And worse, she’d pray he would miss her and seek her out.
Foolish thoughts! Even if Alex remained in the city, she could never risk continuing the affair. She had allowed herself this one wild folly before settling into her life as a spinster.
“Here is St. Giles,” Alex said, as they came to an enormous church on a square.
Alex had asked after her relatives when he boarded the horses at a tavern near the edge of the city. The tavern keeper told them that her uncle, the priest, was attached to St. Giles and lived close by with his sister.
Alex flipped a coin to a dirty boy begging across the street from the church. “Where can I find the Hume family?”
Alex spoke to the lad in Lowland Scots, which Glynis could understand if it was not spoken too quickly. She did not catch half of the lad’s reply, but he pointed down the close behind him.
“He says it’s the one with the red door, just here,” Alex said.
Glynis tightened her grip on Alex’s arm as they turned into the narrow close. The buildings rose so high on either side that only a sliver of the sky showed between them.
“They can’t see the weather coming,” she said, startled by the notion.
“I suppose they don’t need to know, since they neither farm nor sail,” Alex said.
They stood in front of the impressive red door. Instead of knocking, Alex turned and took both her hands.
“Are ye sure ye want to go in?” he asked.
In truth, she was frightened to death to go inside. But what else could she do after traveling all across Scotland to get here? Crawl home in greater shame than the last time?
When she managed a stiff nod, something flashed in Alex’s eyes that she couldn’t read. Concern? Regret? Before she could be sure, he dropped her hands and banged on the door.
* * *
There was nothing about the house that should make Alex uneasy, and yet he was.
Clearly, it belonged to a prosperous family, and the serving woman who answered the door was clean and respectful. After Alex stated their business, she led them upstairs to a parlor with costly furniture and tapestries.
While they waited for the serving woman to announce their presence, Alex watched Glynis. She was pale as death.
He turned as a plump, middle-aged woman with a pleasant face entered the parlor. Ach, she looked like everyone’s favorite aunt—the sort who always had a smile and a treat in her pocket for a bairn. She halted just inside the doorway, her eyes fixed on Glynis.
“I did not believe it when Bessie told me,” she said, holding her plump hand against her bosom. “But ye look so much like my baby sister that it’s like seeing her ghost.”
When the woman crossed the room and embraced Glynis, Alex noted the contrast between the aunt’s short, rounded figure and Glynis’s slender, graceful body. He stifled a sigh as he recalled running his hands over Glynis’s long, naked limbs.
“I’m your aunt Peg,” the older woman said, as she dabbed at her eyes. “My husband Henry will be overjoyed to meet ye. And I’ll send a lad over to tell your uncle at St. Giles. After all these years, to finally lay eyes on my sister’s child…”
The woman chatted incessantly, but Alex could see no harm in her.
“Is this handsome man your husband?” Peg asked, turning to him with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Nay,” Glynis said with unnecessary force. “This is Alexander MacDonald. He… and his large party, which included several women, escorted me here.”
“So where is your husband then?” Peg asked. “Surely ye are of an age to have one?”
“I was married,” Glynis said, “but…”
“Oh, my dear, ye have been widowed,” Peg said, her face all pinched with concern.
Glynis threw Alex a desperate glance, and he gave her a slight nod to let her know her secret was safe.
“It seems ye will be well cared for here,” Alex said, and the aunt beamed at him. “With your permission, I’ll leave ye now.”
He went to stand in front of Glynis and took her hands. Though there was nothing more he could do for her, he felt unsettled leaving her.
Despite the panic in Glynis’s eyes, she would be fine. She was the most capable and determined woman he’d ever met. This sweet auntie would prove no challenge for a lass who put a blade into one Highland warrior and convinced another to take her across the breadth of Scotland. In a week’s time, Glynis would have this household running like she thought it ought—and the Humes would be the better for it.
No matter what Glynis believed now, Alex was certain she would end up married again. Any man who wanted a wife would be a fool to pass her by. The next time Alex saw her—if he ever saw her again—she would belong to another man.
“I wish ye happy, Glynis,” he said, squeezing her hands. “Ye deserve it.”
“You as well,” she said, her voice a bare whisper.
Since they were not related, it was not proper for him to kiss her cheek. But when had he cared about propriety? He cupped her face and pressed his lips against the soft skin of her cheek for the last time. Despite the foul city air, her hair still smelled of the pine needles they had slept on the night before.
