Glynis was puzzled as to why Duncan’s sister appeared to be managing the chieftain’s household, but perhaps the chieftain had no close female relative to fill the role in lieu of a wife. It was odd that he didn’t have a wife, though, for a chieftain had an even greater duty than other men to produce heirs.
“Ye know from my father that I’m Glynis,” she said. “And this is Sorcha, Alex’s daughter.”
“I knew ye were Alex’s child the moment I saw ye, Sorcha,” Sileas said with a soft smile.
Sorcha could not take her eyes off the twins and took a couple of cautious steps toward them.
“This one is Beitris,” Sileas said, tilting her head toward one of the look-alike babes. “And this one is Alexandra, named for your father.”
When Alexandra grabbed hold of Sorcha’s nose, both babes squealed in delight at her mischief—and Sorcha laughed. Glynis put her hand to her chest. Hearing Sorcha laugh for the first time felt like a small miracle.
“I’m glad Alex found ye,” Ilysa said, after they had talked about the babes for a time. “Frankly, none of us was certain he would show such good judgment.”
“I happened to be the closest woman at hand when he needed a wife,” Glynis said. Realizing she had said too much, she tried to make light of it. “
“Alex has never had trouble finding women, so I’m sure that wasn’t the reason,” Sileas said. “Now we’d best get ye ready, for I believe they intend to have this wedding tonight.”
CHAPTER 34
Glynis felt ill. Her stomach hurt, her head throbbed, and dread weighed down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. Although Sileas and Ilysa were kindness itself, their glowing faces only made Glynis feel worse.
Every time one of them mentioned how delighted they were that Alex had chosen a bride who was so different from “his usual sort,” she wondered how long it would be before he went back to his usual ways and his usual sort.
“It’s my father.” She jumped to her feet to get to the door first and then slipped outside so that they could speak in private.
“Ye had me worried, lass.” Her father lifted her off her feet in a crushing embrace. That raised her spirits—until he set her back down and said, “Praise God he’s marrying ye. I feared I’d have to kill him.”
“It didn’t happen like ye think, da,” she said. “Alex doesn’t really want me.”
“Ach, that man wants ye,” her father said. “He has since he first saw ye on the beach at Barra.”
She sighed. “What I mean, da, is that he doesn’t want me for
Her father lifted her chin. “I know I made a mistake with Magnus Clanranald.”
This was the first he had admitted that.
“But Alex sees ye for what ye are, and he likes what he sees,” her father said. “This man is going to love ye, whether he wants to or no.”
Glynis swallowed against the lump in her throat. Even if her father could not be more wrong, it warmed her heart to know that he wanted this for her.
“How did ye know it was Alex I left with?” she asked.
“I watched the two of ye, and I figured ye just needed some time together for this to happen,” he said. “So I let ye both believe I was going to make ye wed that Alain Maclean, though he is even madder than his father Shaggy.”
“Ye did that on purpose?”
“Aye,” her father said, grinning from ear to ear.
She couldn’t believe it! Despite all her efforts to thwart her father’s plans for her—from putting her fate in the hands of a stranger to traveling all the way to Edinburgh—she had ended up doing exactly what he wanted.
“I went home to Barra before coming here to wait for ye,” he said before she could gather herself to shout at him. He stooped to reach into a cloth bag at his feet and pulled a soft blue gown from it. “Your stepmother made ye a new gown to be wed in.”
“It’s lovely!” Glynis said, holding it up. “That was kind of her, truly. Oh, da, I wish I could see the rest of the family.”
“They all miss ye,” her father said. “Tell that new husband of yours to bring ye for a long visit soon.”
Glynis prayed she would not be coming home alone and in shame again.
* * *
Alex stood at the front of the hall, flanked by Connor and Duncan on one side and by the MacNeil chieftain and Ian on the other, waiting for his bride to make her appearance. And waiting. When Glynis’s father took a step, looking as if he meant to fetch her and drag her down the stairs by her hair, Alex grabbed his arm in an iron grip.
“Give her time.” Alex locked eyes with her father and did not let go of him until the chieftain nodded and stepped back.
When the voices in the hall hushed, Alex turned and sucked in his breath at the sight of Glynis at the far end of the hall. She wore a soft blue gown that drew attention to her slender, elegant figure and flowed about her as she walked. With her rich brown hair pulled up in a crown of flowers and ribbons, and then cascading down her back, she looked like a wood nymph come from the forest to enchant him.
