The Groom Says Yes (19 page)

Mac gently released Sabrina’s hold and walked to Richard Davidson, who had almost had his brains bashed in. Mac removed the gag from the man’s mouth.

“Will you tell the truth?” he asked the magistrate.

Sabrina’s father looked at her, at his brother, and then to the floor. “Yes. Just untie me.”

T
he truth.

Those words were music to Sabrina’s ears.

Mac began untying the reverend and the earl. A footman returned with the understatement that it appeared as if Mr. Campbell was dead. He also assured everyone that the men who had come with Owen Campbell were securely locked in the earl’s library to await the magistrate’s decision on what to do with them.

“Whisky,” the earl said. “That is what needs to be done now. Fetch a tray—”

“And make it tea,” Sabrina said, countermanding the earl’s order. “No whisky for you, Uncle, until we hear the story. Good, black tea, and something to eat if you have it.” She herself was starved, and she was certain Cormac was as well. The footman bowed and left the room.

Mac seemed concerned over the Reverend Kinnion. The wound he had received the night of his escape was not healing as well as one could wish it, and he was slightly feverish.

“He has been that way for some time,” her father said.

“Where have you both been?” Sabrina asked.

“Hiding. In the attic.”

Mac had Sabrina ask the servants for some black powder and clean rags.

“He sounds as if he is a physician,” her father said.

“That he is,” Sabrina said.

“Then he isn’t an earl?” her uncle asked. “He said he was an earl when he called.”

“He is also an earl,” Sabrina was happy to inform them. “Lord Ballin.”

“One with less money than the earl of Tay,” Cormac muttered as he checked the reverend’s eyes.

“Being an aristocrat is difficult nowadays,” her uncle agreed.

“Will Kinnion be all right?” her father asked.

To everyone’s relief, Cormac nodded. “We need to stop the infection, but the gunpowder should do that.” He faced the others. “What happened?” he asked. “How did this all come about? And let me warn you, we already know a good portion of it.”

“We found the gambling marker for what you owed Owen Campbell, Father,” Sabrina said.

Her father groaned. “The thing has been the bane of my life.” He looked to his brother. “It is his fault.”

“I didn’t ask you to gamble,” the earl said.

“I was trying to win back what you’d lost,” her father said. He looked to Sabrina. “He’s cost us everything. I didn’t realize how bad it was. I thought Aileen or Tara had some control over him—”

“My daughters don’t lead me around by my nose,” the earl protested.

“We’d be better off if they did,” her father said.

A knock on the door signaled that the servants had arrived with the items Cormac needed. Mac made quick work of doctoring the hapless clergyman while servants appeared with trays of food. After he had been untied, Ingold had wanted to oversee the servants, but Sabrina made him stay where he was. He’d suffered like her father and her uncle. He needed a moment to regroup.

Once the servants were gone, and everyone had food, she pressed for more information. “So, you owed Owen Campbell money that we didn’t have,” she said to her father.

“And I wanted to marry Lilly—”

The earl interrupted with a sharp bark of laughter. “I don’t know why. You don’t have to marry her.”

“Shut your mouth,” his brother said.

Sabrina stared in surprise at her father. Everyone did. He never talked back to the earl.

But he had this time. “I’m done with your nonsense. I don’t care any more if you take us all down, but you will not speak of Lilly that way. She’s a good woman, something you wouldn’t recognize unless it came in a whisky keg.”

“You’ve been courting her longer than I suspected,” Sabrina said quietly.

To her surprise, tears filled her father’s eyes. “I’d had my eye on her, especially after this one tossed her aside the way he did, but I’d been afraid to approach her. Lilly has money. It hurts a man’s pride for the woman to have more. When Tay told me how much he’d lost, I knew we were ruined. I thought to win some of it back. Campbell knew my plan and advanced me some funds. I believed I could use my intelligence and win. However, I lost my own blunt and didn’t know how I was going to repay Campbell.”

“Until he asked you to witness against me,” Mac surmised.

