Page 14 of Bound to a Scot (Sins in a Kilt #2)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I t was just after the sun crested the horizon in the east that Emmeline finally decided that anything nearing a meaningful sleep was not going to come. She threw back her covers with a frustrated growl and swung her legs over the side of the bed then stalked over to the wash basin and stared at herself in the looking glass. She looked like a woman who hadn’t had much sleep. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her skin looked paler than usual. Her hair was in disarray, a byproduct of spending the evening tossing and turning.

With a sigh, she slipped her hands into the wash basin and splashed some cool water on her face, trying to wash away the signs of her fatigue. One of her servants had been in a little while ago, stoking the fire and warming her chamber, and leaving a tray of warm, honeyed mead on a tray for her. Emmeline picked up the cup and took a long draw, letting it warm her from the inside. She hoped the mead would help wash away the thoughts of Maddox that continued to plague her.

After he’d left her bedchamber the night before, Emmeline had finished the meal he’d thoughtfully brought for her, all the while replaying their conversation over and over in her mind. She feared that maybe she’d shared too much with him. That maybe she shouldn’t have told him what she had. But then she thought perhaps it was best he knew that his every transgression affected Cecilia in a very real way. Perhaps that would temper his responses in the future.

But if she was being honest with herself, she’d admit her fear over what she’d told him wasn’t really what had kept her awake for most of the night. It was the memory of his touch and the look in his eyes as he gazed at her before slipping out of her chamber. His green eyes had bored straight into her, touching something deep in her soul. She looked down at her hand, imagining she could still feel the warmth of his hand on hers.

She knew by the look in his eyes that he wanted to kiss her and what scared Emmeline the most was she wasn’t sure she would have stopped him. That was what terrified her, her wanting him too. That desire bothered her more than anything. She was a married woman. Miserable, but married. More than that, Maddox was to wed her stepdaughter. Wanting him to kiss her sent a needle of guilt through her heart and ignited a thick, greasy churning in her belly. She knew her thoughts were wrong, but she couldn’t stop them.

“Bleedin’ hell,” she muttered to herself.

Carrying her cup of mead, Emmeline walked over to the window. The sky was cast in fiery hues of red and gold, the clouds overhead were long, white streaks cutting through the heavens. It was the start of a beautiful morning, one that didn’t match the dark clouds that gathered inside of her. Activity in the yard below her window drew Emmeline’s attention.

“What is this then?” she asked.

Burchard walked across the yard with a pair of men she didn’t know. The strangers were tall and rough, obviously fighting men. The way Burchard spoke with them, clapping them on the shoulders and laughing, it was obvious to Emmeline that her husband knew them well, which piqued her curiosity since she had never seen them before.

The door to her bedchamber opened and Kenna stepped in. “Breakfast is being laid,” she said. “Laird Burchard asked that ye join them in the dining hall.”

“Of course, he did,” she groaned.

“I’ll help ye dress.”

“Thank ye, Kenna.”

Kenna picked out a deep blue dress for the day. It was beautiful, one of Emmeline’s favorites. Once they had her dressed, they quickly fixed her hair and got her ready for the day.

“Beautiful,” Kenna said. “As always.”

Emmeline stared into the looking glass and frowned. She only ever saw her imperfections, which Burchard always took great pains to point out to her. Kenna came up behind her and set her chin down on Emmeline’s shoulder, her expression sympathetic, seeming to intuit her thoughts, as she always did.

“Ye’re a beautiful woman, Emmy,” she said softly. “Dinnae let anybody, least of all yer bleedin’ husband, ever make ye think otherwise.”

Emmeline took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank ye, Kenna.”

“Ye should get down tae the hall before yer husband misses ye.”

Emmeline rolled her eyes. “He never misses me.”

“Ye ken what I mean,” she replied with a laugh.

“Aye. I should get down there before he starts bellowin’ like a banshee.”

“Correct.”

Emmeline gave Kenna a kiss on the cheek then departed, trudging down to the dining hall, each step driving another stitch of pain deeper into her heart. But it wasn’t seeing Burchard that caused her so much distress. At least, not today anyway. It was the thought of seeing Maddox after the moment they’d shared the previous night. It was the thought of trying to keep Cecilia from seeing that something had happened between them. How could she ever explain to Cecilia that Maddox had visited her in her bedchamber last night and that something had passed between them. That some feeling continued to grip her heart. He was to be her husband after all.

Emmeline drew a breath and stepped into the dining hall. Burchard, Cecilia, and Maddox were already gathered around the table. Burchard cast an icy glare at her then returned his gaze to the food on his plate.

“Good morning,” Maddox said.

“Good morning, Emmy,” Cecilia added.

“Good morning,” she replied as she took her seat.

