Bride Trilogy - The China Bride Part 27

Kyle pulled out the official story once more. "We just performed a nominal handfast to help her come to Britain. The term of that will end soon."

"Och, that makes sense. She's a bonnie la.s.s for sure, but a man in your position obviously couldn't marry her for real."

If Logan had made a comment implying that Kyle had done the handfast so he could sleep with Troth, then discard her, Kyle would have broken the whiskey bottle over the other man's head. Luckily, Logan had too much sense for that. Instead, he slanted a crafty glance toward Kyle. "I had some of Elliott House's Earl's Blend Tea. Fine stuff. Should do well. What's in it?"

Kyle smiled. "I may not be a real trader, but I know better than to answer that."

"It was worth a try. No matter, give me some time and I'll figure out the blend," Logan said, unabashed. "All's fair in love, war, and business."

"When do you return to China?"

"July, so I can reach Canton just as the new trading season opens. I wanted to spend spring in Scotland. I miss the summers, though not the winters. I hear you and your handfast bride are going to be taking a trip up to the Highlands?"

"We're leaving the day after tomorrow for Kinnockburn, north of Stirling. My mother was a Highlander, and she left some property there."

"Be sure to take Hugh's daughter to Castle Doom on the way. That will give her a rare view of the Highlands. No doubt you've been there?"

Castle Doom was the nickname of a ruined fortress on top of a ferociously steep hill, and it had some of the grandest views in central Scotland. "It's been years since I visited the place, but you're right, Troth would enjoy it very much. We'll stop on the way to Kinnockburn."

He was determined to make her journey a memorable one, because he suspected that it would be his last chance to win Troth's heart.

So exhilarated that she discarded caution, Troth skipped over to Kyle and caught his hands. "Come, my lord. I swear you're the only man here I haven't danced with yet."

" You haven't danced with me," Caleb Logan said, his eyes gleaming with discreet l.u.s.t. He was one of those men who was stimulated by the thought of mounting exotic women, Troth suspected.

Face straight, Kyle said, "Troth Montgomery, meet Caleb Logan, who was once your father's partner."

"Good evening, Mr. Logan." Troth curtsied gracefully, as if she hadn't seen him often in Canton. But Logan had obviously not made the connection between the interpreter Jin Kang and his old partner's daughter, and she wasn't about to enlighten him. "I heard of you from my father, of course, though it's been many years."

"What did he say?" Logan asked curiously.

"That you showed great promise, and you'd end up a rich man."

Logan laughed. "Hugh must have had a bit of the second sight."

While the trader was still chuckling, Troth detached Kyle and led him onto the floor as the dance music was starting. "I hope you haven't drunk so much whiskey you'll fall flat on the floor."

He smiled at her wickedly. "I'm enough of a Scot to dance best when I've had a wee dram or two or three."

It was the truth, too. He danced the old Scottish reels with pa.s.sion, swift, sure footwork, and a clasp that dizzied her with his nearness when it was time to whirl her around. d.a.m.ning the consequences, she gave herself up to the magic of the moment, for dancing was the closest thing to making love that she dared do with him.

When the reel was done, he took her arm and steered her to the table where cool, tart lemonade was being dispensed. As they sipped their drinks, he asked, "Have you been doing your chi exercises? I came by the Montgomerys' garden the last couple of mornings, but didn't see you."

"I'm afraid not. My grandmother and aunt have been keeping me too busy. I had no idea that so many cousins existed in the world," she said guiltily, knowing she could have found time if she'd wanted. But this early in her acquaintance with her father's family, she didn't want to do anything as strange as wing chun in the garden. Though they'd accepted Troth Montgomery without reservation, she'd wait a bit before introducing them to Mei-Lian. "Wouldn't Mairead make a wonderful tai-tai?"

Kyle laughed. "I think she already is."

James Montgomery leaped onto a chair and called out, "Now that we're all here and merry, I'd like to propose a toast, so if ye havena a gla.s.s in yer hand, get one!"

After everyone complied, James raised his gla.s.s to Troth. " 'Tis blithe to meet, woe to part, and blithe to meet once more. May the sun always s.h.i.+ne upon ye, niece, for ye've brought my brother home."