Sabrina felt her heart ache as her father wrestled with what he’d done before slowly nodding. “Yes, he asked me to perjure myself. I was in Edinburgh the night of the murder, but I didn’t see you with that girl or see you hit her. She was already dead when Campbell came to me. I’d spoken to him earlier about the marker. I’d begged him to give me time to pay it. I was afraid of going bankrupt, which he promised would happen. Then, a few hours later, he came to me and said he’d give me the marker if I served as a witness against you.”

“Was the marker the only thing Campbell offered?” Mac asked.

“No, he returned most of the land he’d purchased from Tay. Some of it is lost. My brother has sold bits and pieces of it all over England. He’s sold most of his soul as well.”

“Here now,” the earl said. He set his teacup into the saucer he held with one hand. “It’s mine to do with as I wish.”

“Of course,” his brother answered. “More the fool we.”

“So, who planned the escape?” Sabrina asked.

“I did,” her father said. “My conscience was heavy with what was going to happen. You heard Campbell. He was in love with the girl, mad for her, but she didn’t notice him, and you can imagine what that did to a man with his conceit. From what I understand, he offered to keep her. He told me he poured out his heart. Of course, she refused him. She may have said something about the Irishman, and Campbell hit her. He didn’t stop hitting her until she was dead. He was wild with grief. He claimed he hadn’t known what he was doing. He is the one who had the idea of accusing you,” he said to Cormac. “He’d also be punishing you for being a rival.”

“He was not a good man to have as an enemy,” Cormac said.

“No, he wasn’t,” her father agreed. “I found I couldn’t be at peace with the hanging of an innocent soul. I truly hadn’t believed you would receive a death sentence,” he tried to explain. “In my testimony, I attempted to make a point of its being a crime of passion. Do you remember?”

Cormac frowned. “She was well liked, and passion is no excuse for murder.”

“The law takes it into account,” her father said, “but the judge didn’t. At the most, I had assumed that you would be transported to Queensland. I didn’t believe you would receive a hanging sentence. It was the papers’ fault.”

“Yes, the papers,” Cormac echoed with disbelief.

“Well, if they hadn’t called you the Irish Murderer or any of that nonsense, then no one would have paid attention, and all would be well.”

“Actually, it wouldn’t be well,” Cormac pointed out. “I’d be on the other side of the world.”

Her father made a dismissive sound. “It is better than hanging.”

Sabrina had an urge to box her father’s arrogant ears. Her gaze met Cormac’s. Thank heavens, there was a glint of humor in his eyes. She couldn’t believe he was enjoying himself. Then again, he’d just been handed a reprieve from death.

“When they sentenced you to hang,” her father said, continuing his story, “I couldn’t live with myself. I wrote what friends I had in London, trying to convince them to not approve the death warrant. You see where that took me.”

“Well, I appreciate the effort,” Cormac answered dryly. “However, I truly valued your sending Mr. Kinnion to my cell.”

“That was a disaster,” her father said. “I had bribed the guards to help with the escape. Everything was set. However, they cheated me. They were planning to recapture you and make themselves the heroes of the day. It was all a game to them. Ingold saw one of the guards take aim at Kinnion.”

“I thought the guard was there to help see the escape through,” Ingold admitted. “But then he shot Mr. Kinnion before I realized what was happening and could stop him. I believe he thought the reverend was you,” he added sheepishly.

“It is a wonder I am alive at all,” Cormac observed.

“Fortunately, the guard was not a good shot and I gave him a good solid knock in the head. Mr. Kinnion and I had a harrowing time escaping Edinburgh ourselves. Of course, once the guards discovered that the reverend wasn’t their prisoner, no one cared to keep us. They were afraid we’d let word of the bribe slip.”

“Your escape cost me a fortune,” her father complained. “You can imagine my fury over hearing the money had gone for naught.”

Money they didn’t have,
Sabrina realized . . . but this time, the thought didn’t create a tightness in her chest. She took a step toward Cormac, startled by a new realization.
She didn’t feel responsible for her father.
It was a heady thing to release years of what had been an unhealthy habit.

“The one lucky thing,” her father was saying, “is that the bullet meant for Enright—”

“Ballin,” Cormac said, interrupting him.

“What?” her father questioned.

“Enright is my family name, but I have the title Ballin. Lord Ballin,” he reminded them. “I’ve denied it for too long. But it is my heritage and my right.”

