Sorcha shook her head. "Nay, my lady. "Tis the anniversary of Kieran"s death. This is the very day his brother Lochlan went out to find the lad and found his sword and plaid lying on the banks of the loch."
Nora went cold at her words. "Ewan drowned his brother?"
Sorcha pulled back with a scowl. "Whatever makes you say that?"
"I"ve heard rumors that Ewan killed his brother."
"Nay, my lady. Kieran killed himself because Ewan ran off with the lady they both loved. I was there that very day when Kieran had learned Ewan and Isobail were gone. He couldn"t believe that he had lost his lady to his brother. Heartsick, he"d told his family that he needed some time alone. Ewan was probably halfway to London by the time Kieran took his own life."
Nora frowned at that last bit. "Halfway to London?"
"Aye, they were going to the lady"s aunt. She was supposed to shelter them. Only "twas a lie the lady told Ewan so that he would take her off to England to meet with her lover. The poor wee lad was devastated when she left him."
Nora felt ill at the news. No wonder the man had looked so angry when she had posed her suggestion to him.
"Oh, Sorcha, I am such a fool."
"How so?"
"I asked Ewan to take me to London so that I could stay with my aunt and avoid marrying a man I loathe."
Sorcha gaped.
"I didn"t know," she hastened to a.s.sure the woman. Oh, but she felt terrible over this. "I can"t believe I said it today of all days, no less. At least now I know why he looked as if he wanted to strangle me."
No wonder the poor man had been lying drunk in his bed. He"d probably been doing his best to forget the pain he had caused his brother.
Nora wished she could undo what she"d done. She wished she could take back this day and have plotted her course on any day save this one.
If only she"d known...
Sorcha cleared her throat as Ewan headed back toward them. His eyes were still rimmed in red, but clearer than they"d been when he"d first started this trip.
He walked with his shoulders back, a proud man. Still, the sad torment in his eyes betrayed the inner pain he felt.
Pain she had unknowingly added to.
He"d started past them when Nora called out to him. "Ewan?"
He paused to look at her.
"Might I have a word with you?"
Sorcha excused herself as Ewan came to stand beside her.
"Do you need something?" he asked gruffly.
"I..." Nora swallowed as she tried to think of what she should say to him.
I"m sorryseemed somehow paltry given what she"d done to him this day, the memories she"d unknowingly dredged up.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "I really appreciate your doing this favor for me even though you didn"t have to. It was very kind of you."
She raised up on her tiptoes and laid a quick kiss on his cheek before heading toward the cottage.
Ewan was dumbstruck by her actions.
She"d thanked him?
She"dkissed him.
He didn"t know which one stunned him more, and for his life he couldn"t understand what had prompted either action.
The la.s.s was an odd one to be sure. Peculiar and strange. And yet on some level she was rather charming, especially when her mouth was closed.
Bemused by her, he followed the women inside the cottage.
Aenos was already seated at the wooden table in the middle of the main room, pouring large goblets of ale.
Without taking a seat in one of the five chairs, Ewan grabbed his goblet and downed it in one gulp, then belched loudly.
As he set the goblet down to be refilled, he caught Nora"s horrified face as she sat herself in the chair next to Aenos.
"Why, I don"t think I"ve ever seen a man swallow the whole of his cup with one breath," she said, her tone chiding. "If you keep that up, you"ll be drunk in a matter of minutes."
He scoffed at her warning as he pulled a chair out for himself and sat down. "Trust me, it"ll take more than a few minutes."
He nodded to Aenos, who poured the goblet full.
Sorcha made them trenchers of roasted ham with leeks and onions.
As was his custom, Ewan ignored the food and continued to drink. He also did his best to ignore the lady who sat across from him.
Something that proved to be impossible. All he could see was the firelight playing in the golden highlights of her hair. The way the shadows played across her creamy skin.
The delicate grace of her hands as she used them to cut her food and eat.
Nora was pure elegance.
And it made him ache with desire for her.
She didn"t say anything else about his drinking, but chattered with Sorcha.
