CHAPTER FIFTEEN
2 weeks later…
Dunnottar Castle
Kincardinshire, Scotland
livia glanced down at the boy walking at her side, his face a study in grim determination. She smiled, unable to help the way her heart ached at the sight of Gawain, who was so much like Niall, it was uncanny. Dark hair, dark eyes, a stature far greater than other boys his age, and a solemn face. When her husband had come to her with this notion of taking him in to raise alongside Serena at Dunvar House, she’d only experienced a moment’s hesitation.
Her reticence had had nothing to do with the boy—he had not asked to be born to Conall and could have a better life with them. No, her worry had been over how Gawain might take to being sent away and thrust into an entirely new world away from his mother. Would he like Olivia and Serena? Would he even want anything to do with them?
But, of course, she had agreed that the boy should come to live with them, and the very next day, Niall had gone to fetch him. He had warned her how much Gawain resembled him, but she had still been unprepared for the child who had been presented to her—filthy and dressed in rags, but still the handsomest little boy she’d ever seen.
He had been wary of her, of course, but had confessed that his maw had explained everything to him before he’d left. He understood that he was being brought to live with his brother and his wife and daughter, and that he was to have an education and a far better life than the one his sire would have provided. He’d been quiet and reserved, though had enjoyed the new clothing and bedchamber that had been given to him. Far too thin upon arriving on their doorstep, he was now beginning to fill out, his love of the food at Dunvar House giving him the additional weight.
Not long after Gawain had come to live with them, they had received a letter from Adam. He’d returned to Dunnottar after Bertram’s execution and wished for them to come visit right away. Apparently, there was news he must share with them in person. There had not been time to apprise him of the situation concerning Gawain, so Adam did not know that four of them had come from Edinburgh instead of three.
Thus, Gawain’s grave expression as they alighted the front steps of the massive, ancient castle her brother had acquired and renovated five years prior. The keep was a piece of Scottish history, having once been a holding of William the Lion, an ancestor of Adam on his mother’s side. Built upon the edge of a steep escarpment with the ocean beyond, it might just be the most beautiful place she’d ever seen.
She watched the boy stare up at the massive double doors leading into the keep, and she wanted to reach out to touch him, reassure him. Yet, she refrained. The lad liked her well enough, but still missed his mother. He did not care for displays of affection, and she did not want to make him uncomfortable.
“Do all earls live in castles?” he asked, gazing up at Niall, who had just knocked upon the door.
Niall, who held Serena’s hand, and the puppy Daphne in the crook of his opposite arm, smiled down at his brother. “No. Only the eccentric ones.”
Gawain frowned and turned to look to her. “What does ‘ecc-cen-tric’ mean?”
He always turned to her with such questions, seeming to think her the more knowledgeable between them, being a noble lady and all.
“It means strange,” she told him with a little laugh. “And my brother certainly qualifies as that. But, I have a feeling he will like you.”
Gawain relaxed a bit, adjusting his coat and then smoothing his hands down the front of his waistcoat. He had been quite fastidious in dressing himself this morning, wanting to look his best to impress the earl.
The door swung open, and a servant Olivia recognized as a former footman greeted them. It appeared he’d been promoted to the post of butler. As he ushered them in, they found Adam already waiting for them. He stood just within the vestibule dressed as he always did when in the Scottish countryside—indecently, without cravat or waistcoat, his hair unbound and hanging wild down his back.
At the sight of them, he came forward, a slight smile curving his lips. “Butterfly.”
She practically flew into his arms, finding that she’d missed him, even after so short a time apart. “Hart.”
He embraced her, then stood back to inspect the rest of the family. At the sight of Gawain, he frowned. “Who’s this?”
Niall come forward, pulling Gawain along with him. The boy stared up at Adam in awe, a bit of curiosity gleaming in his eyes as he took the earl’s measure.
“Adam, this is my brother, Gawain,” Niall said, beaming proudly as he indicated the boy. “He has come to live with us at Dunvar House. Gawain, this is Lord Adam Callahan, my brother-in-law.”
“And the only friend he’s ever had,” Adam quipped, offering the boy a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Gawain.”
He did not bat an eyelash at being so suddenly introduced to Niall’s brother, though she could see the questions in the depths of his stare. She nodded to indicate they would explain in good time.
“And where is my little princess?” Adam asked, glancing about the vestibule as if he could not see Serena standing just before him. “Oh, dear … did you leave her in Edinburgh?”
Serena giggled, jumping up and down to capture his attention. “I’m right here, Uncle Adam!”
He pretended to be startled by her, glancing down with a gasp. “Well, now, there you are. How does Uncle Adam’s princess fare today?”