“Another penniless earl,” her uncle opined. “We are a growing company.”

Cormac didn’t even spare him a glance. Instead, he addressed the Reverend Kinnion. “You are fortunate you were not killed.”

“Yes, fortunate,” the Reverend Kinnion echoed weakly.

“
I
had nothing to do with any of this,” the earl of Tay said. “Nothing. May I have a drink now?”

“
No,
” Sabrina and her father said in unison.

“Very well,” the earl responded, and launched into his own version of events. “Ingold brought Kinnion here. I hid him. I was going to say something to Richard, but before I had the opportunity, my brother arrived, telling me about the botched escape. So I hid both of them.”

“How long were you going to hide them?” Cormac asked.

Her uncle frowned and scratched his chin. “At least until Owen calmed down. He was not happy you didn’t hang. Until your neck was stretched or you had a bullet in your back, he feared someone might realize he’d killed that girl. Funny what men will do for a woman, isn’t it?” The earl clanked his cup on his saucer as if pointing out it was empty. Sabrina ignored him.

Instead, she said, “I was very worried when you left without a word, Father. I thought you were with Mrs. Bossley. She thought you were with me. Can you imagine what would have happened if you’d had an accident, and neither one of us knew where you were?”

Her father didn’t take the chiding well. “I was trying to save my neck.”

“How did Campbell know you were all here?” Cormac asked.

“He didn’t,” the earl said. “That is the damn funny thing of it. He came here tonight to murder me, then he found the others. So he decided to finish us all off. He didn’t want any witnesses. You know, murdering that chit really was a crime of passion. He probably could have been excused for doing it.”

Sabrina didn’t know how to justify such a comment. She gave her uncle her back. “Mr. Campbell sent his men for Cormac,” Sabrina said. “Our house is in complete disarray.”

Her father shrugged. “It is small matter, considering.” And he was right. “I feel a fool.”

No one argued with him, not even his brother.

“Well now,” Cormac said, “the time has come to undo it all. I expect you gentlemen to confess to the Edinburgh court.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

The earl spoke. “We can’t do that. Why, we would find ourselves in trouble.”

Sabrina’s temper rose, but the Reverend Kinnion saved her uncle from the tongue-lashing she had in mind as he said, “Absolutely. It must be done. Confession is good for the soul. I’m finished with this sort of adventure.”

She looked to her father. “Sir?” she prodded.

“We have no choice,” he admitted. “I pray they understand. At least now I don’t need to worry about paying off Campbell.”

“Ah, there is that,” the earl agreed, and repeated with more enthusiasm, “There
is
that. How lucky can we be? I’d like to drink to our luck. We should celebrate it.”

Everyone ignored him.

“Will I be in much trouble?” the Reverend Kinnion asked. “I’m certain the bishop will not be happy.”

“Don’t worry about the bishop,” Sabrina said. “You have a wife who will be overjoyed to have you home. And as for you,” she said, reaching for Cormac’s hand, “a new life is beginning for you. One where you will wear your title proudly.”

He nodded and, for a second, appeared almost overcome. She could understand why. He was free. He’d wanted freedom, and now he had it.

And then he surprised her by lacing his fingers with hers. He looked down into her eyes, his serious, somber. There was a moment of hesitation, as if he was about to do something over which he was uncertain.

He spoke. “Sabrina Davidson, will you be my lady? Will you marry me?”

For a second, Sabrina was unsure she’d heard him correctly. “You are asking for my hand?”

Cormac nodded. “If you will have me. I’ve little to my name, but I have skills, and I want to build a life with you—”

“Is this just because of what has happened between us?” she asked, needing to know if his feelings were true or if he was doing what was honorable or what he believed was expected.

But before he could answer, her father’s harsh voice broke in. “Take your hands off my daughter. I’ll be damned to hell before I allow her to marry an Irishman. Earl or no.”

M
ac couldn’t remember a time when words had ignited his anger into a rage. He was tired and covered with bruises from saving these men’s worthless hides.

He hadn’t even considered asking Davidson for his daughter’s hand because Sabrina was
his.
They belonged to one another, and he’d run through the man who would say him nay.

