Page 55 of Abducted By the Highlander
But a terrible thread of doubt assailed her. It was true she’d witnessed him speaking to the innkeeper’s wife, before he’d strode with purpose as though he knew exactly where he was heading. But she hadn’t seen him actually give anyone her letter, had she? She had simply taken his word for it.
But he wouldn’t lie to her. Why would he? He was committed to reuniting her with her kin, just as she was committed to ensuring that when she did, he would join her.
“Lady Roisin is not mylady love.” Hugh sounded incensed by the notion, and Roisin involuntarily clutched Ecne as a despairing pain lanced through her breast. Did he really mean that? Or was he merely trying to protect her reputation against Darragh’s insinuations?
“Then ye’re a bigger Campbell bastard than I took ye for.”
“I swore to protect her, that’s all. There’s nothing between us.”
Ecne gave a small whimper at how tightly she hugged him, and it was an effort to loosen her arms around him when all she wanted to do was bury her burning face in his familiar fur. But she couldn’t afford such an indulgence. It didn’t matter how she wished the ground would open and swallow her whole so she could escape this unraveling nightmare. She needed to get back to the small cave and composeherself before she saw Hugh again.
Before she could even take a breath, both Hugh and Darragh emerged from behind the rocks, having clearly heard Ecne’s whimper, and the expression of horror on Hugh’s face as the realization hit him that she had overheard his conversation caused her heart to squeeze with mortification.
Aye, mortification. That was all this was, and she would recover from it. For she could never recover from a shattered heart.
“Roisin.” He sounded as though he’d torn her name through the bowels of hell itself. “Are ye all right?”
She summoned up every shred of pride she retained, straightened her shoulders and gave him a withering glare. At least, she hoped it was withering. “Why shouldn’t I be? What a foolish question, Hugh Campbell.”
Darragh, damn the man, laughed, even though he didn’t sound especially amused. “There goes my leverage over ye, Hugh.”
“Lady Roisin.” Hugh took a step closer and then froze as though something in her eyes warned him. Did he think by using her title he could somehow soften her up? Make her forget what she had overheard?
Lady Roisin is not my lady love.
“I must speak to ye alone.”
“Must ye?”Is that truly my voice?She sounded so cold. As though none of this was tearing her apart inside. And thank God for that. It was bad enough she had misjudged him so, without the added humiliation of him seeing how deeply his deception had wounded her.
“Aye, he must, if he wants to win yer favor once more.” Darragh cast Hugh an unpleasant glance before returning his attention to her. “But I’ll tell ye something else. Fergus wanted to take ye with him so he could return ye to yer kin without any further delay. But Hugh here wouldn’t hear of it. Yer self-appointed protector believes only he has the right to decide yer fate.”
Something akin to guilt flashed across Hugh’s face before he rounded on the other man. “That’s not true, and ye know it.”
“’Tis true enough.”
“Fergus,” Hugh sounded as though he were having trouble just saying the name. “Had his own agenda that didn’t include taking Lady Roisin to her kin.”
“Told ye that, did he?”
“A parting shot in the town. After ye left.”
Had Fergus really offered to take her to her kin? She wasn’t sure she believed Darragh, except if it was a lie, why had Hugh looked so guilty? But regardless, the prospect of going anywhere with Fergus made her flesh crawl. Whatever Hugh had done, or not done, the truth was she would rather stay by his side than Fergus’s, but that wasn’t the point. Hugh hadn’t given her the choice.
“After I left?” For some reason, Darragh appeared confused by that statement, but Hugh didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to her and for a despairing heartbeat, as she gazed into his mesmerizing blue eyes, she wished she had never overheard the damning exchange between the two men. But if she hadn’t, she would still be living in a fantastical web she had woven herself from nothing more substantial than foolish daydreams and tales of the fae. For while she had believed their fates were entwined, it seemed Hugh believed only in himself.
Despite the times she’d tried to coax a promise from him, not once had he spoken of leaving with her. And after they had made love, she’d been so sure, in her heart, that he’d do anything to gain the earl’s pardon so they could be together.
But none of it had been real outside of her own imagination.
“This is not what it seems.”
Was she imagining that note of desperation in his voice? She probably was. Did he think she might disclose that he wasn’t an ordinary Campbell at all but Hugh Campbell of Balfour Castle, something she knew Darragh would never forgive?
As if she would. She had promised to say nothing of that, and unlike some people, she kept her promises. “Alas, it seems very clear to me.”
“I’ll tell ye what’s clear.” Darragh’s eye bored into her before he turned to Hugh. “I’m taking Lady Roisin MacDonald to Fergus’s camp, and that’s the end of it. Ye can accompany me and continue protecting yer precious noblewoman, or ye can join the others heading to Eire, but either way this discussion is now over.”
With that, he marched back to the caves leaving her alone with Hugh.