" "Tis so kind of you to feed us, good wife. I"m sorry we arrived unannounced."
Sorcha waved her words away. "We"re used to it. Ewan comes to us all the time like this."
Nora looked at him expectantly. "Then why did you pa.s.s by the village?"
"I wanted to get you to Lochlan as soon as possible."
"Then why did you double back?"
Because a lady so fine deserves better than to sleep on soggy ground with me for company.
That was something he had no intention of explaining to her. "Because I wanted to."
Ewan poured more ale and downed it, then poured more. He took the goblet and pitcher and made for the door.
Frowning, Nora watched him leave.
"Aenos, go after him," Sorcha said. "I don"t want him sleeping in the barn again. He caught a cold and was sick for days the last time he did that."
Aenos nodded and got up to follow him.
After Aenos left, Nora turned to Sorcha. "Sorcha, why is Lord Ewan so-"
"Gruff?"
"Surly and drunken was what I wanted to say, but gruff works as well."
"Guilt, my lady, is hard on a man. Every day he lives that his brother doesn"t is a day he feels he owes to Kieran."
"What do you mean?"
Sorcha traced a circle on the table for a minute as if debating whether she should answer. When she spoke, her voice was scarce more than a whisper, as if she were imparting a secret to her. "Well, one night when the lad was drunk, he said something that has stuck in my mind. He said that he didn"t deserve comfort while his brother was lying at the bottom of a cold loch because he was a fool."
Nora frowned at that. "But his cave is furnished in luxury."
"Aye, the doing of his mother once she saw how he was living up there in the hills with nothing at all for comfort. Not even a blanket to warm him. The lady couldn"t stand the thought of him in such misery, so she led an army of helpers and threatened to come every day if he removed any of it."
Nora smiled at his mother"s kindness. "So he intends to waste away his life because his brother is dead?"
"It appears so."
Nora sat back as she thought that over. Why would he throw away his life because his brother was weak?
"Well, what foolishness is that?" she asked.
"My lady, you don"t understand how close they were."
"Perhaps not, but does he honestly think that his drinking and such would make his brother happy?"
It didn"t make any sense at all that he would think that or act the way he did.
Before Nora could think better of it, she got up and went outside to find Ewan.
He was sitting on a log at the rear of the cottage drinking with Aenos.
The instant he saw her, he cursed. "Why are you out here?"
She didn"t answer. Instead, she took the goblet from his hand and poured it out.
His face flushed with anger. "What are you doing?"
The answer was so obvious that she didn"t bother explaining. Instead, she grabbed the pitcher and headed back toward the house.
Nora didn"t get far before Ewan caught her.
"Give me that," he said, trying to take it from her hands.
"Nay," she said firmly.
His face was aghast. "Nay?"
"Nay."
Ewan reached for it again.
Nora twisted and tried to get past him, but somehow in the process she ended up dousing both of them and stumbling.
So intent on regaining his ale, Ewan didn"t think to catch either one of them. They landed on the ground, limbs entwined with Nora on top of him.
His body reacted instantly to the feel of her softness squirming against him.
For a moment, he couldn"t move. All he could do was feel her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest, her legs against his, her breath falling on his face.
It had been so long since he last held a woman, so long since he had seen a woman as fair as this one who didn"t belong to one of his brothers.
Longing pierced him as he focused his gaze on her parted lips.
Taste her.
It was all he could do not to yield to the anguished need he felt for her. To the heated fury of his groin that begged for a wee taste of her body.
Aye, she was all fire and beauty. And he wanted her in a way most mad.
Nora couldn"t breathe as she stared down into Ewan"s perfect blue eyes. Never in her life had she been this close to a man.
Who knew one would be so hard, so... well, masculine.
She felt a peculiar urge to rub herself against him, to feel his hardness with the whole of her body.
His eyes were dark, dangerous as he watched her in silence.
"Here, my lady," Aenos said as he joined them. "Let me help you up."
Ewan cursed again, and as Aenos helped her up she saw their clothes, and she realized why he"d done that. They were both drenched by ale.