But then there was the voice of doubt.
He’d never loved Moira as much as he did Sabrina. She was fire to Moira’s ice. However, what if she agreed with her father? What if she obeyed him—?

“I’m going with him, Father.” She faced her parent, her head high, her stance determined. “I love him. I don’t want to live my life without him.”

Mac could have fallen to his knees in gratitude. Her love was not false. And it had to be love and love alone she felt because he had nothing else to offer her.

He swept her into his arms. Her eyes shone with the truth of her love. “You are so beautiful,” he said. “So incredibly wonderful. And I love you, Sabrina Davidson. Do you hear me?
I love you.
”

And then he kissed her with all the passion of his being.

She kissed him back. Thoroughly.

Their kiss broke, and Mac had to say, “You are becoming very good at this.”

“I pray to become better,” she answered, and he laughed. No matter what challenges were in his future, he could overcome all with this intelligent, vibrant woman by his side.

Richard Davidson stood. He blocked the door. “You will not leave with him,” he instructed his daughter. “I forbid it.”

“You can’t stop me from doing what I want,” Sabrina answered, as simple as that. “You would have to hold me prisoner to keep me from marrying him, and sooner or later, I would escape. And don’t pretend you need me, Father. You’ll have the Widow Bossley. She will make you a good wife.”

“This man is not good enough for you, Sabrina.”

She laughed at that, the sound bitter. “Why, Father? Is he too honest for you? Has he not told enough lies? Gambled enough? Drunk enough? Or is it that he doesn’t have money? Yes, that is it, isn’t it? Need I remind you,
I
don’t have a dowry?”

A look of confusion crossed her father’s face, as if he was surprised by her resentment, and she
was
angry. Mac understood why. She’d given her father his due, but now, she wanted a life of her own.

The magistrate opened his hands, a conciliatory gesture, an invitation to understanding. “I just want what is right for you.”

“
He’s
right for me,” she answered. “He has my love. Should that not be enough?”

“There is more to the world, Sabrina, than simple love,” her father said.

“I disagree with that,” she answered. “Furthermore, Cormac and I have more than most. He has a profession and a title. Lord Ballin. It is worth as much as the earl of Tay.”

“Mine is an old and honored title,” the earl declared.

“As is mine,” Mac said.

“In
Ireland,
” Tay returned, and Mac enjoyed the mental image of shoving the man’s head in a vat of the whisky he drank.

But it was Sabrina who spoke. “I once believed that the family title gave me a position of importance and meant that I had to hold myself to a higher standard, to keep myself apart from others. However, now I know titles mean very little. The measure of a man is what he offers others. Consider my cousin Aileen’s husband, Mr. Stephens. He is a bastard son. Granted, his father is a duke, but I admire that Mr. Stephens has made his own way in the world. And look at Tara’s Laird Breccan. I’ve heard you mock him, Father, because he believes in the old ways, the clan ways. He takes care of his people while the two of you”—she nodded to her father and uncle—”think only of yourselves. You’ve ruined Annefield,” Sabrina said to Tay. “What was once a proud estate will soon be up for auction. And you, Father, you dare to tell me what I can and can’t do? Whom I should and shouldn’t love? You, who had so little respect for me that you kept secrets? I believe you are both a disgrace.”

“But this man has
nothing,
” her father said, as if needing to pound in the point.

“He has
me,
” she answered. “I’m not
nothing.
”

She turned to Mac, as if needing reassurance. “You do want me, don’t you?”

“With all my heart, forever and always.”

Tears came to Sabrina’s eyes. “I warn you, I won’t settle for anything less than being the proud wife of an Irish lord. I love you, Cormac Enright, and if you can forgive the fact that I am related to these two men who have given up all semblance of the honor they claim they have, then I will proudly stand behind you as your wife.”

“
Beside
me,” Mac corrected Sabrina, taking her hand. “I want you always by my side. We can conquer this world together.”

“Then let us marry this day. This very moment.” She searched his eyes.

“Shouldn’t the banns be announced?” the earl of Tay asked.

“
Yes,
” her father answered. “Three times. The banns
must
be announced.”

