Part 5 (1/2)
Eva slapped his hands away. ”What do ye think yer doing? Find something more suitable to do with yer hands.”
”I have every right . . .” to touch my own wife. He couldn't finish the thought aloud. She is wife in name only.
He would do well to remember it.
He stepped back while Eva examined the woman, their murmured voices mingling. Eva crooned in obvious sympathy and Adam began to relax, knowing that Gwenyth was in capable hands. Sim returned with the medicines and wood; Adam dismissed him and built up the fire.
With the fire satisfactorily producing heat, Adam turned to watch his mother as she bent over the small form on the beda”the better to hear what Gwenyth said. Eva gasped and sat upright, and Adam knew she'd learned of the worst of Gwenyth's injuries, the one that would take longest to heal.
In the voice that would have sent him scurrying when he was a child, Eva said, ”Leave the room, Adam. She has wounds I must tend and ye cannot be here.”
”I'll stay.” At his mother's black stare, Adam conceded, ”But I'll turn my back.”
Eva's expression clearly indicated displeasure with him. ”Yer behavior is most curious, son.”
Obviously his mother wanted an explanation. ”I need to know the full extent of her injuries, Mother. Tend the girl.” When she made no move, he softened his tone. ” 'Tis not the first creature I've brought home for you to heal.”
”Nay, 'tis not.” The corners of her mouth twitched. ”But usually they are four-legged and furry. Or feathered.”
He smiled. ”And I always help you.”
”Aye, but this is not the same.”
With a guarded glance at the woman on the bed, he said, ”Nay, 'tis not. This time the unfortunate one is a woman who has been beaten and raped. A woman who accused me of the crime.”
Eva's face went pale. ”And you bring her to me to heal?”
”I had little choice since she forced me to marry her.”
”Marry?” Eva made the sign of the cross before glaring at the bed's occupant.
Gwenyth's shame and pain glowed in her eyes, and Adam's emotions warred between anger and the need to console. Anger prevailed, and he gestured his mother to the other side of the room. There he recounted how he came to return home with a handfast wife.
GWENYTH WATCHED WITH TREPIDATION as Adam spoke with his mother. The woman had been kind in her questioning and compa.s.sionate in her touch. But Adam's news had obviously distressed her, and Gwenyth worried how Eva would treat her when she returned to finish her ministrations.
If only she could rise from the bed and leave. Leave this place and the man who both comforted and frightened her. Leave her homeland, this accursed country that had brought rack and ruin to her and her family.
And now this final humiliation. Gwenyth turned her anger on the G.o.d she believed had deserted her so completely. She sobbed quietly, for the loss of that source of comfort was more painful than her physical wounds.
As her tears fell, she listened to the rise and fall of voices on the other side of the room. Adam's voice. How it had soothed her earlier today when she'd soaked his s.h.i.+rt with tears. Now as she listened to the cadence of his words, she was once again soothed and her sobs stopped. Since G.o.d had abandoned her, she would cling to the comfort Adam supplied. Gradually the warmth of the room and the medicinal tea Eva had given her lulled her into much needed sleep.
WITH THE TELLING, color returned to his mother's face. Adam glanced to where Gwenyth lay. She'd fallen asleep, and he and Eva moved back to the bedside.
Adam gazed down at Gwenyth, observing her dark lashes fanned against pale skin, and the trace of fresh tears on her cheek. For a moment he allowed himself to think how it might have been if they'd met under more auspicious circ.u.mstances. She was a pretty thing, and he admired her courage.
”She's got spirit,” Eva said.
”Aye, she does. If not for that, I'd be dead.”
”She'll need courage and more to come to terms with what has been done to her. I'll say a prayer for the la.s.s.”
”As will I.” Adam rubbed his shoulder, remembering that the people of Buchan were Robert the Bruce's enemies. ”I'm grateful to the la.s.s for saving my life, but she's of Buchan. Better than being of Badenoch, but I'm not overfond of either branch of the Comyn clan.”
The fight at Greyfriars, then Dalry and Adam's injury at the hands of the Comyns were never far from his mind.
”Surely a maidservant's loyalty lies with whomever she serves, Adam.”
”Aye, but she's not a servant any longer; she's my wife.”
”And a wife's allegiance lies with her husband.”
Adam recalled the maid's pledge. ”Let's hope she remembers that. As a precaution I've sent Seamus to see what he can learn from Bryan.”
Eva nodded. ” 'Tis well to be cautious in such unsettled times.” Her foster son, Bryan Mackintosh, served with Robert the Bruce and could be trusted to provide wise counsel.
Adam forced his thoughts back to more pressing matters. ”Mother, I will break the news to Da.” Anguish at his father's precarious health washed through him. ”How is he today?”
”He's stronger than ye give him credit, son. Having ye a.s.sume the duties of laird has prolonged his life.” She sighed. ”Ye say she's a maidservant?”
”Aye.”
”Not exactly what yer da had in mind when he encouraged you to marry.”
”Well, the matter is not settleda”'tis why I insisted on a handfast union. And why the union will remain chaste for the foreseeable future.”
”For the foreseeable future, she'll not welcome a man's touch, I'd wager. Only G.o.d knows what time will bring. Lay it in his hands, son.” Eva gave him an encouraging smile. ”You need time to puzzle this through. Talk with your father tomorrow. He's resting, and I'll see no one disturbs him so you may be the one to tell him.”
He acknowledged her words with a rueful smile before looking down on the sleeping maid. ”You will tend her?”
”Not Nathara?”
”I'm in no mood to explain all this to the healer.” He hesitated. ”I promised this poor la.s.s sanctuary, Mother. She deserves that much, and I give it willingly.”
”As ye wish, my laird.” She smiled again, and some of Adam's tension eased.
”I will find the man who did this and make him pay. I'll not harbor such within my domain.”
Eva nodded, ”By G.o.d's grace, may it be so.”
Rubbing his aching shoulder, Adam knew he shouldn't make such promises, not to anyone, not even his wife.
ADAM AWOKE with the first stirrings of the servants. He'd spent a restless night, and yesterday's events remained unresolved in his mind. He pushed aside the bed hangings and climbed down from his bed, pulled on a linen sark, and kilted his plaid about his hips, securing it with a wide leather belt. Pulling the excess material over his shoulder, he pinned it fast with a brooch. As was the habit of any prudent man, even within the safety of his own walls, Adam sheathed a dirk in the top of his stocking and grabbed his short sword before making his way to the kitchen.
The others wouldn't break their fast until after morning ma.s.s, but today Adam would forsake the formal ritual and seek G.o.d's counsel in private. He took some bread and cheese and a flask from the kitchen and ate as he walked the path to the east end of the island, where lay his favorite spot for pondering life's perplexities.
Here the land gradually sloped toward the loch, making this the castle's most vulnerable spot, except that the loch was deepest on this side. A round tower stood guard on this wall, ready to deflect any attack. The tower housed a small, well-fortified gate, which provided access to a fine, sandy beach where he often strolled. But that was not his destination this morn.