"Oh, Papa," Clare whispered. "I'm sorry. I shamed you with my…" Her sobs prevented her from going on. Johanna hurried to hand Clare a linen cloth.

"Stop that now," her father ordered. "I do not wish to see you weep."

"I'm sorry," Clare said again. "I cannot seem to stop."

The laird shook his head. "You should have made me listen to you when you came running home, daughter, instead of disgracing yourself with a MacBain. Getting yourself with child wasn't the answer. Now you'll give me the bastard's name and I'll settle my grievances with him."

"Begging your pardon for interrupting," Johanna said, "but I thought Clare came home to you after the first beating. Isn't that fact?"

"There were no bruises," the laird replied. "I thought she made the tale up to gain my sympathy. I'm a man who admits he's wrong when he is," he added with a nod.

Father MacKechnie was pleased to hear the laird's confession. "It's a fair start," he remarked.

"Give me the name of the man, Clare."

"Father, I'm sorry you're disappointed in me. You mustn't blame the MacBains, for this was fully my sin."

"I'm wanting the name, daughter."

Johanna didn't care for the laird's harsh tone of voice. She moved to put herself between father and daughter.

Gabriel saw the expression on her face and immediately reached out to take hold of her arm. Laird MacKay also realized what Johanna was doing.

"Do you think to protect my daughter from me?" he asked. He sounded astonished.

Johanna didn't answer his question. She tried to turn his attention.

"I have misjudged you, sir, for I now realize you do love your daughter. Clare needs rest now. She took several blows to the head, and she's very weak. Why, even now she's struggling to keep her eyes open."

She prayed Clare would take the hint. She nodded to the laird to emphasize her lie, then moved aside so he could see his daughter.

Clare had caught onto the plan. Her eyes were closed, and she looked as though she'd already fallen asleep. Johanna lowered her voice when she said, "Do you see, Laird? She needs rest if she is ever going to recover. 'Tis the truth she could still die."

"I was wanting to take her back home with me," the laird whispered back.

"She's getting excellent care here, Laird," Father MacKechnie announced. "Your daughter doesn't appear to be strong enough to go anywhere. Best leave her be. She's under Laird MacBain's protection. She can't have better than that."

"She does have better," Gabriel interjected. "She has my wife's protection as well."

Laird MacKay found his first smile. "I can see that she does."

"Perhaps we should go downstairs to discuss this worrisome topic," Father MacKechnie suggested. "The matter of who fathered her child can wait, can't it?"

"The man will wed my daughter. I'm wanting your assurance. MacBain."

Gabriel frowned. "I put the question to each…"

Johanna interrupted. "He asked some of his soldiers," she blurted out. "But not all of them, of course. There are… so many, and some haven't returned from… duties. Isn't that right, husband?"

Gabriel didn't blink an eye over his wife's lie. "That is correct," he announced.

"But I'm wanting to know, Laird, if you stand with me on the marriage issue," MacKay muttered. "Will you demand the soldier responsible for disgracing Clare marry her?"

"I will."

MacKay looked satisfied. The priest hurried over to the entrance and pulled the door open. Laird MacKay gave his daughter an awkward pat on her shoulder and then turned to leave. Gabriel gave Johanna a hard wait-until-I-get-you-alone look before following Clare's father out the doorway.

"You took my daughter in, MacBain, protected her, too, and your wife has shown her compassion. I won't be warring against you if a marriage comes about. We could have us a fair alliance…"

Father MacKechnie pulled the door closed, cutting off Laird MacKay's remarks.

Johanna collapsed into the chair and let out a loud sigh.

"You may open your eyes now, Clare."

"What are we going to do, Johanna? I have to tell my father the truth."

Johanna nibbled on her lower lip while she thought about the problem.

"At least now we know you won't be sent back to the MacInnes clan. Your father might have been blinded before by the fever of an alliance, but he certainly had his eyes opened just now. When he saw the bruises on your face, he was convinced. He loves you, Clare."

"I love him, too," Clare whispered. "I didn't mean it when I said I hated him. I was… angry. Oh, what a mess I've made. I don't know what Father will do when he finds out I'm not carrying."