“Not in Scotland,” Mac answered. “You know that is not necessary, Davidson. Mr. Kinnion, will you marry me to this woman?”

Both Davidson and the earl turned to the clergyman still sitting on the bed. “You will not, Kinnion,” Davidson said.

The reverend looked from one benefactor to the other, then, to Cormac’s surprise, he said, “Aye, I’ll marry the two of you.”

Sabrina faced Cormac, her blue eyes triumphant.

“I can’t watch this,” her father said. “I will not accept this marriage. Do you understand? Don’t come to me when you realize what you’ve done. My door will be closed to you.” He then walked from the room.

Tay watched him a moment, then left as well. He could be heard calling for whisky as he started down the stairs.

For a long moment, there was silence in the room.

Mac spoke. “I’m sorry,” he said to Sabrina.

“I’m not,” she said. “Father will be fine. He will have Mrs. Bossley, and she’ll nurse his wounded vanity, but I can live without him. However, I cannot live without you.”

“Which is what marriage is about,” the Reverend Kinnion said. “I don’t have my prayer book. Of course, that doesn’t matter, I lost my glasses—but this is one sacrament I know by heart. Lord Ballin, I’m glad I played a part, however small, in delivering you from injustice. You are making a good choice, Miss Davidson.”

“I agree,” she said. “Now, please, sir, marry us.”

The ceremony that followed was swift but heartfelt.

Ingold and a few of the other servants served as witnesses. There was no ring. Mac had nothing but himself to offer her, and that was all she wanted.

When they were done with their vows, he sealed his pledge with a kiss—and the realization that he was no longer alone in life.

The servants wished them well as they left the house.

The moon was high in the sky. It was a good night to marry. They walked across the yard, hand in hand toward where Dumpling had finished his hay and slept peacefully, one hoof cocked.

“What do we do now?” Sabrina asked.

“What would you like to do?”

“I need to collect Rolf. We can bring him wherever we go, can’t we?” Sabrina asked.

“Of course. He’s family.”

They drove to her house. Davidson was not there, and that was just as well.

Sabrina gathered her things. She took only her clothes. Cormac was more practical. He raided the kitchen for Mrs. Patton’s venison and some bread and cheese. He also took the blanket off Sabrina’s bed. They might need it if they slept on the ground. They filled the pony cart.

“We’ll be doing some walking,” he warned.

“That’s fine,” she said. “But someday, I will want you to buy a lovely gray mare, and I shall canter around like a fine lady.”

“You are a fine lady,” he assured her. “You are
my
lady.” He gave her a kiss and insisted that she sit in the cart while he walked.

She wasn’t happy about that decision and, of course, argued, which is why they were still standing in the yard when Mrs. Bossley, wearing her maroon cape, pulled up in her rig. Dawn was just filling the sky.

“I came to say good-bye,” she said. “Your father told me what happened.”

“Where is he?” Sabrina asked.

“Asleep. In my bed.”

“Are you certain you want him?” Sabrina said.

Mrs. Bossley’s response was to laugh, a sign of the respect she had for Sabrina. “I do, and I’ll marry him. We manage fine together. But I wanted you to have this.” She pressed a heavy leather coin purse into Cormac’s hand. “It is a wedding present.”

Mac put his arm around Sabrina’s shoulders. “We can’t take your money,” he said, ready to offer it back.

“Of course you can,” Mrs. Bossley informed him. “I have plenty. The two of you need a start in life. And someday, Richard will come around. I’ve already told him he must do what is expected to clear your name. He wrote this.” She pulled from a pocket of her cape a letter. “It is his explanation to the court. I shall see that he travels to Edinburgh in the next few days.”

“Thank you,” Mac said.

She waved a dismissive hand. “He wanted to do it. He is tired now and feeling very low, but he is a good man. He will be true to his word and help clear your name. He’ll also forgive you someday for defying him,” she said to Sabrina. “He will regret his temper and make his peace with you. Men can be such hypocrites when they have their backs up.”

With those words, she turned her gig around and drove off.

“I don’t know if I will accept his apology if it ever comes,” Sabrina said.

