Page 28 of Highlander’s Devious Ally

“How is Ailith?” Maria asked anxiously as she stepped off the gangplank of the boat.

Lyall smiled at her. “Do not worry, Mistress Galloway,” he replied. “She is fine. She needed to rest, that was all, and the roses are back in her cheeks.” He bowed and kissed her hand. “I am Laird Lyall Stevenson, Ailie’s—shall I say ‘new’ betrothed.”

He turned to Matthew Galloway and bowed to him, and the man bowed back.

“M'Laird,” he said gruffly, in a voice that was almost as deep as Lyall’s baritone. Lyall was not inclined to ask him to be less formal, since Matthew Galloway, and his superstitious, backward beliefs had been the source of most of their problems.

“I trust you had a smooth trip.” Lyall said. “Ailith rose from bed today and feels much better. She is waiting to welcome you.”

“M'Laird, thank you for looking after her,” Maria said thankfully as she stepped into the carriage.

“It was my pleasure, and you will see her soon,” he replied. Maria returned the smile he gave her, and both knew that they were going to be friends. He was less sure about Matthew. He spurred his horse up the hill and the carriage followed more slowly.

Ailith was waiting as they stepped out. She ran down the stairs into her mother’s arms, and they hugged for a long time. She gave her father a briefer hug and a frosty greeting then they went inside, where Lyall poured them all some mulled wine.

“Are you quite recovered now, darling?” Maria asked Ailith anxiously. “I cannot believe the way you were treated. If I were a man, I would give that Jock a good beating!”

“There are two men who have already given him one,” Lyall informed her grimly. “A man called Findlay McBlain is doing it and when he is finished I am going to start on him. I am not a vicious man, Mister Galloway, but in Jock McCauley’s case I will make an exception. He is evil to the core. I believe he enjoys pain, though, but only when he is giving it to women, especially against their will, and that would have been Ailith’s fate if she had married him—a lifetime of pain.

“You say the family would have been cursed if she had not married him. Well, you are still here, and you look hale and hearty to me. What on Earth possessed you to believe in curses anyway? An educated man like you?” Lyall’s voice had become a snarl and he leaned down to the other man, who backed away. He stopped speaking and frowned fiercely.

Matthew Galloway stood up and pushed past Lyall, then paced over to the window and looked out for a moment. His face was tortured. “I wish I had never seen Agnes!” he spat. “I was deceived by her beauty but she only wished bad for me. She wanted to chain me to her side like a pet dog, but she had put a spell on me—quite literally—and I could not see it. When I met Maria, she was so calm and sweet with no strange moods and outbursts. She made me feel like a normal man.”

He sighed, then went up to his daughter and knelt down in front of her. “Agnes was incandescent with rage when I told her I was marrying your mother, and that was when she told me she was a witch, and she was laying a curse on the family. Ailie...” He looked at her pleadingly. “If you had seen her face and looked in her eyes you would have understood.

“She was terrifying. She had dark brown eyes but that night they were as red as blood with hatred. I swear that the devil was inside her, and I was terrified. I lived in mortal fear till the day she died, and when I heard the news it was as if a weight had been taken off my mind.” He looked desperately into his daughter’s eyes. “Please believe me when I say that I thought Jock was a good man. I had no idea any of this would happen but I see now that it is all part of the curse.”

“For God’s sake!” Lyall thundered. “There is no curse! Can you not see that you are making things that are happening now fit in with what some lunatic woman said in the past? You have lost your wits, man, and your daughter has had to suffer!”

He hauled Matthew to his feet and shook him. Matthew pushed him away, his eyes sparkling with anger, and it looked as though a physical battle might have ensued had it not been for Ailith, who pushed them apart. She had been watching and listening to the escalating argument with trepidation, never having seen such a fierce quarrel before, especially between two such big men, and it scared her.

“Please, Father, Lyall,” she pleaded. “This is not helping. Please calm down.”

Lyall looked down at her frightened face and felt immediately penitent. He wrapped his arms around her, pushing her head onto his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, but he was still glaring at Matthew Galloway.

Maria had been watching, but not contributing to the argument. Now she stood up. “I am not listening to any more of this,” she said stiffly, and walked out of the room, with Ailith following.

17

Many Things Happen

The two men stood scowling at each other for a few moments before Matthew sighed, sank into a chair, and put his hand over his eyes. “I have been so stupid,” he groaned. “I have been such a bad father to Ailith. She deserves better than a superstitious clown like me.”

Lyall was pouring them both a glass of whisky. “That is not for me to say,” he observed. He handed Matthew a glass and he drank it gratefully.

“What did Agnes die of?” Lyall asked curiously.

“A broken heart,” Matthew replied dully.

Lyall looked down at him scornfully. “So she had no illness at all?”

“She had putrid throat,” Matthew replied, shuddering. Diphtheria was a terrible way to die.

“Then that was the cause of her death.” Lyall’s voice was flat and definite. “There is no such thing as a broken heart. We must be sensible. Demons and angels belong in heaven and hell, not down here cursing people.”

Matthew looked at him then shook his head. “ I have let my daughter down.”

“You have admitted it,” Lyall acknowledged. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Go and tell her.”