Chapter 21

Norah had written her father a long letter telling him what her circumstances were, and what had happened in her life since the last time she had seen him. She had omitted to tell him where she was living, however, since she did not trust him to keep her secret. She had not expected to receive an answer, but an answer had arrived a few days later in the shape of her father himself.

The morning of his arrival was two days before the wedding, and now Liam Brown was standing uncomfortably before his daughter, looking anywhere but in her eyes.

Norah had seen the carriage in which he was traveling drawing up in the courtyard of the castle while she was speaking to one of the guards. Its glossy outside panels were spattered with mud and it looked as though it had traveled a long way. Such vehicles were not uncommon, since many important people visited Laird McMillan, but there was something about this one that piqued her curiosity. Accordingly, she went outside to see who the important visitor was, and almost fell down with shock as she saw her father alighting from it.

However, he was not the only passenger. A very old, familiar friend was there too, and when she stepped out of the carriage, looking a little bewildered, Norah gave a little shriek and ran to her to hug her tightly, tears of happiness flowing down her face. "Oh, Caitrin! It is so good to see you. I have been so worried about you!"

The old woman laughed, tightening her arms around the young woman whom she now thought of as her granddaughter. "Good to see you an' a' hen," she answered. "I have missed ye." She cupped Norah's face with her gnarled old hands and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Did you get my letter?" Norah asked anxiously. At the same time as she had written to her father, Norah had written a letter to the priest at Rosblane, since she knew Caitrin could not read.

"Aye, I did, hen," Caitrin replied. "One o' the boys read it tae me, then the priest asked your father if he could bring me." She smiled at him, but he ignored her.

Just then, Liam cleared his throat. "Norah? Are you not going to greet your father?" He smiled at her in an uncomfortable, embarrassed fashion.

Norah looked him up and down then curled her lip and said in disgust: "I was not aware I had a father." Her voice was throbbing with derision. "Are you the man who tried to make me marry a disgusting old lecher? You are not my father!"

"I am sorry about that," Liam said, having the grace to look ashamed. "But may we talk a little later? I need to explain some things to you."

Norah nodded. "If you wish," she replied tonelessly. "Where are you staying?"

"I thought I might stay with the Laird?" he asked hopefully.

Norah almost laughed out loud. "You can ask, but we have told him our story, and you did not fare well in it, so I think you would be better off at the local inn, if they will have you. I will take care of my friend." She squeezed Caitrin's shoulders.

"I see." Once more, Liam Brown looked at the floor and nodded, then he climbed back into his carriage. "I will come to see you later."

"Yes." Norah's voice was frosty as she turned away. Then she looked at her friend and gave her another hug. "Come on, I have so much to tell you - so much has happened since the last time we met." Then Norah led Caitrin into the castle, where she took her friend to the kitchen. In a moment, a crowd of friendly kitchen maids had set plates of bread, cheese and sweetmeats in front of them, and joined in with their conversation enthusiastically. They added contributions of their own, and made a few distinctly saucy remarks about the wedding night that made Norah blush.

Caitrin began to look a little sleepy after a while. She was an old woman, after all, and had just traveled a long way.

Suddenly possessed by an imp of mischief, Norah had an idea. She smiled at Caitrin and said, "let me show you where you are staying."

They went down the dusty village street to the Black Hammer Inn, which was the only one in the village. It was mainly used by travelers and made no pretensions of luxury, and Norah knew it was not the kind of establishment in which her father would feel comfortable.

Caitrin was thrilled when she realized that she had a room of her own. "Who is payin' for a' this?" she asked, puzzled.

Norah smiled, but shook her head. "Never you mind," she said firmly. "You are not to worry about it. You deserve all of the wonderful things we can give you, so don't complain. I will be staying next door, so we can talk for hours."

The old woman beamed. "What a good lassie ye are!" she said warmly.

