Leah finally appeared with their light, wool cloaks and one of the guards assigned to stay with Keely. She pinned her cloak in place, then quickly started to walk with Petro again.
“What has my husband told ye about me?”
“Many things.” His eyes sparkled in the sunlight.
“I know ye travelled together from Italy.”
The scholar nodded. “I met Alex a few months after he left here.”
“Was he…” she hesitated.
“Angry?”
“Aye.”
“I’ve never met a more miserable man.”
Some women might like hearing it, but Keely dinna. Though she did possess a certain amount of curiosity about his past, the guilt still hung heavy about her neck like a millstone.
The guards opened the main gates for them, and Petro ushered her through, Leah and her armed escort keeping a respectable distance behind them. The fact that she had any freedom to come and go pleased Keely. For if he’d wanted to, Alex could have locked her abovestairs.
They followed a well-worn path to the loch where so much of Keely’s finest memories with the MacKays had happened. Fishing and swimming, lazy afternoons spent with Alex and John, and a host of tenants she’d always considered friends.
“This land is different than my home,” Petro observed.
“In what way? I’ve always wondered about Italy.”
“Tis a sensuous place.”
Keely liked the way he described his home. “I’ve never heard a man describe his land like that.”
“Rome is a crowded city—filled with saints and sinners.”
“The Highlands have few of their own.”
His smile reached his dark eyes. “And I think you consider your husband one of those sinners.”
She shrugged. “I am a woman, sir. My opinion means little.”
“It means something to me.”
“Why?”
“I will tell you what I told Alex. I pledged loyalty to your husband, and will serve him faithfully. But that doesn’t mean I cannot be your friend, Lady Keely. Whatever you confide in me will stay between us. Unless it threatens the life of Alex—that is where I draw the line of distinction.”
“I accept yer offer of friendship, then.”
“Good.”
They reached the loch and Keely went to her favorite boulder. She kicked her shoes off and raised her gown just enough so she could dip her toes in the water.
“Another thing I like about Scotland.”
“Oh?”
“Your desire to experience the world around you. In Italy, a noble woman would not be caught in the water.”
“There are people nearby that would frown on my actions, sir.”
