Chapter Thirteen
Within ten minutes of Sabine’s declaration, she and Connor were riding north. She was thankful that her father had not sent a servant after her. If she’d had more time, then should would have gone after her mother. She was certain her father didn’t mean what he said – he loved Jane, and he knew that Jane was Sabine’s mother as much as she was mother to Philip and Louis. Daniel had only spoken so harshly because he was angry, she just hoped he rectified the situation as soon as possible.
“My sister lives on the border,” Connor told Sabine as they rode. “If ye would like, we can stop there before we continue on to Gretna Green?” he suggested. “We can’ ride all the way without stopping.”
“I’d like to meet your sister,” Sabine grinned at him. She returned her eyes to before her and felt an overwhelming sense of freedom. Her hair, no longer bound, swayed in the wind as she cantered on Puissant. The skirt of her blue, cotton dress had ridden up around her calf muscles as she rode masculinely but she didn’t care.
After a full day of riding, with them only stopping to water the horses, they came to the Scottish border. Sabine had never been farther that Yorkshire before and was in unfamiliar territory. Everything was brilliantly green and it seemed as if there was no sign of people for miles. The only thing Sabine could see were fences in the distance that paddocked off land.
Connor led Sabine for a few miles through the paddocks before they finally came to a small cottage. The cottage was next to a barn that no doubt contained several horses and animals necessary to maintain a farm. Without knocking on the door, Connor immediately led Sabine to the barn and allowed her to tie Puissant, as well as the stallion that he was riding in with the other two horses that his sister and her husband owned. It was not a large barn, not like the one her grandmother kept, but it was big enough to house the necessities.
Connor gave the horses some feed as well as a pail of water each before taking Sabine’s hand and taking her over to the cottage. Knocking three times, they both waited for the door to be opened.
“Do you think she will like me?” Sabine whispered to Connor.
Connor’s dark eyes softened as he nodded. “Merida will love ye, she’s been much looking forward to this,” he promised.
The front door opened moments later and before them stood a small, narrow waisted woman who could not have been older than twenty. Her hair was long and curly, and the colour of fire and her eyes were the purest green she’d ever seen. She looked nothing like Connor, except for the smile. They shared their wide smiles that crinkled their faces.
Merida’s eyes flashed between her brother and Sabine as she beamed. She enveloped them both in a tight hug around their necks. “Twice in four months?” she gasped. Sabine noted her accent that similarly mirrored Connor’s. It was interesting to hear in a female tone. “Ye spoil me!” Pulling back, she concentrated on Sabine. Looking her over, she made Sabine feel very self – conscious. Perhaps she should have fixed her hair or worn a finer dress? Merida herself was beautiful, even though she wore a plain brown dress with a dirty, patched apron. She was in fact very beautiful. Her husband was a fortunate man. “Ye are as lovely as Connor told us over an’ over!” she giggled.
“Merida,” Connor said in an annoyed tone but Merida disregarded it.
“Come in, Miss Sabine … what was ye last name, lass ... before it is to be McKenzie of course,” Merida said excitedly, motioning for them to enter the cottage. Merida let them into the first room, which was a small sitting room. Before the fireplace was a settee that looked well worn, however it added to the rustic charm of the place. Sitting on the floor playing were two children. The elder, the boy, had thick dark hair that curled at the ends. He seemed to be playing with a leather object and hadn’t noticed the guests. Next to him was his younger sister. It was obvious that Merida was her mother as her red hair was the exact same shade. It was tied in a pretty piece of lace that made her look positively adorable. She didn’t seem to be very old, Sabine would have guessed ten months or so, but she was happily playing with the fabric of her dress, putting it into her mouth and sucking on it, exposing her chubby, baby legs.
“Winchester,” Sabine replied.
Merida didn’t reply to her though, she gasped in horror as she raced over to her son. Snatching away the leather object that he was playing with she shouted “No!” at him. From there, Sabine could see that the little boy had been playing with a knife, a fancy dagger.
“It tha’ the dirk that mama bought for him?” Connor asked his sister.
“Aye, no matter where I hide it, Jamie always seems to find it. I don’ want him playing with it an’ accidentally stabbing himself or Lila.”
Jamie started to grizzle. As soon as it started, a tall man appeared in the doorway to the small kitchen that came off of the sitting room. The man, who could only be Merida’s husband, Grant, immediately went over to his son and scooped him up. Grant was exceptionally tall, taller than Connor even. His body was muscled from daily labour and his hazel eyes were filled with concern.
“Are ye alright, lad?” he asked soothingly. Jamie cuddled into his father’s neck.
“He had the dirk again, Grant,” Merida said angrily, holding up the knife.
