Page 69 of The Laird’s Lost Wife

“Edith, where’s Daphne this morning? And wee Willow? Nae sick, I hope?” his mother suddenly asked.

“Oh, nothing like that,” Lady Pilbury assured her. “Daphne overslept, and was in such a state! She never gets the chance to sleep late, and I had no intention of waking her. Elspeth said that she could take breakfast in their room, she and Willow. I believe they’re going to the library this morning. I… I hope that’s all right with you, Lord MacCrimmon?” she added, glancing at Hunter. “That is, Laird MacCrimmon.”

Hunter gave her a wry smile. “Thank ye kindly, me lady. And of course, Daphne and Willow can have free run of the library. Everybody in the keep can use it.”

“She’s probably reading stories to the little one,” Helena remarked innocently. “That wee bairn loves her mother, that’s for sure. Ye should go join her, Hunter. Willow likes ye a great deal, does she nae?”

Subtle.

He lifted an eyebrow, pointedly not reacting to the quick, knowing looks the older ladies shot him.

He wondered what they would say if he told them what happened last night by the loch. Not all of it, of course. Most of the interaction ought never to be relayed. It was private, between him and Daphne. But he could talk about his plan to marry.

His mother would be happy; he was sure of that. She knew of the vow, and she knew what had happened to make him swear it. Still, she’d rather see him married and an oath-breaker than a single, honest man.

Nae that I’ve ever been an honest man.

Lady Pilbury, of course, wouldn’t understand why he might put the vow above marrying Daphne. It was clear how much she adored her, and Willow too.

The best thing for him to do would be not to react to their jibes and knowing looks. He should sit at the table as if he had all the time in the world, and act as if he wasn’t going to the library to find her.

Somehow he knew he wasn’t going to do that.

With a sigh, he rose to his feet.

Helena only smiled and said nothing, but Lady Pilbury’s face lit up.

“Oh, are you going to find Daphne? When you do, I would be greatly obliged if you’d remind her that her time is her own. Helena and I are going to spend the day together, so Daphne doesn’t have to worry about looking after me. I think Willow wants to explore, and dear Daphne is scarcely less eager! I always hated to think of them being chained to my sickbed. They ought to be off having fun, don’t you agree?”

He smiled fondly at her. “Aye, I agree, me Lady. I’ll tell her.”

CHAPTER 16

Daphne’s voice drifted out of the open library door and down the hall. Hunter felt his skin prickle at the sound.

He’d played their encounter by the loch over and over in his mind. It had kept him awake far into the night. He could taste the silky smoothness of her lips, feel the warmth of her skin beneath his fingers.

In that moment, it hadn’t mattered that they were sitting on a cold, hard boulder by a loch, out in the open. It hadn’t mattered that they were out in the open, because nobody was there, just the moon to see.

He could still feel the shivering lust that had coiled in his stomach. He wasn’t sure what could have happened next on that cold, shaley shore.

It doesnae matter, because she refused me.

How had she heard about the vow?

He racked his brains, trying to guess who it might have been. One of the servants, maybe. His mother wouldn’t have said anything. Magnus, perhaps? No, because as far as he knew, Magnus hadn’t talked to Daphne at all. He probably didn’t think she was worth talking to. He could be a little haughty like that.

I suppose he’s earned the haughtiness. I daenae ken where I’d be without him.

He reached the library door and paused, peering inside.

Some lairds didn’t keep a good library. He could understand the logic behind that. Even he had little time for reading. It would be nice to spend all day curled up in a soft padded chair, reading a book or poring over an old map or manuscript. But he just didn’t have the time. Even if he did carve out the time, he’d just spend it worrying about the work he had to do.

Through the half-open door, he could see Daphne sitting on a wide settle, a blanket draped over her lap and another hanging over the back. Her feet were tucked underneath her, and Willow was curled up in her lap. A large, dusty tome that he didn’t recognize was open on Willow’s lap. He closed his eyes and listened to the story Daphne was reading.

“… but the princess saw through the servant’s ruse. She guessed that he was lying and refused to follow him into the woods. The servant was very angry that he had failed to trick her. She turned and began to run back toward the castle. She kent that she couldnae outrun the servant, and began to think of how she might escape.”

The voice abruptly stopped.