Tears in her eyes, Troth clutched her lemonade as everyone drank to her. She wanted to say something in return, but her throat had closed up.

Then Kyle said in a voice that carried to all corners of the room, "And here's to the Montgomerys of Melrose, who have proved that there is no hospitality in the world to match that of Scotland."

Everyone drank to that gladly. Troth's tears almost spilled over as Kyle gave her an intimate smile. No one else in the world could understand what tonight meant to her.

A wild skirling pierced the conversation, transfixing everyone in the room. "The piper's come! Aye, the piper's here!"

As people flooded out into the courtyard, Kyle kept an arm around Troth to keep her from being squashed. He always made her feel so safe when there was physical threat. It was emotional situations that made her wary.

Wind-tossed torches in the courtyard illuminated the approach of a Highland piper in full regalia, kilt swinging and bagpipes wailing to set the hair on a man's neck straight up. Troth watched, rapt. No wonder soldiers would follow a piper to h.e.l.l and back.

She also understood why the pipes were played outdoors-the sound would be shattering inside. When the first tune ended and the crowd was applauding, she asked Kyle quietly, "I thought pipes were more from the Highlands?"

"Yes, but all Scots mourned when Highland dress and customs were suppressed after the Forty-Five uprising. Now that kilts and pipes are legal again, they're welcome everywhere in Scotland, especially since the Highland regiments won such honor fighting Napoleon. He called the Highlanders 'devils in skirts.' "

James Montgomery emerged from the crowd with a pair of swords and ceremoniously crossed them on the ground, then announced, "My sister Annie's husband, who fought with the Gordon Highlanders at Waterloo, will do a sword dance."

Troth had met Tam Gordon, a slight, quiet uncle by marriage, but hadn't known of his military past. The piper began to play and Tam stepped forward. His feet moving with dazzling agility, he danced around the swords, his arms raised and exultation on his face.

Kyle said in her ear, "It was considered an omen of victory the next day if the dance could be done without touching one of the swords."

"Can you do the sword dance?"

"I learned it as a boy, but one must wear a kilt to do it properly. Trousers are too tight for true Highland dancing." He placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "Dominic is fond enough of Scotland, but it never spoke to him as strongly as it did me. Perhaps it was because I was given a Scottish name and he wasn't."

Troth had a brief, dizzying image of Kyle in full Highland dress. He'd be a sight to send any female heart into palpitations. Her skin p.r.i.c.kled as she remembered their lovemaking among the apple trees of Dornleigh. For a brief time there, minds and doubts had not come between them...

Sword dance finished, the piper began to play a reel. As couples formed, Kyle caught Troth around the waist and swung her into the music. "It would take a heart of stone not to feel like a Scot tonight."

"And my heart isn't stone, my lord!" Laughing, she surrendered to his lead, her skirts swinging and her hair spilling loose as they danced with the fierce freedom their ancestors had known. Under the black sky and flaring torches, she forgot past and present, forgot everything except the wild wail of the pipes and the man whose masterful hands and strong body warmed the night and ignited all her senses.

She tried to remember the good reasons for not lying with him again. But pain and pride seemed distant and unreal, while the call of the blood was hot and urgent and infinitely more compelling.

Perhaps on their journey to the Highlands they could have one last fling -and the devil take the consequences.

Chapter 41.

Despite her late night at the ceilidh, Troth rose early enough the next morning to creep from the cottage and do her chi and wing chun routines. She half hoped that Kyle would come, but he didn't. He must have given up on her.

After the previous night's vigorous dancing, her muscles welcomed the gentler chi exercises. It was chilly, though. Even this far into spring, Scotland in the early morning was bracing. Not the best part of the world for outdoor exercise. Nonetheless, the familiar movements warmed and soothed her.

She was startled from dreaminess by her grandmother's voice. "Is this some kind of heathen dancing, la.s.s?"

Troth spun around, a little embarra.s.sed to have been caught in her loose Chinese garments. "It's not really dancing. In China it's believed that chi, the energy of life, is in all things, and the right kind of movement helps balance it."

