Page 63 of To Winter at Wildsyde

He drew back and Ruth smiled at him, but his expression had changed, all the laughter gone from his eyes, replaced by something else, something that made her chest tight.

“Ye will nae leave me, Ruth?” The words were raw, exposing his heart and achingly vulnerable.

Ruth stroked his face, holding his gaze. “Never,” she promised, meaning it with all her heart. “I will never leave you as long as you want me to stay.”

He ducked his head, burying it in the crook of her neck and pulling her closer. “I want ye to stay, lass. I will die if ye leave me.”

“I won’t,” she said again, stunned by his words and overcome with emotion. She stroked his hair, smiling helplessly and fighting to speak through the tears. “I love you.”

“Tha gaol agam ort,” he mumbled into her hair.

Ruth held him tighter until he looked up, and she saw him take a breath, steeling himself.

“’Tis Gaelic for, I… love you,” he said, self-conscious now.

“I know,” she said, touching her fingers to his lips and tracing the shape of them.

“I do.” His expression grew ever more serious, as if it needed to be clarified.

Ruth nodded, believing him. “Don’t ever let me go, Gordy.”

He smiled then, his whisky eyes warm and full of hope.

“Never,” he said.

Epilogue

Dear Matilda,

This is just a little note to thank you and all the Peculiar Ladies for the many letters and kind wishes that you have been sending since I left London. They have been such a comfort to me, though I know I have been a dreadful correspondent. The problem is so much has happened since I came to Scotland that I hardly know where to begin. That being the case, for now I shall simply tell you this…

I am wonderfully, blissfully happy. My husband is a hard-headed, stubborn Highlander who would rather do himself a serious injury) rather than express his feelings, but, oh, Tilda, when he does, it means so much more.

I love him. I love him so much I feel I might burst with it. More astonishing than that, he loves me! Thank goodness for those silly dares. If not for them I might not have been so utterly outrageous as to propose to a stranger because I fell in love with his knees. (I’m afraid it’s true.)

I will write more soon, but for now, please wish all the Peculiar Ladies a very Merry Christmas and send them my love and best wishes from Wildsyde.

― Excerpt of a letter from Mrs Ruth Anderson to Miss Matilda Hunt and the Peculiar Ladies.

25th December 1814. Wildsyde Castle, Scotland.

Ruth surveyed the vast table and the remnants of the lavish feast with a sigh of approval. As predicted, Mrs MacLeod and her workforce had outdone themselves. Though the staff themselves had fought the idea and disapproved immensely, Ruth was glad she had persuaded them all to join her and Gordy at the table. After all, she’d told them, it was her first Christmas at Wildsyde and if she wanted to invite her staff as thanks for helping make her welcome and for all their hard work, she was entitled to.

No doubt the fine ladies and gents of the ton would sneer at her for doing something so outlandish, but out here, in the Highlands, such things no longer troubled her. She was mistress of her own home, her own lands, and with Gordy at her side, she did not want or need the approval of anyone else.

She looked down the grand table and smiled as Gordy raised his glass to her, and she returned the gesture.

“Dougal, have ye that fiddle to hand?”

Mr Clugston grinned in answer to Gordy’s question. “As it happens, I do.”

“Shall we have some dancing, then?”

A cheer went up around the table and everyone filed out to the hall, where the huge yule log was burning merrily in the hearth. Some of the other men brought out a variety of fiddles and pipes and soon a ceilidh was in full swing, with a deal of merriment and good-natured shouting as the Scottish staff tried to initiate the English into some of the traditional dances. Ruth clutched at her sides, beside herself with laughter to see Garrick allow Sheenagh to take him through the steps of a Highland jig.

“Are ye happy, lass?”

Ruth looked up to find Gordy beside her, his eyes shining with pleasure as he looked down at her. She took his arm and pressed close.