Tearlach was delighted when he heard that Caitrin had arrived for the wedding, but somewhat less so when he heard about Norah's father. When he met the old lady again he threw his arms around her and hugged her so tightly that she squealed in fright. Tearlach let her go and kissed her cheek.

"I am so glad to see ye!" Caitrin cried, "an' both o' ye lookin' so well. An' gettin' married too! Well, I wondered how long it would take ye to realize you were made for each other!"

"I think we always knew," Norah said fondly, looking at Tearlach, who put his hand over hers on the table. They smiled at each other while Caitrin looked on happily.

Norah, Caitrin and Tearlach had a fine supper at the inn, exchanging news and gossip. When they had just cleared their plates, Norah's father appeared. He hesitated for a moment, and looked as if he would approach them, but Tearlach stood up and glared at him, then pointed to a table further away.

"I have to talk to him," Norah murmured to Tearlach. "Please leave us alone for a while."

Tearlach looked very uncomfortable, but nodded. They both kissed Caitrin and the landlady saw her to her chamber, then Tearlach watched from a distance as Norah approached her father's table and sat down.

His gaze flicked up to hers for a moment then back down to his hands, which were resting on top of each other on the table.

"It is customary to look at someone when you are talking to them." Norah's voice was cool. "In fact, it is rude not to."

Reluctantly, Liam dragged his gaze up to Norah's. What he saw was a very different young woman to the one who had fled from his house just a few months before. This Norah was not the obedient, biddable girl who he would bend to his will. This was a woman, one who had become independent with a will of her own, and a rather strong one at that.

Liam Brown had somehow thought that there might be some chance of taking his daughter back with him to marry a younger and more handsome man, one whom she would not find so repugnant. However, he could see now that it was a forlorn hope, and would have been even if she had not been promised to the big, wild-looking Tearlach McLachlan.

"Why are you here?" she asked at once, glaring at him.

"Because you wrote to me," he answered. "I thought you might have wanted me to be at your wedding and give you away."

Norah looked at him for a moment in disbelief then threw back her head and laughed heartily. "And what made you think that, Father dear?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Because you tried giving me away before, remember? I seem to recall that didn't work out too well. You were trying to wed me to a man who was old enough to be my father and almost old enough to be my grandfather. I was surprised, though, that you did not pursue me further. Did you not want it to be known that your little girl disobeyed you? Perhaps I was not valuable enough any more. Or did you just not care?"

Despite herself, Norah had always been rather hurt by her father's indifference to her, except when it suited him to appear to be a loving father. The image he projected to the outside world had always been more important to her than she was. She had always known that she was less of a daughter and more of a means to an end, and that end was to make himself the most important person in his social circle. This would, of course, make him richer, and so ultimately she was not really being married, but sold.

"I pursued you that first night because your bridegroom was determined to catch you." Liam sighed and frowned. "I knew it was useless to chase you because you had been riding all your life. However, after that day, he wanted nothing more to do with me. I have not seen him from that day to this, and he has smeared my reputation to such an extent that many of my former colleagues will not work with me any more." He paused, then looked up, straight into her eyes. "I did look for you, but you seemed to have disappeared into thin air, and in the end I gave up."

"I was two days" ride away from our village," Norah stated firmly. "Clearly you were not looking very hard. Father, please do not insult my intelligence any more. All my life I have had to beg for what I wanted unless it suited you to give it to me. I even had to let you dictate the times I could play with my friends. No more. This is my life now, and I am marrying the man I love whether you like it or not."

Liam Brown sighed and nodded with acceptance. "Please forgive me, Norah," he asked quietly, looking and feeling ashamed. "I have been a bad father to you."

"Yes, you have," Norah agreed, then she paused. "But I will forgive you, even though it will take time."

"And you will let me come to the wedding?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course." She stood up. "Excuse me, Father, but I have things to do. I have arranged with the landlady that you will pay for our room, so thank you. Goodnight."

She walked back to Tearlach, who put his arm around her waist and led her out. Liam sat for a while, looking completely stunned.