"I did?"
"Yes, you did, lass. I asked you if you had been coerced, and you assured me you hadn't… and there were witnesses."
"Witnesses?" she stupidly repeated.
"Aye," he agreed. "Don't you remember? You and the others had just ridden to the rise above the holding… that's when I joined you, and the Buchanan took hold of your hand…"
"No," she whispered.
"It was proper and binding."
She frantically shook her head. "I cannot be married. I would know if I was… wouldn't I?"
"It was sheer trickery," the priest cried out. "Good Lord Almighty, the Buchanan tricked me, a man of the cloth."
The priest's explanation was finally settling in her mind, and with the realization came a blinding burst of fury that almost knocked her over.
"No!"she shouted.
A servant happened by with a tray full of goblets brimming with wine. Bridgid grabbed one and thrust it into Gillian's hand.
Before she could drink it, the priest snatched it out of her hand and gulped it down. She reached for another. And it was at that precise second that Brodick, with Ramsey hot on his heels, reached her side.
"Gillian-"
She whirled around to face him. "We were married today?"
"Yes," he answered calmly as he took the goblet away from her and handed it to Ramsey.
"On a horse? I was married on a horse?"
Ramsey passed the goblet to Bridgid before turning to Gillian. "We should celebrate this joyous occasion," he suggested with a straight face. Gillian looked as if she wanted to kill the groom; Brodick looked stoic, and the priest appeared to be on the verge of hysteria.
"This can be undone," Father Laggan threatened.
"The hell it can," Brodick snapped.
"What's done is done," Ramsey interjected.
The priest glowered at him. "Has this marriage been consummated?"
Ramsey raised an eyebrow. "You're asking me?"
Gillian's face turned scarlet. Bridgid, taking mercy on her, handed her another full goblet of wine.
Brodick stopped her hand as she raised it to her lips. He grabbed the goblet, thrust it toward Ramsey, and then said, "You will not get drunk. I want you clearheaded tonight."
She was so angry, tears blurred her vision. "How could you?" she whispered. "How could you?" she repeated in a shout.
"You're upset…" Brodick stopped to give Ramsey a hard shove. "This isn't funny, damn it," he muttered.
"You're upset? That's the best you can come up with to calm your bride?" Ramsey asked.
"I'm not his bride," Gillian cried out.
"Now, sweetheart," Brodick began again without having the faintest idea what he could say that would calm her. "You're going to have to come to terms with this."
"No, I'm not," she declared emphatically.
It was apparent she wasn't in the mood to listen to anything he had to say. When he tried to take her into his arms, she backed away, stepping on Father Laggan's foot in the process.
"I asked a question, and I demand an answer," the priest snapped. "Has this marriage been consummated?"
Since he was staring at Bridgid, she thought he expected her to answer. "I honestly don't know, Father. I don't believe I should know… should I?"
Father Laggan grabbed the goblet out of Ramsey's hand and emptied it in one huge swallow. Ramsey quickly snatched another full goblet from the tray and gave it to the priest.
Laggan, beside himself with the ramifications of the Buchanan's deceit, wasn't paying any attention to what they were doing. "In all my days, I've never… It's the Buchanan who's responsible…" He quit rambling as he reached for the sleeve of his robe and began to vigorously mop his brow. "Good Lord Almighty. What's to be done?"
"On a horse, Brodick?"
"She's having a bit of trouble getting past that fact," Ramsey remarked dryly.
"You could have gotten off the mare," Brodick told her, trying to be reasonable. "If you'd wanted to get married with your feet on the ground, then you should have said something."
She really wanted to throttle him. "But I didn't know I was getting married, did I?"
"Gillian, there isn't any need to snout. I in standing right in front of you."
She threaded her fingers through her hair in frustration and tried to gain control of herself.
"We knew," Ramsey volunteered.
It suddenly dawned on her that there was an audience watching and listening to every word. She was surrounded by Brodick's guard, and as she glanced from face to face, she vowed that if one man dared to smile, she would start screaming.
"Did all of you know?" she demanded.
Every last one of them nodded. Then Brodick commanded that she look at him. Her eyes blazed with anger when she complied. "I didn't know," she cried out. "You tricked me."
"No, I didn't," he countered. "I told you I was going to marry you, didn't I?"
"Yes, but I-"
He wouldn't let her finish. "And you told me you loved me. Isn't that also true?"
"I've changed my mind."
He took a step toward her and gave her a hard look to show he wasn't happy with her answer. Under his penetrating stare she couldn't continue to lie. "Oh, all right," she relented. "I do love you. There, are you happy now? I love you, but only God knows why because I certainly don't. You're the most difficult, stubborn, arrogant, mule-headed man I've ever known."
He seemed unimpressed with her tirade. "We're married now, Gillian," he said in a calm voice that made her want to tear her hair out.
"Not for long," she threatened.
He didn't like hearing that. He looked as if he was going to grab her, so she quickly backed away and put her hand out in a puny attempt to ward him off. "You stay where you are," she demanded. "When you touch me, you know I can't think, and I need to think clearly now so I can figure out what to do."
Ramsey handed the priest yet another drink.
Father Laggan's head was reeling from the Buchanan's trickery and the heavy wine. Believing it was his duty to look out for the poor lass, he mopped the sweat from his forehead with the cowl of his robe and stepped forward to take charge.
"Has this marriage been consummated?" he demanded, unaware he'd shouted the question.
Gillian was mortified. "Should you be asking me such a personal question in front of a crowd?"
"I've got to know," the priest whispered loudly. "Lord, it's hot in here," he added, his voice slurred. He then wiped the back of his neck with his hood as he repeated his question. "Was it consummated?"
Gillian answered in a bare whisper. "No."
"Then it's possible that I can undo this tangled mess."
"You'll do no such thing," Brodick commanded.
The priest squinted up at the Buchanan laird and tried to bring the giant into focus. "Good God Almighty, there's two of them." Shaking his head in an effort to clear it, he said, "You used deception to catch this sweet lass."
Brodick didn't deny the allegation but merely shrugged. Father Laggan turned to Gillian to console her in her darkest hour. "You've got to stay away from him, lass, until I can figure out how to straighten this out. Do you understand what I'm telling you? You can't let him touch you if you're truly wanting out of this union. You've just got to stay away from him, lass. I can't stress that enough," he added as he patted her hand. "Once he's… and you've been… well, you see, don't you, I can't have it undone. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
"Yes, Father, I understand."
"All right, then. Now you sleep on the problem, and tomorrow we'll put our heads together and decide what's to be done. I've never encountered a situation like this before, and it shocks me, yes it does, but I shouldn't be shocked at all because it's the Buchanans you see, and their laird's the worst of the lot. They're all heathens," he added with a nod. "Tricking a man of the cloth. Wait until my superiors hear about this. Why, I'm certain they'll figure out a way to remove the blessing from this union. I just may petition the pope to excommunicate every last one of them."