Kilgannon (23 page)

Alex threw an arm around my shoulders and I was drawn into what seemed endless introductions. Everyone was named Mairi or Morag or Duncan or Donald, it seemed, although there must have been ten Alexes. And they were all related, "Mac this Mac that" for ten minutes until my head was spinning. They were dressed in Highland fashion, the men in plaids or kilts and bonnets, the women in simple dresses, most in cloaks, but many braving the chilly air without appearing to notice it. Some were tall, blond and redheaded, and I saw faces that showed their MacGannon bloodlines, but there were many others as well with dark hair or smaller frames.

We moved with the crowd up the terraces toward the castle, the pipers following us. I turned just before we entered the outer gate and looked behind me. The castle had a view of the loch and valley as it melted into forest and then mountain on the far side. The loch continued for another half mile or so, still and glacial, reflecting the green of the valley below and the mountains looming above. The water was very blue, the mountains dark gray against the lighter gray mist. The sun made everything sparkle.

"What a beautiful place," I said, but did not realize I had spoken aloud until Angus, next to me, nodded his agreement.

"Aye, lass," he said, his voice gruff with emotion. "It's good to be home. And good to have ye here with us."

And then Alex reached for me and led me into my new home.

had we never loved sae kindly,

had we never loved sae oindly,

Never mec- or never perced,

we'd have neer been broken-hearced

face chee weel, thou first andfairest!

face chee weel, thou best and clearest

Ae foun kiss:

Robert Burns

I FELT VERY WELCOMED. I WAS INTRODUCED TO MAC Donalds, Macleans, MacKinnons, MacLeods, MacNeills, Frasers, and more MacGannons, until my head ached. It was not enough to know someone's name, apparently; one must also know his patrimony back ten generations. For the first time I completely understood I'd married a clan chieftain and not just an earl. Despite their easy manner with him, it was obvious that the clansmen respected Alex, and by association I was accepted.

Everyone was merry and courteous. Except Malcolm, who stood alone, watching the festivities with a sour look. His eyes followed Alex everywhere, and once, just before our gazes met and he raised his glass tome sardonically, I swear I saw him scowling. That he disliked Alex being the center of attention was obvious. He will have to deal with it, I thought, for Alex was the center of attention, especially when he jumped atop a table at one end of the huge room, raised his hands for silence, then reached down to assist me in climbing to join him. We faced the crowd together and he spoke in Gaelic, gesturing to me, then taking my hand and kissing it. A cheer unlike anything I'd ever heard rose from the room, and Alex grinned at me.

"I've just introduced ye, lass. Do ye have anything to say?" "Tell them I'm delighted to be here and thank them for their warm welcome," I said more bravely than I felt.

He nodded, pleased. "Why don't ye tell them?" I did, and was greeted with another cheer that rose in volume as Alex translated. He spoke again and the people roared, and he smiled at me before jumping down and helping me to follow him. "I've just invited them to eat and drink everything in the house, and they've accepted." He laughed, but before I could answer he was approached by a huge man who embraced him roughly and smacked him on the shoulder several times, grinning widely. "My cousin Dougall," Alex explained over his shoulder as Dougall talked fast and furiously to him in Gaelic. I took the moment to look around. The room, typical of the old great halls, was massively paneled and carved, decorated with an amazing number of antlers and shields, tapestries filling some of the taller panels. Over the enormous fireplace were crossed swords and lances and the MacGannon lion crest and motto, HONOR AND COURAGE. I was turning slowly to see it all when I met the very blue eyes of the tall, blond, buxom woman before me.

"Welcome to Kilgannon," she said. "I am Alex's Aunt Deirdre."

"Madam," I said, then embraced her. "Mistress MacGannon, thank you for your letter. It was very kind of you."

Angus's mother smiled. "Call me Deirdre. Ye've already won the hearts of my son and grandson and my nephew,
Mary
. Ye are very welcome at Kilgannon." "Thank you. Angus has been very kind, and I adore Matthew."

