Page 92 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
Lydia glanced around, noting how several of McCarthy’s guards looked visibly uncertain now. Callum’s towering reputation evidently preceded him. “I will go with them.”
Lydia turned at the sound of the familiar voice behind her, astounded to see Hannah, traveling cloak already around her shoulders, coming through the soldiers toward her.
“Hannah?” she asked.
“I will not let you down, my lady,” she whispered.
“I know that,” Lydia said, gripping her hand. “But there are other maids we could send.”
“No. I want to look after the girls when you are unable to. I will make sure no harm comes to them.”
Lydia’s heart almost burst with gratitude. Her timid maid was no more. Hannah’s jaw was set, her gaze alert. There was fear there, too, but more determination than Lydia had ever seen.
“This is my home now, and those girls are part of yours,” Hannah insisted. “I will keep them safe.”
“Then it’s settled,” Callum said, nodding gratefully at Hannah. “Ye will take a maid and one of me own guards, or this is over, right now.”
Moira looked back at McCarthy. The tableau of guards behind them was utterly still as they waited for their decision, but the sun still glinted ominously from the blades in their hands.
“Very well,” Moira sniffed. “But they can ride on the rear of me carriage. The girls will be inside with me.”
Callum motioned to one of the guards beside him, who stepped up and held out a hand to Hannah, helping her to climb onto the footman’s board on the back of the carriage. “But what about Raven?”
Amy was staring back at the castle miserably, her lower lip trembling. Moira looked down at her.
“What isRaven?”
“Our kitten,” Amy said, and the hope in her eyes almost broke Lydia’s heart.
“He has a whole castle to entertain him now,” Moira snapped. “You know I cannot abide cats. Get into the carriage.”
Moira plucked the girls’ hands from her father and pushed them inside. She did not give them time to bid Callum farewell, and as soon as the door was closed behind them, she drew the curtain.
She will not even let them wave goodbye to their uncle.
As the carriage moved off and the McCarthy guards mounted their horses and followed it on its way, a sense of acute despair lowered over Lydia.
She wanted to run after the carriage, wrench open the doors, and drag the girls back into the castle where they belonged.
What have we allowed to happen?
Callum stood before the castle gates for a long time, watching the dust rise into the air as the horses thundered away. He could hardly believe it. The girls were gone.Gone.
After all the years that had passed, Moira looked the same. Her smug, hateful face had been just as he remembered it. She hadabandoned her children and then returned tocollectthem as though she had every right to do so.
He turned, expecting to find an empty courtyard behind him, but the guards were all still there, awaiting their instructions.
“Back to your posts,” he thundered, and they all scurried to obey.
Turning to Lydia, he was about to extend a hand toward her to lead her inside, but she was not looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on the carriage as it faded into the distance, and her cheeks were wet with tears.
“Lydia?” he asked, a knot forming in his chest, as she turned her glistening eyes to him. A sob broke free, her body convulsing forward, and then she covered her face with her hands and ran into the castle as another sob rent the air.
Callum set off in pursuit, passing the guards, making their way back to their posts.
He ran through the cobbled courtyard and up through the rear passages. Lydia was always one step ahead, flitting round corners, the billowing remnants of her dress just whisking out of sight every time he thought he had gained some ground.
Finally, he reached the base of the long staircase and watched her sprint along the corridor to her room.
