Page 35 of Ruined By the Ruthless Highlander
I do not know my way around here. Perhaps I should have brought Lilly with me.
Marian hesitated for a brief moment, then dismissed the thought. Turning back now would only prove Lachlan right—that she did not belong here. She wasn’t about to give him that satisfaction.
Surely, it cannot be that difficult to find my way around.
Lachlan had no business pacing the corridors. More often than not, the rain helped him relax. But today, he just couldn’t sit still.
His steps carried him past Marian’s chamber more than once, and his brow furrowed into a frown.
’Tis only a coincidence.
Yet, he found himself in that corridor for the third time, mere minutes later.
His jaw tightened.
He picked up a tool and started chipping away at a ragged part of the wall that he’d been meaning to fix for months.
’Tis this rock that bothers me.
Marian’s door creaked open in between his chipping, and his head turned at once. He stilled when he saw Mrs. Campbell step out through the door with Marian’s maid behind her.
Nay Sassenach.
“Me Laird!” Mrs. Campbell’s eyes widened in shock as she took in his position. “What are ye doin’?”
She rushed forward, and he straightened, schooling his features into a neutral expression.
“I heard a complaint and thought to check this out,” he said, pointing to the piece of rock jutting out of the wall.
The lie tasted bitter on his tongue.
“Ah!” Mrs. Campbell’s shock softened, her face settling into an uncomfortable smile. “Ye need nae bother, me Laird. I’ll get young Jamie to look at it.”
Lachlan inclined his head. “Aye.” He nodded. “I ken.”
He hesitated for a moment before glancing at Marian’s door again. The last thing he wanted was to see her. And yet, he couldn’t resist.
“Tendin’ to the Lady, aye?”
Mrs. Campbell shook her head slightly, a small, fond smile forming on her lips. “Nay,” she said with a slight wave of her hand. “Lady Marian is out explorin’ the estate. I only brought some fresh beddin’ and linen.”
Lachlan gave a small nod, though his lips thinned. “Is she now?”
His fingers tightened around the tool in his hand, and he absentmindedly turned it over.
Mrs. Campbell hesitated for a second before answering. “Aye, me Laird. She asked for boots, and I gave her me pair.”
Lachlan’s jaw set. “Of course she did,” he murmured, taking a step closer to hand her the tool. “Keep this for me, Mrs. Campbell. I need to see to somethin’.”
With that, he turned around and headed straight out of the castle, though he had no idea where he was going.
It was several moments later when he found her sitting by the old well.
Her feet did not quite touch the ground, so she swung them slightly, humming a song he had never heard before.
She was staring at something in the tree before her. An owl, he realized once he had gotten close enough. His feet snapped a twig on the ground, and she stopped singing.
She hopped down from the well, picked up a rock, and threw it in his direction before stopping to look at his face. Lachlan dodged the nearly accurate throw, lucky to have predicted her movements in time.