Her pleasure was obvious. "Aye, he's a good lad. I'm verra proud of both. Now, ye'll be wanting yer room, I'm thinking." I glanced at Alex, deep in conversation with Dougall. "They'll keep him busy," she said, following my gaze. "Once Dougall starts talking he goes on forever. Come with me for a bit."

followed her through the crowds and up a flight of stairs I'd not even noticed at the side of the hall. When we reached the top she turned to look at the cheerful crowd below and smiled at me. "Noisy, aren't they? It's lovely to have a celebration here for a change. It's been a long while since we've had this much laughter in the house of MacGannon." She took a last look at the gathering below, then led me to a corridor that linked the hall with the newer wing. Alex had explained that the hall had been attached to one end of the original keep, and the newer wing added to the other. A hallway linked the two as it skirted the older building. We were in the Gothic portion of Kilgannon, complete with pointed arches and stone walls and floors. Candles burned in holders designed for torches. I could have been transported back two hundred years. "Angus and Alex's grandmother Diana designed 'the house,' as we call it," Deirdre said. "That's where we're going."

"Alex told me about Kilgannon, but he didn't say - his grandmother was named Diana," I said, trotting in her wake.

She laughed. "Aye, his great-grandmother named all of her children with classical names. Her sisters were Juno and Minerva. Count yer blessings! This is the house now." She gestured as she turned into another corridor, this one much more modern, with paneled and plastered walls and wooden floors covered with runners of carpet. We climbed stairs of gleaming dark wood lit by chandeliers and walked along a wide hallway flanked by tall doors, and she stopped at one. "I've put ye in Margaret's room," she said over her shoulder, opening the door. "Margaret was Alex's mother. I know ye were married in England, but ye'll not share a room with Alex until yer married here.""That will be fine," I said, smiling to myself. On Gannon's Lady Alex had slept elsewhere, and Ellen and I had been given the big cabin. He had explained that some of the clan would not acknowledge the Anglican ceremony

we'd had and would consider that we were living in sin, and he'd said that it would be the same once we'd landed. I had not argued.

"After yer married again," said Deirdre, leading the way into Margaret's room, "ye'll move next door into Alex's father's room." Within, Ellen was supervising the unpacking of my trunks with two very young girls, who curtsied awkwardly as they were introduced. Ellen gave me a smile of pleasure.

"Alex tells me he's not explained what will happen to ye in the next few days, Mary," Deirdre said. "So I will." I nodded, pleased, and sat on the edge of the ample bed while Deirdre talked. The wedding ceremony would be held in the hall, since the chapel was too small to accommodate everyone. Before the wedding a blessing for the family and close friends would be given in the chapel. After the ceremony the celebrating would begin and was expected to last the night.

The next two days there would be games outside, weather permitting, or inside if not.

"Then they will all leave, or most of them, and we'll get on with life," Deirdre continued. "Ye'll not see yer husband much in the next two days. As chief he'll be expected to oversee all the games and to attend all the celebrating, and the others who have traveled for this will want to talk to him as long as they are here, so dinna be alarmed. It will not always be so." I nodded. "Now, as far as yer duties," she said. "Ye must look beautiful and smile all the time. Try to remember names, but no one will expect ye to know everyone yet. Can ye do that?"

"I will try," I said, laughing.

"Good." She rubbed her hands and rose from the chair. "Are ye tired from yer journey, or are ye ready to brave them again?".

"I'd like to wash my face and then I'll brave them again."

She nodded, pleased with my answer, shooed the two girls out, and told Ellen she'd show her to her room. At last I was alone. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the quiet for a few minutes, then washed my face and combed my hair. And turned to the room. This was not what I'd expected in Kilgannon. Margaret's bed was a four-poster with hangings of white lace and a featherbed. If Robert could see this room he might change his opinion of Alex's home, I thought giddily. Robert. I'd not thought of him in ages and had not seen him since our departure from his estate. Neither he nor his mother had come to our wedding, but both had sent very proper notes of best wishes and congratulations. Janice said he had not returned to London nor had he been seen at any parties. I felt guilty, but guilt tinged with anger. Still, I hoped he would marry eventually and be happy. I returned to examining the room.

