The word erupted from Innes’ lips before she could think about what she was doing, the attention she might have been drawing to herself. The room was silenced once again, but this time, everyone was looking at her. She was not used to findingherself under the scrutiny of so many eyes at once, but she swallowed hard, trying to gather herself.
“We’re not going to get anywhere in this by… by fighting like children!” she told the two of them. “If you really wanted to help me, you would cease this arguing and put yer heads together to help me!”
Arthur’s anger faltered. Lachlan looked to the side, his jaw tight. Neither of them argued with her. Perhaps they could see that she was right and that this was only wasting time, as her real attacker was still out there.
After a long, heavy silence, Isobel pressed her fingertips dramatically into her temples.
“Arthur,” she complained. “All this fighting is giving me a terrible headache. Can’t we go to our chambers and rest?”
Arthur put his arm around his wife and steered her towards the door, but not before casting a look at Lachlan and Innes, warning them that this conversation was far from over yet.
“Come, let us retire before this turns into a full brawl,” Isobel urged him.
And, though Innes might have been imagining it, she could have sworn that the other woman looked back at her for a moment and smirked.
Her heart sank. This meeting had not gone how she had wanted it to, and she could not help but feel she was at least somewhat to blame.
Chapter Thirteen
Innes stirred first that morning, her head lifting from the pillow with an uneasy restlessness.
But when she felt the arm resting across her body, something uncoiled within her. She knew that last night had hardly gone to plan, not the way she had intended, at least. She had hoped that her brother and her new husband might find a way to see from each other’s point of view; she had not wanted to indulge in mention of the attempt, but if it brought them together, she had been willing to embrace it.
However, the atmosphere in the room from the moment they had all entered was… weighty. Isobel seemed keen to add to that in any way she could, and Innes could not help but wonder what she had been saying to her brother since she’d had him alone that night. Perhaps warning him of Lachlan, telling him all she knew of his madness, and assuring him as to why she had chosen him over that mad Laird after all.
Innes turned to Lachlan, who was still fast asleep in the bed next to her. She had been fearful that the argument might have led to tension between the two of them, but it seemed to not even have crossed his mind. He kissed her as soon as they were alonetogether, scooping her into his arms to carry her to bed so she could get some rest.
And there he slept, his chest rising and falling slowly, his head turned in her direction. She reached out to stroke his cheek, drinking in the sight of him, if only for a moment. She knew that there was far more to this man than the peace he seemed to rest in now, but she would take every inch of it she was able to get.
She dropped a kiss on his jaw and slipped out of bed, as careful as she could be not to disturb him in the process. She dressed swiftly, intending to go out and meet her brother. He was an early riser too, just like her, and she was sure he would be walking the courtyard, trying to clear his head of all that had happened the day before.
The morning light had just begun to swim across the courtyard, casting everything into a comforting glow. She could remember so many mornings spent just like this one with her mother when she was young, getting up so early that even the servants hadn’t risen yet, making their way out to the garden to see which flowers had unfurled overnight.
And, when she reached the courtyard, she found that her brother was, indeed, out there. But he was not pacing to clear his head, as she had expected. No, he was carrying a trunk towards the carriage, slipping it into the back like he intended to leave.
“Arthur?”
He glanced up at her. He seemed distracted.
“Are you leaving so soon?”
She tried to phrase it as a joke. It was ridiculous to even ask such a thing, given that he had only just arrived. But the expression on his face did not move an inch, and she knew at once that she was right.
“Why?” she asked. “Ye only… you only just arrived here! I ken that last night didnae go too well, but you cannae judge him off just that.”
“It’s not Laird Fraser,” he replied, speaking the word with such a measure of dismissal. “It’s Isobel. She’s taken sick.”
Innes’ brows knitted together. She was not sure how sympathetic she should feel or whether to believe her at all.
“I’m terribly sorry to hear that,” her tone was measured. “I hope she recovers soon.”
“Aye, I’m sure she will, once she’s back at home.” And then, his brows knitted together slightly, and he leaned in towards her. “I spoke wi’ the healer today,” he exclaimed. “She confirmed that the herbs that arrived in yer trunk were poisoned.”
She tensed again. She didn’t want to frighten her brother with such things, especially if his wife was not feeling well.
“Yes, that’s what they think,” she conceded vaguely, waving a hand. “But ye’ll return soon, won’t you? I’ve missed you so terribly since I’ve been here.”
Arthur’s face softened, and he pulled her into another hug. “I promise ye I will,” he vowed, cupping her head briefly before he turned back to the carriage to continue packing their things.
