“Reduce the feu-duties to their previous level.”
“His grace would never agree.”
“So I’ve been told,” Katrine replied sadly.
“And ‘tis none of your concern in any case, missie.”
“I’ve been told that as well.”
He gave her a sharp glance. “Well, I shall tell you, you should never have come here. I’m persuaded that after this cobble, you should hie yourself back to England.”
“No, Uncle Colin, that I won’t do. I intend to remain in the Highlands. I will move from your house, if you insist, but I think it would be unchristian of you to deny me shelter, your own kin.”
Colin Campbell gave a weary sigh and began rubbing his temple. “I wouldn’t deny you, lass.” But then he caught himself and scowled again. “And just how do I explain to his grace that your disappearance was nothing more than a May game, after he has been put to such trouble?”
“Why, tell him that I cannot remember the name of the culprits. Perhaps he will believe your niece is a scatterbrained creature with a vague memory who had no notion of the distress she was causing. That way you cannot be blamed.”
Her uncle shook his bewigged head in frustration. “Katrine, the duke will not stand for this, I can tell you now.”
“He may be the head of our clan, but he cannot make me bear witness if a crime never took place…though I suppose he could try to force me. Would you let him toss me in jail, Uncle Colin?”
“Merciful heaven, no! What kind of heartless fiend do ye take me for, to desert my own flesh and blood?”
Katrine gave him a soft smile. “I take you for a dear, sweet man who reminds me very much of my papa. I’m glad to have you for my uncle.” Going to him, she rose on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you for being so concerned for me. I shall try to make it up to you. Now that I am back, I promise to cause you as little trouble as possible.”
“Humph! I can see now how little store I should put in that promise.”
“Well, I shall leave you to your business. I can see you are busy. Good day.” Katrine gave him a brief curtsy, including in her farewell nod the young officer, who had withdrawn a discreet distance and was pretending to gaze out the window.
As she turned to go, however, her uncle called after her, “This is not the last you will hear of it!”
“I didn’t expect it would be,” she murmured quietly.
And it wasn’t. In the ensuing weeks, her uncle alternately demanded that she disclose the name of the villains, then argued, threatened and pleaded. It seemed that the MacLeans had resumed harrying Clan Campbell with a vengeance. On quarter day, counterfeit receipts stamped with the ducal seal appeared in the most unlikely places, while cattle raids occurred almost nightly. The soldiers garrisoned at Kilchurn Castle who went out time and time again in pursuit came back swearing they were chasing phantoms. No one came forward to identify the MacLean perpetrators, even though broadsides had been posted for the apprehension of the outlaw leader, and newspapers as far away as Glasgow and Edinburgh carried advertisements. The Duke of Argyll was known to be furious, and his factor, Colin Campbell, was near the point of tearing out the hair beneath his tie-wig.
Katrine, on the other hand, withdrew deeper into that hollow plane of existence where feelings weren’t allowed. She wouldn’t permit herself to dwell on Raith or the love he had spurned, or on the new friends the had left behind. She missed Meggie dreadfully and regretted losing her gossips with Flora and the opportunity to know Morag better, but she forced her longings away, choosing only to remember the positive aspects of her captivity. She felt the absence of the MacLean men in her life acutely, but she did no more than acknowledge her growing fondness for them—handsome, roguish Callum, slow, good-natured Lachlan, even grizzled, belligerent Hector. And Raith. The boldness of his leadership, his gentleness with his ward, his pride, his protectiveness toward his clan, the fierce tenderness of his lovemaking…
At least no one could ever take that away from her. Those memories of him would be with her the rest of her life.
Those memories and his child.
It was less than a month after her return that Katrine had recognized the symptoms; her sister Louisa’s previous experiences had prepared her for what to expect. Rather than being alarmed by the morning queasiness and the sleepiness that overtook her in the afternoons, she had been exultant, enraptured. Her grief-induced numbness fell away. Her feeling of desolation vanished. She had found something to live for.
She would bear Raith’s child. That simple, beautiful fact was the only reality in her life. Little else mattered to her. She would raise her child here in the Highlands, where she had been born, where she had fallen in love, where her stolen heart still remained.
She hadn’t told her uncle yet, though. Staunch Covenanter that he was, Katrine feared he wouldn’t understand her lack of shame at her condition. No doubt he would be distressed and horrified.
No doubt she should be horrified as well, she knew. But despite her own strict upbringing, she couldn’t see her pregnancy as shameful. It was nothing less than a delight. Often she found herself conversing with the fragile life growing inside her as if it had already been born.
As now.
Softly Katrine stroked the slight swell of her abdomen beneath her plaid, heedless of the gathering clouds overhead. “I don’t doubt,” she said lovingly, “that as you grow up you’ll hear tales of the MacLeans and how your papa abducted me. But when you are old enough, I’ll tell you the truth of what happened, so you can judge for yourself—”
“I thought I warned you to take care of yourself,” an amused masculine voice broke into her conversation. “Don’t you realize it is about to rain, bonny Katie?”
Katrine sat bolt upright, her hand flying to her heart as she stared up at Callum MacLean. “Merciful heavens, you frightened me!” she gasped, trying to take a deep breath to still her racing heartbeat. Not even a shadow had warned her of his approach, for the stormy sky hid any trace of the sun. He must have come from behind the sloping ridge of the hillside, she realized. How long had he been watching her? Spying on her?
At her fierce glower, Callum shook his head sadly. “You don’t look at all pleased to see me, Katie.”