Chapter 37

Innis made quick work settling in at Stormway. She had an unrelenting spirit and tenacity I found quite inspirational. After a fortnight of her stay, I understood that the ostentation of her outfits was a carefully honed weapon to make her look approachable. In reality, they disguised a woman as tough as iron and often intransigent. We were, perhaps, perfect opposites. She had conviction, zeal, and would not be moved while I was happier delegating and not thinking too much about what it meant for my own advancement.

On the morning of her third week, she strode into my office, bold-as-you-please, and sat down on the other side of my desk.

"Put me to work," she said with a brittle voice.

Laying down the market reports, I studied her. "You're a guest, I couldn't do that." It was a coward's reply, sidestepping her demand.

"All of you are busy and I've read enough books in the last couple of weeks to last me a lifetime. There must be something I can do."

Alex and Wallis interrupted us, running into the room, both of them screaming.

"Eli! Eli! Alex says he is going to throw me in the pigpen!" Wallis threw herself into my lap.

Alex laughed and pushed his hair back, the sunlight glinting off his curls. "Only because Wallis insists on making mud pies in Cook's mixing bowls. I thought she might enjoy playing with her kin."

"I am her kin, so hold your tongue, sir," I teased, nuzzling into the soft hair of my niece.

Wallis growled at my affection, pushing my face away, and I laughed.

Noticing her, Alex turned and smiled at Innis. "Ah! Good morning, Miss McClurkin. I apologize for interrupting your audience Eilean."

Innis narrowed her eyes, her disapproval of the chaos clear.

I wanted to laugh at her, frosty in the face of all of Alex's goodness. Out of respect, I maintained a facade of indifference.

"We were talking of work that I might take over," Innis explained. "Perhaps you know of an area where I might be useful?"

"And Eilean won't give up the reins?" Alex assumed.

"Something like that," Innis smiled tightly.

Proving that I could indeed give up control, I let Alex take command of the conversation. Instead, I focused on Wallis, asking how her day had gone and if she was being dutiful about her lessons. Enjoying Wallis' prattle, I paid little attention to Alex and Innis until I heard Alex grunt.

He looked very serious and crossed his arms, nodding his head. "I hadn't thought about that."

Innis raised her eyebrows as if whatever observation she had made should have been obvious. She looked at me with exasperation, eager for an ally.

"What is it?" I asked. "It must be serious if Alex looks like a grumpy tutor."

Innis blew out a sigh and crossed her arms. She held my stare for half a moment and then shook her head. "I hear gossip, that's all."

Alex hopped up on the desk, sitting on its edge. Lifting Wallis off my lap, I whispered to her to go practice her spelling at the child-sized desk Alex had built for her under a window. I gestured at Innis to continue.

"A lot of the women here would like to remarry."

I looked at Innis, confused. "We have abolished The Standing. There is nothing preventing them from... Oh. Remarry."

Alex met my gaze, face solemn. "It appears it is a matter of technicality. Their husbands, the ones that rode off to war, are still considered alive without proper paperwork claiming otherwise."

"And since there is no record from the battlefield... " I trailed off, biting the inside of my cheek.

"At Crags Mist, my home," Innis explained, "we had the priest record every man who did not return from battle as dead. That seemed to be enough both legally and canonically."

I couldn't imagine the sheer amount of reporting we would have to do here to strike thousands of men from records. From one end of the island to the other, the mass extinction had been complete. The sheer amount of work was breathtaking.

"Thank you, Innis," I said, already trying to think of the best way to tackle such a problem.

"Bess knows more," the woman suggested with a one-shoulder shrug. "Let me know if you think of any work I can do. I notice you have no sheep on Ellesmure. Seems like an industry that would suit your terrain. I'll leave you two to talk." Without further discussion, Innis swept out of the room.

"Is it a McKerran family trait to be efficient at using gossip for information?" I asked Alex once I was sure she had cleared the hall.

"Possibly," Alex chuckled and turned to face me. "You're considering it, aren't you?"

"I have to." Sighing, I leaned back and closed my eyes. "No doubt some women have already remarried. It's not exactly against Island law to have more than one spouse. Ian told me that, once."

Alex laughed, his amusement rumbling through the room. "Islanders."