She leapt into his arms, giggling when he kissed her, his stubble tickling her cheek. “I’m hungry!”
“It just so happens that luncheon is being served in the dining room,” he declared, motioning for them all to follow him. “The news I wish to tell you … well, it will all become evident once we get there.”
Curiosity had Olivia practically tearing off her coat and gloves to hand them off to a footman. Whatever was going on, Adam had been deuced secretive about it, insistent that they come immediately. She wondered what it could be as they followed him to the dining room, Serena still held in his arms. It must be good, considering Adam’s fair mood. He was a far cry from the man they’d left in London after the events of Bertram’s arrest and trial.
The answer became evident as they stepped into the dining room to find the table laden with several dishes and footmen ensuring everything was in readiness for them. A figure seated at one end of the table caught her eye—a woman dressed in a sprigged muslin day gown of white and lilac, a bit of matching ribbon tied about her throat in the style of a choker. Shock rippled through Olivia as she stood to greet them, a wide smile crossing her face and mirth twinkling in her eyes.
“Daphne!” Serena cried, leaping out of Adam’s arms and rushing to her aunt.
The puppy in Niall’s arms barked and squirmed in response to her name, prompting laughter as they all watched Serena throw her arms around the lady Daphne’s legs and squeeze tight.
Olivia and Niall traded bemused looks while Adam went to Daphne and Serena, standing beside them to face the others.
“What is going on?” Olivia blurted, taking in the way Daphne looked to Adam, who placed a possessive hand at the back of her neck.
“My news is Daphne,” he said with a little smirk.
“But, I thought …”
“Ye left her in London,” Niall finished for her. “What happened?”
Daphne laughed, tousling Serena’s hair. “He was determined to leave me behind, but I was having none of it.”
“She came after me,” Adam said, trying his hardest to sound displeased about it, but failing miserably. “I supposed I ought to keep her, after all.”
“We were married in Gretna Green, barely a fortnight ago,” Daphne added, holding up her left hand to display a ring.
Olivia recognized the piece as having belonged to Adam’s mother—a diamond in a setting of silver with tiny rubies adorning the band.
“Married?” she mumbled, her head spinning as she digested this development.
It was the last thing she might have expected to hear, but the most welcome thing in the world. Adam’s one final chance at happiness had not been thrown away, after all, and now, their family was complete. She had Niall and their daughter, and now, they had Gawain. Adam had Daphne, and Serena would be allowed to grow up knowing her aunt, as it should have been all along. Her chest felt tight, as if her heart might swell and burst free of it altogether.
Adam sidled toward her with a mischievous grin, one hand reaching out for hers. “Will you congratulate me, or stand about trapping flies?”
Snapping her gaping mouth shut, she smiled and took his hand. “Congratulations, Hart. Do take care of her.”
He snorted. “Some man ought to. The stubborn woman needs someone to keep her out of trouble.”
“I am married to trouble, as we both well know,” Daphne countered from where she had resumed her place at the table.
“Aye,” Adam agreed, giving her a sly glance. “Which means you’ll have your hands full enough with me … you’ll have no excuse to go getting yourself into anything else.”
Olivia looked away as their exchanged glances grew heated, feeling as if she now witnessed something she should not. It was clear to her that the connection between Daphne and her brother was as strong as ever, and for that, she was grateful. Her own happiness became magnified as she bore witness to her brother’s.
Niall reached over the back of Daphne’s chair and clasped her shoulder—the one that hadn’t been injured. “’Tis good to see ye, lass. Even better to see ye’ve finally brought this one to heel.”
Daphne glanced up at him with a smile. “So it seems. It is good to be back.”
The two clasped hands for a moment, then Niall was pulling out a chair for Olivia, motioning for her to sit. Gawain, determined to become as much a gentleman as his brother, mimicked the behavior, pulling out a chair for Serena.
With the puppy napping beneath the table, they began serving themselves from the dishes spread out between them. Conversation flew back and forth, stories of all that had happened during their separation filling in the gaps so it felt as if they’d never been apart at all.
Hands shoved down into the pockets of his greatcoat, Niall gazed out at the rolling and crashing waves of the sea as the sun dipped lower and lower on the horizon. Above him, the rocky cliff that Dunnottar Castle had been built upon loomed high, the keep itself thrusting up off it and toward the sky.
For him, this place had always felt bittersweet—a fortress against the world, where Olivia had been kept hidden from society. It was here she and Serena had been brought to live once it had been decided that no one could know about their ordeal. It was here he had been elevated to the status of butler, where he had lived and worked while doing everything he could to keep Olivia safe. It was here she had lived in agony, her cries and screams often echoing down the yawning corridors.
