Plead Forgiveness: Betrayed Twice (Loyalty Series) by Aury Dobsyn Page B

to go to his wife and remain close-at-hand
if she needed him.
    He found her small
body curled in the middle of the large bed, looking so young and vulnerable.
Quietly, he stoked the fire, and then made himself comfortable in the
well-cushioned chair in front of the hearth. Sometime later, he felt his mother
cover him with a plaid, then saw her go over to Ella and place a kiss upon her
brow.
    After his mother
left, his concern for the grief-stricken woman in the bed made it impossible to
find sleep. When Ella began to whimper softly, he slipped in beside her and
cloaked her with his warmth and love. Blessedly, she did not wake or even stir.
    I pray this will
nae be that last time ye allow me to hold ye throughout the night, my love.
     
    When the rays of
the awakening sun bathed the chamber, Gavin carefully extracted himself from
Ella’s unknowing body and retreated to his own solar. While he dressed, he
thought on how to care for his wife as she mourned the death of her beloved
aunt and uncle.
    Her anguish and
bitterness had only just begun, but he vowed to give Ella his unwavering love
and support.  Nae matter the cost, I will win her love . With
purposeful strides, he departed his chamber and ventured into the hall.
    After a brief
greeting to his mother and Bowen, the lone occupants of the dais, he learned
that the night before last his wife woke screaming from a nightmare.
    “She was so
distressed by the dream that she did not eat or drink, and barely spoke with
anyone the entire day.”
    “I will nae allow
her to starve herself. If ye canna sway her to eat, inform me at once.”
    “What she needs is
our love, nae upbraiding,” Lady Esme admonished.
    “When it concerns
her health, I will nae tolerate any willful defiance,” Gavin adamantly stated.
“I suspect over the next few days she will seek solitude over solace, which we
will give her in limited measure. She may eat in her chamber, but if she loses
an iota of flesh, I will intervene.”
    “Aye, I agree,
especially since she dinna have much to lose,” Bowen interjected, receiving a
scowl from his wife.
    “I will do as I
see fit,” Lady Esme said as she stormed from the hall, not caring for the
company of insensitive men.
    “Dare I ask why
she is so displeased,” Gavin asked Bowen.
    “She will smother
the lass with warmth and affection, and rebuke those who do otherwise. ‘Tis her
way, ye ken. On the night of Ella’s nightmare, yer mother held her close as she
cried herself to sleep. And last eve, distraught by yer wife’s suffering; she
wept till the wee hours of the morning.”
    “I will nae
gainsay her or her maternal inclinations. In truth, I am well pleased that
mother has come to love Ella.”
    “’Tis an
understatement ye speak and she is nae the only one who has come to love the
wee lass. I would have been proud to call her daughter.”
    Gavin arched his
eyebrows at Bowen and asked, “Dinna ye mean ‘ye are ’  proud to call
her daughter?”
    “Aye,” Bowen
chuckled. “Ye have the right of it, since I am yer stepfather.”
    “Ye are the only
father my siblings and I recognize, old man.”
    “Aye, and I thank
the Lord every day for that miracle,” Bowen acknowledged, genuinely touched by
Gavin’s words.
    He stood, clapped
the young laird on the back and asked, “Will ye join me on the training field
this day?”
    “Aye, I will
within the hour.”
    Bowen took his
leave while Gavin went to sit by the hearth, isolating himself from the
gathering in the hall. He needed a private moment before he conveyed to his
clan how they would proceed in seeking reprisal for the death of Ella’s family
as well as his concerns about her welfare.
    A quarter of an
hour later, he stood in front of his clan with his hand raised for silence.
    “As ye ken, my
wife has suffered a terrible lost. I stand before ye, as yer kin and laird, to
beseech upon ye. . . .”

 
    11
    A sennight later,
Ella had yet to venture forth from her chamber. She scarcely