Highland Courage (Highland Brides) Read Online Free PDF Page B

little one. Tell me what happened.”
    It pleased him beyond words that instead of moving away, she sunk into his embrace. With her cheek resting on his chest, he simply listened as she told him the story she had never told anyone before. She told him about how she and Flan left their encampment despite their father’s orders and how she lost him.
    “I didn’t know what to do. I had to get help, so I headed back to our campsite. I ran into five young men on the road. They wouldn’t let me pass.”
    “Do ye know who they were?”
    “Nay. I told them I needed to find my brother. They—they hurt me. They p—pulled me into the woods. I was s—s—so scared. One tried to k—kiss me and I bit him. He yelled at me and threw me on the ground. It knocked the wind out of me. He s—s—said I was alone and asking for it. I screamed and tried to get away, but he jumped on me and told his friends to h—hold me down. I couldn’t m—m—move. They were hurting me and I w—was crying but they just l—l—laughed. He pushed my skirts up then—then—it hurt.” Mairead sobbed, unable to say anything for a moment. Finally she added, “Then, someone pulled him off me. It was a p—priest.”
    She finished the story, and he just held her while she cried. When she had some semblance of control back, she said, “So ye see it was all my fault and I am a coward. I was scared. My family was angry because Flan and I had wandered off. They were so disappointed in me. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them what really happened. I am so sorry. I should have told them before now, but I thought maybe—maybe I would never have to. After Da told me about the betrothal, I—I still couldn’t tell them, but I had to tell ye.”
    She paused a moment. He thought this was the end of her story, but she still seemed to be waging some internal battle. It was as if she was trying to summon enough courage to tell him something else. Of all the things that she might have been preparing to say, her words stunned him. “I was hoping ye would just ask to set the betrothal aside and not tell them why. I will go to a convent.”
    Perhaps it was the sheer unexpectedness of what she said that caused him to answer her so bluntly. “I won’t do that, Mairead.”
    She looked supremely disappointed. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I had just hoped—I didn’t want my family to know my shame.”
    “Nay, Mairead, ye misunderstand, that’s not what I meant. I want to marry ye.”
    “Ye—but—”
    “Mairead, none of this was your fault. No one asks to be attacked, ever . I understand why ye didn’t tell your family when it happened. I’m sure ye were terrified and didn’t know what to do. After all, ye were barely more than a wee lass. I am very glad ye felt ye could tell me about it but, sweetling, I suspected something like this might have happened before I offered for ye.”
    Mairead’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t understand. How could ye have known?”
    “Flan told me the part of the story which he knew. He said after the day at the fair ye were scared and more timid than ever before. I suspected something terrible had happened in the time ye were separated and I think he does as well. He blames himself.”
    “He was just a child, only seven. I am the one who should have known better.”
    “Ye were both children and ye made a mistake children make. The blame rests solely on the men who attacked ye. I told Flan as much.”
    “But why did he tell ye all of this?”
    “Because your parents were planning a betrothal for ye with Darcy Fraser. Flan was worried about ye being afraid and so far from home.”
    On hearing what her brother had done, she first looked shocked, then mortified. She pushed away from him. “Oh, by all that’s holy, tell me Flan didn’t ask ye to marry me!”
    Tadhg laughed, pulling her back into his arms. “Aye, he did. But I am glad he did. It is a good union between our families and I had considered