Duncan's Lady by Emilie Richards

Author:Emilie Richards [Richards, Emilie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488025334
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 1995-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

There was a moment as Mara fell when she cried out silently against fate. She felt no regret for trying to save the children, but she knew as she heard the thunder of horses’ hooves closing in on her that her vision had come too late. She had not been warned in time. She had not thrown the boys completely clear and she had not protected their mother and the baby. She had been taunted with their fate, but she had not been given the strength or time to prevent it.

How much better not to have known.

As fireworks exploded in her head, then darkness closed around her, she felt an agony that surpassed physical pain. She had battled fate and lost, and in the process she had lost Duncan, too.

“Mara.”

Pain shattered the darkness, and she tried to retreat, but a man’s voice called her name once more. “Mara. Wake up. Mara, can you hear me?”

She tried to retreat further. She lay very still and willed the voice to go away.

“What I dinna understand is how she knew the horse would bolt,” a different voice said.

“Why does that matter now?” the first replied.

“It does no’ matter, it’s just a subject of some interest in the village.”

“Damn it, Angus, the only thing I’m interested in right now is if she’s going to be all right!”

“You’re a man who will no’ take telling, are you no’? I’ve told you she’s going to be fine. I’ve told you more than once. It’s a nasty bump, but I’ve seen nastier.”

“We’re talking about a brain here. She hit the ground hard, and it’s been over an hour. She still hasn’t come to!”

“She’s waking up now. After nearly fifty years I know the signs. Her head will ache for days, and she may be a wee disoriented. But her arm will give her more trouble than her head. She’ll be in a sling for weeks at the very least. She’ll no’ be milking cows or doing chores.”

“I don’t care about her cows! Her cows can be damned. It’s Mara I’m worried about.”

“Listen to me, Duncan Sinclair, Jeanne whacked your wee bottom nearly thirty years ago in this very room, and now I’ll do it myself if I must. Stand back and give the lass room. She’ll no’ come round a’ tall with you breathing all her air.”

Putting the men’s words together in some sort of logical order made Mara’s head hurt worse, but she struggled to make sense of their conversation.

A woman’s voice sounded from faraway. “Angus, the lads are all patched and ready. The bittiest one’s climbing the walls, and I can nae contain him any longer.”

“Let me check them over again, Jeanne. Then they can go.”

“And nae a moment too soon!”

Mara felt someone take her hand. “I’ll call you if she wakes up, or if there’s any change.”

“Then you’ll be calling me soon. She’s awake now. She just does no’ want to be.” Mara heard a door slam.

“Mara, is that true? If you’re awake,

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