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“I do notice,” she said “And I have also noticed how you have pointed out again and again how lovely this land is Could you possibly have a motive?” she teased
“I want you to appreciate your surroundings, and I want you to be content here and content in your e as well, Gabrielle”
She wanted to argue Was contentment the ultimate to be wished for? Were passion and love and excitement only for dreaed to pose these questions to her father, but she could not She held her tongue As they continued on, she made up her rooman, soon to become a wife It was time for her to put her childish dreams away
“I’ll try to be content,” she promised
Their pace was slowed once again because of the rocky incline Her father saw the look on her face and the sadness in her eyes “Daughter,” he said in exasperation, “you are not going to a funeral It’s your wedding Try to be joyful”
“I will try,” she promised
An hour later when the caravan stopped so that the horses could rest and they could stretch their legs, her father asked Gabrielle to ith him
Neither said a word until they stopped to rest beneath a clu brook
“I have met Laird Monroe and some of his family He will be kind to you”
She didn’t want to talk about her future husband, but her father seemed determined
“Then I shall be kind to him,” she said
The baron shook his head “You are a willful daughter”
She turned to face hi so difficult to tell me?”
He sighed “Your life is going to change when you becoe, and you must accept this”
“Mother was your equal, wasn’t she?”
He smiled “That she was,” he admitted, “but she was the exception”
“Perhaps I will be the exception, too”
“In tireed “I don’t want you to worry about your future husband I have been assured that he will never raise a hand against you, and as you know, there are husbands ould be cruel to their wives” There was disgust in his voice when he added that fact
“Father, I think you’re e than I am Do you actually wonder what I would do if my husband, or any ainst me?”
Sorined, he replied, “No, I don’t wonder I know exactly what you would do because I saw to your training”
Before she could interrupt, he continued, “However, there will be changes when you er be free to do what you wish You’ll have to take your husband’s feelings and needs into consideration You have been self-reliant in many ways, but now you must learn restraint”
“Are you telling ive up my freedom?”
He sighed His daughter sounded appalled by the notion “Of a sort,” he hedged
“Of a sort?”
“And when you are married,” Baron Geoffrey continued, “you will share your husband’s bed and—” Too late he realized where he’d taken the conversation He stopped, then coughed to cover his e up this topic? Talking about the hter was impossible for him After a moment’s consideration he decided that he would ask one of the older woht He simply wasn’t up to the task
“You were saying?” she prodded
“We’re close to the abbey now,” he staer, and just as close to Finney’s Flat if ere to ride in the opposite direction”
“It’s early in the day There’s time before dark for us to look at the flat”
“Have you forgotten that I must pay my respects to Laird Buchanan?” He nodded to the west “When we reach the next rise, I’ll leave you It will be going on darkness by the time I reach his home You and the others will continue on to the abbey”
“Would it be possible for o to the flat while the others continue on? I’m certain it won’t take us any time at all to catch up with theiven me”
He considered her request a long uards with you, and as long as you carry your bow and arrows, and as long as you are cautious to a fault And you et away from you and that it will be an uneventful ride Then I will allow it”
She held her smile “Uneventful, Father?”
Seeing the sparkle in her eyes, Baron Geoffrey was suddenly feeling quite in awe of his daughter With her black hair and her violet blue eyes, so like her htful young lady His chest swelled with pride as he thought of her many accoes, and speak them well Her mother had seen that Gabrielle ell-versed in the feminine pursuits, and he had seen that she ell-trained in more practical matters She could sit her horse as well as any man, and she wasn’t squeamish with her bow and arrows Truth be told, she was ets than he was
“Uneventful, Father?” Gabrielle repeated, wondering why he was so distracted
He shook himself out of his contemplations “You knohat I mean Do not play the innocent with me You’re prone to mischief”
She protested “I cannot iine why you would think—”
He interrupted “Promise me it will be an uneventful ride and that there will be no hter”
She nodded “I promise There will be no mischief, and it will be an uneventful afternoon”
Unco affection, Baron Geoffrey aardly patted her on her shoulder and then headed back to the horses
Gabrielle hurried to catch up “Father, you worry too much I’ll be careful as I have pro to happen”
Two hours later she had to kill a man
GABRIELLE INTERRUPTED A MURDER
She had wanted a bit of excitement to take her mind off her worries, but shethis horrifying
The ride began quite pleasantly, invigorating in fact After she had dutifully kissed her father on his whiskered cheek and bid him a safe journey to the Buchanans to pay his respects, she forced herself to walk, not run, to her horse, Rogue She even allowed the soldier Stephen to assist her into her saddle Rogue pranced in anticipation, sensing that he would soon be allowed to soar into the wind
Certain that Baron Geoffrey atching, Gabrielle played the allop as was the spirited horse’s custoait She had the feeling that her father knew exactly what she was doing, and so she held her smile as she turned and waved to hiht
When she was free to do as she pleased, Gabrielle loosened the grip on the reins and gently nudged Rogue The horse lunged into a full gallop, and by the time they reached the top of the nearest hill, Gabrielle felt as though she were flying She laughed over the sheer joy she felt at that very an to drift away
As usual, Stephen took the lead Christien and Lucien flanked her sides, and Faust, the youngest, rode last, protecting her back The four soldiers could have been brothers, so alike in appearance were they with their white-blond hair, blue eyes, and deeply tanned, weathered skin They dressed alike as well, in a soldier’s uniform, all in black, but with a small, barely noticeable emblem of the royal house of St Biel just above their hearts