Grant rolled his eyes. “Jamie, ye know ye aren’t allowed the dirk. Ye touch it again, then I’ll have to give ye a smack,” he warned. Putting his son back on the ground, he waddled back over to his sister. Grant turned his attention to Sabine and Connor. “Guests!” he exclaimed. “Connor, and this must be Sabine,” he said, coming over with his hand extended. He kissed Sabine’s hand lightly before smiling warmly at her. “We’ve been excited to meet the famous Sabine … I suppose your being here means that you’re on your way to Gretna Green?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Yes,” Sabine said regretfully. Just remembering her father’s face when she told him angered and upset her. “But I’ve heard wonderful things about the two of you, it’s so lovely to meet the both of you finally.”
“Lovely?” Merida repeated with a sly smile. “Lord, she’s so English,” she giggled. “Da’ would have a fit if he knew.”
Connor wrapped a protective arm around Sabine’s waist as he laughed. Sabine didn’t know whether to laugh or not. Was being English a poor thing?
“Don’ look so terrified, Sabine, it’s lovely to meet ye too,” Merida smiled, looking genuine. Taking Sabine’s hand, she pulled her from Connor and led her into the kitchen. The room was as quaint as the little sitting room and it smelled of delicious, fresh bread. The small, square bench top in the centre of the room was filled with several different vegetables that were no doubt there for dinner that evening. Merida found two teacups and placed them on the bench. She poured some water from the pitcher into a pot and lit the fire underneath to heat it up.
Sabine couldn’t help but feel as though she was about to be subjected to an interrogation. Merida was a tiny woman, but she gave off the impression that only a mother could – that she would be shot for anyone that she loved.
“So,” Merida began, turning around and folding her arms across her chest. “Gretna Green?”
Sabine nodded bashfully. “I know it’s not right …” she started but Merida interrupted her in the most obscure way.
Throwing her arms around Sabine, she kissed her cheek repeatedly. “Thank ye!” she whispered excitedly. “Ye don’ need to explain anything to me. I know ye love my brother, I can tell. Ye would really have to love him to put up with him!” Releasing her, she beamed. “I knew ye were the one when he was talking about ye, that ye would no’ care about losing ye title by marrying Connor.”
Sabine didn’t care about losing her title, she wanted to be Mrs McKenzie. “I’ve been Lady Sabine for too long,” Sabine replied. “I’m ready to be Mrs McKenzie.” She liked the sound of Sabine McKenzie.
Merida paused, staring at Sabine curiously. “No, I meant … what are you talking about?”
Sabine was confused. What was Merida talking about? “I just meant that it doesn’t bother me that I’m no longer going to be the Earl’s daughter, I don’t mind being the stable boy’s wife.”
“Merida.”
Connor’s voice made both the women jump. Both Sabine and Merida turned to see Connor standing before them with Grant. Connor’s face looked like he was in extreme discomfort. His dark eyes were watching her cautiously. Had he not told Merida where she had come from? Even so, what had Merida initially meant?
Connor believed he had dodged a bullet when he had caught the conversation between Merida and Sabine. He’d managed to pull Sabine out of the kitchen and had instead distracted her for the rest of the day by playing with Jamie and Lila. He’d caught several poisonous looks that his sister had thrown at him, and he was sure that when they were alone, Sabine would have questions, he didn’t know what to do.
Merida didn’t know … or perhaps she now partially knew … of Sabine’s true parentage.
Sabine didn’t know of Connor’s true parentage, or the fact that if he returned home, that one day she would be Lady McKenzie.
He could have saved himself the headache if he’d just been honest with everyone. How could he have thought that Sabine would have left him if she knew that he had left a title? Sabine wasn’t like that, she was a pure person, much purer than him.
As Sabine was so much smaller than him, Merida had made up the settee for her to sleep on, and Connor was to sleep in the loft in the barn. Merida had made a point to walk him out to the barn, and Connor knew she was to interrogate him.
“Connor, what the hell have ye done?” Merida demanded to know once they were safe inside the barn. “Who is she? Why have ye brought her here?”
“Merida, please,” Connor rolled his eyes. “Dinna fret, it’s no’ like she’s a bloody princess or something. An’ ye know very well why I’ve brought her here, I’m goin’ to marry her.”
“Well who is she?” Merida pressed. “She’s far too prim an’ proper to be some milkmaid you’ve soiled with ye seed. Gretna Green is for those who run away. I should know. I married there.”
“I’m aware of what Gretna Green is for, Merida,” Connor sighed. “Ye know who she is anyway, she told ye.”
Merida nodded, placing her hands on her narrow hips. “She’s a lady, a nobleman’s daughter.”
“She’s Lady Sabine Winchester ... only daughter of the Earl an’ Countess of Southerby,” he said nervously.
Merida’s green eyes widened in horror. “I can no’ believe stole an Earl’s daughter!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “What would da’ think of you, Connor?”