Mairead's brows rose skeptically. "I suppose the exercise is good, if ye don't catch lung fever dancing about in those indecent trousers. I came out to see if ye'd like some breakfast after such a vigorous night."

"It was a wonderful ceilidh, and breakfast would be lovely." s.h.i.+vering a little now that she wasn't moving, Troth accompanied her grandmother inside, then raced up to change into a dress while Mairead fried eggs and toasted bread.

Properly garbed, she enjoyed the meal and the relaxed time alone with her grandmother, since James and Jean were both away from home. She was just finis.h.i.+ng her meal when Mairead disappeared for a moment, then returned and set a ribbon-tied bundle of papers on the scrubbed pine kitchen table.

"I thought ye might like to read some of yer father's letters," Mairead explained as she poured more tea.

Troth caught her breath as she took the first letter from the bundle. Plainly it had been read over and over again, but she would recognize her father's bold, clear hand anywhere. Since his own father had been a schoolteacher, he'd been taught to write well.

The first sentence said exultantly, We have a daughter! Li-Yin is well, though ashamed of not having given me a son, foolish girl. We've named the baby Troth Mei-Lian ("Beautiful Willow"), and I fell in love the instant I clapped eyes on her, for she's the bonniest infant imaginable.

Biting her lip, Troth read through the letters, hearing her father's voice in her ears. During her years in Canton, she had forgotten how well she had been loved as a child.

When tears blurred her eyes so much she could no longer read, her grandmother handed over a handkerchief. "Ye were the joy of his life, Troth. I only wish Hugh had lived long enough to bring ye home himself."

Troth buried her face in the soft, embroidery-edged square, wondering if it was a sign of pregnancy to cry so easily. "Thank you for letting me read the letters, Grandmother. I feel as if he's standing right here beside me."

"Sometimes when I couldna bear the thought that he was dead, I'd reread the letters and pretend he was alive and well on the other side of the world." Tenderly Mairead retied the ribbon around the bundle of letters. "It's nae good to outlive your children."

Feeling very close to her grandmother and wanting to talk about what was occupying her mind, Troth said hesitantly, "I... I think I may be with child."

Mairead glanced up swiftly. "Are ye sure?"

"It's too early to be sure-but my heart is convinced."

"Ye're probably right, then-a woman can know long before she has proof." Mairead smiled. "So ye'll be marrying Maxwell for good, then. I a.s.sume it's his-I wouldna like to think otherwise of my granddaughter."

"It's his, but I have my doubts about marrying him"

Mairead's brows drew together. "James talked to him, and Maxwell said he was willing to do the right thing. Is he a lying Sa.s.senach?"

The right thing. Troth's resistance stiffened. "I'm sure he'd do his duty, but I don't want to be married from obligation. I don't know if I want to be married at all. I thought that with a handfast there was no shame to the woman if the couple decided not to stay together. Kyle doesn't have to know, since I can support my child without him."

"That's true for wild Highlanders, but handfasting is rare around here, especially for educated folk. What's wrong with Maxwell? Does he beat ye?"

"Good heavens, no! He's always been kind and considerate."

"Then ye'd better come up with a stronger reason for nae marrying him than romantic fancies." Mairead c.o.c.ked her head. "Or is this some Chinese way of thinking?"

Troth smiled without humor. "Quite the opposite. In China I was told how I must behave for too many years, and don't want to be dictated to now."

"Ye're Hugh's daughter, right enough." Mairead drummed her fingers on the table. "Ye're a woman grown and we canna force ye to act against your will. But ye must think long and hard about the wisdom of going yer own way at any cost. It takes two people to make a baby. Will ye deprive yer child of his father, and Maxwell of his child? He doesna seem to be an uncaring man."

Troth never should have brought the subject up. Of course, pregnancy wasn't something that could be kept a secret for more than the first few months. "If I decide not to marry Maxwell, will I no longer be welcome here?"

Mairead's face softened. "Ye'll still be my granddaughter, la.s.s. But there will be those in town who'd disapprove, handfast or no handfast. That could make life awkward for yer child if ye raise it here. And what would ye do if ye want more bairns?"

