Piers’ expression turned cold. “I have called no man a liar,” he said tonelessly, tapping his fingers restlessly upon the table.
“Aye, but you have!” Tomas argued.
Piers stood.
“Piers,” Meghan said at her back.
He glanced at his wife, his eyes dark with anger, his temper barely restrained.
“If you would believe that Scot devil rather than two of your God-fearing countrymen, then you have named them liars!”
Piers cast his head back, obviously trying to control himself, but Elizabet wanted Tomas to win this argument. He was right. How could they believe Broc, when two witnesses saw him murder her brother in cold blood?
Broc had lied to her.
To her very face he had lied to her.
She wanted to go home.
If her father would not allow her to remain in his house, then she would take her dowry and place herself in a nunnery. There she would spend the remainder of her life.
She didn’t ever wish to open her heart again! Shedidn’t want ever to wed anyone else! She didn’t want to believe in any man’s lies!
Nor did she appreciate these two pompous men discussing her as though she weren’t even present. Didn’t her wishes count for anything?
“I want to go home,” she said softly. Both men turned to look at her, and she sat straight in the chair.
“Elizabet,” Seana protested.
Elizabet shrugged away from her, casting her a wounded glance. Seana hadn’t precisely lied to her, but she had allowed Elizabet to continue to believe something that wasn’t true. She might have spoken up and kept Elizabet from making a fool of herself.
What a fool Seana must have thought her.
The very thought of it stung her eyes once more. Her heart wrenched painfully.
She never ever wanted to set eyes upon that man again. The sooner she left this place, the better she would feel.
She stood, facing Piers squarely. “I wish to go home!” she repeated adamantly.
He shook his head, stubbornly refusing her. “I cannot allow that, Elizabet.”
Elizabet squared her shoulders, challenging him. She didn’t care who he was. He had no right to make decisions for her.
“You cannot allow it?”
His expression remained unyielding. He said nothing, refusing to be baited, but Elizabet wasn’t going to accept his decree so easily.
This was her life.
“Are your loyalties so twisted, my lord, that you would keep your promise to a liar over your obligation to your own flesh and blood?”
“You are out of line, Elizabet,” he told her, though his tone was gentle.
“Nay, my lord! You are out of line!” she countered,unwilling to cede to him. “This is my life, and my decision to make, and I wish to go home!”
Tears streamed from her eyes. She couldn’t stop them.
His eyes slanted with compassion.