Long minutes passed in silence. Then Johanna straightened in her chair. "There's only one solution to this problem."

"I know," Clare said, guessing Johanna was going to instruct her to tell the truth. "I have to…"

Johanna smiled. "Get married."

"I what?"

"Don't look so stunned, Clare. It's a sound solution."

"Who would have me? I'm supposed to be carrying, remember?"

"We're clever enough to think of a solution," Johanna insisted. "We'll find someone suitable."

"I don't want to get married."

"Are you being stubborn or sincere?"

"Both, I think," she admitted. "The thought of marrying anyone remotely like Robert MacInnes makes my stomach turn."

"Of course it does, but if we can find someone who realizes your value and treats you with respect, then wouldn't you be happy to marry him?"

"Such a man does not exist."

"My husband is such a man."

Clare smiled. "He's already married."

"Aye, he is," Johanna agreed. "But there are other men almost as perfect," she added in a whisper.

"You are so fortunate, Johanna."

"Why is that, Clare?"

"You love your husband."

Johanna didn't react to the truth for a long minute. Then she leaned back in her chair and let all her indecision and her insecurities go.

"I do love him."

The wonder in her voice made Clare smile. "Have you only just realized it?"

Johanna shook her head. "I do love him," she repeated. "But I realize now I have loved him for a long time. Isn't it odd I couldn't acknowledge my feelings, even to myself? I have been foolishly trying to protect myself," she added with a nod. "No one likes to feel vulnerable. Good God, I love him with all my heart."

The sound of her laughter filled the chamber. It was filled with such joy, Clare found herself laughing, too.

"I assume you've never told him how you feel," Clare remarked.

"No," Johanna answered.

"Then what do you say when he tells you he loves you?"

"Oh, Gabriel has never told me he loves me," she explained. "He doesn't realize it, you see, at least not yet. Eventually he'll acknowledge he loves me, but I doubt he'll ever tell me."

She paused to laugh again. "My husband is so unlike the barons in England, and I thank God for that blessing. The men I knew there would sing sweet ballads to the ladies they held in esteem. They hired others to write down poetic words of love for them to recite. The men were quite flowery in their pretty speeches. Most of it was nonsense, of course, and certainly insincere, but the barons believed they were chivalrous. They all held courtly love in high regard."

Clare's curiosity had been caught, and she asked Johanna several more questions about the men in England. A good hour passed in conversation before Johanna finally insisted Clare get some rest.

"Now that your father has seen you, do let Glynis trim your hair."

Clare agreed. Johanna stood up to take her leave.

"Will you tell your husband the truth about me?" Clare asked.

"Yes," Johanna answered. "Eventually," she hastily added. "I must choose the right moment."

"What will he do?"

Johanna opened the door before replying. "He'll growl something fierce I imagine, and then he'll help me figure out what to do."

Hilda was coming down the hallway with a tray of food for her patient. Johanna backed up so the cook could get past her.

"Laird MacKay left," Hilda announced. "He's going to let you stay here until you're strong enough to go home with him, lass. Lady Johanna, they're waiting on you to start supper. The men are surly with hunger. You'd best get yourself down there."

Hilda placed the tray on Clare's lap. "You, lass, are going to eat every morsel, and I'm going to stand here to see that you do. You need to regain your strength," she added with a nod.

Johanna turned to leave, then suddenly stopped. "If either of you ladies should hear a commotion coming from the hall, please don't be concerned. I've planned a little surprise, you see, and some of the soldiers might become a bit upset."

Hilda and Clare both demanded to know what the surprise was. Johanna shook her head. "You'll find out soon enough," she promised.

Johanna wouldn't let them prod her into explaining. She went down to her chamber and changed into the plaid she'd hidden under the bed. Alex came into the room while she was adjusting her pleats under her belt.

"Hurry and shut the door," she ordered.

"What for?" Alex asked.

He didn't seem to want an explanation. He didn't notice anything different about her plaid either. The little boy ran over to his bed, lifted the mat, and pulled out a long wooden sword.

"Auggie's going to show me how to fence," he announced.

"Have you had your supper?" Johanna asked.

"I ate with Auggie," Alex answered as he ran for the door.