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Aurelia pushed her lips together as if angry, but Margaret could see that she didn’t really mean it. “Well… no, I know that he does not hate us. But he does not care about us at all.”

“Your father loves you.”

“He does not act like it,” Aurelia continued, sadness now coloring her tone. “He is not himself. I have never seen him like this, Margaret.”

“What… what do you mean?”

“Lenora thinks he is sad. And maybe he is,” she shrugged, head bowed now with sadness. “And I do not want him to be.”

It broke her heart to hear her say such things. She was worried about her father. She did not understand what was wrong. “It is not that simple,” Margaret tried.

“It should be,” she pouted. “And besides…” Her face scrunched into a ball. “It is all so… so stupid,” she said. “I do not even think he wants you to leave. I know he does not.”

Margaret frowned. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t believe a word of what he says,” Aurelia continued.

“And I know he is the same. He thinks I am still a child, that I do not know when he lies. But that is all he is doing! Lying!” She scrunched her face further, her chin wobbling.

“I know when he lies, I can tell! He says he is doing this for us – that makes no sense!”

Margaret sighed. “When ye are older –”

“Not you too!” she pleaded. “That is what he says. But he is sad, Margaret. I can hear it in his voice.”

“Leaving will nae help that,” Margaret tried.

“Maybe…” She bit her lip. “But I do not want to stay any longer. If you go, I go. And maybe…” She looked up at Margaret, her chin wobbling, her eyes watering with tears.

“Maybe then he will finally admit the truth. If he wakes up and I am gone with you, he will see that you do not have to go because of us. That you belong here. You do! Do not say no, Margaret. Please, do not say no.”

“Aurelia…” Margaret had no idea what to say.

Her heart broke for the little girl. So confused.

So unsure of what she wanted, what was happening, or how she might fix it – and she did want to fix it too, that was what hurt the most. She saw her father in pain.

She saw the chaos that Margaret’s leaving had caused.

And all she wished for was for everything to go back to how it was.

Was I wrong to leave without a fight? Should I have pushed a little harder?

The irony was not lost on Margaret either. That she had left to try and protect the girls, and in so doing had only made things worse. But what could she do? Obviously, she could not bring Aurelia with her. Although she sensed that sending the poor girl home would solve nothing either.

What she needed, she knew, was to speak with Lysander. Not to fight with him. Not to make decisions for him, or him for her. But to go to him, to lay out her heart and how she felt, and give him one more chance to do the same…

“Father!” Aurelia gasped suddenly.

Margaret looked up, and her stomach dropped as her heart rose through her chest. It was a strange sensation, part fear and panic, part hope and happiness.

“Aurelia!” It was Lysander. He strode around the side of the manor; his expression caught between relief and anger at the sight of Aurelia.

“I am not coming home!” Aurelia grabbed hold of Margaret and hid behind her. “You can’t make me.”

“Aurelia…” He made it halfway across the garden before coming to a sudden stop.

It was as if he’d only just then noticed Margaret, the sight of her forcing his feet to stick to the ground so that he dared not come closer.

He looked from Margaret to Aurelia, as unsure as she had ever seen him. “What… how did you get here?”

“I am surprised as ye,” Margaret made sure to point out. “Believe me when I say that.”

“She rode half the night, as she says it,” Catherine said, stepping between them as if she were a mediator. “It seems she missed her stepmother.”

Lysander grimaced. “Aurelia, what were you thinking?”

“I do not want her to go!” Aurelia cried out. “And if she does, I am going with her!”

It might have been amusing if it were not so sad. And confused. Margaret had no idea how she felt or how she should feel. The sight of Lysander made her heart swell and crash at the same time. A reminder of what she’d almost had, and what she had lost.

Is he happy to see me? Would he prefer that he had nae? What does he think about all of this?

Lysander looked at pains to decide what to say or how he should react. He glanced at Margaret but could not meet her eyes directly. Still standing back, he had one arm reaching out for his daughter but was unwilling to go to her.

"Aurelia,” he said. “It is not as simple as you might think. I have told you this.”

“Liar!”

“You are coming home,” he said sternly.

“You cannot make me!”

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Please, Aurelia… do not make this more difficult than it needs to be. Please…” His voice cracked with sadness.

No… not sadness. It was more than that. Margaret looked at Lysander – really looked at him.

Although he was much the same, she could see the differences as clear as day.

He looked tired and worn. Withered, like a flower denied light and soil.

He was a shadow of the powerful, confident man whom she knew, and she understood why.

Her mind went back to what Aurelia had said just now. About how distant he had been. How removed and depressed. As she suspected, he did not want her to leave any more than she wanted to go, resigned to that fate because he was stubborn and believed his own lies.

Worse than that, I hurt him, forcing him to react the only way he kens how.

Margaret did not want to go back to Scotland.

Nor did she want to beg for Lysander to take her back.

What she wished was for him to tell her how much he cared for her, so that she might tell him the same.

She needed him to admit it to himself because that was the only way that he would finally accept the truth.

“Catherine…” Margaret looked to her sister. “Perhaps you can take Aurelia inside.”

“No!” Aurelia cried. “I am not going.”

“Only for a few minutes,” Margaret said to her. “And I promise, I will nae go to Scotland without ye.”

“Really?” she asked hesitantly.

“Really.” As she spoke, she looked at Lysander, making sure he was looking back at her. She smiled softly, letting it reach her eyes, making him see her so there would be no confusion about how she felt. “But first, your father and I need to have a talk.”