"If her brothers had wanted ye dead, ye wouldnae be here now to wonder on it.
They wouldnae have left ye near death; they would have made sure ye had breathed your last ere they walked away. And, we talked to every mon, woman, and child in Muirladen, yet gained verra little useful information. I doubt that would have been the way of it if a small army of giant redheads had been in the area at the time ye were attacked."
There was another truth he could not argue with, one he dearly wished Nanty had not set in his mind. Men like Sigimor and the other Camerons were ones people noticed. It would have required only one person catching sight of them for the tale to have spread throughout the village. Since Muirladen was close to Campbell lands, the villagers would undoubtedly have recognized them, but no one had mentioned the Camerons. It was certainly something to consider as he weighed judgment on his wife and her kinsmen.
"Since the Camerons must ken how recognizable they are, they might have hired others to do the deed," Diarmot offered in argument and scowled when Nanty rolled his eyes.
"Why are ye so intent upon marking them guilty?"
"Because I dinnae have anyone else to blame." Diarmot sighed and shook his head. "Aye, I may be too hard on them, but better that than to be too trusting right now. Someone wants me dead. That beating was but one incident. There have been a few others, all of which could also have been nay more than ill luck. If the incidents before the beating were only accidents, that means the Camerons could be the ones trying to kill me. If those incidents were actually attempts to kill me, then it cannae be the Camerons. Clouded though my memory is, I am fair certain I didnae ken a single member of that family until a year ago."
"If ye ken ye didnae meet them until a year ago, then ye must be getting your memory back."
"Nay. I dinnae recall the meeting or anything else about that time. I do have a mostly clear memory of the time several months before that and they werenae kenned by me at that time."
"So, do ye feel certain Lady Ilsa isnae your wife."
"I feel certain she and I were once lovers. I was certain of that the moment I kissed her. I kenned the taste of her, the feel of her," he added softly.
"Then ye must ken that she speaks the truth when she claims ye were handfasted."
"Nay, I just ken that we were once lovers. I dinnae recall any of the times we spent together, if any promises were made, or e'en if she was a virgin."
Diarmot watched Sigimor, Ilsa, and Gay wander through the garden, the children skipping all around them. From the way they studied the garden, were obviously deep in a discussion, and occasionally stopped to study a plant or two, Diarmot suspected they were intending to resurrect the sadly ignored garden. He was not sure why or when it had fallen into disrepair. When he had inherited Clachthrom, he had brought the garden his uncle had neglected back to life. In the first days of his marriage to Anabelle, he had thought she had enjoyed its beauty, only to discover she used it to cuckold him repeatedly with any man willing to betray his laird. Diarmot suspected that was when he had ceased to care about the garden.
In fact, Diarmot had the uncomfortable feeling that was when he had ceased to care about a lot of things. What little had been done to soften the starkness of Clachthrom's keep had mostly been done before his marriage and some in anticipation of it. He now did what was necessary to keep himself out of debt and his people safe and fed, but little else. It surprised him somewhat to realize he had done next to nothing to prepare his keep for Margaret, the woman he had intended to marry. He did not like to think his wretched marriage had caused him to lose all joy and interest in life.
"She was a virgin," Nanty said after a few minutes of consideration.
It took Diarmot a moment to realize Nanty was referring to Ilsa. "Ye were there to examine the linen, were ye?"
Nanty gave him a look of disgust. "Ilsa has fourteen brothers and two score and seven cousins, mostly male. She was undoubtedly verra weel guarded. I am surprised ye managed to seduce her." He looked out the window to see Sigimor tickle a laughing Ilsa, then chase her around the garden obviously threatening to tickle her some more, much to the delight of the children. "She is the cherished only sister. Tis plain to see."
Even though he had to agree, Diarmot said, "If she is so cherished and protected, why has that girl Gay been allowed near her?"
"To help feed your greedy sons. And, I think ye ken what happened to that poor lass as weel as I do. One doesnae need to hear her tell the tale. Ye can see the truth in the way she shies away from any mon. Aye, and trembles so pitifully when she is in a room crowded with men. She nearly burrows into Ilsa.
I think the lass was blessed when the Camerons took her in and, if she wasnae so terrified of men that she can barely speak to one, she would probably tell ye the same."