Page 15 of Sutherland's Secret
“I’m aware.” He knew what a dangerous game he was playing. Before leaving the castle, he’d told his commanding officer and Cecilia to keep an eye on the woman. She was not to send any letters, and she was not to leave the castle grounds under any circumstances. He couldn’t afford for her to contact the English in any way.
“Hannah told me that Cecilia said the woman was in bad shape.”
Hannah was Lachlan’s wife and ran the day-to-day operations of the castle, since Brice had no wife to do so. Not that his wife had been competent at that.
“Aye. She’s been mightily misused,” Brice admitted. Images of her scarred wrists and bruised legs rose before him, and the bile in his stomach churned. He had a hollow feeling that her situation would not be so easily solved.
Chapter 7
Sutherland had been gone for three days and two nights. Eleanor had not slept well in that time. Each night she’d woken after only a few hours with a scream on her lips, her heart pounding, her body taut with terror. She’d curled up on the bed, desperately trying to push the horrible memories away.
The nightmares never took on a specific form but rather flashes of images.
Metal bars.
Heavy manacles.
Chains.
Unbearable thirst and hunger.
The whips…
She swung away from the window she’d been staring blindly out of and paced to the other side of the room. Once a day she ventured from her suite of rooms, but she never went farther than the great hall. She spent most of her day roaming the rooms assigned to her. They were beautiful rooms, decorated elegantly and almost solely in different shades of blue. She’d discovered a cupboard of exquisite gowns, almost all in blue. But they were out of date and didn’t seem appropriate for the Scottish weather and weren’t her style at all.
Weary of her own company, she headed toward the great hall. Her stomach was growling. It never seemed to get enough food. That wasn’t surprising, considering she’d had barely any food for almost five months.
As she always did, she melted into the shadows of the great hall and simply observed. Sutherland’s people were always laughing and jesting among themselves. They went about their duties with a smile. The hall was well kept, clean and dust-free, the tables scrubbed after every meal. She was content simply to watch their comings and goings. No one except Cecilia approached her, though many gave her quizzical looks.
“Good afternoon, my lady.”
Eleanor jumped. She put a hand to her suddenly pounding heart and looked at the woman with the red-blond hair and wide, inviting smile.
“I’m Hannah Sutherland. My husband is Lachlan Sutherland, the Sutherland’s second in command.”
Lachlan. He was the one who had seemed surprised to see Eleanor alive. She was still worried about that, although not as much as she had been. Sutherland had not indicated in any way that her days were numbered. Surely he wouldn’t waste food and clean water on her if that were the case. Would he? Doubts she thought she’d laid to rest rose again. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t trust these people, and yet she found that as time passed, she wavered in her convictions, lulled by a soft bed, warm food, and welcoming smiles.
“Are ye hungry?” Hannah asked. “It’s been a long time since ye broke yer fast.”
Eleanor studied the smiling woman, who seemed to take her appearance in the great hall in stride.
“I’ll bring ye some food and we can sit down together.”
Hannah hurried off, leaving Eleanor to herself, still in the shadows. She returned soon enough with a heaping plate of food and placed it on the nearest table. Eleanor’s stomach rumbled. She looked at Hannah, who was watching her. The woman knew exactly what she was doing. For a moment Eleanor was angry that Hannah was forcing her from where she felt safe. But the lure of food drove her from the comfort of the shadows, and she took a tentative step away from the wall. When no one shouted at her or even looked at her, she took another step until she was standing in front of the plate of food.
“Sit,” Hannah said with a smile as she patted the spot on the bench beside her. “It has to be lonely up there in the chambers all by yerself.”
Eleanor sat and reached for the fork. Hannah watched her eat, which made her self-conscious. She forced herself to take small, dainty bites, like she’d been taught, instead of scooping the food into her mouth like she really wanted to do. She was a bit embarrassed by her performance in the woods when Sutherland had given her the hare to eat. She’d been so famished, so light-headed from lack of food, that something had overtaken her and she’d acted like an animal. Nothing had ever tasted so good as that day-old hare.
“I know ye do no’ speak, but we’re all curious as to yer name,” Hannah said. “We’re no’ sure what to call ye.”
Eleanor smiled as she took another bite of food.
“We can guess,” Hannah said brightly. “We’ll start at the beginning and work our way through. Let’s see now.” She put her finger to her lips and studied Eleanor.
Eleanor bit back another smile. Despite everything, she was beginning to like Hannah. She’d already determined that even though Cecilia talked a little too much, she liked that girl as well. The Scottish were friendly, open people. Much better than the English, who had—
She stopped that thought before it could finish.
