But what if Aunt Patience told her father a different story?Saints!Had she made a terrible mistake with that white lie? It didn’t hurt anyone. In fact, it kept everyone safe. Mayhap the warning she’d given her aunt about exposing her affair with MacMillan would still hold in this case as well. She needed to talk to her again.
“This whole story sounds far-fetched to me,” her father grumbled. “The MacKays know not how to keep their word.” Herose from his chair and moved toward the door. After yanking it open, he told his personal bodyguard, standing just outside the door, to fetch Lady Patience.
Mo creach!Seona would be in trouble if her aunt told a different story.
Aunt Patience entered and her father closed the door.
“Sister, explain the MacKay situation. It makes no sense to me,” her father said.
“I told Father how Dirk was already betrothed to Lady Isobel and this is why I couldn’t marry him,” Seona rushed to say, giving her aunt a meaningful look while her father’s back was turned.
Her aunt sent her a narrow-eyed glare.
“Let her explain it. I’ve already heard your side,” her father ordered.
“Aye,” Patience said hesitantly, her expression shifting from angry to pleasant. “I heard that some of the clan thought they were already married when they arrived in Durness. There were abundant rumors that they’d already been intimate and a bairn might result.”
“Damned barbarians,” her father said gruffly. His gaze shifted between Seona and her aunt for a long tense moment. “That will be all, Seona.”
She headed toward the door, then realized Patience hadn’t been dismissed. She let herself out, praying her aunt didn’t reveal anything that would anger her father. If he knew the truth of it, he would be enraged.
As Seona waited a few yards from the door for her aunt to emerge from the private conference with her father, she thought of her sister, glad she was still staying with Cousin Genevieve. At least she hoped she was, but she would love to see her. It had been many months.
When one of the kitchen servants passed nearby, Seona asked, “Is my sister still with my cousin?”
“Lady Seona.” The maid curtsied. “Nay, Lady Talia is in her bedchamber.”
What?Seona frowned. Why had she not joined them for supper?
“I thank you for telling me.” Seona rushed up the narrow spiral stair to the floor above and knocked at Talia’s chamber door. They were so close that normally they didn’t knock; they simplybarged in. Impatient, she tried to open the door but it didn’t budge.
Why had her sister locked the door?
“Talia? Are you in there?” Seona tried to keep her voice low.
“Who is it?” The mumbled response sounded sleepy. Was her sister napping?
“’Tis Seona.”
“Seona?” Talia’s tone was more excited now. “You are home?”
“Aye. Unlock the door.”
“I cannot. Father locked me in here.”
An icy shock went through Seona. “Why?”
“I angered him,” she said in an uneven voice.
“Are you crying? What happened?”Heavens!How she wished she could get inside and see her sister. “Did Father hurt you?”
“Aye,” she said low, very close to the other side of the door. “He hit me and I fell.”
Seona clenched her teeth. Damn the man. Though she might be breaking a commandment and dishonoring her father, the man was the very devil.
She blew out a breath and tried to sound calm. “How badly are you hurt?”
“The maid said it looks worse than it is.”
