Page 102 of The Scot’s Secret

“You don’t…”

He took her by the hands then and spun her toward him. “Clara, what we did last eve. . . it cannot be undone. I will keep you safe, always. Do you really believe I’d let anyone harm you?”

Her hands felt so small in his own.

“Nay, but what if I’m discovered? What if they come for me? What if—”

She stopped, but he knew what she was going to say.

“You need to listen to Sara. She’s one of the most powerful and influential women in England. If she says the king and his barons brokered peace, you need to believe her. And you’d be in Scotland anyway. Believe me when I tell you that no one will ever take you from me. Do you understand?”

He loved her.

But he hadn’t told her that yet. Maybe it would make a difference.

“Clara, I—”

“My lord. My lady.”

Geoffrey’s young squire, Reginald, a competent lad who’d trained with them a few days earlier, called to them from below.

“Lady Sara wishes to see you.”

Alex attempted to put him off. He wanted Clara to know how he felt. “Please tell—”

“Pardon, my lord, but ’tis Lady Susanna she wishes to see. Immediately.”

Clara, of course, lifted her skirts and excused herself.

“Apologies,” she said as properly as the queen. “We shall speak more later?”

If it was truly a question, she didn’t wait for an answer. His skittish Englishwoman hurried back to the keep. He turned toward the sea, not quite content to listen to the call of the seagulls above him.

Alex wasn’t sure if he’d be content until they were back in Scotland and his mother and future wife were safely installed at Brockburg. Or Dunmure.

Kenshire was beautiful, and given that he was a former enemy to the Waryn family, he was treated quite well here. But it was not Scotland.

And he wanted to go home.

24

“We have visitors,” Reginald explained, words that made Clara’s skin crawl. Who could it be? Would they know her?

Reginald escorted her back to the keep in silence. Faye awaited her there, and she led the way through a dizzying array of passageways.

They ended their journey in a part of the castle Clara had not seen before, and when Faye opened the door to a room on the second floor, the grandest of solars awaited her.

Sara and Emma both began talking at once.

“Lord Edmund and his wife are passing through. . .”

“You should not be concerned. . .”

Clara stopped them. “Who is Lord Edmund?”

“He and his wife are frequent guests at the keep,” Sara said. “His family is old. . .”

“And he is even older,” Emma finished.