Wee William's Woman, Book Three of the Clan MacDougall Series by Suzan Tisdale Page B

insulted by his remarks.
    “Please, William, tell me more.”
    Wee William cleared his throat. “Well, Laiden’s mum had married the Englishmen. He had promised never to take them away from the Highlands, but after a few years, he did just that. Laiden and Isobel were heartbroken at havin’ to live so far away from home. They were allowed to visit during the summer months and that is what they did. Laiden grew into a fine, beautiful young woman and she stole Angus’ heart, and he hers. When she learned she carried his babe, they made plans to marry upon his return from one of the clan wars that were happenin’ at the time. Laiden wanted to see her stepfather, who she had grown to love, even though he be English. So she set out on her own, with only one man as a chaperone, to tell him that she was to be married. That, lass, is when the sadness began.”
    Wee William paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. Nora’s interest was piqued. She turned to look at him. “What sadness? What happened?”
    “Well, there was another man who loved Laiden, but no’ in a good way. He wanted to possess her only because she was so beautiful. And, her stepfather was a well to do Englishmen. She stood to inherit a good amount of coin on his death. But Brock, he bein’ the son of a whore who stole Laiden from Angus, he was too greedy in all manner of things.”
    Nora interrupted him, her curiosity piqued. “Stole her?” she asked. “How did he steal her?”
    Wee William chewed on his tongue for a moment before answering. “Well, he convinced Angus and Laiden that the other was dead. He told Angus that highwaymen had set upon Laiden and he told Laiden that Angus had been killed in the war. She was but seven and ten at the time, alone, her mum long dead, and her stepfather was no’ happy that she was with child and unmarried, ye see. So Brock offered his own hand to Laiden so that her child wouldna be born a bastard.”
    “That’s terrible!” Nora exclaimed. “How could anyone do such a thing? Why did they believe Brock?”
    “Well, ye see, lass, Brock was Angus’ brother. His brother by half, but if ye ask me, no two people were ever more different. They shared the same da, but different mums. Aye, Angus knew of Brock’s jealousy and that he wanted Laiden fer his own, but Angus could no’ believe that Brock was as evil and full of such hatred as to tell such lies.” Wee William however, held no such doubts as to the amount of evil any man was capable of. Kin or no.
    Nora wasn’t sure how much of Wee William’s story was true and how much may have been exaggerated to make the story more dramatic. “Did Laiden agree to marry Brock?”
    Wee William nodded his head. “Aye, she did, lass. She married Brock and had her babe, Aishlinn. They stayed in England on Brock’s farm. Brock is Horace’s da, ye ken, from another woman.”
    “Nay!” She hadn’t made the connection until Wee William pointed it out. “So Horace is only Aishlinn’s step-brother,” she chewed on that fact for a time. Horace apparently inherited his father’s devious ways.
    “Poor Aishlinn! And poor Laiden!” Though she could not fathom why she was surprised by what Wee William had just shared with her. She’d been married to Brock Crawford’s eldest son for a year. Evidently Horace had inherited his black heart from his father.
    “Aye. So Angus fell into the bottle for quite some time after learning his love and his babe were savagely murdered. But Isobel, that be Laiden’s sister, she came to help him find his way out of it. And eventually, they married and made a good life together.”
    “But what of Laiden? How was her life with Brock? Was he good to her?”
    “That, I dunna ken fer certain, lass. But I can tell ye how he treated Aishlinn. I think she served as a daily reminder of how much Laiden loved Angus. Aishlinn was just a wee thing when her mum died and Brock refused to let her go to the care of anyone else. I think he feared