“Of course ye do!” Connell shouted, throwing the basket of herbs onto the stones.
Elsy stared at the greenery littering the floor around them, her face flushing, yet Connell noticed she wasn’t going to cry. There was no apology in the look she gave him. Only pure rage.
“Ye wish to lock me up as my former husband did, Connell?”
Connell scoffed. “It’s dangerous, Elsy. What if the men returned and saw ye frolicking about? They could have harmed ye. I didn’t know where ye were.”
“I was here,” said Elsy while holding out her arms and slowly turning around. “If ye would have merely looked out the window, ye would have seen me, and Scott. We weren’t hiding from ye, Connell.”
Connell shook his head. He knew she was right. She hadn’t gone far. It was foolish for him to be so upset, to allow himself to lose control. However, he couldn’t get the thought of her being harmed out of his head. He should have sent her away long before. He should have looked into this Lady McCormick further and done more to protect her, to protect his heart from feeling this way.
“I know ye weren’t hiding from me,” Connell said, his voice low. “But ye of all people should know better. Ye think I and my men are the only ones who want to harm ye? Ye think there aren’t other brigands lurking about?”
Elsy bristled and he knew he had her there. “And why do ye care?” she said angrily. “Yer the one who left me for four years to fend for myself.”
Connell’s eyes widened, his mouth hanging open.
“Yer the one who died and yet here ye are, alive and well, living out these four years on yer own without a care.”
“That is not true,” Connell hissed, jutting a finger at her. “Ye have nae idea how much I have sacrificed.”
Elsy laughed bitterly, tossing back her head, her hair whipping around her. “Aye, Connell, ye have given up so much. But what of me?”
Connell shook his head, not understanding what she was getting at.
Elsy stepped toward him, jutting a finger into his face. “Ye think I didn’t give up anything? Ye think it was just ye? Yer choices affected me, as well, Connell. Ye were so angry about me marrying Alan, and yet I wouldn’t have done so if ye had just returned from the grave like ye were meant to.”
Connell ground his teeth. He had nothing to say. He didn’t want to think any more on the matter.
“Don’t ye see, Connell,” Elsy whispered, her face softening. She cupped his cheek, but Connell held himself still, not ready to forgive her for leaving the fortress, for making him worry, for making him feel. “God gave ye a chance at life and ye squandered it for revenge. We could have had more. We could have been together.”
Connell batted her hand away. “That doesn’t matter now,” he said while taking a step away from her. “None of that matters.”
“But it does, Connell!” Elsy shouted, her hands fisting. “It matters to me.”
“What matters,” Connell said, taking another step back. “Is that yer safe and that ye remain in the fortress.”
Elsy shook her head. “I refuse to be a prisoner again.”
“Oh, ye won’t be,” Connell said with a bitter smile. “The carriage arrives tomorrow. Ye will be off to the McKades sooner than ye think and then ye can forget ye ever saw me.”
Elsy’s mouth opened, her eyes welling with tears. Connell turned around and stalked back inside, not caring if Elsy followed or not. He found Scott lingering by her chamber door, her hands clutching the bouquet, her eyes wide with worry.
“Connell--”
“Yer going with her,” he said harshly, not in the mood for any more arguments.
Connell didn’t wait for Scott’s reply as he stalked into the kitchen. He strode toward the table, where the rabbits remained. Their bloody carcasses stared back at him. With a sigh, he took out the small blade from his boot and began cutting away the fur, ignoring the ache settling into him, and the pull to return to Elsy’s side.
* * *
The sun was just beginning to rise when Connell saw the carriage drawing closer to the castle. He stared at it. A grim look marred his face. He held his hands behind his back, ignoring everything within him telling him to get inside that carriage and run away with Elsy.
It was foolish of him to pretend like they could ever be together. Connell should have kept his face hidden from her. He should have told his men they had the wrong lady the moment he set his eyes upon her. It would have saved him all this pain.
And now, he would never see her again.
“It’s better this way,” he told himself while turning away from the window.
