He cleared his throat. “In private.”
Freya nodded and led the way to her office. He scuttled after her like a church mouse surrounded by barn cats.
She waited until they were in the confines of her office with the door closed before speaking. “Captain Crosby. I dinna know what ye did to save Ewan, but I canna thank ye enough.”
He bowed his head. “It's Thomas, my lady. I'm no longer a captain.” He nodded to his missing arm. “Seems they haven't much need for a one-armed man in the military. Nor does the Black Watch have a need for a man who leaves his duty station in Edinburgh to uncover a crime among the officers of the English army.”
Thomas winked at her, and Freya realized somehow the two of them had devised a scheme to protect Ewan and set him free.
“Ye mean he's no' a deserter?” she whispered.
He nodded in confirmation. “Your soon-to-be husband is an honorable man who received the Black Watch's great thanks for his service, and an extensive apology for having kept him locked in prison these last five and a half months. An apology that aided in his final release of contract.”
Freya breathed a sigh of relief and settled back against her desk.
“It was a very good story, even if it took a while for me to assemble the evidence to support it,” Thomas added in a conspiring tone. “But that's not why I'm here. You see, I—”
The door burst open once more, only this time it was not Alli, but Marian. She stared in wide-eyed awe. “Thomas. Someone said ye were here, but I dinna...I canna...”
Marian strode into the room and reached up to gently touch Thomas' face. He closed his eyes against the gesture and folded his one hand over hers.
“I worried after ye,” she whispered.
“And I you.” He opened his eyes. “The baby?”
Marian gave a wide smile. “He's a fine lad, strong and healthy. I...I hope ye dinna mind. I named him Thomas.”
“I could not be more honored.” And indeed it showed in the way Thomas' back straightened and his slender shoulders pulled back. “I'd meant to ask your sister.” He glanced over his shoulder to Freya, who nodded in his direction.
She was sure she knew where his thoughts were going, and she was in full support.
“Marian.” He lowered their hands to hover clasped between their waists. Chaste and sweet. “I'd be the luckiest man if ye'd allow me to be yer husband, and a father to young Thomas. I know I'm not...” He faltered a moment and Freya's heart winced for him. “I know I'm not the man I was when you met me, but I have many estates and will see you and your son well cared for.”
“Aye,” Marian whispered. “Ye dinna need to convince me, but ye could offer me a kiss. I've waited for it for so verra long.”
Thomas released her hand and smoothed his palm over her glossy golden hair before gently lifting her face to his.
Freya shifted from where she leaned against the desk and carefully edged past the couple right as their lips finally touched. She shut the door to her office and smiled to herself, her heart fuller than perhaps it had ever been. She glanced up and her smile widened further still.
For there, waiting for her by the bar, was Captain Nay with his dimpled smile and two stiff cups of tea.
EPILOGUE
August 1747
Scotland was a different place than even the mothers had seen it in their long lives. Gone were the colorful tartans of a proud nation, gone was the melodic language from the ancestors of old, and gone was any hope at a liberated Scotland.
Yet even in such hard times, happiness could still be found.
The first bud of a hay seed breaking through the soil in a tender green shoot. A woman's loving touch, accepting of a horrible past and anticipating a long and happy future. The knowledge of one's family being safe and well fed.
Aye, there was much light to be had, even in dark times.
Ewan put his hand around Freya's slender waist, and together they stared out into the pride of their hard work.
“We've had such good fortune, Ewan.” She looked up at him, and a ribbon of bright red hair swept over her freckled nose. Her eyes shone like the sunlit sky, and Ewan could not help but think what a lucky man he was to have so beautiful a wife.
Indeed they’d had good fortune.
“We did it.” He grinned at her. “Yer hay field.”
She tilted her head in the stubborn way he couldn't help but love. “Our hay field.”
The trill of a young child's laughter rang out over the billowing golden sea of hay, the stalks bending with the wind in sweeping waves.
Ewan and Freya both turned to the sound to find Crosby hovered over young Thomas like the protective father he was. Marian watched the two with her hand shading the sun from her eyes and a tender smile on her face.
The mothers observed all from beneath the shade of a tree several feet away.
“Ye know,” Ewan's mother said. “The uneven ground is the best thing to strengthen a babe's ability to walk.”
“Indeed it is,” Freya's mother added.
Freya turned toward Ewan with her brows lifted. “They've agreed on something.”
“Aye,” continued Ewan's mother. “But he ought to be barefoot.”
“Ach, no.” Freya's mother shook her head, and the little curls at her temple fluttered with the action. “It's best to find some wee shoes for him.”
Little Thomas, whose feet were currently clad in shining black boots, squealed with delight and clapped his chubby hands. Ewan couldn't help but laugh with the lad.
It was not often Marian, Crosby, and Thomas came from England for a visit, but when they did, it was so very good to have them. It was through Crosby that Ewan had his freedom. He even suspected it was through Crosby's influence that he and Freya had been allowed to keep not only her plot of land to farm, but also Ewan’s land, which he currently let to a steady tenant.
Crosby scooped the boy up with his single arm and planted a kiss on Thomas' fat cheek. Marian ran up to them both and kissed first Thomas' other cheek and then the lips of her husband.
“I used to avoid coming here.” Freya turned from the couple and looked up at Ewan. “I felt like I failed at everything here, like it was all so out of my control. And Molly's - it was a haven of everything I'd done right.”
Ewan arched a brow. “Are ye saying ye miss Molly's?”
Freya chuckled. “I’m happier here. But even if I did, Alli wouldna ever give it back. She's established a lot in her time as madam.” There was an unmistakable note of pride in Freya's voice.
As well there should be. Alli had continued with the efforts Freya had put forth, as well as those efforts to educate ladies and take them in, offering more jobs than just those one expected in a brothel.
“And this has become my haven,” Freya said. “Of everything I've done right.”