Free A Promise of Love by Karen Ranney Page A

ocean, or turn her head slightly and view the glen sweeping down to the village. Straight ahead, the path branched off in three directions, the center track leading to broad, cultivated fields.
    Judith glanced at the line of cottages arrayed along a twisting path and the unsmiling women standing in front of each one, their dresses identical in style and shade of black, crows perched upon a tree limb. Their mid-day meal had evidently been supplanted by curiosity about the woman who strode through their village.
    Malcolm watched her for a long time before approaching, slipping away from the others when he saw her stop and study the horizon. She smiled as he fell into step beside her as together they walked through the clachan. He’d brought her this way on her first day at Tynan, had stopped in the doorway of a few of these cottages, introduced her as the laird’s new wife. The mood was more amiable now than on that day, when Judith had wished to bind her hand over Malcolm’s volubleness and prevent his words from being spoken.
    Three weeks in the Highlands and she’d come to no harm. Still, Judith knew how deceptive peace was, even in this place of rolling storms and silver mist.
    "I’ve been inspected by the women of your clan,” Judith said softly, glancing at the women who nodded curtly as they passed, “Sophie has had visitors who come less to see her, I suspect, than to view the oddity in their midst." Being raised in a family with four sisters had made Judith familiar with being around groups of women - not necessarily comfortable. She disliked being the subject of their speculation. Only two women had seemed genuinely friendly, the sisters, Meggie and Janet. Janet was in the advanced stages of pregnancy and relied on Meggie to assist her in both standing and sitting. She took it with good grace and not a little pride, as she smoothed her hands over the firm mound of her belly.
    "He'll be big like his da," Janet said proudly, and it was only later that Judith learned her husband had been drowned two months earlier. Meggie had tentatively offered a smile and an invitation to come and visit, such a welcome and rare overture that Judith almost hugged her for it.
    "And why not?" Malcolm asked her impatiently "Yer married to their laird, an’ English for all that. Do ye not think that there might be some fear in the glen? Ye must change their minds, Judith."
    "I cannot help that I was born English, Malcolm," she said, “and the subject of my marriage is one not quite decided, if you recall.”
    "Still, they canna help fearing ye. 'Twere the English who burned the castle an’ stripped the land. 'Twere the English who killed their men an’ let their bairns starve. Do ye ken the Butcher's rule, Judith?"
    She glanced over at Malcolm, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.
    "None of his men could give aid to the enemy. The Scot." His mouth twisted. "If they gave food ta anyone, Judith, even a babe in swaddlin', they could be flogged or hanged. So they sat, an’ they ate, an’ they filled their fat bellies, while mothers begged for their children ta be able ta drink the blood of the animals the English had slaughtered." His eyes met Judith's finally, and it was her turn to look away. "So, if they look on ye with suspicion, an’ aye, a little fear, it's kinder than yer own countrymen did for them. The clan used ta number over seven hundred strong, Judith. Barely a hundred are left."
    "Why, Malcolm, knowing that, did you see fit to wed me to the MacLeod?"
    "Because, lass, ye didn't strike me as English. Don't go an’ disappoint me now. Ye've ignored the MacLeod like a skitterin’ crab. Leavin' a room when he was enterin' it, hidin' in yer room as if feared he would touch ye. Ye've gone an’ gotten all ninny-like lass, an’ it's no a good change. Ye've no reason ta fear the MacLeod.”,
    Easy words. Softly spoken. But many was the night Judith had heard the MacLeod pacing in the room above hers, his footfalls a metronome