Nor could they know that Duff would become so outraged by how Isobel had been cheated of her modest fortune that he became a dedicated student of the law-books, and would successfully bring her case through the tangled morass of the Edinburgh courts. But they did not live in the city, preferring, instead, to set up house in a charming cottage not far from Castle Tadgh, which very soon became a favorite haunt of the local children, who could rely on Isobel for a doll or a treat, and on Duff for a toy he’d whittled or a fascinating story he would tell. James and Archie would spend a lot of time there.
Further afield, Logan Munro would eventually marry again, to an amiable, attractive young lady whose chief interest in life was dressing in the height of fashion. If he wasn’t quite as good a husband to her as he was to Nairna, and if he thought of Fiona a little more often than he should, he at least managed to conceal this from his new wife reasonably well. And if he did kiss housemaids in the stairwell now and then—so fond of him as they were!—this too he did with admirable discretion.
Little Mairi MacIntyre, dainty, girlish, ethereally pretty, would receive several offers of matrimony, but confounded expectations by refusing them all. Instead she would become a passionate advocate for animal welfare in the Western Isles, spending most of her money on these endeavors, doing a great deal of good, and becoming yet more lovely as she aged.
Wynda Ramsay, who had run away from Castle Tadgh in the middle of the night, had gotten as far as Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, where in due course she would marry a rich old shopkeeper who would then oblige her by dying within a year of their marriage, leaving her his entire fortune. Wynda would then—at last—betake herself to London. She would promptly wed an impoverished viscount, thus fulfilling her long-held ambition of entering the ton. If she hadn’t quite made it to the upper echelons of Society, well, it was a beginning.
Her French never improved.
And what else lay in store for Fiona and Alasdair?
Immense happiness, and an appreciation for each other that would only continue to grow: love everlasting.
And in the meantime, some other things would become known to them.
For example, Shaw would give Fiona one of his retriever wolfhound puppies, who was, everyone agreed, the most engaging, the most adorable creature who ever lived (even with an incurable tendency to try and eat your shoes).
Alasdair, despite a lifetime of avowals to the contrary, would indeed go to England—with Fiona, of course—and to his surprise, he’d have a good time there on his visit. His Sassenach relatives, he would discover, weren’t at all what he’d been expecting.
The goldfinches would return, year after year, to Castle Tadgh.
And Monty would indeed bring Fiona roses in the spring, and for as long as they grew and bloomed.
His best roses.