insisted,”
Mrs. MacGinnis offered. “She is headstrong, this one.”
“And foolish,” Trent muttered.
“I am takin’ her back upstairs.” Lachlan
turned from them. He didn’t know what to make of the situation as
of yet, but he wasn’t ready to relinquish Maddie to the care of her
brother. Not until everything was sorted out.
“I will be taking her home,” Jordan yelled
after him.
“Her ankle is injured and she doesna have any
clothin’.” Lachlan returned. “Do ye have a carriage or do ye intend
to carry her back to yer brother’s home?”
Jordan’s fists balled and relaxed. Ah, he
didn’t have a carriage nor would one be able to travel in this snow
for a bit.
“Go and get her clothin’,” Mrs. MacGinnis
insisted. “Let yer family know she is well.”
Trent mumbled something Lachlan couldn’t
hear, not that he cared much. Without another look at his friend,
Lachlan continued up the stairs with a very silent Maddie.
“Come back tomorrow,” Mrs. MacGinnis
insisted. “Yer sister should be well enough to travel and ye may be
able to bring the carriage by then.”
“You want me to leave her here all night with
him?” Trent demanded.
“It is only one more night and he willna harm
her.” She insisted.
Lachlan didn’t listen to the rest of the
exchange and turned down the hall toward his room when he reached
the top of the stairs. Once inside, he set Maddie in the chair and
removed her cloak before taking off the one boot she wore.
“Why dinna ye put the other one on?”
“I couldn’t get it on,” she grumbled.
Lachlan lifted the injured foot. The bruising
was darker and none of the swelling had gone down. “I hope it isna
broken.”
“It is not.” She turned to look into the
fire, a dejected look upon her face.
“Let’s get ye back into bed.”
“I would rather stay here,” she mumbled. Was
Maddie actually pouting? He should be angry with her, but for some
reason he was not. He still needed to know why she was a bastard
and how the family had kept it from the lass.
“Yer foot needs to be up.” Before she could
protest, he scooped her up in his arms and carried across the room
where he deposited her onto the bed once again.
She rolled over on her side, putting her back
to him and pulled the covers up over her shoulders.
Why was she shutting him out now? Was it the
secret of her birth? “Is there anythin’ I can get ye?”
“No,” she whispered. “I would like to be
alone if you don’t mind.”
Madeline waited in silence. She could sense
that Lachlan still stood by the bed looking at her. Did he want to
yell at her as well? Lachlan must hate her, but he wouldn’t after
she assured him that he would not be forced to marry her. Even if
Jordan held a gun on the man, she would refuse to say the vows. It
was too unfair to both of them to do otherwise.
Oh, if only she could go back a day or two.
Then she would have knocked on the door to the library. She
wouldn’t have learned the truth. She wouldn’t have left the house,
fell in the lake, or met Lachlan. Though she didn’t truly regret
meeting him or kissing him. But their meeting only made her realize
what she would be denied the rest of her life.
A moment later, she heard him cross the room
and the door click shut.
She was finally alone, and the tears came.
They flooded her eyes and poured down her cheeks, and she couldn’t
stop them. She didn’t want to stop them. As much as she hated
crying and rarely cried, she didn’t care right now. A sob broke,
and her shoulders shook. After a good cry and rest, she would be
able to face the future and formulate a plan on how she was going
to go about it.
The bed dipped and a hand rested on her
shoulder. “Hush, lass.”
He was supposed to be gone! Nobody was to see
her like this. Her sobbing only increased. Oh, she hated being a
weak ninny, and Lachlan’s trying to comfort her only made it worse.
Her body shook with more tears.
He rolled her over, picked her
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