“Go to Rorie,” Graeme said. “ ’Tis best she is not present for what is to come.”
Father Drummond cast him a worried look, but turned and went into the keep as Graeme had directed. Graeme then went in search of his most senior man. Douglas Montgomery had been a good and loyal man even before Graeme’s father’s death. He’d served faithfully under Robert Montgomery and had transferred that loyalty to Graeme when Graeme became laird.
He went to Douglas’s cottage, one of the many that lined the hillside adjacent to the keep.
He knocked sharply, impatient as he waited for Douglas to appear. A moment later, the older man opened the door, his eyes darkening in concern when he saw Graeme standing there.
Without giving the other man the opportunity to speak, Graeme issued a terse order.
“Summon every last clansman and have them assemble in the courtyard. I want every man, woman, and child, and I want them there in five minutes. Anyone not present will be in defiance of my word and will be dealt with accordingly.”
Douglas’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t question his laird’s directive.
“I’ll have them there at once, Laird.”
Graeme nodded, then turned on his heel and stalked back to the courtyard to await the gathering. Bowen and Teague had both just stepped out of the keep when Graeme returned to the courtyard.
Soon the call could be heard, and it echoed over the keep and was relayed with urgency not used since the Montgomerys were last under siege.
“What do you plan?” Bowen asked with a frown as he approached Graeme.
“I know you are angry, brother, but think on your words before you act,” Teague warned.
“Think?” Graeme snarled. “What I think is that I’ve never been more shamed by my clan as I am now. Never before have they given me cause to be shamed. But what they have done to an innocent woman brings disgrace to our entire clan.”
Bowen sighed. “I know it, but do not react in anger. Give yourself a moment to calm before speaking to our kin.”
“Did you see her hands?” Graeme demanded. “Did you see the humiliation and sadness in her eyes? As God is my witness, it sickens me that this has gone on behind the walls of this keep and it sickens me that I’ve allowed it. I am just as guilty as they are, for I stood by and let them treat her as they did.”
“You did not sanction this,” Teague bit out.
“Nay, but neither did I prevent it, and now I must live with the knowledge that I allowed my wife to be sorely abused by my kinsmen.”
The courtyard began filling as his clansmen entered, their expressions apprehensive. There was tension in the air and murmurs spread until there was a buzz of quiet whispers in the still morning air.
After a few minutes, Douglas approached, his mouth set into a grim line. “They are all accounted for, Laird. I summoned even those patrolling our borders.”
Graeme nodded. “Very good. Thank you, Douglas. You can stand down now.”
Douglas stood back with the other senior men, but they all looked uncertain and wary. Rarely had Graeme ever displayed his temper. He’d firmly believed that as laird he must refrain from allowing his emotions to rule his actions. Today he had no such concern or thought of restraint.
He ascended the steps of the keep and then turned to survey his clan. Aye, they were all gathered, crowded into the courtyard until it looked nigh to bursting. He had to work to contain his rage, but he also wanted them all to see just how furious he was. It was time they felt the lash of his tongue and the heat of his anger.
“I made it clear when I took Eveline Armstrong to wife that she was to be accorded the respect and deference she deserved as my wife and mistress of this keep. To date she has been mocked, ridiculed, deceived, and betrayed by the clan she now calls her own. You are no better than the Armstrongs.”
A series of gasps and murmurs of outrage rose from the assembled crowd. He ignored them all and plunged ahead, his stare taking in every last member of his clan.
“I will not tolerate the mistreatment that has been handed to my wife. I am done trying to coddle you and to understand your feelings of outrage and hatred over having to accept an Armstrong in our midst. She has acted with dignity and grace and has afforded you nothing but courtesy. She’s had a smile for everyone who crosses her path. In return you’ve maligned her, made her feel miserable and unwelcome. You’ve manipulated her and used her eagerness to earn a place in our clan to further humiliate her.”
He stopped and pinned the women of the clan with his fierce stare until they fidgeted and looked away. Nora had gone pale and Mary refused to even look up. The other women wore expressions of guilt and several had looks of dismay clearly written on their faces.
“Henceforth, any—and I mean any—infraction as deemed by me, will not go unpunished. You have a choice. You will either cease your despicable behavior or you will leave this clan and forever be outcast. You’ll be stripped of the Montgomery name and the protection that goes with it.”
“You cannot do that!” Macauley Montgomery exclaimed.
Graeme rounded on him, giving him a look that had him going pale. He took a hasty step backward until he stood next to his wife, one of the younger women who’d been party to Eveline’s mistreatment.
“Is that a challenge?” Graeme asked in a deathly quiet tone. “Because know this: Any disagreement will be considered a direct challenge to my leadership and my position as laird. The fight will be to the death.”
“N-nay,” Macauley stammered. “You have my support, Laird.”
“Do I?” Graeme demanded. He swung his gaze to encompass the entire courtyard. “Do I have your support? Or do you oppose my word on this?”
Several nays rose from the crowd.
“It is evident to me that I do not have your support,” Graeme said in an icy tone. “Supporting me means you support my wife and your mistress. Nothing that any of you have done could be construed as support of Eveline. Best you keep in mind that any slight to her is a slight to me. Any abuse to her is abuse to me. Any insult to her is an insult to me.”
Then he turned to Nora and singled her out in the crowd. “Henceforth you are relieved of duty. You will no longer oversee the women of the keep nor will you enjoy the privileges you’ve enjoyed till now. You may join the other women I removed from duty within the keep.”