Despite all the sadness and grief this place represented for them, it was good to return, to say good-bye to the past and look forward to the future. Not that they would never return. On the contrary, they planned to remain at least a sennight before returning to Edinburgh. As well, Olivia and Daphne—falling seamlessly into a bond of sisterhood—had already begun speaking of Christmas at Dunnottar, all of them here to celebrate it together.
As he gazed out over the water, he reached into the pocket of his greatcoat and retrieved the object he had brought with him to the shore. He had gone up to his butler’s quarters after dinner to gather his belongings to take home to Dunvar House with him. It did not matter that he was no longer a servant and owned fine things—he’d never want to be rid of his mother’s hand-sewn quilt, or the books Olivia had given him over the years, or the small trinkets he’d been able to afford himself with his butler’s wages. The things were his and reminded him of where he’d come from. He wanted to keep them so he’d never forget. Such humility could only serve him well in his new life.
All those things had been packed away for the journey home, but this … the bit of the porcelain statue he’d kept since he’d been a boy had found its way into his pocket, a force of habit. Running his thumb over it, he found that touching it had lost its thrill, that his awe over its beauty had begun to fade.
“I’d wondered where you had gotten off to,” said Olivia’s voice from beside him.
He blinked, glancing down to find she had joined him, all bundled against the cold in her pelisse, hat, and fur muff. The cold kissed her cheeks with a pinkish glow, the setting sun casting prisms of lighter brown in her dark eyes.
“Just wanted to take a walk,” he murmured. “As long as we’ve lived here, I’ve spent very little time at the shore.”
“It is beautiful,” she said, turning to gaze out over the water. “When the weather is warm, we should visit with Serena and Gawain. They’d love to bathe in the water.”
He nodded, a little smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he imagined it—the two children in his care romping in the sand and wading in the ocean.
“Aye. I think that is a fine idea.”
“What’s this?” she asked, her hand touching his and drawing his gaze back to the shard of porcelain.
He held it up so she could see it. “Just a little something I’ve had since I was a boy.”
Taking it from his hand, she turned it over and studied it. “Porcelain?”
“Aye, a piece of a little statue from yer stepda’s study. I broke it. My da slapped me somethin’ fierce for it, and the earl made me clean it up. I kept a piece because I was so enamored with it. At the time, that porcelain and gold figure was the finest thing I’d ever touched. So I pilfered it.”
She smiled, handing the piece back to him. “I think that is sweet.”
Niall shrugged. “I dinnae know if I need it anymore. My da used to tell me that things like this were worth more than my entire life.”
Olivia made a little sound of derision, her mouth pinching as she shook her head. “I never liked that man. I hated the way he treated you, the things he’d say. I hope that by now, you’ve come to see that he was wrong, Niall. You are priceless to the people who love you … to me, most of all. I’d rather have you than all the wealth and possessions the world could offer me.”
Turning to face her, he grinned. He reached out with one arm and drew her against him, molding her body tight against his. She went pliant against him, pulling one hand free of her muff to rest it upon his chest.
“Aye, mo gradh. I feel the same way. I used to think this little bit of porcelain was so beautiful, so perfect, and valuable. But, now …”
Keeping his arm around her, he lifted the piece of the statue with his other hand and, without watching where it fell, hurled it out toward the ocean. Olivia gasped, eyes wide as she stared out at the water, then back at him.
“Why did you do that? It meant so much to you.”
He brought his other arm around her and held her even tighter, until he could feel every inch of her through the layers of his clothing and hers.
“Because, I do not need it,” he told her. “Not when I already own the most beautiful, perfect, priceless thing God ever made. Nothin’ else could ever compare to you, mo gradh.”
Her smile grew, its radiance putting the glow of the setting sun to shame. “Oh, Niall … did you ever think we could be this happy?”
He shook his head. “No, but ye always did, didn’t ye? Ye believed in us when no one else did. I guess our little game of ‘what ifs’ cannae be called a game anymore.”
Biting her lip, she stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, I don’t know. I think it could be the best sort of game now. I could ask you something like … ‘what if you were to take me inside to our chambers and make love to me, right now?’”
Heat flared between them as if she’d struck a match, and he was already going up in flames, burning for her as hotly as he always had. Reaching down to cup her buttocks, he gave it a little squeeze, drawing a giggle from her.
“What my Livvie wants, my Livvie gets.”
She took his arm and allowed him to lead her toward the sloping path that led back up to the castle. Clinging tight to his arm, she leaned her head against his shoulder with a contented sigh. The sound reverberated through him like a note of music, more powerful than a laugh or a sob. It was a sound that told him everything he’d ever wanted was truly his now—including a happy and contended Olivia.