A maid turned the corner, nearly ran into them, and jerked back. “Me Laird. Me Lady,” she greeted quickly, dipping her head.
“Nae now,” Logan said, not breaking stride.
The maid flattened herself against the wall, watching them with wide eyes.
Emma caught the look. She could only imagine the rumors that would spread through the castle.
The Laird is back and angry. So angry that he dragged his English wife through the castle like a misbehaving stable boy.
She kept quiet until they reached his study and watched as he opened the door, pulled her inside, and shut it.
The lock clicked.
Her pulse thudded at the base of her throat, and anger sat there. So did something else she refused to name.
Logan faced her. “Well,” he grunted. “Ye were seeking me attention. Now ye have it.”
She stared at him as if he had spoken a foreign language. “Yourattention? You really think too highly of yourself, do you not?”
“Nay. I was told me wife had lost her mind,” he said. “This isnae about me.”
She let out a short laugh. “Your wife was alone. There was only so much company I could ask of Isobel, do you not think?”
He stepped closer, his voice dropping. “So that is what all of this is to ye? Some kind of trick?”
Emma held her ground. “No, my Laird. I did nottrickyou. If anyone miscounted, it was me.”
Logan frowned. “Miscounted?”
“Yes,” Emma responded, her voice thickening with each word. “You see, I thought I wasmeantto be a wife. Imagine my surprise when I woke up one morning to find myself alone in such a large castle. So yes, the fault here is truly mine.”
Logan swallowed, and some part of her felt elated that she had him cornered. With one quick breath, she decided to drive home the guilt even further.
“You abandoned me,” she accused.
His mouth tightened. “It was duty, and I had to go. Ye kent what I was.”
“Oh, did I?”
Logan folded his hands across his chest. “I also told ye we would live separate lives.”
“Separate does not mean disappearing before dawn,” she scoffed. “I have been there before, and believe me, it is not something any woman particularly enjoys.”
His jaw clenched, and color climbed his cheekbones. “I sent word.”
“Right, because that should suffice,” she drawled. “A husband gone and no one to keep company. Yes, your word would solve all of that.”
Her voice shook once, but she steadied it and did not look away from him.
He waved a hand toward the door.“So to get back at me, this is what ye do? Turn me castle into a story for bored old men?”
“I turned your castle into a place that feelsused,” she countered. “I thought we could all use some kind of entertainment.”
“So ye make yerself the joke,” he said flatly. “Very grand.”
She stepped closer to him. “I wanted something I could make with my own hands. If that looks like calves and goats and noise, I accept it.”
His anger shifted. The edge stayed, but his eyes had darkened.
