Plead Forgiveness (Loyalty Series) (62 page)

Ella raised her hand to silence Eva. “Dinna ask such a
foolish question. I will do all I can to help ye. I will need to instruct yer
cook on how to prepare yer food. Aunt Eleanor believed many miscarriages happen
from unwashed fruits and vegetables, under cooked meats as well as unclean
water. I will also give ye an herbal tea to drink daily. It greatly enhances
fertility. I will also come to see ye once a sennight until the birth, so I can
be sure ye deliver a healthy bairn.”

“Thank ye. Mother just raves about ye and all ye have
done to aid the Macleods.”

“Aye, and I will continue to rave about my new
daughter,” Lady Esme stated. “Now, if we are ready, I believe ‘tis time for us
to make our appearance in the hall.”

“Aye,” Ella responded with more confidence than she
felt. There was a sudden an unknown sensation and desperate need rapidly taking
hold of her heart.

Ella stopped a few paces away from the entrance to her
father’s great hall. She could see and hear the raucous people within, but made
no move to enter. Her hands were trembling and her heart was pounding in her
chest.

“Ella?” Lady Esme asked with concern.

Distressed that she could not see her husband, she
cried, “Gavin . . .I dinna see him . . please . . where is he?”

Gavin had not ventured into the hall as Ella believed,
but had been following her from the moment she left the bedchamber and now
stood directly behind her, his mother and sister. He moved to stand in front of
his wife, blocking her view of the horde in the hall.

“Look at me, little one.” When her head remained bent,
he tilted her chin up with a gentle finger. In a slow, soothing voice he
whispered, “Did ye think I would let ye go in alone?”

“Nae, but I canna enter.”

Alex Mackenzie and his sons were now standing beside
Gavin, having seen from the hall that the guest of honor was just outside.

“What is yer wish,” Gavin asked as he cupped her face.

Her gazed locked with his as she said, “I want to see
my mother, to go to her grave.”

Gavin turned at the sound of Laird Mackenzie voice.

“Aye, daughter,” he stated as he put her hand in the
crook of his arm.

“If ye will excuse us,” Alex said in an uncompromising
tone. He then shepherded her from the castle.

Father and daughter walked through the gardens to Emma
Mackenzie’s grave. The grandeur that surrounded them was like a midsummer
dream. The guelder rose bushes were in full bloom amongst the lush hawthorn and
hazel trees. The grass was cut to glorious perfection, while the entire
landscape was devoid of any weed or unsightly debris.

Putting thoughts to words, Ella exclaimed, “Eva’s
garden is magnificent. It must have taken her years to build such splendor.”

“Aye, it did and she continues to expand it each year.
‘Tis a tribute to ye and yer mother. Eight years ago when I mourned the death
of my beloved wife and our youngest child, few believed I would recover from
such a grievous loss. Although Eva was well enough to return home, she asked to
stay here with the Mackenzies. Her sorrow was as great as yer brothers, and day
by day she tried to lift our spirits in whatever ways she could.”

“That is when Keir and Eva fell in love?”

“Aye, but they were too stubborn to admit it for
almost a year.”

Smiling, Ella acknowledged, “I remember how stubborn
she was when her leg was mending.”

“I too remember that time. From the first moment I saw
Eva with her brothers, I knew the lads were a breed apart from their sire.”

“How?”

Alex smiled down at his daughter and said, “’Twas the
protective, pain filled look in their eyes as their sister clung to them. Aye,
they loved one another. They reminded me of ye and yer brothers. That was the
sole reason I helped them that day.”

“Ye are a good man, Papa,” she said as she wrapped her
arms around his waist. “I missed ye so much.”

No words could describe how good it felt to have his
daughter back in his life. And even though she did not blame him, he blamed
himself. “I am so sorry, Bella. I should have-”

“Nae, Papa. Let us nae speak of sorrow, but rejoice in
our reunion.”

She continued to impress him with her words and
actions. “Ye are so much like yer mother. She would be so proud of ye, just as
I am.”

“Ye are proud of me?”

“Aye, lass. I am truly honored to be yer father.”

“As I am proud to be yer daughter,” she choked out.

They soon came to the circular clearing where her
parents had fallen in love. The grass within was cut short. Towering aspen and
pine trees lined the burn and stood as a canopy over the waterfall.

While Ella glanced around, Alex fought an internal
battle. He had dreaded this moment, but needed to admit the most monumental
regret of his life.

“Bella, I want to explain something afore we continue.
Eight years ago I brought home two burial boxes. I . . . I canna tell ye how
deeply I regret. . .”

“Papa?”

“I only looked in one,” he confessed as he cupped her
face.

Ella could see the anguish in his eyes and hear the
pain in his voice.

“That is how I ken the way she died. Dinna ask how,
but I swear it was nae from yer arrow. After I saw her, I dinna have the heart
to open the other, much smaller box. God, I wish I had!”

“Papa.”

“I ken lass, nae words of guilt.” He kissed her brow,
then added, “Earlier today, while ye were resting, I had that box dug up. I
needed to be sure that it dinna contain the bones of a small child.”

Fear laced her voice as she asked, “What was . . .?”

“Naught but sandbags.”

“Thank god! The thought of Greystone killing a child,
just to . . .”

Alex took hold of both her hands, kissed each one then
said, “Nae, lass. Remember, ‘tis time to rejoice. Go on now, I will meet ye
there in a moment.” He gave her a little nudge to continue down the path.

Ella looked back at her father with apprehension and
confusion. With his hands behind his back, her father gave her an encouraging
smile.

Walking into the forest enclosure, she gasped in
shock. Upon a square limestone platform stood a statue depicting the enduring
bond between mother and daughter. The monument stood as tall as Gavin,
meticulously detailed and elegantly sculpted.