There were two doors in the side walls and I opened one. It was a private wardrobe, and I laughed aloud at its luxury. The other door led into another bedroom, much larger and currently filled with the remainder of my luggage. This must be Alex's father's room. The bed was huge, the bedcovers a muted green velvet, and the bed hangings the same white lace as Margaret's. The room appeared ready for its occupant, the fire laid and the bedding fresh. I took a deep breath, very pleased. Tomorrow night I'd be here with Alex. I hurried back into Margaret's room when there was a knock and opened the door to find Deirdre.

Moments later I was in the hall again. People still crowded around Alex, but his smile greeted me when I reached the top of the stairs and I realized he'd been looking for me. I moved to meet him with a smile of my own. My husband, I thought as I reached his side. He was in the center of a group of men, most of them his age, and he welcomed me with a smile and an arm that slipped around my waist. His other hand held a glass of whisky, and he gestured with it as he finished his story in Gaelic. He said something else to the group, put down the glass, and took my hand. They laughed good-naturedly as we left them.

"I thought ye'd run away, lass." He led me behind the table we'd stood on and through a low door in the wall paneling beyond.

"Deirdre showed me my room," I said. "She's very kind."

"Aye," he said absently as he entered a short paneled passage. "I'd hoped ye'd like each other. She's like Angus, a good one to have at yer back." He stood to one side and I followed him out into the bottom floor of the old keep. The room was full of barrels. A narrow flight of stairs led above from one corner.

I gestured to the barrels. "What is all this?"

"Stores. In case of siege." He laughed at my expression as he lit a candle waiting on the floor. "Unlikely, but it's best to be prepared, no?" He pointed to a wooden door in the corner opposite us. "And an emergency tunnel to the sea, of course."

"Alex, is it really so dangerous here?"

"Not unless the English attack." He laughed and raised his eyebrows dramatically. "Do ye wish to attack me?"

"Yes, actually," I said, laughing as well. "I do."

"Well, ye must wait. Come now." He led the way up the stairs, holding the candle high. It was a typical keep, the stairs spiral and built to be easy to defend, not easy to climb. Off each floor there were rooms that had been used to house the family. Alex climbed the stairs effortlessly. "We've not lived in the keep for generations," he said, his voice echoing off the stone. "And ye can see why. It's no' comfortable." I followed, breathless. At last we reached the top, where Alex stepped into a small square room and put the candle on the floor. He crossed the room and opened the door at the other side, gesturing me through. The door led outside to a stone parapet circling the keep, originally intended to be manned by defenders, buttressed by tall pillars that reached to the stone roof above us. The view was wonderful, and I looked at the castle below us, then the inner wall, the courtyard and outer wall, and finally across the valley at the loch and mountains, lit from the side by the last of the sun.

I gasped in surprise. "It's beautiful, Alex."

"Aye, but come over here." He walked to the other side of the keep and pointed; "Here's what I wanted ye to see." The tower was high enough to peer over the headland, and before me was the sea, dotted by islands, the sun about to set behind them. The scene was breathtaking, the sky turning shades of pink, rose, and red, wild and splendid, fitting for the man who stood so still next to me. I stole a glance at him and he smiled. "I wanted ye to see this yer first night."

I clasped his arm. "How magnificent this is," I said as the sun disappeared behind the blue island and the sky roared with the blazing colors. "It's amazing. Truly amazing."

"Almost as amazing as having ye here with me to see it. "His tone was gentle. "Mary, thank ye for marrying me. Ye have no idea how many times I've stood here and thought of ye. I still canna believe yer mine." He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close.

"I love you, Alex," I said, and kissed him.

"And I ye, lass." He lifted his head and listened. "We have company," he said, moving around the parapet to the door.