Page 107 of The Laird’s Wrong Wife

Ceana opened the door to find Oscar standing where his boots had stopped, his wet clothes clinging to his rigid body. Mairi waited nearby with the recovered cloak, the map, and the signet ring.

“Tommy placed the ring in me keepin’ before the hunt, me Laird,” Mairi said. “The 0 means there are nay more hidin’ places. The children wanted ye and Her Ladyship to finish together.” She returned the ring to Oscar and placed the folded map in Ceana’s hands.

Oscar ran his eyes over Ceana’s damp face. “What is wrong?”

Ceana tightened her fingers around the folded map. “Let’s go to yer study.”

His eyes moved over her face once more before he offered his arm, and she accepted it. His hand closed around hers, while the other settled beneath her elbow as though one uncertain step might send her to the floor. She imagined taking his hand once they were alone and laying it over her belly.

“Did Muriel find an injury?” he asked.

“I’ll tell ye once we are in the study.”

He looked at her damp lashes, then adjusted his hold and guided her through the passage.

Ceana pressed the map to her side. If she attempted another sentence, the happiness inside her might escape as laughter or more tears.

Oscar opened the study door and waited until she had entered before closing it behind them.

The deed chest remained open. Their marriage contract lay inside it, her signature visible beneath his. It felt almost like yesterday when she had first entered this room to bargain for a temporary place in his household. Now she was carrying a child conceived after the bargain had become a marriage in truth.

Oscar moved in front of her. “What did Muriel say?”

Ceana crossed the space between them and took his hand. His palm was rough and cool from the lake water. “I am with child.”

He froze. The color drained from his face as his gaze dropped to her belly. He released her hand and stepped back until the edge of the desk caught him. One hand closed around the wood.

Ceana waited for him to look at her again. Her lips trembled around the smile she had carried from the surgery. She wanted him to understand, to come closer and touch the place where their child had taken root and would soon grow.

“Ceana, did ye lie to me?”

Her smile vanished.

What?

Ceana stepped away and covered her belly with one hand. Oscar released the desk and reached for her, though his arm stopped before his fingers crossed the space between them. His face tightened.

“Ceana, I…” His gaze returned to her belly. “How can Muriel be certain? Ye told me this couldnae happen.”

“I told ye what I believed. Ye heard the truth as I kent it.” She kept her voice level, though her fingernails pressed into the wool of her gown. “Nay healer has ever truly proved me barren, but I never had reason to ask them to. Muriel challenged what all of us had accepted.”

“Muriel may be mistaken.” Oscar gripped the desk again. “It is early. Time may prove otherwise.”

“She is a healer, is she nae? She believes I’m carryin’ yer child.” Ceana raised her chin. “I believe her.”

His eyes lowered once more as the hand at his side curled into a fist.

“What?” Paisley’s wrecked voice came from the door.

Ceana spun around. The curtain shifted aside, revealing Paisley pressed against the stone behind the slightly open door. Her face was pale, and her eyes were fixed on Oscar.

“Paisley, what are ye doin’ here?” Oscar asked, the shock plain on his face.

“Tommy came because he wanted to ken whether Ceana was well,” Paisley choked out. “I meant to take him away, but… we heard ye.”

Tommy appeared behind her, holding tightly to her sleeve.

Her mouth quivered. “Ye promised there would be nay other bairns. Ye promised we wouldnae lose Ceana.”