Ransom

Chapter Thirty

It was late, well past midnight, and Bridgid and Gillian were so exhausted from their long day and their ordeal, they could barely keep their eyes open. They sat shoulder to shoulder with their backs resting against a tree trunk, their legs stretched out in front of them, trying to hear what their lairds were discussing.

Everyone else had gone to sleep, and the ground was covered in a maze of plaids. Ramsey and Brodick sat in front of the fire with their heads bent, their whispered conversation grave. Ramsey continuously stirred the embers with a long, crooked stick as though looking for a forgotten object, while Brodick gazed at some distant point in the darkness, nodding every now and again at what Ramsey was saying.

Gillian moved her head slightly and stared at Brodick's chiseled profile. She could see the tenseness in his shoulders, and though he sat motionless now, she felt as though he was about to spring.

Bridgid nudged her and whispered, "Ramsey thinks he's done a terrible injustice to the MacPhersons because he thought one of them was responsible for taking Alec Maitland. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," Gillian answered. "I'll explain later. Keep listening."

"I am," she whispered back, and a minute later she turned to Gillian again. "He said that when he came home and challenged for the position of laird, he made an error in judgment by allowing the old guard to stay in place. He acted out of kindness, and that was a mistake."

Bridgid continued to listen and after a while, Gillian nudged her again.

"Ramsey says he's going to stop procrastinating. He's… Oh, God."

"What?"

The look on Bridgid's face showed how devastated she was. "He's going to marry Meggan MacPherson." Her voice trembled.

"Oh, Bridgid, he's the one, isn't he? He's the man you love."

A tear slipped down her cheek. " 'Tis true. I do love him, and I have for the longest time."

Gillian took hold of her hand. "I'm so sorry."

Bridgid wiped a tear from her eye. "Men are stupid."

"Yes, they are," Gillian agreed. "What's Brodick saying?"

"He's trying to talk Ramsey out of it. He just advised him to think long and hard before he makes such a commitment."

"He didn't practice what he's now preaching," she whispered. "And he's very upset with me."

"He must be," she replied. "He just told Ramsey that marriage is a sacrifice." A minute later she whispered, "Now that doesn't make sense."

"What?"

"Ramsey said that in Brodick's case the sacrifice was worth it because he got the Englishmen's names. Do you know what he's talking about?"

Gillian was suddenly furious. "Yes, I do. Is Ramsey saying he believes Brodick married me just to get the names of the Englishmen?"

"What Englishmen?"

"I'll explain later," she promised. "Tell me. Is that what he says?"

Realizing how agitated her friend was, she hastened to answer. "Yes, Ramsey did say that, and your husband just agreed."

Gillian closed her eyes. "I don't want to hear any more."

"What's wrong?" Bridgid whispered. "You can tell me. I'm your dearest friend, aren't I?"

"You're my only friend," she answered. "I'm not going to believe it."

"Believe what?"

"That Brodick married me to get the names of the Englishmen. No, I won't believe it. No one would get married for such a reason. It's sinful."

Bridgid thought about what Gillian had just said, and then whispered, "Did these Englishmen insult one of the lairds?"

"Insult? Oh, Bridgid, they did something much worse."

"Then I'll tell you this. You don't poke a bear in the eye and expect to walk away unscratched. They will get even. The men here never forget a wrong done to them, and they will go to great lengths to get what they want."

"I still refuse to believe that Brodick only married me to get the names. No, I won't believe it. Marriage is a holy sacrament, and he wouldn't… no, he wouldn't do that. He's speaking out of anger now. That's all there is to it."

"Did he ask you for the names of these Englishmen before you were married?"

"Yes."

"But you didn't tell him?"

"No, I didn't." In frustration she added, "And even after we were married, I made him promise he wouldn't retaliate until I had accomplished my task. Then I gave him the names. He gave me his word, and I trust him to keep it. I know he cares for me. He's just too stubborn to admit it. He told me he felt a responsibility for me."

"Of course he cares for you."

"Maybe Brodick will talk Ramsey out of marrying Meggan MacPherson."

"No, I don't think so. Ramsey sounded as though he'd already made up his mind. He's putting the interests of the clan above his own, and that's as it should be because he's laird. He'll do what he thinks is right. I don't think I can stand watching him with her, though. I had already made up my mind to leave, and now I realize I must leave soon."

"Where will you go?"

Bridgid closed her eyes. "I don't know. I cannot stay in the servants' quarters. The new mistress won't like it."

"Maybe your mother will let you come back home."

"No. She's made it clear she doesn't want me around. No one does," she added, knowing she sounded pitiful but too miserable to care. Dabbing a tear away from her eye, she whispered, "The fall I took has made me weepy."

Gillian pretended to believe that nonsense. Ramsey was the reason Bridgid was brokenhearted. She shifted her weight to ease the throbbing in her thigh and closed her eyes. She fell asleep accepting that Bridgid was right. Men were stupid.