye mentioned that,” Connor said, resting his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “That is precisely the reason I need ye to marry a woman from another clan. I’ll be calling on ye soon to do your duty.”
“Not me,” Alex said, putting his hands up and taking a step back. “I live by the saying, ‘The smart fellow’s share is on every dish.’ ”
They all pretended not to hear Alex’s parents, who had gone off to the far end of the bailey yard to shout at each other.
They had the feast in the yard, too, since the guardhouse was too small for all the guests. Though it was chilly, it wasn’t raining, and the food the women brought was tasty and plentiful. They warmed up afterward with music and dancing. All the men kissed Sileas, giving her pennies, until Ian put a stop to that particular tradition.
“Let’s get the priest,” he whispered in her ear.
They found Father Brian and sneaked away without anyone noticing—or at least they pretended not to notice. When they reached the makeshift bedchamber Ian had set up for them on the upper floor of the gatehouse, he carried her over the threshold.
