Page 66 of Kidnapped by a Rogue
That was not a denial.
“I have no right to ask, but I hope you’ll be discreet,” she said. “Your aunt has taken a liking to me, and she’ll think ill of ye if she hears of it.”
“There’s nothing for her to hear,” Finn said. “I haven’t been with another woman since we met.”
She wanted to believe him. It should not matter so much to her when she could never be what he needed.
“If you’re asking about last night,” he said, “I had a talk with my uncle.”
“Ye did? What did he say?” she asked, turning around to face him. “Did he accept ye into his guard?”
She hoped so. Finn deserved that and more.
If the earl failed to make him a member of the guard, however, she could ask Finn to take her to her sister at Eilean Donan Castle. The prospect of leaving made her chest feel tight. She told herself it was only because it meant so much to Finn to have a place here—and not because she wanted to stay. Even if that was a lie, it was not safe for her to have what she wanted.
“He didn’t exactly tell me about being in the guard.” Finn paused. “He wants me to watch over Alex.”
“He believes there’s still a threat to Alex?” she asked.
“Aye, and he suspects he may have a traitor in his own household.”
She knew all too well that it was usually someone close to you, someone you trusted to protect you, who betrayed you.
“The earl is right to be cautious,” she said. “I should finish packing.”
Turning her back to him, she attempted to withdraw the pouch of stones from where she had hidden it beneath the feather mattress without him seeing.
“What’s in that wee bag?” he asked, leaning over her shoulder.
“Nothing of value,” she said, but she should have known her attempt to discourage his interest would only fan the flames.
“’Tis the only possession ye brought with ye, so it must have value to you,” he said.
“There’s nothing in the bag but bits of broken stone.”
“Can I have a look at them?” he asked.
She stifled a sigh. Since he probably would not give up until she showed him, she upended the pouch into her hand.
“The stone was in a pendant my mother gave to me,” she said as she watched the pieces of black onyx fall into her palm. “My mother believed it had magical protective powers. She gave one to each of my sisters as well.”
“Onyx is a hard stone,” Finn said, picking up a piece between his thumb and finger. “How did it break into such small pieces?”
“My husband smashed it.”
Margaret swallowed against the emotion that clogged her throat as she was flooded with memories from that terrible day. Though she had begged William to let her stay home because she had been so unwell during that pregnancy, he insisted she go with him to Edinburgh. She miscarried in the midst of the Battle of the Causeway.
In her mind, she was once again lying on sweat-soaked sheets, listening to the sounds of the battle outside the shuttered window and fretting about her cousin Lizzie, who had gone out before the fighting began to fetch a midwife. She felt as if her heart had been torn out with the loss of the babe. And deep down, she felt guilty for wishing her husband would be lost too.
William, however, returned before Lizzie. The maid must have told him the child was stillborn. Without waiting to remove his weapons or bloodied tunic, he stormed into the bedchamber, shouting and berating her for her failure. When that was not enough to satisfy his temper, he grabbed the pendant from her neck, snapping the silver chain.
Don’t take it from me!she cried.Please!
This stone was supposed to bring good fortune,he said, clenching it in his fist.But all it’s brought is the devil’s own luck.
He dropped it on the floor and pulled the axe from his belt.
Not my pendant,she pleaded.Please, not that!