She was mesmerized by the beautiful young mother
gazing lovingly down at her daughter, cupping her cheek with a tender hand.
Covering her mother’s hand with her own, the child stared up with adoring eyes
and an innocent smile.

Standing at arm’s length from the statue, she saw that
the faces of the figures were actually her and her mother’s. Astounded by the
sight and the detail of the sculpture, her hands shook as she reached up to
touch her mother’s face. Ella could almost feel her mother’s presence, the
warmth and love that she always invoked. Absorbing the sight for long moments,
she then read the inscription on the plaque at the base of the statue.

To live in the hearts of
those we love is never to die.

Emma Mackenzie

Our brief parting on
earth will appear one day

as nothing beside the joy
of eternity together.

Cherished mother and
beloved wife.

Isabel ‘Bella’ Mackenzie

Always loving, always
loved.

A miracle and blessing

to her father, brothers
and clan.

Ella sank to her knees beside her mother’s grave,
fully aware and appreciative that her family was now present. They stood on the
edge of the clearing as she turned her gaze to the statue, to her mother.

“I’ve come home, Mama. Yer sister and brother loved
and protected me while I was away. They will come soon, and then we will all be
together. Mama, . . . I love ye, and I . . . ” She had so much to say, but the
emotion was too great. She needed . . .

“Gavin,” she cried out as she turned to face him. He
stood by her father, brothers, Lady Esme, Bowen, Eva as well as the Macleod
blackguard.

He came immediately and knelt down beside her. With
one hand holding hers, the other on her lower back, he radiated warmth, comfort
and safety. And love. Only then was she able to continue speaking to her
mother.

“Mama, I have found such happiness. I’m back with Papa
and my brothers. Aunt Eleanor and Uncle James are safe and well. My husband,
Mama! This is my husband, Gavin. He is Laird of the Macleod Clan and good
friends with Papa. I love him, Mama. I love him with all my heart.”

Excitement surged through her as she continued, “His
family, the blackguard, and the entire Macleod Clan, I love them too.”

“Mama, I wish ye were still alive, but I feel ye with
me. I have always felt ye with me, felt yer love and protection. But here, by
yer waterfall, the place ye fell in love with Papa, yer presence is so much
stronger. I love ye, Mama, and I miss ye so much.”

As she turned and cried into her husband’s chest, she
felt the peace she craved for eight years.

Enfolding his wife in his arms, Gavin finally
understood the intense love Alex had for his wife, Emma. Loving another, their
happiness is essential to your own.
Her pain, grief and sorrow I feel as
deeply as her joy, excitement and passion
. It was a heady, intoxicating
feeling to know that your love was so powerful, so eternal.

The moment she called out for him, wanting him by her
side as she spoke to her mother, made him feel needed and truly loved in
return. He felt a bursting need to express his gratitude to the woman who
touched the lives of so many.

“Thank ye, Emma Mackenzie. The love of my life, yer
daughter, is here today because of ye. ‘Tis yer courage, spirit and generosity
she inherited. I vow to always love, honor and protect her, for she is my
life.”

Ella’s gaze locked with his when she gave her own vow,
“I will love ye in this life and the next, for eternity.”

“Aye, little one, our love will last an eternity.”

Later that evening in the main hall, the Mackenzies
feasted with the Macleods and Frasers in honor of Ella’s return to her family.
The hard stone floors were covered with rushes mixed with sweet smelling herbs
and flowers. Enormous tapestries depicting ancient legends and events lined the
whitewashed walls. The mahogany stained trestle tables that filled the massive
hall were laden with an assortment of steaming platters and flickering candles.
The air was abuzz with conversation and excitement as Alex Mackenzie and his
family entered the great hall.

At the sight of Ella, the massive crowd came to their
feet, letting loose deafening cheers which drowned out the joyous cry of the
small boy pushing his way through the thick of the horde.

When Ella saw Gabriel, she broke away from her husband
and father, then rushed to her nephew. She fell to her knees and embraced the
lad, then cried out how courageous he was, and that she loved him.

The mass that surrounded them stared at the tender
scene, aware of the sacrificed she had made for the boy, who had the time had
been a stranger to her. When Ella stood and walked hand in hand with Gabriel to
the high table, the thunderous roar continued once again.

Alex Mackenzie stood at the center of the table, with
his daughter, Gavin, his brothers and guard seated to his right. His sons sat
to his left, along with Eva, Lady Esme, Bowen and Laird Fraser. Gabriel managed
to procure a seat in between Alex and Keir, much to the amusement of those
watching, since celebratory feasts were usually denied to small children.

Laird Mackenzie grinned down at Gabriel, acknowledging
his presence and that he had earned the right to partake in the celebration.

When his family were all seated, Alex remained
standing, then held up his hand for silence. As he watched his clansmen and
their guests take their seats once again, he was moved by the elation he saw on
their faces. Turning his gaze to his smiling daughter, he felt such pride in
the woman she had become that his vision was momentarily blurred.

As was the norm after battle, a full recounting of the
momentous events was given. Alex gave Osgood the honors, and the redheaded
beast of a man was thrilled to relay the tale, starting with Gabriel’s
kidnapping and ending with Laird Mackenzie’s battle with the Baron of
Greystone. The dramatic energy and vivid detail Osgood put forth was why he was
given this grand task.

When he concluded everyone within the great hall was
rendered speechless and sat in awe for a moment as they absorbed the
extraordinary events of late. They then came to their feet to pay tribute and
reverence to all those sitting at the high table. The applause of the stunned
people started slowly, then grew louder and faster before the proud, triumphant
cheers vibrated the hall.