The Highlander's Time

asked you first. Father Thomas told me she wouldn't agree, but I had to try.”
    She bowed her head. The afterglow of the great sex they’d shared ripped away that quickly. “I just couldn't bear the thought of her having to deal with all those kids alone. And, Mary, she's become meaningful to me.” Blurting out the rote statements Father Thomas had taught her did nothing to assuage her guilty conscience. “She said she wanted to stay, so I didn't think you'd mind, but then I realized this is your home, and I couldn't undo what I already had done.”
    Unable to deny her curiosity, she glanced at him. “Tell me you're not that mad. Please, I couldn't bear it if I destroyed our marriage before it even got started.” This was a learned trait and she knew it. After her mother's death, she'd done anything for a teeny tiny drop of her father's affection or even for his attention.
    “Milady shouldnae beg,” Iaen told her plainly. He tilted her face up to his with the tips of his fingers. She stared into his eyes, darkened by the play of firelight across his strong features and hopefully still hazed from sex. “I owe you a deep debt of gratitude, milady. Forever has Patricia stubbornly refused to leave her cottage, even when I ordered her.”
    “I don't understand. Why wouldn't she want to live here? It's not like she expects special treatment. In fact, she's been a great help with Lila. If everything goes as planned, Lila might even get to join the high table this week.” It was a lie, but she had to show him she'd made some progress during his absence.
    The truth was that if Lila kept on as she was, she'd join them for a meal when hell froze over.
    “Ah, lass, the clan can be very...” he gazed at her, a frown marring his brow. She suspected he was trying to find a word she'd understand. “...hard on women who live with a man not their husband.”
    “You mean,” it was her turn to play hunt and seek for a common word, “they have gossiped about her.”
    “Aye.”
    “That's not very fair.” Insulted, she recalled the past ten days when she'd dodged rumors regarding Lila, doing minimal damage control and trying to right her boss's reputation, she sighed. Lila, like Charlzie and herself, had come to grips with what Father Thomas called 'The Veil'. They were stuck here, probably for the rest of their lives. “It's not fair at all.”
    He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. A long pause of silence stretched between them as he settled her in the middle then walked around to his side. Once he'd lain next to her, he brushed a wisp of hair from her face. “Life is rarely fair, Jenny.”
    “True, but Patricia is mother to the orphans. How could they think ill of her? She works from sunup to sundown taking care of those kids.”
    “Because they can.” He adjusted her in his arms so she lay curled against his side. “I wouldnae say I agree with them, but there is naught I can do to stop the whispers.”
    “Can't you pass some sort of law, or something?”
    “They wouldnae follow it even if I did.”
    “Then how can a person ever feel like a member of the clan?”
    An exasperated sigh raised his chest then deflated it. “Jenny, you have to stop the whispers when they first start.”
    She rejected how his thick brogue turned her on. “You mean, prove them wrong from the get go and hope for the best.”
    “Gaelic, lass.”
    Realizing she'd done what she always did when she was stressed and sprinkled her statement with English; she traced her finger across an old scar on his chest. He covered her hand with his own to stop the movement. “Sorry.” She forced her brain to concentrate on the problem at hand. “How would you handle the gossip?”
    “On the morrow, I'll show you.”
    “Promise me you will.”
    “Milady, you insult me.”
    She peeked up to see him glaring at her with a hard glint. “I didn't mean to. I'm just trying to get some footing with this.”
    “On the morrow, Jenny. For now, get some sleep. You look ready to drop, wife.”
    Which was a big part of her problem. She stayed up most nights with Mary, her breath held as she waited for Lila's next stupid antic to come to light. So far, Lila had gone so far as to not only make a nuisance of herself, yet two days ago she’d clocked Malcolm over the head with a tin pitcher. He'd laughed off the incident, but Jenny couldn't.
    Some how, some way, she had to get Lila to abide someone. Hell, she'd even make a deal with the