Page 31 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
He stepped forward and peered into her basket, which was empty. He raised his eyebrows in a question and looked at her.
“I feed them treats—apples, vegetables, whatever is left in the kitchen,” she replied, shrugging. “I have been doing it for years. Surely you knew.”
“Of course I did. I just never met ye daein’ it before.”
He stepped forward to rub Robbie’s nose, but the horse whickered and shied away from him.
Now Kenna’s suspicions about Roy’s character were confirmed. Animals could always tell good from bad, and she was looking at a bad man at that very moment. Roy was handsome, but he was vain and selfish.
Abruptly he said, “I know yer secret.” Then he looked up at her, his blue eyes glinting with malice. “But I will keep it tae myself if ye promise tae be my sweetheart.”
Kenna’s heart seemed to plummet into her stomach, and for a split second she froze in terror, then she recovered and laughed at him scornfully.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded. “Like everyone else, I have personal matters that I like to keep to myself, but Ihave no deep dark secrets. So perhaps if you know what it is, you can tell it to me.”
She hoped that he could not hear the thundering of her heart, which was almost beating out of her chest in sheer terror, even while she kept her expression scornful and defiant.
For a moment Roy looked less sure of himself, then he recovered his cocksure attitude and scoffed, “The secret ye have taken such trouble tae hide, Kenna.”
Kenna sighed wearily. She put her hands on her hips, looking at him in such a bored, long-suffering fashion that she looked as if she was about to yawn.
“Please tell me, Roy, because I am really tired and would like to go to bed.”
“If ye become my lass, I will keep yer secret safe,” he said slyly.
“You will have to tell me what the secret is first.” Kenna rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Anyway, why would I want to be the sweetheart of someone who is trying to blackmail me? Go away. I am tired of this. Goodnight.”
She turned away, half-expecting to hear the sound of his footsteps following her, but there was nothing.
Her heart was still beating nineteen to the dozen as she approached the kitchen to fetch the food she had squirreled away for Ewan. What if Roy was watching her? What if he was following her silently, keeping to the shadows? He said he knew her secret, but was he bluffing, toying with her out of spite for rejecting him?
Should I take the food or just walk past the kitchen?she thought as she neared the door. She had changed her mind halfa dozen times before she decided that it was simply not worth the risk. If Roy had followed her and challenged her, she could say she was hungry and had taken some leftovers to fill herself up before bedtime. It was a plausible enough story, although strictly speaking, staff were not allowed to eat in their bedrooms, but she thought it better not to engage him in any more conversation.
Kenna strode as quickly as she could to her chamber, fumbling with the lock on the door in her haste to enter. At last, it gave way, and she almost fell through the doorway.
As soon as she entered the room, Maxwell could see that Kenna was more upset than he had ever seen her. He forgot about his food. He forgot about the fear he felt in having to tell her his identity. He forgot about everything but the need to comfort her.
“Kenna?”
He crossed the space between them and gripped her by the upper arms, then looked into her eyes. They were filled with unshed tears, and he felt his heart melt with sympathy.
“What happened? What is wrong?” He shook her gently. “Tell me, love. I can help. Tell me.”
For a moment, Kenna stood silent and still, then she burst into tears.
Maxwell pulled her into his arms and held her as she wept, making soft soothing sounds and stroking her hair as if she was a baby. She felt so good in his arms that he wanted to hold her forever. When she had shed all her tears, she looked up at him,her green eyes still shining with the promise of more to come, and he felt his heart melt.
“What happened, Kenna? Tell me,” he urged, then he tightened his arms around her once more. “Tell me, please.”
Kenna took a deep breath and said, “I think somebody knows about you, Ewan.”
Maxwell stared at her, his heart hammering wildly as fear flooded his body. But he was not going to let her see his panic. He needed to be strong for her.
“What makes you think this, Kenna?” He tensed and sat down on the bed, pulling her down beside him. “Has someone said something to you? Tell me.”
“One of the grooms has just declared that he would like to court me.” She paused, then put her head in her hands. “He told me that he knew my secret, and that if I did not agree to walk out with him, he would tell everyone. When I told him I had no secret and asked him to tell me what he meant, he would not.”
“So he could not actually put into words the secret he was telling you about?” Maxwell asked, raising his eyebrows. “I see what he is doing. He eitherwouldnot because he knows and is deliberately keeping silent, orcouldnot because he knows nothing and is bluffing because he wants something from you. There is a difference here.
