A small laugh escaped her, then vanished beneath the questions gathering on her face.
“Why are ye here?”
“To bring ye home,” he responded. She stepped back, and he caught the mistake before it pushed her further away from him. “Toaskye to come home.”
Hannah’s gaze sharpened from across the room. Violet noticed the correction too. Her fingers curled into her skirt.
“What of me sickness?”
Connor took the wrapped wooden box out of the inner pocket of his coat and placed it on a side table. “It wasnae sickness.”
He opened the box without allowing her near it. The dark vial lay inside, secured beneath folded cloth. He explained to her that a maid had found it sewn into Lachlan’s travel bag. The healer had examined the residue and identified a preparation that caused nausea, cold hands, dizziness, and faintness.
“Lachlan poisoned ye,” he said.
Violet stared at the vial. “Nay.”
“Aye.”
Color drained from her face. She lowered herself into a chair, both hands gripping the armrests.
“He wanted ye to believe that ye were contagious.” Connor kept his voice steady. “John’s fever was ordinary and unrelated. The poison cannae pass between people.”
Violet covered her mouth, and relief came first, visible in the sudden drop of her shoulders. Then a wave of horror followed close behind.
“I left John. Oh God, I should have kent.”
“Nay.” Connor crouched before her without touching her. “The shame belongs to him.”
She looked toward the window. “This explains what happened. It doesnae mean the old illness can never return.”
“Nay.” He nodded, and her eyes flicked back to him, surprised by the answer. “I willnae lie to ye, it may return. I doubt it will, but I cannae command the years ahead.”
Her eyes welled up at those words. “Ye make it sound simple.”
Connor said nothing. He only laughed slightly as she looked at the box again.
“I heard about Lachlan. Jane would have hated what he became.”
“Aye. So did he.”
“And Henry?”
“He will never come near John again.”
Hannah rose, prepared to leave the garden. Before leaving, she met Violet’s eyes and gave her the privacy to decide, after which the door closed.
Violet stood, keeping the chair between them. “So what is it now? I follow ye back to the castle and wait for the sickness to return?”
Connor let the briefest silence linger before he spoke again. “Look, Violet, I can fight what stands before me. I can call healers and guard doors. What I cannae promise is that the world will never hurt us. On the other hand, I can say with full certainty that ye willnae face it alone.”
Another moment of silence passed. Violet seemed to be contemplating his words.
“I am scared.”
“So am I.”
“Ye certainly daenae look afraid.”
