Page 62 of Sutherland's Secret
“It was nothing as I had expected, in that I didn’t know such a thing…I mean…I wasn’t aware it could be like that.” She looked away, mortified, but also pleased that she had someone she could talk to.
Hannah sat back. “It wasn’t that way with your husband, then, was it?”
“Definitely not.”
Hannah laughed. “Highland men can be a lusty lot. It’s quite…invigorating.”
Eleanor dipped her head and smiled, remembering what they had done together the night before. In the light of day it seemed so scandalous, and at the same time her body heated and yearned for more.
“So why the long face on both of ye when ye rode in?” Hannah asked.
Eleanor sighed. “Oh, Hannah. I love him so much.” She’d not been able to tell him that because she’d not wanted to burden him with her feelings when nothing could come of them. But it felt good to unburden herself to Hannah.
Hannah smiled wide. “That’s a good thing, is it no’?”
“No, it’s not. Nothing can come of it.”
“And why no’? Because ye’re English? Well, let me tell you, Eleanor, Brice’s wife was Scottish, and she caused him no small amount of problems. I’d rather ye be English and treat him right than Scottish and break his heart.”
“Yes, it’s because I’m English, but it’s not what you’re thinking. Oh, Hannah…” Suddenly it seemed too much. Eleanor put her head in her hands and let loose the tears that she’d been holding back since last night. She’d cried while telling Brice of her imprisonment, but those had been tears of fear and sadness. These were tears of grief for Brice and what they could never have.
Hannah rounded the table to sit next to Eleanor and put her arm around her. “It can’t be all that bad. Nothing is insurmountable.”
“This is,” she said behind her hands.
“Tell me, then.”
Eleanor lifted her head and sniffed. “I’ll not go into the details, but I can’t stay here and put all of you in danger.”
Hannah waved her hand in the air. “There’s nothing—”
“I know of theStaran,Hannah.”
Hannah’s mouth rounded in an O. “But that does no’ mean ye’ll be a danger to us just because yer English.”
“I’m wanted by the English soldiers. They’re searching for me even now. The one who came a few days ago? He was looking forme.”
Hannah blinked. “I see,” she said after a moment.
“And now you know why I can’t possibly stay here. I can’t put Brice and the rest of you in danger.”
Hannah pressed her lips together, and Eleanor could see in her friend’s eyes that she knew what Eleanor had said was the truth.
“I’m leaving on the next ship,” Eleanor said, the enormity of her predicament hitting her square in the stomach and making her want to double over with the pain of it.
Hannah gasped. “No. Ye canno’ do that.”
“What else am I to do?”
Hannah blinked and her eyes shone with tears. “Oh, Eleanor. I am so very sorry.”
Brice and Lachlan walked through the front door. Brice stopped to look at Eleanor, and every feeling of despair that she was feeling was reflected in his eyes.
Hannah slipped off the bench and went to her husband to kiss him on the cheek and wrinkle her nose. “Ye need a bath,” she said. “Come, husband, I’ll wash yer back.” She winked at him and Lachlan dutifully followed her out of the hall, watching her backside the entire way.
Brice sat down next to Eleanor and indicated the plate of uneaten food. “Are ye going to eat?”
She shook her head and pushed the plate toward him. He pushed it back toward her. “Ye canno’ go without food for the next two weeks.”
