After a few moments of silence, he took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair.
“We shall return at once,” he said, his voice deadly calm now. “You will not leave Ross Castle without my permission again.”
She nodded her agreement. Obediently, she took his proffered hand, but he made no move toward the door.
“You will keep your word to me in the future,” he said, fixing her with a look that was as hard as granite. His words were both a demand and a warning. “I cannot abide deceit.”
Catherine averted her eyes as William marched her past the half-dozen men waiting with their horses in the courtyard. He headed straight for Jacob, who stood alone a few yards away from the others.
“You should not have been party to this foolishness,” William said, tapping a menacing forefinger on Jacob’s chest. “You took a great chance with my wife and Jamie, traveling alone at night as you did. You and I shall come to an understanding, or you shall not remain in my service. The men at the gate who let you pass shall answer to me as well.”
Catherine appreciated that William gave the reprimand out of the other men’s hearing. She understood, too, why he said it in front of her. It had been reckless of her to travel with only the old man for protection. Old Jacob would do anything she asked, and she had taken advantage of that.
Hearing Jamie’s shout, she turned around to see him break loose from the novice’s hand and run across the courtyard toward them. Instead of coming to her, he barreled into William. He shrieked with pleasure as William caught him. Reminded of Abbess Talcott’s reproof to be grateful for William’s kindness toward her son, she felt ashamed.
William put the boy on Jacob’s horse, gruffly telling the old man to take care with him. It was a sign Jacob would be forgiven. Catherine made herself turn to acknowledge the other men. None would meet her eyes. Forgiveness would not come so easily for her.
The ride back to Ross Castle was long and silent, broken only by Jamie’s occasional question and Jacob’s murmured reply. After a time, even Jamie picked up the somber mood and grew quiet. Finally, Ross Castle came into sight. The ordeal was almost over.
As soon as they were within the protective watch of the sentries on the walls, William sent the others ahead.
“There is something I must ask you,” he said to her.
William lifted her down from her horse. He took her elbow and began walking with her, slowly and without direction. The ground was rough, and she had to watch her step.
Suddenly, he stopped and pulled her around to face him. “I want to know the nature of your relationship with the prince.”
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “What is it you wish to know?”
“I can think of no other way to say it, except bluntly.” William looked off in the distance and then back at her, as if expecting her to discern his question without his asking it.
When she continued to look at him blankly, he said in a strained voice, “I must know if you have lain with him yet.”
She did not immediately respond, because she simplycould not.
“If you have,” he said in a gruff voice, “it must stop.”
Her hand went to her mouth, and she stepped back from him. “You would say such a thing to me!” she said, torn between shock and outrage. It was unthinkable. She turned on her heel to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm.
“You betrayed your first husband while you shared his bed—a favor you have yet to grant me.” His voice was caustic. “Why should I believe you would not betray me as well?”
Before now, the intensity of his desire for her had so overwhelmed her that she had failed to perceive the depth of his distrust of her. Why had he chosen to marry her?
“I see what you think of my character, husband,” she said, spitting out the wordhusband. “But how could you believe it of Harry? He is selfless and righteous and honorable.” She was ranting now, and she did not care whether her defense of Harry was helping her case or not. “How could you think he would be a guest in your home and bed your wife?”
She jerked her arm from his grasp but remained facing him, defiant and angry.
“If you have not yet acted upon what is between you,” he said, his eyes spitting fire, “then I am telling you now that you shall not.”
She slapped him so hard that the stinging of her hand brought tears to her eyes. Seeing her handprint on his face brought visions of the marks Rayburn had left on her.
She covered her face and crumpled to the ground. She was both startled by her own uncontrolled rage and humiliated by William’s accusations.
The future seemed very bleak, indeed.
Eventually her raging emotions receded, leaving a heavy tiredness that weighed down every bone and muscle. William knelt beside her, but she did not look at him. Staring, unseeing, into the distance, she made one last attempt to make him understand the impossibility of what he was suggesting.
“Harry does not think of me that way,” she said. “He is like a younger brother to me and I an older sister to him.”