“I dinna steal her!” Connor growled through clenched his teeth. “Ye and I washed our hands of Da’ a long time ago, Merida, don’ go bringing him up,” he snapped at his younger sister. “Ye chose to marry someone beneath ye, an’ look how happy ye are! Ye have Grant an’ Jamie an’ Lila, perhaps Sabine wants that too! Perhaps she would no’ mind marrying beneath her.”
Merida sneered. “Ye told me she was a stable hand like ye. Ye lied to me.”
“Merida,” Connor sighed. “She was working in the stables with me every day, so she was practically a stable hand … Jesu’ Merida, I dinna know what to tell ye.”
Merida pursed her lips sadly. “I’m ye sister, Connor, ye could tell me anything. Does she know the truth about us? About where we come from?”
Connor shook his head. “No, she doesn’t, I’m no longer who I used to be. As far as she’s concerned I was never an heir to anything.”
Merida’s eyes softened. “Da’ was only angry with me when I announced my marriage to Grant. I was the one who was disowned, no’ ye. Ye never had to leave with me. Ye were the heir.”
“Da’ lost my respect when he refused Grant’s offer. He has plenty more sons to give his title to, I don’ want it.” Connor was happy working with horses, and he was sure that Sabine could be happy too.
“I think ye are a fool, Connor, and ye have a world o’ hell coming your way but I wish you and the lass the best o’ luck. I don’ think ye should start ye marriage on false pretences, but it is your decision. Ye deserve your happiness, big brother, ye are the greatest man I know next to my husband,” Merida smiled proudly at him. “She is a right bonny lass, I’ll give ye that. I’ve no’ seen her equal. Must say I am a bit jealous of her golden hair, as I am with yours. Ye were fortunate to inherit da’s hair; I got the red hair belonging to mama’s family.”
“Come now, Merida, it is ye who is being the fool. Ye are a lovely sight for sore eyes, I’ll wager your husband tells ye that each day,” Connor smiled at his sister and leaned in to kiss her forehead. “But we can agree on one thing, Sabine is beautiful, an’ I’ll consider myself the luckiest man alive once she’s my wife.”
“Your fight was with Da’, Connor, but will you ever tell mama about Sabine ... introduce her, maybe?” Merida asked curiously. “Every now and then mama sneaks away from McKenzie Castle to see Jamie and Lila – she came last week, I’m sure she’d like to meet your bairns too.”
Connor hadn’t seen his mother, Deirdre, in a long time. He did miss her. “I don’ know, I hadn’t thought about it. Mama would love Sabine, I know that for sure.”
“Connor,” said the voice of his beloved. “Is there something you want to tell me?” Sabine asked expectantly.
Connor spun around to see Sabine standing at the entrance to the barn. Her golden hair was out of its usual braid and she was just wearing a borrowed white nightgown from Merida. If she wasn’t wearing an angry expression Connor would have thought that she could not have been more beautiful. “It’s no’ what ye think, Sabine,” he promised.
Her blue eyes narrowed. “You hypocrite,” she seethed. “You fooled me into believing that you were something different, but all you are is a Scottish version of what I was raised in. I’m sure there is a highlander princess who would be glad to have her heir. You are nothing but a liar.” Turning on her heel, Sabine proceeded to storm off back to the cottage.
Connor abandoned Merida’s side and sprinted after her, determined to explain. “Sabine, wait!” he called after her but Sabine didn’t stop.
Practically pulling the door off its hinges, Sabine walked into the sitting room and found her blue cotton dress. She stepped into it and pulled it up her body without bothering to find her corset or her chemise.
“Sabine,” Connor said in a pleading voice. “Allow me to explain.”
Sabine’s head whipped around as she began hastily pulling her golden hair into a braid. “I didn’t ask you about your past because I thought you would tell me in your own time and I was fine with that. But hearing those things, hearing that you were never going to tell me that you were a nobleman and that you were an heir – that is a major part of your life that you were not going to share with me. Did you think me so partisan that I would leave you after learning that about you?” she huffed as she found her leather pouch of money. Squeezing it in her hands, she glared at him. “I know nothing about you. You know everything about me – you know about how my father left me and how my mother died and you have not shown me the same courtesy.”
Connor felt as if his insides were fighting to break through his skin. He felt sick. He crossed the room in a last attempt to be near her. “Sabine, I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “It was my initial thought that ye would no’ want me anymore when ye found out that I’d given up my title, but I was a fool to think tha’. To be honest with ye, tha’ part of my life I want to forget. I was noble, aye, but my life was no’ like yours.”
“Honest?” Sabine scoffed. “That is a first with you, now, isn’t it? I’ve left everything behind for you and you couldn’t even tell me who you really are.” Slipping on her travelling cloak she walked past him hostilely.
Connor saw she was heading to the door. “Where are ye goin’?”
“Out,” she spat. “I’m going for a ride on Puissant. If you know what is good for you, you won’t follow me.”
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Spoiler for next chapter - Sabine's going to keep on riding ... I wonder who she will meet??
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