“Well,” Aulay said now, “it seems they got talking about the three o’ ye—you and Rory and Alick—and fretting about how theywished the three o’ ye were settled and happily married too. They apparently came up with the idea that they should help yewith that.”
“Good Christ,” Geordie breathed.
“Aye,” Acair agreed grimly.
“So?” Geordie asked when Aulay didn’t continue. “What did they do? How the hell did we end up with a castle full o’ women?”
“Apparently, they made a list o’ all the women they knew who had lost their betrothed and were available. They then whittledthe list down to all those who were the eldest child without a brother to inherit land or title, and finally they wrote lettersto their fathers, pointing out the advantages of the daughter marrying a Buchanan.”
“Advantages?” Geordie asked with amusement. “I do no’ have a pot to piss in. What advantage is that?”
Aulay scowled at his comments. “Ma and Da left ye coin and a bit o’ land just like they did our siblings. Ye ken it’s waitingfer ye the minute ye ask fer it.”
“Aye, but a bit o’ coin and land is no’ a home to bring a wife to,” Geordie pointed out with exasperation.
“That’s the beauty o’ it,” Aulay said with a grin. “When they got the responses from the interested lairds, they then wroteback and gave terms. Only the lairds who were willing to make one o’ ye their heir and name ye the next laird were invitedto bring their daughters fer ye to meet.”
“And the fathers of all those women in the keep were willing?” he asked with disbelief.
“Geordie, we are Buchanans, a strong and proud clan, but now add that Niels and Edith are laird and lady o’er the Drummonds,Saidh and her Greer are laird and lady o’ MacDonnell, Conran and Evina are laird and lady o’ the Macleans, and Dougall andhis Murine are not only laird and lady o’ Carmichael here in Scotland, but also Danvries in England . . .” He paused brieflyto let that sink in and then added, “And that does no’ even include the Sinclairs and the MacKays, who are friends to us all,or Evina’s cousin, Gavin, who is like a brother and son to her all at once and is now laird of the MacLeods. Any one o’ themwould certainly call up their men to help if any o’ us needed aid.” He pointed out, “Not only do we now hold considerableinfluence, we would have no less than eight strong and wealthy clans at our back if under attack.”
“Aye,” Acair said now. “Many would like to join our circle and enjoy that kind of safety. Especially men who were no’ giftedwith male heirs and seek to protect their daughters and lands from greedy neighbors who might like to take either or bothby force.”
Geordie shook his head. When put like that he could see why the fathers were interested in arranging a marriage. Still . . .“Ye canno’ mean to tell me that the women did all this writing back and forth in that one weekend?”
“Nay. They sent the first messages that weekend, and then Jetta wrote the other women every time she got a response and theywrote back with suggestions about what to do next, and so on.” He raised his eyebrows. “Have ye no’ noticed I’ve had to sendone o’ me men out almost every damned day for the last couple o’ months with messages from Jetta to the various women?”
Geordie had noticed that before he left, but had just thought it nice that Jetta was getting along so well with all of thewomen. Sighing, he shook his head. “I’d like to say it was kind o’ Jetta and the others to go to all this trouble . . .”
“But?” Aulay prodded when he paused.
“But I do no’ want to marry yet,” he said simply.
“Geordie, ye’re nine and twenty years old now,” Aulay pointed out.
“Aye, but I have been so busy helping everyone else . . . First we were rushing this way and that for Murine and Dougall,and then Edith and Niels, and then . . .” He grimaced. “And I’ve spent the last six weeks helping Evina get Gavin set up atMacLeod.”
“How did that go, by the by?” Aulay asked now.
“Good,” Geordie assured him. “The uncle ran the place into the ground with his gambling and such, so the people were morethan glad to welcome Gavin as their proper laird. I think the thyftbote Evina’s father had taken for Gavin in exchange forhis silence on what Garret MacLeod did to Lady MacLeod helped. It should go a long way toward repairing the damage the uncledid. And Evina and Conran are going to help young Gavin find his feet as laird.”
Aulay nodded, and then placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed until Geordie met his gaze. “I ken ye’ve spent a lot oftime the last several years helping the family, and I’m sure ye probably feel ye’ve lost out on some time to sow yer wildoats. I’m no’ insisting ye marry right away. But it’ll no’ hurt to take a gander at the women and see if any o’ them interestye. Ye could always agree to a contract stipulating the wedding does no’ take place for six months, or even a year from now,so ye have some time to sow those oats,” he said, and then pointed out, “This is a golden opportunity fer ye, Geordie. Doye choose any one o’ the women at Buchanan just now, ye’d no’ just be gaining a wife, but a keep and people o’ yer own.”
“Aye,” Geordie murmured, and then frowned and asked, “How far away is Innes?”
Aulay’s eyebrows rose with surprise, but he answered, “About as far away as MacDonnell, but ’tis northeast rather than straightnorth.”
Geordie nodded thoughtfully.
“I did no’ ken ye knew the Inneses,” Aulay said after a moment.
“Oh, I do no’,” he said,
