Highland Lover. Hannah Howell

on. Alana hoped that it would not be long, however, before she could savor the heartier fare that Gregor was enjoying.

      Gregor took her empty bowl, set it aside with his, and sat down beside her on the bed. “Now, lass, mayhap ye will answer a few questions for me.”

      “Mayhap,” she said, “if ye will do the same.”

      “Aye, fair enough, but I think ye can go first. Exactly who are ye?”

      Since there was really no sense in continuing to keep her name a secret, she replied, “Alana Murray of Donncoill. And ye are?”

      “Gregor MacFingal Cameron.”

      “Three names?”

      “MacFingal is of my father’s creation because he had a falling-out with his Cameron kinsmen. I think ye may have heard of a few of my kinsmen. My brother Ewan is married to Fiona MacEnroy, sister to Connor MacEnroy, the laird of Deilcladach, who is wed to—”

      “My cousin Gillyanne!” Alana stared at him, nearly gaping in surprise, and then she frowned. “Ye dinnae look verra surprised by such a strange twist of fate.”

      “Ah, weel, ye spoke of some of your kinswomen whilst ye were feverish. Gillyanne was one of the names ye mentioned, and that is why my surprise isnae as great as yours.”

      Alana wondered a little nervously about what else she might have said, but resisted the urge to ask Gregor. If she had said something too embarrassing and revealing, she would just as soon not know about it. She had dealt with enough feverish people to know the one tending to them could become an unwilling confidant, privy to a great many secrets. One of the few secrets she still held fast to at the moment was the growing attraction she felt for Gregor, and she prayed she had not babbled about that.

      “Fate is definitely playing a game with us,” she murmured.

      “Fate, luck—good and bad—and a few ill-thought-out decisions. Ye shouldnae have followed your brothers, and I shouldnae have been traveling alone.”

      “Why were ye traveling alone?”

      That was not a question Gregor felt inclined to answer, at least not with the complete truth. “The only escort I could get were men I didnae ken weel. Since there wasnae any talk of troubles in the land I intended to ride through, I felt I could make my way home alone.”

      The way Gregor did not meet her gaze as he answered her question made Alana think he was not telling her the full truth. At first, she felt angry over his lack of trust and then scolded herself for being a hypocrite. She was not telling him the whole truth, either. He could simply be reluctant to tell her that he had been returning home from some tryst. Since she did not want to hear about any woman in his life, not even some fleeting entanglement based upon an equally fleeting lust, she decided not to press him on the matter.

      “Why were ye pretending to be a child?” he asked.

      Pleased with the diversion from thoughts of Gregor with another woman, Alana replied, “I thought I would be safer. I cannae say the Gowans would have treated me differently if they kenned I was a woman, but it was probably best that I ne’er tested them.”

      “I am surprised your kinsmen didnae set out in search of you.”

      “Ah, weel, they did, but I eluded them. They didnae persist too long, so they must have found the message I left behind telling them exactly what I was doing.”

      “But ye also lost your brothers, aye?”

      “Aye, but I am certain I would have found them again if the Gowans hadnae captured me.” She could tell by the look upon his handsome face that he had some serious doubts about her claim.

      “Where do you think your sister is?”

      “I am nay sure. All I am sure of is that she isnae dead and she needs help.”

      “Then we shall look for her. And for your brothers. It seems as if any who set out for Ardgleann find trouble. Now that ye have begun your search, ’tis best if ye finish it, but nay alone. Now, there willnae be any husband or betrothed rushing about looking for ye, will there? I dinnae wish to be caught up in that sort of trouble.” Gregor found that he loathed the idea of any other man having a claim to her.

      “Och, nay. No husband and no betrothed.”

      At least not yet, she added silently. Her father had been ready to find a husband for her and she had been ready for him to do so. Alana suspected her father was not acting on that plan at the moment, but she was not sure how much he had accomplished before she left Donncoill. She felt certain any choice he did make would still require her approval before any firm betrothal agreement was made, however. Since she had not given her consent to anyone, she decided that little complication did not need to be mentioned. If nothing else, she did not want Gregor to know that her father had to find a husband for her because no other man had asked for her hand. It might be the way of things for others, but Murray women were allowed to choose their mates and she found it lowering that she had never even had a choice offered to her.

      “It was hard for me when Keira married and went to Ardgleann,” she said, and found she still felt the pinch of that loss. “It was hard for her, too, but as most women do, she wanted her own home and children. Donald MacKail seemed to be a good mon. Yet, what few letters she wrote didnae carry any real hint of happiness. Something wasnae right. I was certain of it. I finally requested that I be allowed to come to her, for just a wee visit, to see how matters stood with mine own eyes. I am nay sure if she e’en received that letter, for soon after we were hearing of some mon named Rauf Mowbray taking Ardgleann, that Donald was dead, probably murdered, and that Keira had gone missing. We assumed she had fled from Ardgleann and was returning to us. As I told ye, soon even more rumors drifted our way, darker ones about what a beast Mowbray was and that Keira had been badly hurt.”

      “And then it was decided that your brothers would hunt for her? Did no one suggest taking an army to Ardgleann?”

      “Aye, of course they did, but it was decided that it would be best to wait until we kenned what poor Keira’s fate was. From what little we could learn of Mowbray, challenging him could get Keira killed if she was still within his grasp. Plans were being made for battle when I left, but naught would be done until we kenned what had befallen Keira.”

      Gregor shook his head. “Difficult, especially if she is hiding from Mowbray. And aye, I have heard some verra dark things said of the mon. Your people are probably right to think he would just kill her if he was confronted and threatened. If e’en half of what is said about the mon is true, he is the verra worst of outlaws. His men are as weel.” He put an arm around her shoulders when she shivered. “A mon declared an outlaw by the crown walks with death at his shoulder. He kens any mon can kill him with impunity and so cares little what crimes he commits. The fact that Mowbray still lives implies that he isnae an easy mon to corner or defeat.”

      “And now he has a keep to shelter in.”

      “Aye. Your kinsmen are wise to wait until they ken more about your sister, about Ardgleann, and about Mowbray.”

      “I ken it, but it doesnae make it any easier to bear.”

      When she struggled to hide a wide yawn behind her hand, he smiled faintly and got off the bed. It was wise to put some distance between them anyway. When he had not been certain of her age, his lustful feelings had been easy enough to curtail, if only because it had horrified him that he might be feeling that way toward a child. Now that he had seen the beauty beneath her clothes, a need to make love to her seemed to have become a permanent part of him. Even when she had been feverish, it had been nearly impossible to ignore the allure of that lithe, soft body he bathed with cool water. He had to sternly remind himself now that she was only newly recovered, that she was still weak, and that the very last thing she needed was some lusty fool mauling her.

      “Rest, lass,” he said as he gently urged her to lie down. “’Tis best and will help ye regain the strength the fever robbed ye of.”

      Even as he tucked the blanket around