Page 30 of Border Lord’s Bride

Lucius was coughing too. Dear God, they were going to die in this blackness just as Horatio had planned.

"Elizabeth?" It was Rose's voice.

Elizabeth opened her eyes to see nothing, but she could hear Rose's voice ahead. Was she caught in this hideous trap as well? Hadn't the girls made it to safety?

Elizabeth tried to tell Rose to keep going, but instead of words only gasps pulled from her throat.

"It's all right," Lucius gasped. "We're through."

In that moment, she could see the muted blue-gray sky on the other side of the loch. "Thank…God," she wheezed.

Lucius dragged them ashore and doubled over, still coughing.

"Where are the girls?" Elizabeth asked, searching the lighter gray smoke that hung in the air. "I must see for myself that they are safe."

"I left them here with Lachlan."

At the same moment the smoke around them eased, the sound of the girls' voices came to her. Elizabeth turned. The girls threw themselves into her outstretched arms, weeping and chattering and praising Elizabeth for the fact they were still alive. Elizabeth stroked one blonde head after another and closed her eyes, gathering each girl as close as possible. "It's over," she promised them. "Your uncle is dead."

"Are you certain?" Lucius asked, his voice still roughened by smoke.

Elizabeth set the girls away from her, then stood. "Aye. He fell into his own trap and caught fire. His body, what's left of it, is in the loch." She shuddered.

A moment later she was in Lucius's arms. He gathered her close enough so that she could feel her heart beating against his own.

He stroked the side of her face with his hand. "Are you unharmed?"

She nodded and brushed her cheek against his palm, reassured by his words. "I was so frightened." Once again she paused. "I feared you wouldn't come for me."

"Wouldn't come?" He tipped her face to his. "I'll never leave you." His head dipped down and he pressed his lips to hers.

The girls began to laugh and tease, but Lucius wasn't deterred. He deepened the kiss until Elizabeth was breathless for reasons having nothing to do with the smoke and everything to do with the man who held her in his arms. And yet he still did not say the words she longed to hear. She forced the thought from her head. He would say the words when he was ready.

And if he doesn't?

She stepped out of the circle of his arms. "This is not the time or place."

He nodded and she was thrilled to see a hint of regret pass across his features before he turned away. "We must bury the dead as well—both our own men and the English who were left behind on Scottish soil. Elizabeth, will you take the girls back to the manor?"

"I'll see to them," she said. With a final nod he turned away. Beside her, Lily tugged on Elizabeth's shredded and burnt gown. "Lucius won't leave us, will he?"

"Not like Papa or Marcus?" Iris asked, coming to join Lily at Elizabeth's side.

"Nay," Elizabeth said as she encouraged them forward, toward the manor in the distance. "Not like them."

As she and the girls walked back along the loch, the fire, now out of fuel, died down to a smolder. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at Lucius. She expected to see sadness reflected in his eyes, but instead of pain, she saw renewal.

The smoke faded. The warmth of the afternoon sun chased the chill away. Elizabeth turned around, hiding the smile upon her lips, and raced for the manor. For the first time since she'd arrived, Elizabeth felt a glimmer of hope that she might find a home with Lucius and his sisters at Midwick Manor.

Chapter Eleven

It was late evening by the time the men had finished the burials. Lucius drifted toward the manor house along with the men. The mood in the air was sober. It had been a long, exhausting day. They'd buried nine men, including what was left of his uncle.

The MacKinleys and the Insleys had been a welcome blessing—as had the other MacKinley clansmen who'd come to help once word reached them about the conflict. Without them, the outcome might have been very different this day.

Lucius looked around him. He could tell by the looks on the men's faces they wanted nothing more than a warm hearth, a hearty meal, a mug of ale, and a good night's sleep as their reward. Yet as the men approached the manor, their tired mumbles became excited chatter at the sight that greeted them there.

Elizabeth and his sisters waited outside, dressed in brightly colored gowns, with greens woven in their hair. They looked fresh and alive and out of place against the graying sky. They greeted the men as they approached and directed them toward several large tubs of warmed water that had been set out for them to wash up.