As Emmeline filled her plate, Burchard and Maddox spoke about trivial matters. Burchard seemed to be in a decent mood, laughing and jesting with him. The mood in the dining hall was lighter than it had been in days. Emmeline knew she should be grateful for that, but she also knew Burchard well enough to know it was temporary. It was like standing outside on a sunny, warm day and seeing pitch black thunderheads in the distance. They would roll in and the storm would break at some point. It was just a matter of when.

Emmeline turned to Burchard. “Me laird, who were those men ye were with this morning?”

“What men?”

“I saw ye in the yard walkin’ them tae their horses.”

“I dinnae ken what ye’re talkin’ about.”

His face darkened and Emmeline could feel the thunderheads that had been lurking in the distance begin to roll in. She knew she should stop. Should not question him any further, at least not in front of Maddox. But the simple fact that he was denying what she had seen with her own two eyes made her more curious than was probably good for her. Everything inside of her was telling her to drop it, but some small, stubborn piece of her mind wouldn’t let her.

“I’ve been told ye’ve been holdin’ meetin’s with a lot of men in recent days,” she pressed.

His eyes flashed dangerously and his lips curled back over his teeth. “Ye shouldnae be listenin’ tae castle gossip, Emmeline. ‘Tis nae becomin’ fer the lady of the keep.”

Cecilia shifted uncomfortably in her seat and Maddox’s body was taut with tension. He gave her a small shake of the head, silently telling her to drop it, perhaps sensing Burchard’s mood quickly shifting. But if there was something untoward going on, she wanted to know. More than that, she wanted Maddox to know if Burchard was involved with something shady, or even dangerous, before sealing his alliance with the man.

She wasn’t sure what had come over her. She knew Burchard would not be happy with her pressing the issue and she would take measures to protect Cecilia from his wrath, but somewhere on her walk from her bedchamber to the dining hall, she’d become determined to bring what he was hiding in the shadows out into the light. Both for her sake as well as Maddox’s. She thought he had a right to know what sort of man he was getting into bed with.

Perhaps, if she was fortunate, Maddox would choose to forgo his alliance with Burchard. And perhaps her husband would be angry enough with her to cast her aside and evict her from the castle altogether. If that was to happen, Emmeline would convince Cecilia to go with her and together, they could begin anew. They could build a life free from Burchard’s cruelty and brutality. And maybe, just maybe, they would find their way to peace and happiness. It was an unlikely dream, but one she’d had long before Maddox had come into her world and one she stubbornly clung to anyway.

“’Tis nae gossip when I see ye meetin’ with men?—”

“Enough!” Burchard slammed his fist down on the table hard enough to rattle everything on it. “I dinnae meet with anybody this mornin’. Ye’re mistaken, Emmeline. But even if I were tae meet with people ye dinnae ken, ‘tis nae yer business anyway. Ye’ve got nay say in me affairs. And if I want yer counsel, I’ll ask ye fer it. Dae ye understand?”

Emmeline lowered her gaze but not before cutting a glance at Maddox who was observing what was transpiring closely. She saw him filing it all away in the back of his mind. Cecilia’s head was down and her body was tense. She feared her father’s wrath as much as Emmeline did. Emmeline would shield the girl as best as she could. She did not like provoking the beast inside her husband, but she was doing this to hopefully benefit everybody. Well, everybody but Burchard.

“I asked ye a question,” Burchard said coldly. “Dae ye understand?”

“Aye. I understand.”

Burchard swallowed down his mead then tossed the empty cup on the table as he got to his feet. His gaze, dark and angry, remained fixed on her as he walked out of the hall. The door slammed behind him with a hard bang like a cannon, making Emmeline jump in her seat.

“Why did ye ae that, Emmy?” Cecilia asked. “Ye ken what will happen?—”

“I willnae let him put another hand on ye, lass. I give ye me word.”

“What did ye hope tae achieve with that little show?” Maddox asked.

“I want ye tae see what kind of man me husband is,” she replied. “And I also want tae ken why he’s meetin’ with all these strange me in secret—and why he’s lyin’ about it.”

Maddox sat back in his seat, his face troubled. He seemed to be thinking about what had just happened, which was what Emmeline had hoped would happen. She hoped his thinking would lead him to reconsider everything. Cecilia turned to her and as if she understood what Emmeline was trying to do, offered her a weak smile, fear still shining brightly in her eyes.

“It’ll be all right, lass,” Emmeline said.

“I hope so,” Cecilia replied.

She offered the girl an encouraging smile, doing her best to mask her own fears that things would in fact, be all right, or that she could truly give her the protection she said she would. But something was going on. Something dark and shady. She had no idea what it was, but Emmeline believed they had a right to find out.