“I have hardly slept enough,” Elize mumbled, sitting up. “I kept thinking this place was too good to be true and that we would be forced back to the orphanage.”
“I ken, but ye mustnae speak of it so loudly,” Emily warned, keeping her voice low. “Ye daenae want anybody to overhear us and send us back to that place.”
She didn’t want anyone to overhear them and report to Mrs. Donnelly. Considering no one had asked questions about their origins, it wouldn’t be surprising if the housekeeper had placed spies to watch them.
Emily was not too naïve to think that they had found a home so easily, but that didn’t mean she was in a hurry to leave. If anyone here learned that they had escaped the orphanage and they got evicted from the castle, she didn’t know where they would find such comfortable accommodations again.
For the first time in her life, she looked forward to waking up and beginning her work.
“Ye’re much too cautious, Emi,” Elize whispered. “I hardly think anyone here is paying attention to us. They daenae evenlookat us.”
“’Tis exactly what we need,” Emily insisted. “To focus on our work and mind our own business. We daenae need any extra attention on us. For the first time, we have a place to stay where we daenae fear being beaten or starved. Let us do everything we can to ensure we daenae return to the life we escaped from.”
Elize frowned, studying her intently. “How can ye be so sure after only a day here?” she asked.
Emily felt her face flush, but she quickly hid it by turning away and rising. She couldn’t very well tell her sister that she was sure because she had been with the Laird in his chambers the daybefore or about the lovely dog. She didn’t know how to explain what had happened in that room without sounding mad.
“Get up now and be quick about it,” she said sharply.
Without further argument, they began their day.
“Emily,” Mrs. Donnelly called some time after the midday meal, just before she could return to her workstation.
“Aye, Mrs. Donnelly?” Emily answered.
“The Laird has asked to see ye,” Mrs. Donnelly told her.
Surprise flitted through her.
“Did he say why?” Emily asked.
Had she perhaps done something that annoyed him yesterday?
Oh, I shouldnae have spoken as freely as I did yesterday.
To think she had always scolded Elize for behaving without regard for propriety, but she was the one who had forgone all notion of it by staring too long at the Laird’s face.
If he wanted to evict her for her improper behavior, she was ready to beg him to give her another chance.
“He didnae,” Mrs. Donnelly answered. Seeing the glum look on Emily’s face, she added, “Daenae fret, child. The Laird isnae going to hurt ye. Daenae worry.”
“I fear I may have offended him,” Emily admitted, worrying her lip with her teeth.
“He doesnae take offense so easily, child,” Mrs. Donnelly soothed. “Now come, let us nae delay any longer.”
Emily nodded and followed behind the housekeeper, her anxiety mounting as she did. They stopped outside the Laird’s study, and Mrs. Donnelly knocked on the door. Then, with a soft smile, she retreated.
“Come in,” the Laird called.
Fixing a repentant look on her face, Emily opened the door and stepped inside, keeping her head down.
“Ye asked to see me, me Laird,” she said softly.
“Aye, I did,” he rumbled. “Why do ye look so guilty?”
She lifted her head and found him standing behind his desk with a concerned glint in his eyes.
“Nothing, me Laird,” she answered. “I just thought… I thought I was in trouble.”
