“The hens will be safe enough inside,” he said, adding oatcakes and a jack of ale to the pack.
“Hew,” she said.
“We’ll have to leave most of the linens.”
“Hew.”
“And I don’t think we’ll have room for Sister Eve’s gown.”
“Hew!Stop!”
He paused, but he couldn’t meet her gaze.Couldn’t stomach the guilt he felt when he looked at her.
“What’s wrong?”she asked.
“What’s wrong?”he echoed ruefully.
He’d woken up.He’d realized it didn’t matter if the king condemned him.What was important was that Carenza was safe.Their bairn was safe.Dunlop’s heir was safe.
Maybe by some miracle, Sister Eve had been right.Maybe all had been forgiven.But even if that seemed unlikely, even if it meant risking his life, Hew still had to take the wager.
If the worst happened—if he was immediately seized and put into shackles, carted away to a royal prison, and executed as a traitor—his dishonor would be only a wee blemish on Rivenloch and a worthwhile sacrifice for Carenza and their bairn.
Carenza might grieve for a bit.But she’d have their child to warm her heart and the love of her clan to surround her.
She’d be free to marry again.Indeed, if Sister Eve never showed up, it would be as if she’d never been wed.And a woman as perfect as Carenza—beautiful, sweet, kind, gentle, thoughtful, charming—would have men clamoring for her hand before Hew was cold in the ground, no matter whose child she named as heir.
As for Hew, he knew he would die a better man, just for the privilege of having spent this magical year with an angel.
He wasn’t about to tell her all that.She’d only argue with him.And they didn’t have time.The snow was falling fast now.
So he told her the most important part of the truth.The heart of it.
“The truth is I can’t bear the thought of losing you, Carenza.”
“Losin’ me?Ye’re not goin’ to—”
“If anything happened…” he choked out, shaking his head.“If something went awry… If I lost you… If we lost the bairn…”
“We won’t lose the bairn.”
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.I’d rather risk imprisonment than endanger the lives of my loved ones.”He clenched his jaw as a knot rose in his throat.“You can’t talk me out of it.So don’t try.I’ve made up my mind.And I won’t change it.I love you too much.”
Her eyes filled with tears.“Och, Hew.I don’t want to make ye suffer.I could ne’er cause ye distress.And God help me, I love ye more than—” She halted abruptly with a gasp and pressed a hand to her belly.
Hew’s heart plunged.The blood drained from his face.
Dear God, was she…?
This couldn’t be happening.Not here.Not now.
He held his breath and stared at her in horror for several agonizing heartbeats.
Finally, her face relaxed into a smile.“Just a kick.”
The tension shivered loose like chain mail off his back, leaving him suddenly weak and vulnerable.And he knew at that instant he was doing the right thing by taking her home to Dunlop.
Carenza had meant to change Hew’s mind.She’d intended to convince him they’d be fine staying in the byre.After all, this was her clan’s land.She knew it well.The snowhadcome unseasonably early.But it wasn’t the first time it had done so.