Mac took her hand. “I will ask that you do,” he told her. He stood a moment, looking in the direction of the rising sun, where the sky was filled with the rose hues of dawn, then looked down at the letter he held. “He was a brave man to write this. Don’t judge him harshly. I don’t.”

And he didn’t. The man he had once been, the one who had nursed a grudge against his brother, had been transformed by love. He now understood that Lorcan had no choice but to be true to the love he and Moira had.

The one who had betrayed them had been Mac, with his temper. His spite had cost him so much, but he knew that it had not touched Lorcan and Moira. They had been happy together.

And now he was ready to be the man he should be—the one who loved and loved well.

“Are you ready to go, sir?” Sabrina asked. “Are you ready to take me out of this valley?”

He turned. Sabrina was in the cart, with Rolf sitting on the bench by her side. Strands of her hair had escaped her braid and curled around her face. Her blues were alive with excitement and her cheeks rosy from the morning chill. She was beautiful to him. Absolutely perfect . . . save for one small matter.

“One moment,” he said, crossing to her. He leaned forward and kissed her thoroughly and completely. “Now I’m ready.” She laughed, her happiness filling her heart.

With the snap of the reins, they set off into the world.

A
nd so . . .

S
abrina’s father was true to his word, as Mrs. Bossley had predicted—or had orchestrated.

At great sacrifice to himself, he admitted to the Edinburgh court that he had lied in his testimony. Cormac’s name was cleared.

To Sabrina’s surprise, Cormac decided they should stay in Edinburgh. The city was to his liking.

She and Rolf, and even Dumpling, had some difficulty adjusting. Everything was noisy, but in time, she learned to enjoy the variety of the city.

Cormac began a practice as a surgeon. Because of his experiences doctoring on the battlefield, he had learned techniques that were of interest to the other doctors in Edinburgh. Soon, he and Sabrina had many friends, and Cormac began earning a good living.

More important, he was very happy.

His surgery was two rooms on the ground floor of their house. She often assisted him when necessary. Sometimes, Sabrina would overhear him whistling. The sound always made her smile.

Sabrina did not talk to her father. She was not as forgiving as Mrs. Bossley or even Cormac. She was so in love with her husband, she could not imagine her life without him. What her father and uncle had conspired to do in the name of money was unacceptable to her. She didn’t wish her father ill, but she would not search him out either, and she found that the decision gave her peace.

In time, perhaps, their relationship would not be so strained, but Sabrina didn’t have strong feelings one way or the other, and until she did, she would live her own life.

She heard from her cousins. After being caught up in the whirl of London, Aileen and her husband, Blake Stephens, had decided to return to Scotland. Aileen was now pregnant and wanted her baby born at Annefield.

However, they were not fools. She and Blake purchased a fine estate along the River Tay, where they would stay instead of relying on the earl.

Meanwhile, Tara had given birth to a baby girl and all said that her husband Breccan, a brawny man who had once had such a temper he’d been known as the “Beast of Aberfeldy” was at the beck and call of both wife and tiny daughter. Sabrina had laughed aloud with happiness the first time she’d seen the huge, muscular Breccan holding his wee babe, Elizabeth. Lizbeth they called her, named after Tara’s late mother. Tara herself had turned into the most generous of women. Sabrina and Tara now corresponded often and were growing close.

However, as for Sabrina . . . she felt a bit of discontent. Once their house was set up, she found herself at loose ends.

Motherhood would fill her time . . . perhaps. She enjoyed helping in the surgery . . . but wondered if there was something else she should be doing. She adored her husband and was always ready to show him her adoration . . . but try as she might, one couldn’t make love every hour of the day.

She began to wonder if there wasn’t something else for her and often said as much to Cormac.

One night, as he held her in his arms, he teased her about the way she enjoyed reading the papers for stories of crimes. “It seems to be one of your favorite interests.”

That was true. Sabrina enjoyed a good mystery and often wished she knew more of the details behind the stories she read. It helped to ease her boredom. She’d also thought back to when she’d been searching for her father and Mr. Kinnion. Yes, Cormac’s presence had made that time important and exciting, but she’d also enjoyed the puzzle of unraveling the mystery.