He suddenly grinned. He stood up, bowed to his laird, and then called out, 'Wait up, Calum. I'll walk with you.'
Johanna could hear the laughter in his voice. Calum wasn't amused by Keith's offer. 'You don't need to…'
'Oh, but I want to,' he said. He hurried to catch up with the couple. 'It's dark outside.'
Leila kept walking. Calum tried to shove Keith aside. The soldier wouldn't be shoved, however. They bickered hark and forth as they left the hall.
'I wonder if those two will ever learn to get along,' Johanna remarked.
Father MacKechnie was feeling lonely. He picked up his goblet and moved to take Keith's place at the other table.
'It's just a bit of good-hearted rivalry between two commanders,' the priest remarked. 'Laird, that was a fine speech you gave tonight.'
'Yes, it was,' Johanna agreed. 'I would like to ask you something, though,' she added. 'Why did you wait so long? Why didn't you give your speech a month ago or two months ago? You would have saved me quite a lot of aggravation, husband.'
Gabriel leaned back in his chair. 'They weren't ready then, Johanna.'
'But they were ready tonight,' the priest interjected with a nod.
She was still puzzled. 'What made them ready tonight?'
'Not what,' the priest said, 'but who, lass.'
She didn't understand. Gabriel nodded. A warm glint had come into his eyes. 'You made them ready to accept the change.'
'How did I do that?' she demanded.
'She's begging for compliments,' Gabriel told the priest.
'It appears she is,' Father MacKechnie bantered back.
'I'm begging to understand,' she countered.
'It was your quiet defiance,' Gabriel finally explained:
She still didn't know what he was talking about. The priest seemed to understand, however, for he nodded several times.
'Explain my quiet defiance to me.'
Gabriel laughed. 'You will never make me believe you. couldn't keep track of which plaid to wear on which day,' he said. 'You forgot on purpose, didn't you?'
'Gabriel, no one forgets on purpose,' she argued.
'You put no importance on keeping track,' the priest said.
She sighed. 'That is true,' she admitted. 'I thought it was nonsense, but I…'
'Quiet defiance,' Gabriel repeated. ' 'Twas the reason you learned to read,' he added. 'Isn't that so?'
'Yes, but that was different,' she explained.
'No, it isn't.'
Johanna let out a sigh. She knew she shouldn't let her husband believe she'd deliberately worn the wrong plaids just to make the men realize how foolish they were behaving in their determination to maintain their separation from each other. It wouldn't be honorable to accept praise for something she hadn't done.
'I'm not so clever,' she remarked.
'Aye, you are,' her husband said. 'You convinced Laird MacKay to wait another couple of weeks before taking his daughter home.'
'Clare isn't up to a long journey.'
'And you stopped me from telling MacKay none of my men touched his daughter. I know you were deliberately stalling so that Clare could stay here, and I did keep silent,' he added. 'But when MacKay comes back, I will have to tell him the truth.'
'And so will she,' Johanna said. 'She'll be strong enough by then.' And hopefully married, Johanna thought to herself, if she could find a suitable possibility.
Gabriel could prove helpful. 'Husband? I find it honorable indeed that you have such faith in your soldiers. To know without a doubt that none of them would ever have touched Clare…'
'Where did you get that notion?'
'From you,' she replied, puzzled by his question.
'Now, Johanna, you can't believe my men wouldn't take what was offered.'
'But you defended them and led me to believe none had touched her,' she argued.
He looked exasperated. 'We are talking about two different issues,' he explained. 'I don't believe any of my men would refuse the opportunity to bed a willing woman,' he said. 'However, I also believe that if he did touch her, he wouldn't leave her there. He would bring her home with him.'
'There is also the fact that the soldier would certainly admit he'd bedded the lass. He wouldn't lie to his laird.'
Father MacKechnie added.
Gabriel nodded. 'And that, you see, is the real issue.'
She didn't see, but she didn't want to argue with her husband. In her opinion, he was making the issue far more complicated than it needed to be.
Father MacKechnie stood up to take his leave. He once again praised Gabriel for his cunning and forceful speech, then turned to bow to Johanna.
'You do realize, lass, that you saved the Maclaurins from certain exile? You used your wiles to get their cooperation,' he explained. 'You gained their affection, too.'
Johanna was humbled by the priest's opinion. She whispered her thank you for his kind words, even as she thought that tomorrow she would have to straighten out his opinion. Gabriel was the reason the Maclaurins were cooperating. Surely the priest would realize that fact soon enough.
Father MacKechnie left the hall. Johanna and Gabriel continued to sit at the table. They were finally all alone. She was suddenly feeling embarrassed and shy, for the praise she'd received was overwhelming her.
'I will make Father understand the truth tomorrow,' she whispered.
'What truth?'
'That you are the reason the Maclaurins are finally cooperating.'
Gabriel stood up and pulled Johanna to her feet. 'You're going to have to learn to accept a compliment when it's given to you.'
'But the truth…'
He wouldn't let her finish. He nudged her chin up so she would look at him and then said, 'The truth is simple to understand, lass. You became the Maclaurins' saving grace.'
She thought that was the most wonderful thing Gabriel had ever said to her. Tears filled her eyes. She didn't think she was going to cry, however. She wasn't so undisciplined.
Then Gabriel made her forget all about being dignified.
'And mine, Johanna. You're my saving grace as well.'
Chapter 18
Gabriel left the holding the following morning. He was evasive about his mission. Johanna immediately became suspicious and demanded to know if her husband planned to do any stealing. He took exception to her question, of course, and an argument resulted.
'I have given you my word I won't steal,' he muttered. 'You'd best learn not to insult me with such accusations, woman.'
'It is only because I worry about your safety,' she countered. 'I would be most unhappy if anything happened to you while you were… hunting.'
