Page 11 of The Laird’s Wrong Wife

“Then it is fortunate I stopped ye before ye got too high, is it nae?”

Tommy accepted that with a solemn nod. His attention then moved toward the activity outside, where a groom called for another horse to be brought around.

“Are ye comin’ with us?” he asked.

Ceana rose. “I expect to return to me family.”

“Ness needs ye. Her leg may hurt again.”

“Yer guards will find someone to examine her.”

Tommy looked to Oscar for confirmation.

The question should have been simple. Ceana had admitted the truth, and Oscar had lost any reason to carry her away. Lennan opened his mouth to speak, but Oscar silenced him with a glance.

“Hurry with the carriage,” he ordered.

The guards moved at once. One lifted a travel chest from beside the tent wall while another went outside. Lennan remained where he was, the unfinished message still held between his fingers. His eyes rested on Oscar almost like he knew better than to challenge him before the others.

Ceana stepped closer to Oscar. “Did ye hear anythin’ I told ye?”

“Aye.”

“Angus is expectin’ Daphne.”

“I ken.”

“I am Ceana. Takin’ me gives ye nay leverage over him.”

Oscar’s attention remained fixed on her. His gaze moved briefly to Tommy before returning to her face. Whatever he had seen when she called the boy down had altered something, though she could not determine what.

“So cancel the carriage,” she said. “Send me back to the Morrag tents and decide how ye intend to remedy the insult ye have already caused.”

Tommy moved closer and slipped his hand into hers. The gesture stirred the old ache beneath her ribs, but she kept her attention on his father.

Oscar looked at their joined hands, his expression unfathomable.

“Keepin’ me makes nay sense,” she continued. “Ye have nay quarrel with me. I cannae tell ye where Daphne has gone, and I cannae force Angus to speak about yer sister. Whatever ye believed ye could gain from this ended when I told ye me name.”

Oscar shifted slightly. “But then ye helped me son without kennin’ who he was.”

Ceana shrugged, letting a brief moment of silence pass. “His goat was trapped. Anyone would’ve done the same.”

“He wouldnae have listened to anyone, though.”

Tommy nodded as if the matter required no further explanation. “She asked nicely.”

Ceana looked at Oscar. “There. Yer mystery has been solved. May I leave now?”

Oscar moved toward her with the same purpose he had shown when ordering the carriage. He stopped close enough to force her to tilt her head back, yet he kept his hands at his sides. The lack of touch made his attention harder to dismiss. He had learned she carried no political value and had chosen to keep her anyway.

Fear gathered differently now. She had understood the purpose of being mistaken for Daphne. She could not understand what this man wanted from her now.

“I wouldnae care if ye told me ye were the Queen of England,” he said.

Ceana tightened her fingers around Tommy’s small hand. “Yer plan has failed.”

Oscar regarded her with a calm that made the decision all the more alarming. “I can always come up with a new plan.”