“I have to ask him about your father,” Iris said. “And I don’t want to further upset you. I need you to have faith that—”
Padraig’s brows raised. “Am I some wee bairn now, that needs your sheltering?”
“No,” she insisted. “But I know how youloved him and—”
“Love him,” Padraig corrected. “I still love him.He’s nae dead.”
“You are so quick to defend him,” Iris reasoned.“I just need—”
“What does any of this have to do with you any matter?” he demanded. “You serve Caris Hargrave, and you were to train me up to be a proper Englishman. What does anything my father did or didna do have to do with you?” He looked at her closely for a long moment. “Searrach warned me that you were keeping a secret. I’m wondering now if she wasna right. If I’m playing right into your hands. Have you been lying to me?”
Oh, God help me, Iris prayed silently.
Tell the truth as often as you can, she reminded herself.
“Yes,”she whispered.
“Yes?” he repeated incredulously. “Yes, you’ve been lying to me?”
Shenodded briefly.
Padraig’s handsome face was a mask of confusion. “About what?”
Iris took a deep breath. “Come with meto see Lucan.”
Padraig’sfrown deepened.
Iris couldn’t stand the pain that his wary confusion was causing her. Whether Lucan liked it or not, Padraig was going to learn the truth about her that night. He might hate her afterward, she knew.
And so Iris did the only thing she could think of in that moment. She reached out for him and kissed him again, pressing her lips against his with all the hope she felt in her heart while the tears pressed painfully against her eyelids. Hope that Padraig would listen and understand. Hope that he would forgive her. Perhaps even still consider loving her when it was over.
She pulled away and leaned her forehead against his. “No matter what happens after tonight,” she whispered, “I’ve never lied about how I feel about you.”
This time it was Padraig who stepped away from her. “Let’s get it over with, then.”
Chapter 15
Iris followed Padraig through the corridors of Darlyrede House to the courtyard, and then once more toward the chapel. The atmosphere was tense—news of the assault in the clearing had spread quickly, and everyone they passed fixed them with curious stares, whispering to their companions. Indeed, the very stones of the keep seemed to be murmuring.
It was only through sheer determination that Iris managed to place one foot in front of the other, nearly skipping to keep up with Padraig’s long strides. Her entire body felt jumpy, as if she’d been struck by lightning, in anticipation of what was to occur.
Lucan was still lying on the same cot when they entered the darkened antechamber of Father Kettering’s domain. He had one forearm across his eyes, and his left foot was propped up, wrapped in thick bandages. He raised his arm slightly to see who had entered and then took it away altogether, rising to one elbow while Iris barred the door behind her.
“What is it?” he asked, at once alert. His expectant gaze went to Padraig’s and then followed Iris as she went to the doorway leading to the chapel proper and secured the barrier.
“We’re going to tell him,” Iris said, stopping at her brother’s bedside and turning to face the Scotsman, clasping her hands together tightly to stop her nervous fidgeting. “Now.”
She saw Lucan collapse back to the cot in her periphery. He sighed. “We don’t yet know—”
“We do,” Iris interrupted. “At least, I do. Lucan, Thomas Annesley lied to you.”
“What?” Lucan said.
Padraig spoke in the same moment. “Lied to him about what?”
Iris looked at each man in turn and then settled on Padraig. “Your father told Lucan that the reason it was unthinkable that he could kill Cordelia Hargrave was that she carried his child. They were to be married the next day, and the unborn babe would have been Thomas Annesley’s heir—the security of his and Cordelia’s future at Darlyrede. No one save he and Cordelia knew for certain about the child, although there were rumors.”
“What?” Padraig breathedincredulously.