"It's falling out of fashion, though," I said, defending my people. I opened my eyes and frowned at him as I stood. "I'll talk to Bess tonight, see what she thinks."

"Good call. I can go with you to the church tomorrow and we can talk to the priest." Alex smiled and hopped off the desk. "For now, I have to get back to work."

Looking over his shoulder at my niece, he called, "Perhaps Wallis can stay out of Cook's way?"

The girl got up from her desk and rushed at him with the wicked defiance of being a favorite, "Never!" To punctuate her point, Wallis punched Alex in the hip.

"Naughty!" I gasped, shocked by the display.

Alex, performing a very convincing recoil of pain, demanded to know why all MacLeod women seemed intent on injuring him. "First my nose, now this."

"Oh hush," I laughed at him. "That happened too long ago to count."

I hoisted Wallis up and balanced her on my hip. She was too big to carry much these days, but every once in a while I treated myself to the indulgence. "Say you're sorry to Alex, love."

"I am sorry!" She cried out her apology with exasperated impatience and then nuzzled into my shoulder, embarrassed.

"All is forgiven," Alex said, patting her back.

"Now we have to apologize to Cookie. Maybe she'll have a special treat for you."

"Check her blue apron pocket," Alex added with a wink. He tousled Wallis' hair and kissed my cheek.

My jaw dropped. "So that's where you always got those biscuits! A lifetime of asking and you never told me!"

Alex laughed, his head falling back. The sound somehow made the sunny morning brighter and warmer.

"Get back to work and vex me no more, sir!" I chided.

With a mocking bow that would have rivaled one of Calum's best attempts, Alex placed his hand on his heart and spoke to the floor as he shuffled out of the office backward, "I am forever at your command, madame."

~

After dinner, Bess and I sat knitting in the parlor, enjoying the glow of the fire and the refreshing breeze from the wide-open windows. Owls hooted and the soft sounds of people talking in the courtyard after dark whispered across the wind. Innis recited romantic sonnets aloud in a stern monotone and Calum scoffed at all of them, offended by their silliness. He took the verses and expertly rewrote them in his head, declining them anew for all of our judgment. The longer he went on, the more off-color the poetry became. Alex sat nearby attempting to write a letter but had to stop every stanza or so to laugh. Soon, his correspondence was forgotten, and he joined the Northerners in their play.

"You're all wicked to the bone," Bess declared without lifting her eyes from her needles. A faint smile played at her lips.

"You are hardly being tortured," I said, my voice low and suggestive.

Bess had helped Calum out of one or two rhyming difficulties with ribald suggestions of her own. So far, her contributions had been the most shocking, much to everyone's astonishment.

"Have you heard much chatter about women wishing to be remarried?" I asked, seizing the moment.

Bess stilled her knitting for a beat and then kept working. "It's not many women — yet. But those who married young, before the war, and are now left widows have been discussing it. They would like to have children, to move on with their lives."

Her answer was matter-of-fact. I studied Bess' profile, searching her calm demeanor to see if there was a personal plea hidden in this information. Did she wish to move on? I would never stop her. Walther's body was one of the few who had returned, but a sea of fear churned in my stomach. The fear of losing her made my hands go cold. I shuddered.

As if feeling my stare, Bess looked up. Her face was clear and her eyes sparkled with the honesty and frankness I had grown to expect from her.

"It's not me," she said with a small laugh, understanding my silence. "I'm far too busy with Wallis and managing the staff to worry about a beau."

"If you ever wanted to... " I started, reaching out to take her hand in mine.

"Please, don't," Bess said, squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds. She loosed a shuddering breath. "There is no man better than Walther, for me."

"I am glad he married you," I admitted, expressing for the first time the gratitude I had felt in knowing her. "You have become someone very important to me, Bess."

"Aye," she beamed, "We are like true sisters, are we not?"

Her words struck me. "Sister" ripped through my heart like an arrow, a name for the relationship I held so dear. The secret wish I didn't know I had, granted. It was an effort to hold back the prickle of tears as they sprung to my eyes.

"Yes, sisters," I said, my voice thick.

Bess cleared her throat, her own eyes shimmering. "But, yes, to answer your question, I think it best to talk to the priest about the annulments. It's time to move on."