The Wild Rose of Kilgannon Read Online Free PDF Page A

worked until we dropped. The boys were very brave but they were afraid, and I spent much of my time cheering them on or leading them in their lessons. I kept my fears to myself. During the daylight hours I held them at bay, but at day's end they would reappear and the nights stretched interminably. I still roamed the house in the dark hours, pausing each night to look at the portraits that lined the stairs, asking Alex's image where he was.
    I was in the hall at daybreak the morning the news came that a ship was in the loch, and said a silent prayer as I waited. My spirits sank when the word came that the ship was not ours, but they rose again with the news that it was a MacDonald ship, with Sir Donald himself on deck. But Alex was not aboard.
    I waited on the dock with Thomas and Dougall as the ship approached, and waved in return when the MacDonald signaled to us. He climbed stiffly from the boat, his movements those of a man much older, then nodded at me and walked up the hill without a word. I followed the man who had enticed Alex to war, the leader of the MacDonalds. I had once been very fond of him, admiring not only his looks, still arresting though he was twenty years older than Alex, but also his wit and intelligence.
    Inside the hall Sir Donald settled himself slowly at a table and silently accepted the whisky I poured for him. Dougall and Thomas sat to my right, their expressions carefully blank. I kept my hand on the stone bottle , cool under my grip, and felt my heart as cold. But for you, I thought as I watched him, Alex would be here with we now. He had difficulty meeting my eyes, but I felt no remorse for the chilliness with which I met his.
    "Dinna look so baleful, Mary MacGannon," he said at last. "I dinna mean to lead him to this." He glanced around the hall, avoiding the gaze of the Kilgannon men standing at a respectful distance but within reach if I needed them. "I tried to convince him to come with me, Mary. I am here now to ask ye to come to France with us." I watched him as he leaned forward, his tone earnest. "Mary, lassie, listen to me, when I left yer husband on the dock at Montrose, he was going to get his men home and then join ye here. I dinna ken what happened next." He sighed and rubbed his chin. "I did try to convince him, Mary. I swear before God, I did try. I wanted him to come with me. And that is why I'm here. Most of my family has gone to France. I'm here for the last of them. Come with us and bring the lads. Come, Mary, and Alex will come after and ye'll all be safe." I said nothing. He sighed again and looked at his glass. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with unshed tears. "I tried, Mary," he said in a choked voice. "And Alex tried. He was fair amazing. But Mar would not listen and the others listened to Mar." He took a deep drink of the whisky. "It broke my heart when James Stewart left. It broke my heart. He kent what it would mean and still he left." He stared into the distance and I felt myself thawing. "Come with us, Mary. Ye ken Angus's mother Deirdre and his sisters are there? And yer sister-in-law Sibeal. Ye'll not be with strangers."
    "Sibeal? Sibeal is there? And Malcolm?"
    His gaze was level. "No. Hers is no' a happy marriage."
    "I see," I said and studied my hands for a moment, then looked up at him. "You realize that Alex would not have gone if you had not persuaded him. He resisted Murdoch and the others."
    "Aye, I ken that. I kent that day that he would come with us." We sat again and then he sighed. "Ye'll never forgive me for this, will ye?"
    I met his eyes. Whatever I thought of this man, I had to admit he was courageous and honest. I answered him truthfully. "No."
    He nodded to himself. "It was to the Gael in him that I appealed, Mary, and it was the Gael in him that answered. We would have won if more had heard the call and answered as well."
    "Those who did not answer the call are safe at home, Sir Donald. And where are you?"
    His fierce gaze met mine.