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“And she didn’t tell you anything about your mother? Or your father?”
She shook her head. “I never knew either of them.”
“And you didn’t ask? You weren’t curious about your circumstances?”
“I didn’t care. I didn’t think about it. Erma was my family. I was happy there.”
He frowned, not missing the insinuation. She was happy, but not anymore. “Can you not be happy here? I’ll have some gowns made for you.”
Gowns. Idiot. She was no typical, vain woman to be mollified with the promise of new gowns or pretty ribbons. He thought of the way she’d thrown the perfect apple down for him just a few hours earlier.
“I enjoy dining with you, Caitlyn. You’re not a nobody to me.”
“Thank you for saying that.” She was obviously unconvinced. Then she asked again, “May I be excused?”
He sighed and nodded. “Yes.”
* * * * *
Time passed, a couple of weeks, and Cait was pleased to be given many lovely gowns, but no more spankings over her husband’s knee. It still occurred to her in lonelier moments to draw his attention through mischief, but the result was really too painful to make it worthwhile.
So she behaved as well as she could. She tolerated whichever surly young soldier followed her around and did her best to stay out of the earl’s way. She loved to be outside, strolling through the town watching the townspeople. She enjoyed watching the animals in the yards and the many children at play. The children avoided her for the most part, although she smiled at them. She supposed her strange appearance scared them away.
She found herself alone a lot, but it didn’t matter. She was well cared for, content as she might be. She had plenty of fresh air and not many duties to attend to, although she begged for chores. She wanted to be put to work to escape her boredom, but Henna chased her from the kitchen and the laundry rooms whenever she lingered too long. The gardener at least let her help tend the gardens. The earl rolled his eyes when he discovered her dirty fingernails. He picked weeds from her curls and told her she needn’t till the soil like a common laborer. Thankfully, though, he didn’t make her stop. If it wasn’t for the solace of the garden, she would lose her mind.
The earl still ignored her as much as possible. He sat with her at dinner, yes, but they barely touched. They had trouble finding things to talk about since they knew each other so little. When he looked at her, which he did often, she always developed a lump in her throat that kept her from talking, from asking, from confiding, from saying any of the things she wanted to say.
How can I please you? What will make you like me? When will you hold me again?
She couldn’t say them, so they went unanswered and life went on as it was. And so it was that one day she was headed to the garden, hoping to catch a glimpse of the earl up on the rise when a strange man, tall and forbidding, stepped into her path.
She drew back. No man besides the earl dared come so near to her. She looked at her guard for guidance. He bowed to the man and said, “Good morning, my lord.”
She looked back at the man warily. He looked very much like her husband, but he was older and his eyes were not nearly so kind. This man’s eyes were hard and sharp, and they made her flush even though she’d no reason at all to feel ashamed.
Cait dropped a reserved curtsy. Her eyes went to the guard again, but he looked at the ground. It was Mitchum, the guard she’d gotten in so much trouble the first day. She’d apologized at least three times but he still treated her with subtle disdain. Now she felt glad to have him there, and sidled closer under the stranger’s skewering gaze.
“Are you the earl’s new wife? My daughter-in-law?”
“Yes. Yes, sir,” she replied.
“I am an earl too,” he said with a sniff, “and your elder. It would be more courteous of you to refer to me as ‘my lord.’”
Her gaze darted to his and she felt indignant, but she only took a soft breath and curtsied again.
“Like most women, I suppose you rely on your charms rather than your manners to bring those around you to heel.”
She raised her chin a bit. “I don’t bring anyone to heel, sir. My lord,” she remembered with a small frown.
He laughed, and his laughter didn’t have a mirthful sound. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” He looked at Mitchum, sizing him up. “Run along, boy. I’ll talk to my new daughter-in-law alone.”
Cait’s gaze flew to Mitchum’s in alarm. He looked back at her with an unfathomable look and stood up a little straighter. “I’m not to leave my lady. Direct orders from my lord, the earl. For her protection,” he added with a hint of pride.
“Protection? And what harm will come to her in my company, in full view of the keep and the townspeople below?”
Mitchum seemed to consider. It would be most impolite for him to contradict the older man’s order, but Cait didn’t want him to leave her alone. He looked at Cait briefly.
“I beg your pardon, my lord, but I serve the earl.”
She spoke up in his defense. “I’m not permitted to be without a guard no matter what. Or my husband punishes me,” she added, coloring a bit.
“Oh, does he?” That seemed to amuse the earl greatly. “And how does my son punish his wayward wife?”
Cait bowed her head. “I...I cannot say. I would rather not.”
The earl laughed long and loud then. “You will not say. I see. Aren’t you a sassy bit of a wife?”
“No, sir. My lord.”
“But I say you are. I can see you are a most insubordinate type. Never mind. Where is my son? I’ll go and find him. I can offer plenty of advice on how to subdue a willful wife. I’ve had enough of them,” he added archly, before turning on his heel and dismissing them both with his broad back.
She stood there, shocked to stillness by his rude behavior. She turned to Mitchum, who looked back at her in silent accord.
“What an unpleasant man,” she said. “Thank you very much for not leaving.” She started towards the garden, her mind troubled. “I don’t think I’d care to be with him alone.”
“I need no thanks. The earl charges me to stay by you, lady, and so I do.”
“You can call me Caitlyn if you like. My friends call me Cait.”
“I canna call you Cait or Caitlyn, lady. But I appreciate the offer all the same. And I think...” His voice trailed off uncertainly. “I think you would do best, lady, not ever to be alone with the older earl.”
She stopped again, looking at him soberly. “Thank you for your sage advice. I’ll be sure to let the earl know how faithfully you serve him.”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Mitchum with a shadow of a smile.
* * * * *
That night at dinner Cait was relieved that the older man, Lord Douglas, was seated on the opposite side of her husband. She still heard his
jibes to his son about his saucy wife. If she had her wish she wouldn’t have come to the table at all while he was there. She would rather have stayed to her room until he was gone. She couldn’t explain it, but Lord Douglas caused her a deep uneasiness. Even her father had not frightened her so much. And though she didn’t look at him, had no intention of ever meeting his cold hard eyes again, she felt them on her and it made something shivery and sick coil in her belly. Surely it would anger the earl if she showed disrespect to his father, but she didn’t think she could smile at him no matter how hard she tried.
Fortunately her husband seemed to sense her discomfort. He sent her to her room the minute she’d finished her meal. Perhaps he only tired of listening to his father’s disparaging banter about her. Either way, it was with relief that she stood to exit the hall.
“Wait!” his father said. “Is that how you take leave of your husband’s table?”
Cait froze, and her gaze flew to her husband’s.
“It is no matter,” Duncan said. “We don’t keep formal manners here.”
“We do at my keep, and I’m accustomed to the ladies taking their leave with a pleasant curtsy and a ‘good eve.’”
Her husband looked at her, the color rising around his neckline, whether from anger or embarrassment, she didn’t know. She dipped into a half-hearted curtsy and managed, through great effort, to meet the awful man’s eyes.
“Good eve to you, my lord.”
“And good eve to you, lass,” he replied in a voice dripping with disdain.
Cait felt absolutely humiliated.
“Good eve, Caitlyn,” said Duncan quietly, although she heard the fury in his tone.
She fled to the shelter of her room and shut the door. It was a warm night but she shivered violently. She climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her head. But she couldn’t get warm and she couldn’t rest even when the keep quieted around her. She felt a strange agitation that wouldn’t let her sleep. When she closed her eyes, Lord Douglas’s visage rose before her, and she feared if she fell asleep he would come to her in her dreams.
