PROLOGUE
Grace had butterflies in her stomach at the thought of meeting her future husband, anxiously running her long golden locks through her fingers. She was only sixteen years old, and Fergus MacAndrew was only two years her senior. They had been promised to each other for as long as Grace could remember, but they had never met each other before. Today was the most exciting day of her life.
In her dreams, of course, he was very tall, extremely handsome, and naturally, madly in love with her and ready to defend her with his life against any danger. She sighed and tightened her grip on her maid, Crissy’s hand.What if he was short and ugly? What if his nose was skew and his teeth were rotten? What if he had warts?She shuddered involuntarily.
“Are ye all right, hen?” Crissy asked, concerned. She had been Grace’s governess since she was ten years old, and was now her maid, but to Grace, she was really more like the older sister that she’d never had.
Grace turned to her with a tremulous smile. “I am just a wee bit nervous,” she replied. “What if he’s ugly as sin, Crissy?”
Crissy laughed softly and put an arm around her shoulders. “Did I tell ye that the first time I met my Donald, it was love at first sight?” she asked, looking down at her.
“No!” Grace cried in disbelief. “Really?”
“Nay o’ course! That’s because it’s no’ true!” Crissy giggled. “When we first met, he was goin’ out wi’ another girl an’ I didnae take much notice o’ him, but after a while, he stopped seein’ her, an’ he told me after that he gave her up because he wanted me. We got married six months later.”
“Six months!” Grace was astonished. “How romantic!” She clapped her hands, sighing at the very thought of it.
“I wouldnae pin my hopes on love at first sight, though, hen,” Crissy advised. “It usually only happens in fairy tales.” Crissy had always been protective of her charge, and now she was even more so. Grace was so innocent, vulnerable and shy, and Crissy loved her like a daughter, having no children of her own. She had always tried to keep Grace’s feet firmly on the ground, because if she had not, the girl would have lived in a castle in the clouds.
Presently, their carriage rumbled over the drawbridge and entered the courtyard of Inverleck Castle, but it was not a manservant who came to open the door for them. The hand that reached up for her belonged to one of the most handsome young men she had ever seen, and Grace found herself staring into a shining pair of dark blue eyes that mesmerized her for a moment.
He smiled at her as he helped her down, then reached up for Crissy. This was very unusual, since the upper class did not usually condescend to help working people this way.
He turned to Grace and bowed with a welcoming smile. Grace felt herself blushing.
“Good afternoon,” he greeted her, raising her hand to his lips. He smiled widely, a bright, beautiful smile. “Grace Gibson, I presume?”
“Yes,” she replied in a trembling voice. “Fergus MacAndrew?”
“Yes, and what a pleasure to finally meet you!” he said warmly. “Your parents are already here, and talking with mine about weighty matters—that probably means us!”
Grace laughed faintly and tried to think of something to say, but she was absolutely tongue-tied.
Fergus looked down at her. He was a full six feet tall, maybe even more, she guessed, and he towered over her by at least a foot. It made him feel a little sorry for her, but also extremely protective. She was so small; she looked so frightened that she had not even met his eyes, but was looking at the ground.
“Shall we walk around the gardens?” he asked, as he tilted her chin upwards with a forefinger to make her look into his eyes. Hers were a beautiful shade of hazel, shot with green flecks.
She was just maturing into womanhood, with a slender waist and hips, and breasts that were only now beginning to bud, and she had small, delicate features, except for her full, ripe lips. Fergus had had quite a lot of experience with girls, but he had never met one who made him feel quite like this.
Grace nodded, he held out his hand to grip hers, and for the first time, she looked up and smiled at him. “Aye,” she said simply. She looked over her shoulder to make sure that Crissy was still there. She knew that her mother would have been livid if Grace had gone with Fergus without a chaperone. Then they began to walk and talk to each other about the subject that had been on both their minds.
“What do you think being married will be like?” Fergus asked curiously. “Are you looking forward to it?”
“I am not sure,” Grace answered. “I know we have been promised to each other for a very long time, but somehow it has never felt real until now.” She shrugged. “What about you?” She waited, dreading the answer.
“I want to be happy,” he replied. “But I think it’s something we will have to work out together. I think we are very different, I could tell that the first moment I saw you, but I don’t think that is a bad thing.”
“Maybe that makes us an even better fit for each other,” she remarked, smiling. He laughed. “We will have to find out,” he answered. “I think I am easy to get on with, at least I hope so, but we will have to see, and it may take a while.”
Grace took a deep breath. “Do you want children, Fergus?” she asked.
His eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled at her. “Aye. A whole tribe,” he answered. “At least a dozen. Did you know that twins run in my family?”
She stared at him for a second or two, her heart beating wildly. “Twelve children?” she squeaked. “Really?”
Fergus put her out of her misery with a hearty laugh. “No, Grace,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “I would love to have children, but we will take them as they come. There will be no need for twelve, I promise you. Did I frighten you? I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not!” Grace answered, chuckling. She was infinitely glad her future husband had a wicked sense of humor, since she could not stand the thought of living with a sour, somber man.