Nora gasped and promptly burst into tears. Her husband put an arm around her to comfort her and leveled a malevolent glare in Graeme’s direction.
Teague drew his sword and was in front of Nora’s husband before Graeme could even react to the blatant show of disrespect. He held the blade to the older man’s throat, his teeth bared.
“You’ll not show our laird such disrespect. Any man who goes against my brother will answer to me.”
Bowen stepped forward, sword drawn. “And to me.”
“And me,” Douglas said quietly.
One by one his senior men-at-arms stepped forward to stand at Graeme’s side.
“ ’Tis time you stop acting like children,” Douglas said in a firm voice. “Robert Montgomery would be shamed by his clan’s treatment of the laird’s wife. He would never condone such hatred of a woman innocent of any wrongdoing save being born into an enemy clan. ’Tis Eveline’s only sin. I’ve seen with my own eyes her effort to make the best of a distasteful situation. ’Tis time for the rest of you to open your eyes and your minds and rid yourself of such senseless hatred.”
“You’ll show her respect or suffer the consequences,” Graeme vowed. “Now go about your duties and think on all I’ve said and make your choice. I will show no more leniency, as God is my witness.”
His clansmen scattered as they hastened to go about their duties. Several of the women went away, their faces ravaged by tears. He had no sympathy, though. All he had to do was think on Eveline’s ravaged hands and fury raged through him all over again.
“ ’Tis done,” Bowen said quietly. “They’ll not disobey you again. Not when you’ve made the consequences abundantly clear.”
Graeme nodded. “Aye, ’tis done. I’ll not go back on my word.”
Teague nodded. “Aye, I know it.”
Graeme stared over at his brother. “But you don’t agree.”
Teague slowly shook his head. “I saw what their actions have wrought. I’m as disgusted as you at their treatment of the lass. She does not deserve the treatment she has recevied. I fear they’ve crushed her spirit. I did not like what I saw in her eyes when she realized all that had been done.”
Graeme’s stomach knotted. He hadn’t liked what he’d seen in Eveline’s eyes either, and he only prayed that he’d not stepped in too late.
“She said she wanted to go home,” Bowen said quietly. “ ’Twas the last thing she said before she left the table in the hall.”
Graeme cursed and curled his fingers into a tight fist.
“Graeme!”
Graeme looked up to see Rorie pushing by several clansmen in her bid to leave the entrance to the keep. She hurried up, a frown marring her face.
“Where is Eveline? I went to summon her for our first lesson and I cannot find her anywhere.”
Graeme frowned. “She was just in the hall not so long ago. Did you check her chamber?”
Rorie nodded. “Aye, of course I did. I even looked from the tower to the bend in the river. ’Tis one of her favorite places to visit. But I saw no sign of her.”
“She left the keep from the back entrance,” Bowen said. “She said she had need of fresh air. I assumed she’d walk where she so often walks when she leaves the keep.”
“Return to your lesson, Rorie,” Graeme ordered. “I’ll go in search of Eveline.”
“Do you want Teague and me to help you search?” Bowen asked.
Graeme paused a moment. “Nay, ’tis likely she’s not far. I’ll summon you if I need help. I need … I need to speak to her. She was upset by all that has occurred.”
Teague and Bowen nodded their understanding.
“She’s a good lass,” Teague said gruffly. “Seeing her hands … seeing the hurt in her eyes was more than I could bear.”
Graeme’s lips tightened. “Aye, ’tis more than I can bear either and I’ll not allow her to be hurt this way again, even if it means punishing every single person who disobeys me.”
CHAPTER 34
After a cursory search of the area immediately surrounding the keep, Graeme’s stomach tightened into a knot and he went for his horse. Deciding they would cover more ground if his brothers did indeed aid him after all, he sent them to the north while he rode behind the keep in the direction of the river.
He nearly missed her as he topped a rise that overlooked the Armstrong border in the distance. She was hunched down in a patch of wildflowers, her knees hugged to her chest as she stared in the direction of her family’s lands.
She presented a forlorn sight, her gaze distant as her hair lifted and blew in the breeze. She hadn’t seen him and he didn’t want to frighten her by approaching on horseback.
He rode as far as he dared and then quickly dismounted, leaving his horse to graze while he strode toward Eveline.
Her chin rested atop her knees and as he neared, he could see the tracks on her cheeks left by her tears. He let out a savage curse, anger billowing through him all over again.
For a moment he stood, watching her, suddenly unsure of himself. What could he say to her? How could he possibly make right all the wrongs that had been done to her?
He’d seen something in her eyes at the table when she’d realized that she never should have been tasked with bringing in heavy logs for the fires in the hall and that the women had been purposely giving her impossible tasks in their bid to make her feel foolish and unwanted. Something he’d never seen before in her expression.
He’d seen resignation.
She’d faced the situation she’d been forced into with resiliency that surprised Graeme and made him respect her all the more. It would have been a simple matter for her to be resentful, for her to have harbored as much hatred for him and his kin as they did of her.
But she’d done none of those things. She’d tried very hard to fit in with her new clan. And in return her effort had been thrown back in her face.
Seeing that look in her eyes, one that told him that she’d finally given up and that she was defeated … it scared him because he could literally feel her slipping away before he ever really had her.
As if sensing his presence, she turned her head and their gazes connected. There was sorrow in her eyes. Heavy sorrow that made his gut ache fiercely.
He walked forward, closing the distance between them. She didn’t wait for him to say anything. As soon as he was within a goodly distance, he heard her soft, pained voice carry to him on the wind.
“I want to go home.”
