Unless she had been about to, before those blasted footsteps cut her off.
“Miss Kane, there ye are.” Beathan bowed his head briefly. “Me maither thinks I ought to apologize to ye, and I’m inclined to agree. If ye’re to be here awhile, I daenae want there to be any difficulty between us.”
Nancy glanced at him, her hand pressed to her heart as if she thought she could slow it down with pressure alone. “It’s all right.”
“Nay, I daenae think it is,” Beathan insisted. “I want ye to ken that I didnae mean to offend ye, Miss Kane. I went about it the wrong way, but all I meant was… I daenae think there’s anythin’ more noble than takin’ care of bairns,especiallythose that arenae yer own. And I’m glad ye’re here to take care of wee Freya. Me maither willnae have the time when me sister hasherbairn, so it’s a relief that the wee one will have someone to tend to her.”
Nancy’s brow glistened with sweat, and though Hunter should have been concentrating on cooling his desire, he felt a sudden urge to taste her gleaming skin.
With obvious difficulty, she tore her gaze from him and put on a tight smile. “Thank you for the apology,” she said, her voice still husky. “All’s well, don’t worry. Put that way, I can’t help but agree with you a little bit. I know there are many children who’d agree with you. That to be looked after by someone, anyone, is the greatest gift.”
Beathan smiled brightly. “Exactly. That’s exactly what I meant. Nay child should be without someone to maither them.”
“No… no, they shouldn’t,” Nancy replied, her voice catching. “Sorry, I… uh… I think I need some fresh air. Could one of you point me to the garden or a door out of here?”
A soft, almost maniacal laugh burst out of Hunter. Whatever the truth was, witch or madwoman or spy or clairvoyant or otherwise, she certainly wasn’t ordinary. Luckily for her, or maybe unluckily, ‘ordinary’ bored him.
“That way, Miss Kane,” Beathan answered before Hunter could, annoying him somewhat, just as the earnest apology annoyed him. It had beentooearnest, in his opinion.
“Thank you,” Nancy said, holding onto the wall as she made her descent, deliberately squeezing past Hunter as if to put as much distance between them as possible.
She hadn’t even made it out of sight when a maid came running, pink-faced and out of breath. It reminded Hunter of Nancy’s condition just a few moments ago. A dark smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“The bairn is awake,” the maid blurted out, clutching her sides.
Nancy shot Hunter a look and muttered a quiet, “Of course,” before storming past him in the opposite direction. Her need for fresh air would have to wait.
CHAPTER 9
This is insane.This is… irresponsible, is what it is!
Nancy didn’t have the first idea of what to do with a baby, and such a small one, too. All babbling sounds and chubby cheeks and downy hair and sticky little fists.
It wasn’t as if Nancy had the steadiest hands either, after what had just happened in the stairwell. She could still feel Hunter’s palm on her chest, the calluses rough against her smooth skin. It hadn’t seemed like something sexual, not at first, but the longer he’d left his hand there, the more she’d doubted herself. And his intentions.
Was he trying to feel my heartbeat? He was probably checking if I had one, since he thought I was some witch or some unnatural creature.
She snorted, and the baby jolted in fright, her pink, pudgy little face scrunching up. Nancy might not have known anythingabout babies, but she knew what that face meant: an earsplitting scream was imminent.
“Oh, dearie me.” Isla swooped in and took the baby out of her bassinet, cradling the child with such casual ease, rocking her gently from side to side.
The motion was so hypnotic that even Nancy almost felt herself calming down.
Flashing the older woman an apologetic look, she murmured, “Sorry. I forgot they have sensitive ears. A big, brand-new world; everything must be terrifying.”
Isla chuckled. “It’s good for ‘em. Ye daenae want a bairn who cannae sleep through the smallest sound. This one is a wee bit more sensitive than most, but she’ll soon learn that nae every sound is a scary one.” She paused, smiling. “Do ye want to hold her? Ye probably should if ye’re to be her nursemaid.”
Dread coiled in Nancy’s stomach, although that might have been a lack of breakfast, too.
“About that.” She gulped. “I hope no one is expecting me to… You know,feedthe baby. I don’t exactly have what she needs, if you understand what I’m saying.”
This time, it was Isla who snorted, and the baby barely flinched. Learning already.
“Mercy, I ken that,” the older woman said, still chuckling. “She has two wet nurses for that: one for the day, and one for the night. They’re bonny lasses. Ye’ll meet them in due course, I’ve nay doubt.”
Something like relief took a bit of weight off Nancy’s shoulders. Although now that she thought about it, it was probably a dumb thing to say.Of course, neither Hunter nor Isla thought she would have been capable of that. This was just a ruse, after all.
And I, apparently, have just one week to find a tapestry that hasn’t been woven yet.
