Chapter 7
The CurseThe household was preparing for a wedding and however much Neil wanted to stay with Mairi he was forced to leave her side. He and Donal, his eldest brother, were in charge of the slaughter of the animals for roasting and they had to ride to the high pasture to fetch them down.
Neil was pleased not to have time to visit the hermit, knowing that if he did it would not be long before Brother Durston would have the whole story. On the other hand, to leave Mairi alone amongst strangers without having warned her to be silent was almost more than he could bear. Brother Durston, even if he did not approve of her beliefs, would protect her from harm from the others. He would not put it past his sister to treat her spitefully for no better reason than that she wanted the white N
