He’d watched as she screamed and ordered servants about as if they were criminals rather than the loyal and hard working members of their household that they were. ’Twas a habit she’d learned from her father no doubt, but a needless act of malevolence nonetheless.
Her moods shifted suddenly. It was impossible for him to tell when he was seeing glimpses of her true self. He hoped it was her moments of kindness, but something warned him that her moments of ill-tempered outbursts ran deep into her core.
With each day, he grew more certain that she was not a shy, helpless victim, not a beaten woman who needed his aide as he once believed. If only he’d not been so foolish, rushing into a commitment when he knew not to whom he was committing. He could be welcoming the woman he loved into his bed rather than denying his wife entry into it.
“Aye, ale is no so appealing to me as it once was. Why are ye awake so late in the evening, Edana?”
“I needed to speak to me husband. Have ye no heard me knocking on yer door these past nights? Have ye already seen what it is I’m here to tell ye, and ye no longer find me so pleasing?”
He didn’t know what she was talking about. He’d noticed nothing from her, hardly seeing her when he looked right at her, so occupied his mind was with thoughts of Blaire. “Aye, lass, I heard ye, but I have been tired. I have no been in the mood for company in bed. But nay, I have no noticed anything about ye. What do ye mean by that?”
“I’m with child, Arran.”
Shock coursed painfully through him, and he found that he was gripping the edge of the table so tightly that his knuckles shown white beneath his skin. “Nay, lass. We have no been married long enough for ye to be carrying a child. Even if ye were, it would be too soon for ye to know it.” He hoped that he was right, but he knew little of such things, and he knew that his words came more from wishful thinking than true knowledge.
“Aye, ’tis true that we have no been married long, but ’tis still verra possible for it to be so. I have no bled, and I have never no done so before. Me nurse has confirmed it as well.”
Arran pulled the stool out from the small desk and plopped himself down on it, his head suddenly heavy and throbbing.
Edana motioned to someone standing in the doorway. Shortly after, a woman who looked to be about Mary’s age approached him. She was short and slight. There were dark circles beneath her eyes. He thought she looked too unhealthy herself to be nurse to anyone but still rose to greet her. Before he could speak, Edana interrupted.
“Go on, tell him. Tell him what ye just told me, that I am carrying his bairn.”
Edana’s tone caused him to look attentively toward the nurse who stood before him. There seemed to be an underlying threat with Edana’s words, and the look of fear on the poor woman’s face was enough for him to be sure he was right.
“May I speak to yer nurse alone for a moment, Edana?” He expected her response and fumbled quickly for an answer that would placate her.
“Do ye no believe me? What reason would I have to lie?”
“Nay, lass, I believe ye. If ye say ye are with child, I believe that ye are. ’Tis only I have a private matter of a personal nature I would like to have seen.” He smiled politely at the nurse.
Edana rolled her eyes as she slowly made her way toward the door. “Fine. Suit yerself, but ye know that she is no a real doctor. She deals only with birthing and such matters. If something troubles ye, ye should see the man in the village.”
“’Tis only a small matter. I suppose any woman with knowledge of herbs could help me with this. Go on. I shall come to ye shortly, and we shall talk.”
With Edana gone, Arran motioned for the nurse to sit on the stool in front of his desk. “What is yer name, miss?”
The woman’s voice was quiet and shaky. It pained Arran to know that she must have been mistreated by the people of this castle for some time to be so frightened in his presence before she even knew him.
“My name is Gara, and I’m afraid that she is right, sir. I doona know much of healing and only a little of herbs. Perhaps ye should seek help elsewhere. I wouldna want to mislead ye.”
Arran crouched down in front of Gara, smiling to ease the woman’s nerves. “Doona worry, lass. All is well with me. I only wanted to speak to ye without Edana being present. Now I wish that ye tell me the truth. Do ye know Edana to be with child?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Ye doona have to worry, lass. If she’s threatened ye, all ye need to do is tell me so. I’ll believe ye, and I will ensure yer protection. Has she done so?”
Surprise flickered in the woman’s eyes, and Arran allowed himself to hope that perhaps Edana’s words had been a lie.
“Nay, sir. She is carrying yer child as ye shall see soon enough. Now, may I be excused from ye, sir?”
Arran stood so that the woman could move from her seat and extended his arm out beside him. “Aye, lass. Ye are no being held against yer will. Thank ye for speaking to me and for yer honesty.”
“’Tis my pleasure to be of service to ye, sir.”