Ruari dropped the reins, left his steed and took a step toward the younger man. “Your father knew he erred! He knew he owed you better than what you had been granted, he knew in the end that he should never have believed the tales told against you. It would have killed him to know that you had been compelled to beg a favor from the Earl of Sutherland.”
“So you say. The shadow of those days is long and a dead man’s testament serves me far less than that of a live one.” Vivienne’s captor turned then to confront Ruari and she wished she could have seen his expression. “If my father repented of his judgment in truth, then he might have done it sooner. His forgiveness serves me little now.”
“You have more than grown harsh, lad. You have lost your heart!”
“Whatsoever I have lost has been stol