Troth's jaw set stubbornly. "I could marry someone else."

"I doubt there are many men around here that ye'd find to yer taste. I suppose ye could go to Edinburgh-my grandson Jamie moves in good circles, and maybe ye could meet a husband there." She stood and started tidying the table. "But ask yerself what ye'd want in a husband that Maxwell doesna have. He's enough to make a virtuous woman consider violating her vows."

"Grandmother!" Troth said, scandalized.

The old woman smiled mischievously. "I may be an eighty-year-old widow, but I'm nae dead yet, la.s.s. If ye don't want Maxwell, I may decide to find out if he fancies older women."

Laughing, Troth retreated to her attic to pack for her trip to the Highlands. But a small, stubborn core of her resisted the idea of marrying Kyle simply because it was what everyone expected. She'd come to Britain to find freedom. She'd not yield it easily now.

"We'll see ye in a fortnight or so then." Mairead hugged Troth hard. Troth hugged back, then turned to embrace her aunt Jean. She was already missing them and she hadn't even left. Most of her possessions and Pearl Blossom would remain here, waiting for her return. The mere fact that her trunks were ent.i.tled to stay under this roof made her glow with warmth.

"I shall take good care of her, I promise," Kyle said.

"See that ye do," Mairead said gruffly as Kyle helped Troth into the rugged little curricle he'd hired for the trip to Kinnockburn.

Troth knelt backward on her seat, waving until she was out of sight of her grandmother and aunt. When she could no longer see them, she turned and settled down. "I hope that Pearl Blossom will be all right while I'm gone."

"I'm sure she will be. Your grandmother raised four children, she can certainly look after one undersized cat for a fortnight. Even one as h.e.l.l-bent on trouble as Pearl Blossom." Kyle turned the carriage from the lane onto the main road through Melrose. "Have you decided to live here?"

"Does this mean you've given up on the thought of courts.h.i.+p?"

His answer was slow in coming. "You seemed so happy and complete in Melrose. It's hard to imagine that you need a husband." Briefly she had dreamed of having a cottage within walking distance of her grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins. She'd planned to learn how to cook and garden, order books from Edinburgh, buy a placid horse to ride over the hills. Those people who looked askance at her foreign face would soon become used to her, and to her child, who would probably look more Scottish than not.

But her conversation with Mairead the day before had woken her from her dreams. In the first rush of pleasure at being welcomed by her father's family, she hadn't appreciated that there were levels of acceptance. She didn't doubt that the bond of blood was a powerful tie that ent.i.tled her to warmth and support from the Montgomerys. But blood didn't mean they would always see the world as she did, or approve of all her actions.

Melrose was a small market town, its population limited and h.o.m.ogenous. Even a Highlander like her uncle Tam Gordon was considered foreign. No matter what she did, she'd always be Hugh Montgomery's Chinese daughter.

Not only would she never be fully a member of the community, but she would have few neighbors who'd be interested in the wide world beyond Scotland. Even with a friendly family, in many ways she'd be very isolated.

"I haven't made my mind up," she said with forced lightness. "Melrose is lovely but small. It would be difficult to have secret lovers to supply my life with yang."

"Yin and yang is one area where we had no problems."

"But it's not enough." Realizing they should clear the air-or at least draw their lines-at the start of this journey, she continued, "I don't understand you, Kyle, or your reservations about marriage. Why do you think you're unfit to be a husband?"

"I see that Oriental subtlety has been abandoned in favor of Scottish bluntness," he said dryly, his gaze returning to the road.

"That's not an answer."

"If I had a clear answer, I'd give it to you." A muscle jumped in his jaw. "I fear that... that there's a part of me missing."

For the length of a long hill, she pondered what he'd said. Deciding to try a more oblique approach, she asked, "Why did you want so much to travel?

Was it merely to see the world's oddities, or were there deeper reasons?"

"Both." He reined in the curricle as they came on a flock of sheep ambling over the road. "I loved seeing different lands and learning about customs and ideas, but even more than knowledge, I sought... understanding."