Brigid gasped and sat back. “Alys!” she repeated, then clapped her hands over her mouth in horror.
“’Tis a secret!” Burke teased. His manner was as playful as one would be with a younger sibling, and Brigid giggled. She repeated her pledge with her fingertips.
Then her mouth drooped with dejection. “Why not me?”
Alys bit her lip at the sight of her cousin’s vulnerability. She nearly stepped forward, but Burke took Brigid’s hand again in his.
Alys watched as he turned the full weight of his charm upon her cousin. “Brigid, there is a special bond between a man and a woman meant to be together. They know each other when first their eyes meet, they understand that each was made for the other.”
“Love,” Brigid said with a shy smile.
“Aye, love ’tis and no match should be without its flame.
