Blinking, she whispered, “Yes, Angus, I will stay with you.”
Angus did not know if she spoke another word, as he drew her closer, pulled the covers over them, and drifted into heavy slumber.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Annabella awoke just as pinkish grey streaked across the floor. It took her a moment to realize where she had slept the night before. She blinked to focus and stared at the wall on the opposite side of the room. She waited. Was Angus still in bed with her? After a few moments of hearing no sound, she took a chance and turned towards where he should be. The bed was empty except for her.
Thank God.
Annabella threw back the covers and stepped out onto the cold stone floor. She gazed around at the elaborate master chamber. Though she had seen many expensive decorations in her family’s chambers, she had never seen anything quite like this.
The bed was big enough to sleep four grown men, she was sure of it. With large wooden posts holding up heavy tartan sashes, the bed was the focal point of the chamber.
On either side of the bed were large windows, allowing for a great deal of light and air into the chamber. Surprisingly, this did not make for a cold atmosphere, as the hearth was almost as big as the one in the great hall in which they had dined the night before. Annabella noted the wooden wardrobes on the other side of the chamber, as well as the ornate writing desk and shelving which housed many scrolls. She had not taken him to be a highly learned man, but clearly there was much about him that she did not yet understand. Perhaps she had judged him harshly.
Annabella quickly donned her gown and decided it would be best if she returned to her chamber as soon as possible. She was not yet sure how she felt about having spent the night with him. As a lady, it went against everything that she had been brought up to believe. Not that it should matter, but for some reason she cared about what others here thought about her conduct.
Just as she was about to lift the latch on the door—assuming that it was unlocked—the door swung wide and Osla entered with a large trencher of food and drink.
“I see you are awake already,” the woman said.
Annabella was not sure how to respond, and so she nodded. She could already feel her cheeks burning, and knew that Osla would have been aware that she had spent the night in Angus’s chamber. Regret washed over her. She was normally a woman who exercised better judgment, but it appeared to be lacking of late; her sense of propriety had been lost somewhere along the way. She must find a way to recover it.
“Do not worry yourself about how I feel. I have seen something pass between you and Angus, and I believe that you were brought together for a reason.”
“I am his prisoner, nothing more.”
Osla grinned and shook her head. “I may be older and my eyes growing dim, but I can still see when there is passion between two people. I have seen the way he looks at you, and I have seen the way you look at him.”
Annabella was not sure she wanted to believe that, although up to this point there had certainly been enough passionate encounters between them. She had just never thought for a moment that anyone else had noticed.
“That may be so, however I am still his prisoner and I will leave here very soon, never to return.”
“I am very sorry to hear that,” Osla said. She frowned and clasped Annabella’s hands. “I, for one, will be sad to see you go, lass.”
Annabella studied the woman for sincerity. She had liked Osla from the beginning. There was nothing in the woman’s countenance to suggest that she was being insincere in the least. Truth be told, Annabella did not want to think about leaving this place. In a short time, and despite the circumstances upon which she had arrived, she had grown attached to the land and to the people. And to its master, though she didn’t want to admit that to anyone, much less herself.
“I shall miss you, as well.”
“You belong here,” Osla said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean there is something about you that fits here. You have a kind heart and you would be good for Angus. And for us. We have been too long without a mistress.”
Annabella did not know what to say. She had no reason to believe that Osla would make up something as outlandish as that statement. But hearing it come from her lips gave Annabella an uncomfortable feeling. She didn’t want to admit how attached she had already become.
“What passes here?”
Annabella turned to see Angus in the doorway, a confused expression on his face. He glanced between Osla and her, and then raised his eyebrows.
Osla lifted her chin and slowly walked past him. “I was just telling Lady Annabella that I think she fits in here very well.” And with that, she sauntered out the door without another word.
Angus turned back to her with his jaw slightly slack. Had the circumstances been different, Annabella might have laughed. But the circumstances were not different.
She was in a dangerous situation and about to play an even more dangerous game. On top of all of that, the man who now stood before her had somehow clawed his way into her heart. Yet she would have to bid him farewell soon.
“Are we ready to depart?” Annabella asked, somehow needing to ease the tension that had developed between them. Considering the night that they had shared and the day that they would share, she would like for the awkwardness to be resolved.
